Gary and Stef in Asia: Update 12 - Peking

I know this has been said a million times by people of a certain age, but it's now very relevant to us, Beijing, Mumbai and Ho Chi Min City don't sound anywhere near is good as Peking, Bombay and Saigon - I'm sure some of you can email me the full explanation as to their name changes.. However, I much preferred the menu containing Peking Duck to Beijing Duck. They didn't rename Paris 'Pareese' or London 'Union Jack City' part way through history...The airport is still denoted 'PEK', but couldn't find any other traces of Peking. Plenty of history to see on this trip to China though and one of the main reasons for wanting to base ourselves here.

The population of Peking is approx 17M. It hosted the 29th Olympiad from 8th to 24th August, 2008 and the final medal tables finished with 1. China, 2. USA, 3. Russia and 4. GBR!

In the 9 days we spent in China, we took so many photos, videos and read so much that I'm splitting these blog posts into 7:-

Update 12 - Peking - The Great Wall
Update 13 - Peking - The Forbidden City
Update 14 - Peking - The Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace and the rest..
Update 15 - Xian - The Walled City
Update 16 - Xian - The Terracotta Army
Update 17 - Guilin Town
Update 18 - From Guilin to Yangshuo River Cruise

We left Hong Kong on Wednesday 3rd February for 5 days in Peking, 2 days in Xian and 2 days in Guilin giving us time to return for Chinese New Year on 14th Feb onwards. Landing in Beijing we got a taxi from the airport for the 28Km drive to our hotel in central Peking. However we hit rush hour which seems to run from 08:00 until 20:00 and we were held up in a traffic jam for so long that everyone got out of their cars and declared a truce and to drive more carefully and be more considerate to one another in future.

I'm with the newly reformed taxi drivers

We were pleased to find some good home cooking

Choose your meal and they'll cook it for you on the spot

Sheeps penis anyone?

Out of picture - snake (in or out of skin), grasshopper, sea horses and many more...

Guess where we are?

Carlo, Stef and Vee miss the opening ceremony by 18 months

Off the motorway, the scenery was more like a national park

Our first eagerly awaited outing was to visit the Great Wall. Its length is 8,851.8 km (5,500 miles) and construction period about 2,000 years from the Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC) to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). We chose to visit the section at Mutianyu which winds 1.4 miles through mountains and high ridges, many sections of which are made of granite. The unique structure makes the wall almost indestructible. It measures 23 to 26 feet high and four to five yards wide. Both of the wall's inner and outer sides have parapets to defend against enemies coming from each side but largely those coming from inner Mongolia.

Click to enlarge for more info..

We got to the wall by chair lift

Stef, me, Mongolian saleswoman, Carlo and Vee

The Great Wall - it's snow and - 2c..

The Great Wall meanders across the landscape

"The Earth looked very beautiful from space, but I did not see our Great Wall," lamented China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, after 21 hours in orbit, in October 2003. The comment triggered a round of news stories that implied the structure could not be seen by any astronaut, disappointing many Chinese who thought it was the only man-made structure visible from space.

Sure, spotting the Great Wall of China from space is easy with the right telescope and camera. But why couldn't China's new hero see it? He just didn't have enough time or the right conditions, it would seem.

"In Earth's orbit at a height of 160 to 320 kilometers [100-200 miles], the Great Wall of China is indeed visible to the naked eye," says astronaut Eugene Cernan.

A low angle of sunlight casting long shadows can help.

"You can see the Great Wall," confirms astronaut Ed Lu, who was the science officer of Expedition Seven on the International Space Station. The station circles Earth higher than Yang Liwei's orbit.

The misconception is wrapped up in broader myths about what is and what is not visible from space. For the record: No man-made structures on Earth can be seen with the unaided astronaut's eye from the Moon. But many things incl. highways, dams and even large vehicles are easily spotted from Earth-orbit with no optical aids.

Our altitude and fitness training paid off ;o)

This is definitely in my all time Top 3 places visited!

We got down from the wall on sledges - what a laugh!!

You didn't believe me did you!

Breath taking!

Nothing prepares you for the Great Wall!

Stef makes light work of it ;o)

Having safely returned by sledge we were attacked by Mongolians

A section of the wall - not yet open..

Looks like building work continues..

And that's it for the Great Wall - we'll definately go back there to other sections also. Why don't you?

On the way back from the 90 minute drive to Peking from the Great Wall, we visited the 13 Ming Tombs at Dingling.