Beijing Last Blast – a Palace, a Temple and a Great Wall
Well it’s our last day in China and have we got some sights today!
Our first visit this morning is to the Temple of Heaven – a masterpiece of Ming dynasty architecture and made entirely of wood, the main tall round building supported by 28 huge wooden pillars. It was built by the third Emperor as the setting for the most important rituals designed to ensure the continued Ming dynasty rule. Symbolising heaven and earth, the enclosure of the temple is round at the north and square at the south.
Our next stop was at the Summer Palace, this had been a rather expensive dream of the notorious Empress Dowager Cixi. Notorious – as with the money that was intended for building a naval fleet – she constructed the Garden of Cultivated Harmony or the Summer Palace. The Kunming Lake (almost completely frozen when we visited) covers three quarters of the total area of more than 12 square miles.
The Summer Palace is also famous for the Long Corridor – 728 metres – built in the 1750s and decorated with over 14,000 paintings.
We then had a lunch stop on our way to the Wall, not sure of the restaurant name but it was set in a large greenhouse, lots of plants and some huge mosquitos flying around above head-level… This fabulous carving was on display in the entrance.
Last but certainly not least was our trip to the Great Wall – we visited the section at Mutianyu with its cable car.
We had about 90 minutes to explore as much of the wall as we could. It sounds like a long time but with steps up and down and varying in steepness, plus even the ‘flat’ bits weren’t flat – it was quite tiring. However luckily there was no icy wind which we’d expected, this did make it quite hazy though.
We even saw some cats up there scavenging through the litter bins…
The Great Wall is China’s most traditional defensive line against the people of the north in Mongolia. It stretches over 3,700 miles from the Gulf of Bohai to the west in Gansu Province. Originally built in small sections by individual feudal states in the fifth century BC, the wall was later linked together by China’s first Emperor – Qin Shi Huangdi. He had previously unified the whole of China during the third century BC. It has been renovated and rebuilt many times since then – it is reportedly the only man-made structure visible from space. It really is one of the true Wonders of the World.
On our way back we encountered two completely frozen waterfalls which were quite spectacular and there was a couple sat out in the middle of the lake having photos taken!
Back to the hotel and a final pack, should definitely have left more room in my suitcase for purchases as it’s been quite a squash to fit it all in. Our final dinner, a Peking Duck treat at Hua’s restaurant, with a bottle of ‘stronger than expected’ rice wine, an excellent last evening in China.
Next morning and after breakfast it’s our flight home to London – 10½ hours…
I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing our trip to China, thank you for reading and goodbye for now…
Aunins Aboard 