Our second tour day took us to the Great Wall and Ming Tombs.
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| Great Wall of China |
We started the day by visiting the Ming Tombs. This UNESCO World Heritage site is also known as the 13 Ming Tombs because 13 emperors from the Ming Dynasty are buried here.
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| Ming Tombs |
I remember going into some of the tombs. I vaguely remember our tour guide telling us that there are some false tombs around the complex. I can't recall what the purpose of these were - was it to confuse possible intruders? - but I did have my photo taken in front of one of them.
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| A false tomb entrance at the Ming Tombs |
The afternoon was dedicated to the Great Wall of China. This was the part of my trip I was most excited about.
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| Highlight of my trip: visiting the Great Wall |
The entire wall is almost 22,000 kilometers long so there are many sections that people can go to visit. I'm not sure which one we went to. But if memory serves me right, there were seven towers we could access, the last of which was at the peak of the mountain, and our tour guide encouraged us to go to walk all the way to the top. I can't be sure if all of us made our way to the last tower but I do know I was in a group of five that did.
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| On my way up the mountain |
Since the wall goes up the slope of a mountain, it actually resembles steps. The physical activity of visiting all seven towers and going up the mountain made this Great Wall experience even more rewarding and memorable. The view from the peak was awesome and the sense of achievement made it even more enjoyable.
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| Lots of people heading up and down the Great Wall |
It probably took about 1 1/2 to 2 hour to get to the end, mostly because we would always stop to appreciate the views and to take photos. It was only our second day and we had a lot more sights to see but I was really happy that I finally got to see the Great Wall.
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| View from the peak |
Next post: Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, and Forbidden City
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