Part 1 - "A 2nd Day in Beijing: The Great Wall, Jade and Olympic Park"

I'd love to say today dawned bright and clear for my visit to the Great Wall but in fact it was the exact opposite.  Not only did we have the usual smog (which reduces visibility) to contend with, but it was also pouring rain!!  😕 So although my photos are neither numerous nor particularly clear, the memories in my brain are wonderful!  And although I didn't buy one, I could now proudly wear a t-shirt exclaiming: "I Climbed the Great Wall of China".

The section of the Great Wall that I climbed is located about 65 kms north of Beijing - so as always, a few photos as we were driving along:

The New China Central Television ( CCTV ) Tower - headquarters for all the cctv in Beijing

The Great Wall, one of the greatest wonders of the world, was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.  Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching for approximately 8,900 kilometres from east to west of China.  If you include all the sections of the wall, including everywhere where it loops etc., the entire length of the Great Wall is reported to be approximately 22,000 kms.

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China, primarily to protect the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces.  Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC; these, later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall.  Especially famous is the section of wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, although little of that wall remains today.  Since then, the Great Wall has been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; with the majority of the existing wall constructed during the Ming Dynasty.

Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified China in 221 BC, establishing the Qin Dynasty.  Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of any previous walls that had been built and now divided his empire.  To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north, he ordered the building of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's new northern frontier.  Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources.  Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains.  There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls.  Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today.  The human cost of the construction is unknown, but it has been estimated that hundreds of thousands, if not up to a million, workers died building the Qin wall.  Later, the Han, Sui and Northern dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the Great Wall, at great cost, to defend themselves against northern invaders.  The Tang and Song Dynasties did not build any walls in the region.  Similarly, the Liao, Jin and Yuan dynasties, who ruled throughout most of the 10-13th centuries, carried out limited repairs of the Great Wall, in a few areas, but didn't add to the wall with any new building.

The building of the Great Wall was revived again during the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century - The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper hand over the Manchurian and Mongolian tribes after successive battles, and the long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire.  The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China.   Unlike the earlier Qin fortifications, the Ming construction was stronger and more elaborate due to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth.  Up to 25,000 watchtowers are estimated to have been constructed on the wall.  As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce the walls.  Sections near the Ming capital of Beijing were especially strong.

Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600.  The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, and they quickly seized Beijing, establishing the Qing Dynasty rule over all of China.  Under Qing rule, China's borders extended beyond the walls and Mongolia was annexed into the empire, so construction and repairs on the Great Wall were discontinued.

The section of the Great Wall that I went to today is known as Juyongguan Pass.  Situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, Juyongguan Pass has long been a military stronghold.  As early as the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC) and Warring States Period (476 - 221 BC), the Yan State built fortifications here.  Immediately after the founding of his reign (which began in 1368), Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, ordered the pass to be rebuilt to protect the borders from intrusions of the Mongolian tribe.  Many fierce battles were fought here.  

As I said, weather-wise it was miserable today so I don't have very many photos, but climbing the Great Wall was still a wonderful experience. (And hopefully if I ever have the chance to go back, it will be sunny for my next visit.)

"You are not a man until you have climbed the Great Wall" was uttered by Mao during one of his visits to the Wall, and that is what is inscribed on this tablet.

After leaving the Great Wall we went to a jade factory to learn all about this ornamental stone.

The history of jade is as long as the Chinese civilization and archaeologists have found jade objects from the early Neolithic period (about 5000 BC).   Jade was made into sacrificial vessels, tools, ornaments, utensils and many other items.  There were ancient music instruments made out of jade, such as jade flute, yuxiao (a vertical jade flute) and jade chime.  Jade was also mysterious to the Chinese in ancient times so jade wares were popular as sacrificial vessels and were often buried with the dead.

The Chinese metaphorically equated jade with human virtues because of its hardness, durability, and (moral) beauty.  Jade was prized by the Chinese for its durability, its musical qualities, its subtle, translucent colours, and its alleged protective powers - it was thought to prevent fatigue and delay the decomposition of the body.

For all of you geologists reading this, the term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals; nephrite and jadeite. Jadeite has about the same hardness as quartz, while nephrite is somewhat softer.  It was not until the 19th century that a French mineralogist determined that "jade" was in fact two different minerals.
Nephrite can be found in a creamy white form (known in China as "mutton fat" jade) as well as in a variety of green colours, whereas jadeite shows more colour variations, including blue, lavender-mauve, pink, and emerald-green colours.  Of the two, jadeite is rarer, documented in fewer than 12 places worldwide. Translucent emerald-green jadeite is the most prized variety, both historically and today.

There is a Chinese saying: "Gold has a value; jade is invaluable."  Thankfully jade wasn't totally invaluable because I did have to do a bit of shopping!

After leaving the jade factory we stopped for a quick visit at The Olympic Green, the site constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics which were held in Beijing.

The Beijing National Stadium or "Bird's Nest" was the centrepiece of these Olympics.  It hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics and football (soccer) finals of the Games.  The stadium has room for 91,000 spectators, but the capacity was reduced to 80,000 after the Olympics.

The Beijing National Aquatics Centre or "Water Cube" hosted the swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events. It has a capacity of 17,000 (reduced to 6,000 after the Olympics) and is located next to the National Stadium.

The Ling Long Pagoda or Linglong Tower housed the international media.  "Ling Long" means delicate, and the building is referred to as the Delicate Tower in Chinese.  The permanent structure is a three-sided tower.  The tower contains 6 occupiable pods with open space in between.  One of the pods displays the Olympic rings.  It is 128m tall, with 7 occupiable floors, each an equilateral triangle.  The floors are each subdivided into two levels and the glass-walled pods are held up by three supporting ribs at the three corners.

Next I was on my way to another amazing historical landmark in Beijing ... stay tuned for Part 2 of my second day here in Beijing.