Going to Great Lengths

The Great Wall stretches over 13,000 miles across northern China

Long, steep sections of the Wall are lined with
battlements and connect watch towers

The history, size and sheer influence of the People's Republic of China typically evokes many different images, but likely none more famous than the Great Wall.  Although Jeff and I have traveled throughout Asia during our time in Hong Kong, our visits across the border to Mainland China have been limited for a few reasons. First, visa requirements for U.S. citizens were difficult until early this year, and air traffic conditions are notorious, leading to some spectacular delays at times. Finally, Jeff travels to the Mainland for business, and I've been reluctant to make him go back during his leisure time. Although I was able to visit a section of the Great Wall during a trip to China almost two years ago, it also occurred to me that spending two years in China without seeing it would be a big missed opportunity for Jeff. Recently, I convinced him to tack a weekend onto one of his business trips so I could join him, giving us both a chance to see the Great Wall and some of Beijing's other landmarks. 

The length of the Great Wall is one of its most striking features.  Stretching 13,171 miles through nine provinces across northern China, the length of the Wall is nearly five times the distance from Los Angeles to New York.  Its easternmost section starts in Liaoning Province along the Yalu River bordering North Korea where visitors are warned not to stray across the border lest they encounter well-armed and unwelcoming border guards. 

Periodic watch towers along the the Wall
provide spectacular views in all directions

From there, the Wall stretches west to Gansu Province, where its two final gates, Yumen Guan ("Jade Gate Pass") and Yang Guan ("Sun Pass") were trading posts along the Silk Road corridor that connected Asian merchants to those in the west. From its westernmost point, the end of the Great Wall sits just 1,600 miles from the border of Kazakhstan.

Initially, the Great Wall was a series of defensive barricades erected by various independent kingdoms to protect themselves from invasion by Eurasian nomadic tribes. The earliest sections of the Wall date to the 7th Century B.C.  Eventually these sections were joined together and ambitious extensions of the Great Wall were undertaken by the Qin (221-206 B.C.) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties.  Although exact numbers will never be known, thousands of workers were involved in constructing the Wall over the years, many of them political prisoners.  The work was difficult and dangerous, and many of the workers perished on the job. The Travel China Guide reports that workers who died were simply buried in the Wall to save on funeral expenses, because the bones of the deceased made for good building materials and "to intimidate the avenging spirits of those who died."

The Great Wall at Mutianyu has undergone extensive restoration

The condition of the Great Wall varies dramatically across its length.  The passage of time, exposure to the elements and damage from humans have caused sections to disappear altogether.  At one point, even Mao Zedong encouraged peasants to raid the Wall as a source of building materials. The Wall was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, and its cultural and economic value is clearly understood by the Chinese, who have been working to preserve and restore it since the early 1980s. The government has enacted a number of laws to protect it and launched efforts to reconstruct portions of it.  Most of the sections that remain today date from the Ming era.  Jeff and I visited a section of the Wall at Mutianyu, an area about 45 miles north of Beijing that is known for its beautiful scenery.

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Access to Tiananmen Square was restricted, and the Forbidden City was closed for parade preparations

Our brief stay in Beijing was during the week leading up to a major military parade to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victory over the Japanese in 1945.  As a result, central Beijing was in a virtual lockdown, with access to Tiananmen Square heavily restricted and the Forbidden City closed to visitors.  The elimination of those destinations from our agenda gave us a reason to explore a couple of other sites that were suggested by a colleague at work.

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest is an all-wood structure constructed without nails

On the south side of Beijing is the Temple of Heaven Park.  Dating to 1420, the Temple was used by the emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties to worship and offer sacrifices to pray for a successful harvest.  At 675 acres, the park is larger than the Forbidden City and takes a few hours to visit.  Based on Confucian design principles, the temple is actually more of an altar than a traditional temple.  Most of the structures that survive in the park today date from the Qing era and include a mix of round temple halls and square bases methodically arranged within the park land that is scattered with 4,000 knotted cypress trees, some as old as 800 years.  The highlight of the park sits near the north end and is the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.  The original structure, which was built in 1420, burned after it was struck by lightning in 1889.  Reconstructed a year later, the replacement is considered to be a true representation of the original and is a beautiful, three-tiered, structure constructed entirely of wood, without the use of nails, atop a three-tiered marble base. 

The Imperial Vault of Heaven is surrounded by the Echo or "Whisper" Wall

About one-quarter mile to the south and connected by a raised walkway is the Imperial Vault of Heaven, a round pavilion that dates to 1530 and is surrounded by the Echo Wall.  Also known as the Whisper Wall, it is said that a whisper will travel from one end of its 633 feet and be clearly heard on the other end.  

Looking north from the Round Altar, which was designed around the number nine

At the southern end of the Temple of Heaven Park's north-south walkway is the Circular Mound (or Round) Altar, which also dates to 1530.  Rebuilt in 1740, it is an open, three-tiered structure of white marble designed around the number nine.  The Ancient Chinese believed that odd numbers represented masculinity and even numbers represented femininity.  As the single largest odd-numbered digit, nine was considered the ultimate in masculinity and therefore used extensively in Imperial-era construction as a means of reinforcing the sovereignty of the emperor. 

An incense burner at Yonghe Gong

A statue of Tsong Khapa, founder of Gelug Buddhism was
spared from destruction during the Cultural Revolution 

Beijing is not generally known for having great temples to visit, but it does have the distinction of being home to Yonghe Gong, one of the most renowned Tibetan Buddhist temples outside of Tibet. In Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhism, monks or spiritual leaders are referred to as Lamas. Because Yonghe Gong is a monastery, it is sometimes also referred to as "Yonghe Lamasery" or just "Lama Temple." Yonghe Gong means "palace of peace and harmony" which is fitting, given that its ornate structures create a calm setting within otherwise bustling Beijing. Dating to 1694, Yonghe Gong is made up of five Han Chinese and Tibetan halls filled with historic art.  Between the halls are peaceful courtyards containing smaller pavilions, incense burners, and prayer wheels.  During the Cultural Revolution, the Central Committee pursued a policy of destroying the "Four Olds" consisting of old customs, old culture, old habits and old ideas. Numerous temples were destroyed under this policy, but Yonghe Gong is said to have been spared due to the intervention of Premier Zhou Enlai. 

Chefs carve Beijing Duck at Jinbaiwan Roast Duck Shunyi Branch

Beijing Duck served with traditional condiments

Since our weekend was about experiencing Beijing, we decided we couldn't leave without trying out some Peking (or Beijing as it's now called) Duck. With a little online research, we found a restaurant that would give us a truly local experience.  When we arrived, we were pleased to discover we were the only Westerners there.  Although ordering our food involved a comedy of pointing, gesturing and picture-drawing, our efforts were rewarded with a delicious dinner.

It's not difficult to find reasons to avoid Beijing.  The prospect of air traffic delays, urban congestion, horrible air quality and government red tape add up to make make one feel like it may not be worth the effort.  But in our brief weekend there, we avoided most of these problems and were rewarded by seeing some of Beijing's most enduring landmarks without having to go to great lengths for the experience.