Day 3, July 6, Beijing

[clay dube]

Minh - congrats on a fun entry. I like the job advertisement and the way you pound home how long the wall is. Danny Way did jump the wall, here's a US-China Today article that touches on that and has a video of the jump: http://www.uschina.usc.edu/article@usct?skateboarding_with_chinese_characteristics_12079.aspx

It's worth noting that the Wall was first connected during the Qin dynasty (ca. 221 bce) and rebuilt during the Ming (early 1400s).

Here's a PBS page focusing on David Splinder, an American who simply taught himself and has become one of the top experts on the Wall anywhere:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/blog/2009/09/china_wall_scho.html

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Per Itinerary...
Great Wall 长城
Lunch
Summer Palace 颐和园
Evening Performance: Acrobats
Return to Novotel Peace Hotel(night 4 of 4)

Having previously been warned about the heat the night before by our fearless leader/guide, Jean, we were up and out of the hotel a little past 8am. With July being the warmest month on average for Beijing, temperatures were expected to reach the mid to upper 30's C. Out, and fairly early, we hop on the bus and make our trek to the Great Wall.

En route, we are reminded the general purpose of the Wall... DE-FENCE!!! With a rich and long history, China has had many different dynasties and rulers. Between those pesky Mongols to the Mandate of Heaven, it can be hard to get a good night's rest if you were the Emperor/Empress of China...today, we have Brinks, ADT, Life Alert, and Paul Blart; if you were in charge, wouldn't you want be safe and build/repair/upkeep the longest picket fence-like structure to not only accentuate your property, but to also serve as a "keep out" or "beware of 1,000,000 soldiers" sign? What better way to keep out those nosy neighbors and enhance the resale value of your property? Heavily fortified with look-out points and soldiers whom would report to their posts to ensure the safety of your Dynasty, this was your good night's rest.

"Rome wasn't built in a day..." Well neither was this UNESCO heritage site. Crossing deserts, hills, mountains, and other rough terrain, this wall zig-zags east and west of China for approximately 5,500 miles (*debatable..do you count the natural barriers from entering China like rivers, cliffs, etc.? with a mixture of old ruins and renovation, the distance measurements may vary; scholars differ on exact size and length). That's miles, not kilometers. To compare, the furthest point east/west in the United States is approximately 3000 miles; now imagine placing a fortified wall between Augusta, Maine to Los Angeles-then just about halfway back. The Great Wall is a truly massive structure.

Now imagine the immense challenges in building this wall. The manpower, resources, and time to construct this. Without modern day earth-moving equipment, these workers settled on old-fashioned blood, sweat, and tears to build this wall...literally. Yes, the Great Wall was the longest defense in the world, but did you know it is also the longest cemetery in the world. Many workers who died constructing this wall were sometimes simply buried near or in the wall...blood, sweat, and tears. Now, imagine the wanted ad for this position:

"Wanted: construction worker willing to put 15+ hours a day of hard labor in the sun/cold/rain, working far from home, low pay, non-union; Benefits: burial space/rights, being a part of something 'Great.'"

Believe it or not, there weren't too many volunteers signing up for this job. So what's a fine emperor/empress like you to do? Draft "volunteers." Or conscript them, however you want to call it. Call upon your districts/provinces to provide workers for you project. The hardship for families sending forth their able-bodied males with the possibility of not returning was real. The economic hardship of losing a family member to build this wall cannot be understated. However, sacrifices had to be made somewhere...unless of course you were of the wealthy class. If you had the cash or clout, you're number somehow got "lost in the mail." You would somehow manage to not be ordered to service. The privileges of the rich seem to be universal.

Now, the bill...Remember, even though labor is relatively cheap, you still have to pay for the materials, soldiers, weapons, lodging, etc. So how do you think you would pay for this massive construction project? That's right...taxes. Like many Americanos, the Chinese paid taxes. These tax dollars were continually pumped over several Dynasties in the name of defense. Nonsense, right? We now know better, we would not wastefully spend the the time, effort, and resources on such a thing...or would we?
Strategic Defense Initiative/Star Wars -which was a Billions of dollars program, or..
general site for more information.

Regardless, to say some Dynasties paid great focus of maintaining the wall (Han, Sui, Ming, et al) while others prioritized it as less (Song, Mongols, Manchu, et al). Just like our leaders here, or any leaders of a state, they must decide what is their country's best interests for them at that time.

We traveled to the Mutianyu area of the wall. There, we were given the options of 1. Hiking the wall (up/down) 2. Cable car (up/down) 3. Toboggan the wall (down). I believe the majority of the group chose to take the cable cars, while the rest decided to walk their way to the top (which I believe they ended up getting lost and nearly walking into Mongolia). From the top of our location, you could see the vast twists and turns that the Wall takes. Carefully aligning the mountain ridge-line, one could see how this had been a great deterrent from invaders and foreigners. Walking the Wall ranged from stable flat surfaces, to uneven stones and steps, inclines and declines that were at times dangerously steep. Along the Wall, there were fortified guard posts, where we could imagine soldiers whom would be stationed to overlook the horizon. After some time walking, many of us decided to return to our rally point (bus) by toboggan. This seemingly out-of-place mode of transportation was one of the highlights the Great Wall trip.

Some quick notes: The Great Wall cannot be seen from space...highest point is 1000km...first parts built in 7th Century BCE...Danny Way was the first person to jump the Great Wall of China without a motor vehicle and land successfully...

Our next stop was a ceramics factory/store where we learned how Chinese porcelain is made. Little did I know the extent of work it takes to build these works of art. Having seen Ghost "twice last year" on television, I thought making pottery was fairly simple: get a boy haircut and pottery wheel; Patrick Swayze would take care of the rest. Oh no....this form of ceramic takes temperatures of over 1000 degrees Celsius to get the glass-like work of art you see. A lengthy process in itself, we were shown each individual step in the creation of Chinese porcelain. After our tour, we stopped for a quick lunch across the street before we went on the Summer Palace.

Heading back near Beijing, our next stop was the Summer Palace. Over 800 years old, this was the summer home (Apr-Oct) for the Emperor/Empress. Another UNESCO World Heritage Site spanning over 294 hectares and 4x the size of the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace also boasts a man-made lake and hill.

[Edit by="mlee on Aug 6, 12:59:09 AM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="mlee on Aug 17, 9:45:24 PM"][/Edit]

[clay dube]

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and his wife Becky visited the Great Wall just before leaving Beijing. Here are photos -- do you recognize the place?
http://www.defense.gov/PhotoEssays/PhotoEssaySS.aspx?ID=1987

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