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Asia 2009: Day 10 (Beijing, Part 1)
Posted on October 18th, 2009 1 commentOur ship docked in the city of Xingang, which is one of the busiest ports in China. For cruise ships, Xingang is the gateway to Beijing, which isn’t ideal — it easily takes three hours each way on the bus to get into town. Right next door to Xingang is Tianjin, a city of 12 million that is apparently quite nice (we didn’t see much of it from the bus).
On the first day in Beijing, we took a VERY lengthy bus ride to the Great Wall of China, followed by a brief stop at the Ming Tombs. I’ve wanted to see the Great Wall since I was a kid, and I was not disappointed. Like the Grand Canyon, pictures don’t do the Wall justice. We went to an area that was supposed to be less busy than nearby Badaling, but it was still fairly crowded. This section of the wall is very steep, and not for the faint of heart (literally and figuratively). I climbed most of the way up, before turning back for the bus.
The Ming Tombs were disappointing. The buildings were nice and all, but the stuff inside didn’t excite me very much.
On the way home we passed the Olympic Village, so I tried to snap a few photos of that (with mixed success). I should also mention that the traffic in and around Beijing is worse than everywhere I’ve been — even Los Angeles, I’d say. I’m surprised we survived 13 hours on the bus without getting into an accident!
Photos from day 1 start here:
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- The ship docks in Xingang, which isn’t anywhere near Beijing
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- Mountains near the Great Wall
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- There it is!
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- The wall was VERY steep, not to mention crowded
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- Wide view of another segment of the wall
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- Closer view
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- The height of the steps is inconsistent, which makes climbing them even more difficult
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- Up we go
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- Tibor and Emese before they passed me
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- Are we there yet?
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- Highest bathroom in Beijing
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- I turned around at this point
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- Others joining me in my trek
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- Quite a sight
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- The steep decline begins
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- The long, steep trip back wasn’t great for my bad foot
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- Nice little pagoda
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- Artsy B&W shot
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- Weapons
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- Ming Tombs entrance
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- One of many gates
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- Main building
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- I guess this was the Emperor
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- These tombs were built 600 years ago!
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- Dragon-shaped, 7-star hotel near the Olympic village. Sorry for the crappy quality.
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- The Water Cube, taken from a moving bus
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- The Bird’s Nest
1 responses to “Asia 2009: Day 10 (Beijing, Part 1)”
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“I guess this was the Emperor”
There are over 20 Emperors in the era of Ming. The black-coated statue you saw was the First Emperor of Ming.
The beauty about the tomb is that you have to be a Chinese to appreciate it. Why? Because every single thing in the tomb can mean something else. For eg, notice the concrete surface you walked on it before reaching the main tomb; those unique designs underneath your feet are meant to describe the culture about the Ming China. It is to say that you have to spend the whole day, carefully examine every single piece of artwork on the floor, the wall, the roof, etc, to truly appreciate the Chinese culture.
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Liu October 27th, 2009 at 23:06