Great Wall
September 27, 2005
After Tian anamen Square, we went to our hotel, the Shangri-La China World Hotel. It is a very modern and upscale hotel in downtown Beijing. We had a wonderful 8-course meal in the Summer Palace dining room. We literally ate like emperors for $70. Attached to the hotel is a shopping mall where you can stock up on any needed items.
I have been waiting a long time for this because 1) It is on my list of sights to see in my life and 2) I have been hiding an engagement ring for Stacey since we left Ft. Lauderdale a week ago.
We woke up early and got breakfast in the hotel. I changed the hiding place from the video camera case to my pants pocket. It seemed like every five minutes I was checking my pocket to make sure I didn’t loose the ring. This is nerve racking. Got on the bus for the hour drive to the Badaling part of the Great Wall.
Along the way you begin to see parts of the wall going atop and across mountain peaks. Once you get to the Badaling entrance you walk past many stalls of people selling tourist garbage. Then you arrive at the wall gate and walk up narrow but steep stairs to get to the top of the wall. Once at the top, the wall itself is probably 20 feet wide. I wanted to get to a more secluded area to ask Stacey to marry me. I didn’t want to do it in front of a thousand people, so I asked her if she wanted to climb to the top of the hill. It was a hell of a hill with the wall going up 70 degrees at some points. When we got to the tower at the top of the hill there was still too many people around so I started to walk down the other side. There were not too many people down there. About 100 yards down the hill from the tower I stopped and waited for Stacey to catch up. Once she caught up, I took her and told her I loved her. I gave her a kiss and then got down on my knee and asked her to marry me. I can’t remember exactly what I said as I was nervous. It must have been pretty good because she said “yes”. We kissed some more and walked back to the gate to get off the wall.
We took some great pictures, but they were not with a digital camera. After getting off the wall we looked at the tourist garbage for sale for a few minutes and then got back on the bus.
Ming Tombs.
The day tour took us to the Ming Tombs. There are 13 Ming emperors entombed here. The tombs themselves are not much to look at. After all, they are tombs. The background history the guide gives is semi-interesting. However the road leading into the tomb area is quite nice. It is lined with willow trees and stone statues of animals and people. Do not cut your Great Wall time to see the Tombs.
We woke up early and got breakfast in the hotel. I changed the hiding place from the video camera case to my pants pocket. It seemed like every five minutes I was checking my pocket to make sure I didn’t loose the ring. This is nerve racking. Got on the bus for the hour drive to the Badaling part of the Great Wall.
Along the way you begin to see parts of the wall going atop and across mountain peaks. Once you get to the Badaling entrance you walk past many stalls of people selling tourist garbage. Then you arrive at the wall gate and walk up narrow but steep stairs to get to the top of the wall. Once at the top, the wall itself is probably 20 feet wide. I wanted to get to a more secluded area to ask Stacey to marry me. I didn’t want to do it in front of a thousand people, so I asked her if she wanted to climb to the top of the hill. It was a hell of a hill with the wall going up 70 degrees at some points. When we got to the tower at the top of the hill there was still too many people around so I started to walk down the other side. There were not too many people down there. About 100 yards down the hill from the tower I stopped and waited for Stacey to catch up. Once she caught up, I took her and told her I loved her. I gave her a kiss and then got down on my knee and asked her to marry me. I can’t remember exactly what I said as I was nervous. It must have been pretty good because she said “yes”. We kissed some more and walked back to the gate to get off the wall.
We took some great pictures, but they were not with a digital camera. After getting off the wall we looked at the tourist garbage for sale for a few minutes and then got back on the bus.
Ming Tombs.
The day tour took us to the Ming Tombs. There are 13 Ming emperors entombed here. The tombs themselves are not much to look at. After all, they are tombs. The background history the guide gives is semi-interesting. However the road leading into the tomb area is quite nice. It is lined with willow trees and stone statues of animals and people. Do not cut your Great Wall time to see the Tombs.
|
|
|||
|
|
You need to be logged in to leave comments and smiles. Becoming a member is free and easy — Join the TravBuddy Community!
