Jane and Hal's Trip to China (with the Lipton's)
May 6 - May 23, 2007
Celebrating 40 Wonderful Years Together

Beijing Day 3
 
Thursday, May 10, 2007: We began our day with the usual excellent breakfast and then started out to visit the Great Wall. On the way we made our compulsory factory visit to a jade factory.

The Olympic motto "One World, One Dream" decorates a hill at the Great Wall.

 

The four inveterate travelers climbing the Great Wall. We climbed two towers and part way up to the third. The Great Wall is 4000 miles long. We did not cover very much of it, that's for sure.

It is truly one of the Wonders of the World. It is the only man made structure visible from space.

At the base of the wall - JUNK SHOPS. All the junk you could ever imagine. At negotiable prices.

After our strenuous climb of the Great Wall we headed to the Bada Ling (not to be confused with the Bada Bing in Lodi NJ) for our lunch.


Ed and Hal waited as the "ladies" did some shopping in the restaurant gift shop. The gift shop was as big as the restaurant. And probably more lucrative. Jane bought Eliza a card with her name in Chinese.... we hope.

On the way back we passed some views of different sections of the Great Wall.

We then headed for the Ming Tombs. The entrance was decorated with beautiful flowers. All of China is getting ready for the Olympics in 2008 and flowers are everywhere.
   

The actual tombs covered a wide area - but you could not get to the actual tombs for the many Emperors.

Changling Tomb is the joint burial mausoleum of Emperor Zhudi, (1360-1424) the third Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his Empress Xushi.

The main part of the mausoleum, the underground palace was begun in 1409 and compleated in 1427, occupying an area of 120,000 square meters. The mausoleum consisting of an underground palace (burial chamber) and above ground structures is the largest in scale among the 13 mausoleums in Tianshou Mountain.

The mauseleum has been repaired many times after the Ming Dynasty so the main buildings have been preserved. They are a treasure of ancient Chinese architecture.

This is a ritual crown worn by Ming emperors at grand ceremonies to offer sacrifices to the heaven and earth, to the ancestral temple, to the god of the land, the god of grain, to the god of farming, as well as the lunar New Year's Day, holy festivals and the confering of noble titles.

We returned to our hotel. The above is the view from our window.
That night we went to a restaurant that Sara recommended with Sharon and Ed Lipton. Judy bowed out and had a long nights sleep. The food was excellent - especially the dumplings.
 
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