HIKING THE GREAT WALL FROM JINSHANLING TO SIMATAI

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Cloudy and misty when we arrived at Jinshanling to do a 10 km trek of the Great Wall, just as we started walking rain started pouring steadily but we went on. Hot and muggy but at least the rain finally stopped. This part of the wall is not as touristy as others but is very tricky, you have to scale up and down hills and in some parts the wall is crumbling so you really have to take it easy, it did not help that the path is slippery due to the rain. Touts follow us selling shirts, books, it's hard to lose them as they can scale the wall with ease amazingly enough, you just hope they get tired of you. Along the way we met some backpackers, a group of nice Israelis whom we had quite a pleasant conversation as we trod on, a young couple from England and another from Sweden. A shot in the dark but hopefully we meet up again in Beijing. There was a reality TV contest filming in one part of the wall near the Simatai section, I did not really paid much attention to them but a few in our group had a chat with them, apparently it's a Scandinavian TV show, couples compete against each other on who gets to Beijing from Moscow with no money at all contestants are all from Scandinavia, for those interested I have to ask Penny for the website in case people want to have a look. And i bet you want to have a look as they are really good looking girls.. Anyhow, we finished the trek and retired in our hotel in Huairou. The next morning we were supposed to scale the wall again in Mutianyu but was pouring down so we decided to head straight to our next destination a town called Qing Dong Ling where we had a look at the Eastern Qing tombs. There was nothing really to do in this town and we were bored for 2 days, the tombs are nice but i got tombed out pretty quickly, honestly they all look the same to me.To pass the time by we got drunk the night we got there and did some silly things,we head off to Beijing the next day.


Qing tombs:

The Eastern Qing Tombs, which is among the finest, best-preserved and largest of the extant tomb complexes in China, is located along Changrui Mountain in the west of Malanyu Town, Zunhua County, Hebei Province. Along the south side of Changrui Mountain, the tombs of five emperors, four empresses, five imperial concubines, and one princess are arrayed based on the traditional concept of placing the most senior and most distinguished in the center.

Xiaoling, the tomb of Emperor Shunzhi (1638-1661, the first Qing emperor to rule China), is aligned with the axis of the main apex of Changrui Mountain, which indicates that the person buried there is the most exalted in the group. Other emperors' tombs lie on both sides of Xiaoling in a fan pattern from east to west according to the position each person occupied in the family hierarchy. The tombs of empresses and concubines are placed alongside those of their husbands, clearly showing the master-subject relationship that they had in life. Sacred ways connect the tombs of the women with those of their husbands, and the sacred ways of the tombs of the other emperors connect with that of Xiaoling. Thus a branch-like system is formed, showing clearly the relationship of the rulers to their heirs.
Of all the tombs, Xiaoling is the biggest and most elaborate, standing as the focal point of the entire structure. The grandeur of this tomb may be attributed to its having been the first sepulcher constructed for a member of the royal family of the Qing Dynasty, so the builders hoped to set the tone for a prosperous future. Crossing through the Great Red Gate, you can see buildings of different sizes, all with roofs of yellow glazed tile.

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Photos

JINSHANLING TO SIMATAI GREAT WALL TREK
ANGUS ON THE GREAT WALL

JINSHANLING TO SIMATAI GREAT WALL TREK
ME

Comments

[Alyce13]

Great Photos!
Love all the photos!