Xingang and Beijing, China

Xingang, China
11/7-11/9

Just an overnight cruise from Dalian, we arrived in Xingang late morning. Not wanting to miss anything, and even though our big sightseeing trip to Bejing was scheduled for the next day, Martha and I decided to go ashore. By the time we left the ship (we had to finish a very intense game of Scrabble) all the taxis had left the dock, so we had a nice little hike to the gate (no one asked to see our passports so we just walked out) and found a taxi there. Of course he didn't speak any English (and our Chinese is really rusty) so we got by with showing him the little book listing a Seamen's Club in Xingang, and off we went. Turns out he had no idea what the Seamen's Club was or where it was (it was all in English) so he stopped at a small shop and took Martha in with him. We assumed someone there spoke English but it was very little so off we went again. Leafing through the book, I found a page written in Chinese (actually a page each in several foreigh languages) explaining what the club was all about. After showing him that, he drove on and later pulled up in front of a large hotel where the manager came out and interpreted for us. The manager knew about the club and its location and directed the driver to take us there. Ten minutes later, he pulled up in front of a large building which read "Seamen's Club and Disco" so we parked and entered a very run-down but once-beautiful space. It looked deserted and a man appeared and said in English "It's closed." I asked when it would open. He said "Never. It's finished." So much for our hopes of checking email and posting another blog. We headed back to the ship but enroute spotted a small shop with a sign: "Seamen's Friend's Store". The driver stopped and accompanied us but it was just a sort of convenience/electronics/souvenir shop (no internet cafe) so we continued on back to the ship. Just another adventure in another foreign port.

4:30 AM is early for anyone but particularly for us non-morning people. But, we wouldn't have missed this trip for anything so we departed the ship in the dark fog and eight of us boarded a van headed for Bejing and a day of major sightseeing. The trip was supposed to take three hours each way but we left at 5 and arrived in Bejing at 11 AM, with one potty stop at a highway toll booth.

The Great Wall is amazing! Actually, just the thought of being in this huge country that we've all heard about since we were children ("Eat your vegetables, there are children in China who are starving." or "If you keep digging that hole, you'll end up in China.") and the pull-down map on the school room wall showing this huge area a world away where the people look so different and not even their alphabet was the same as ours. To finally see this place is a dream is a dream come true.

Those of you who have been to The Great Wall, can skip this paragraph.
The Wall starts in the east at the Yalu River in Liaoning Province and stretches westwards for 12,700 kilometers (7,620 miles) to Jiayuguan in the Gobi desert. It climbs up and town, twists and turns along the ridges of two mountain chains through five provinces, binding northern China together. Construction began in 656 B.C. and continued throughout the Warring States Period in fifth century B.C. when this area was being plundered by nomadic people of the north mountain ranges. Through many centuries since then, succeeding dynasties maintained the Wall and most recently during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) it was extensively rennovated to the Wall we see today. It's about 24 feet high and and 17 feet wide (enough for five horses to gallop abreast). There are ramparts and peep-holes for archers on the top and gutters with gargoyles to drain rain-water off the parapet walk. Two-story watch towers are at 1200-foot intervals, the top stories for observing enemy movements and the first for storing grain, fodder, military equipment and gunpowder. The highest watch tower, at Badaling, is reached only after a steep climb (known as "climbing the ladder to heaven"). Smoke signals were used to pass messages the length of the wall from one tower to the next. In 1987, the Wall was listed by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site - along with such places as Taj Mahal in India, the Hanging Gardens of babylon and Sanscrit.
The portion of the wall we visited was the Badaling section, where we began by taking a cable car to the highest peak. Some of us actually climbed the "ladder to heaven" and didn't even buy the t-shirt claiming that feat.

The Forbidden City, which is a walled city within the city of Beijing, is (historically and artistically) one of the most comprehensive Chinese museums. It's on the grounds of the Imperial Palace and was the center of two dynasties: The Ming and the Qing. It covers over 1,000,000 square meters and we walked all of it - the inner and outer courts where thate are throne halls of: Supreme Harmony, Central Harmony and Preserving Harmony. Also halls of Literary Brillance and Martial Valor. We saw the beautiful Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, and the Imperial Garden. You could easily spend a full day here but we were able to breeze through in a mere three hours.

After a long walk, along Tiennaman Square and several sity blocks, we arrived at a beautiful shopping district which streets are closed to traffic. After a fantastic dinner at a well-known duck restaurant, where we had (of course) Peking Duck (or is it now called Bejing Duck? Anyway, it was so delicious - crisp roasted and served table-side with lots of interesting side dishes. We were all quite exhausted, but had just enough energy for a hour of shopping after dinner before boarding the van for our drive home. Luckily, with no fog and little traffic, we made it back in two and a half hours. Another wonderful day of sightseeing.