The great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is the largest architectural monument on Earth. Passes through northern China for about 2500 km, and taking into account branches 8851 km. You can visit sections of the Great Wall of China from Beijing.
There is an opinion that the wall was supposed to serve as the extreme northern line of the possible expansion of the Chinese themselves. It was supposed to protect the subjects of the empire from the transition to a semi-nomadic way of life and merging with the barbarians. The wall was supposed to clearly fix the boundaries of Chinese civilization, contribute to the consolidation of a single empire, made up of a number of conquered kingdoms.
The construction of the first wall began in the 3rd century BC. by connecting separate fortified districts into a single defensive line. About a million people took part in the construction. Those sections of the Great Wall that have survived to our time were built mainly during the Ming Dynasty in the period from 1368 to 1644 after the expulsion of the Mongols from China.
In this era, the main building materials were bricks and stone blocks, which were laid using glutinous rice porridge mixed with slaked lime to increase the reliability of the structure. The perimeter of the wall is lined with blocks, the middle is filled with earth, slabs are laid on top, on steep sections - brick steps. The height of the wall varies from 3 to 8 m, the height of the towers is up to 12 m, the width at the base is about 6.5 m, at the top - 5.5 m. The wall runs mainly along the crests of mountain ranges.
The defensive value of the wall did not justify, because. repeatedly overcome by the Mongols, including under the leadership of Genghis Khan.
In 1984, at the initiative of Deng Xiaoping, a program was launched to restore the Great Wall of China, funded by Chinese and foreign companies, as well as individuals.
The popular athletics marathon "The Great Wall" is held annually, in which athletes run part of the distance along the ridge of the Wall.
Contrary to popular advertising thesis, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen with the naked eye from the orbital station, although it is visible on satellite images.
Nevertheless, the Great Wall of China is one of the modern Wonders of the World and a favorite object visited by tourists in China. Currently, three sections of the wall are used for visiting: Badaling (65 km), Mutianyuye (90 km) and Simatae (120 km). Distance from Beijing in brackets.
The section of the wall closest to Beijing is Badaling. Buses and trains run here. You can visit any section of the wall with the help of the "Meeting with the World" travel agency. For 400 yuan they pick up a group of 1 to 9 people from the hotel in the morning. They are taken to any section of the wall, but for 1 day only 1 section. They provide an opportunity to walk along the wall for 2-3 hours. Optional excursion to either the Summer Palace of the Emperors, or the Valley of the 13 Tombs, or the Nest Stadium. For visiting the Wall and other excursions, you have to pay an additional 40 - 80 yuan per person, plus 50 yuan for the road for everyone.
In the program, the obligatory load is the Tea Ceremony, or the Silk Factory, or something else. Program for the whole day. In fact, you are provided with transport and a Russian-speaking translator for 400 yuan. Everything else you have to pay for yourself. Although the tour seems to be individual, it is not possible to agree on seeing 2 or 3 sections of the wall in 1 day. Refuse the tea ceremony too. Under the pretext that the driver needs to eat, they will take you there anyway. When you ask him to talk about Beijing, he replies that he is only an interpreter, not a guide. Ask questions to the driver, cashier or someone else - I will translate. And it is not my function to talk about Beijing.
Photos of the Great Wall of China in Badaling did not turn out very well, because there was fog or haze in the air, see the album. The neighboring slopes of the mountains were poorly visible. At Badaling, the wall descends into the gorge and passes over the dam of the pond.
The photos of the Wall at the Mutanyuye site turned out better, see the album. As Kostya assured, this section of the Wall is the most beautiful. But it goes along a ridge that you have to climb. You can use the cable car: 65 yuan to go up and 15 yuan to slide down the gutter. Usually, on the descent, the queue for the sled takes about 40 minutes. Having climbed the ridge, you can go along the wall to the left for 5 hours until the end of the wall. If you go to the right, then the wall, restored for tourists, will end in 50 minutes.
There are also photos of an unrestored wall, i. e. real natural Great Wall of China. The photo shows that the towers are partially destroyed, there are holes in the walls, there are no steps, the entire road along the wall is overgrown with bushes, although there is a path. The surrounding trees hide the wall and it does not look as impressive from a distance as the restored areas.
But on the other hand, this is the real Great Wall of China, which we really wanted to see.
After visiting the wall, we inevitably return to Beijing to continue our journey through China and move to Xi'an.
