Two hours by car from Beijing, Mu Tian Yu with its 200m mountains rising straight out of the plains seems a fitting place to on which to put an 8m defensive wall Begun by the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty to keep out the Mongolian and Manchurian barbarian nomads and later built onto by the Han and Ming Dynasties, the wall seemed to do its bit for all its 6700km length. The section we visited was restored to its original glory using its original bricks. The weather and smog combined to limit visibility to only a few metres. Our photos didn’t turn out that great but the experience of walking the wall was well worth it. The wall’s undulating, winding and substantial structure dwarfs the mountain upon which it is built. One can imagine the plight of the workers who lived and died to build it as well as the 2000 years of armies that have fought on it to defend China.
Our afternoon was spent visiting the Ming Tombs, specifically the final resting spot of Emperor Yongle and riches and artefacts unearthed from Emperor Wan Li’s excavated tomb. The Tomb’s location 50 km from for the 17 Emperors of the Ming Dynasty (13 are actually buried there) was chosen for its geometric qualties (facing Beijing with mountains on the other 3 sides and well within the Great Wall. The 600 year old buldings and their unpainted supporting pillars made from the extinct nanmu tree are all original.
Then came the 50 km, 3-hour return home. The 8-lane superhighway crowded with buses, taxis, tour vans and cars simply did not move. Our driver said that today was surprisingly bad (people say that about the smog, too) but in our experience, we have not seen the traffic moving at any time (nor the smog clear).
Our afternoon was spent visiting the Ming Tombs, specifically the final resting spot of Emperor Yongle and riches and artefacts unearthed from Emperor Wan Li’s excavated tomb. The Tomb’s location 50 km from for the 17 Emperors of the Ming Dynasty (13 are actually buried there) was chosen for its geometric qualties (facing Beijing with mountains on the other 3 sides and well within the Great Wall. The 600 year old buldings and their unpainted supporting pillars made from the extinct nanmu tree are all original.
Then came the 50 km, 3-hour return home. The 8-lane superhighway crowded with buses, taxis, tour vans and cars simply did not move. Our driver said that today was surprisingly bad (people say that about the smog, too) but in our experience, we have not seen the traffic moving at any time (nor the smog clear).
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