Beijing - day 1

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We woke this morning in the port suburb of Tianjin under murky skies - fog/smog. After waiting for about 1½ hrs for local customs clearance, we started on the 3 hr bus trip to Beijing and the Great Wall. The traffic to Beijing was so bad we had lunch before we got to the wall. The Chinese banquet lunch was jummy! About 3.00pm we reached the wall at Juyaugan which apparently is one of four places that tours use for seeing the Great Wall. It wasn’t what I thought is was going to be - it’s a very steep hill of rising steps up to a guard post. Then after that, it starts again the same way, and on and on it goes upwards. The wall is about 10M above the rocky mountain terrain all the time but its pretty straight as it winds its way up, over and down gullies, after mountain after mountain. They say its 8,000km in length and was built in the 1400s. Maurs walked further up to about the third guard tower which is a long way. I was surprised the older passengers even made it to the first guard tower. After taking many pictures we moved on to the Ming Tombs which is where the emperors were buried. By the time we got there, it was nearing dusk and in the end, nothing was there to see except empty buildings. The trip back to the boat was just as difficult as the trip into Beijing, and we got back real late at about 10.30pm.
Remaining unanswered question - why do the arrow turrets on The Great Wall point towards Beijing and not to the other side to face the potentail invaders ?

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Photos

The Great Wall
It meanders over 8000km

The steps close up
Can you see the wear marks and the variable height risers to the steps

The Ming Tombs
The emperors burial site

Comments

[Bryan]

Juyongguan
"Remaining unanswered question - why do the arrow turrets on The Great Wall point towards Beijing and not to the other side to face the potentail invaders" You went to Juyongguan, which is essentially a circular fortress, so the battlements face outwards on all sides. That means they face Beijing on the south side. Bryan at greatwallforum greatwalforum.com

[MG1666]

Juyongguan
Hi Bryan, What you said about the southward facing arrow turrets makes sense. Defenders can protect the inside of the self contained fort from outside invaders. I have tried to find a map of that area, so I can see how the fortress works in the context of the big picture of the great wall. So I expect that the fort must have been a stand alone arrangement with the great wall either to to the south or north protecting in Beijing. Do you know of a map that kind of shows how it all worked - I have searched the web and haven't been able to come up with anything. Thanks Geoff

[Bryan]

Great Wall map
Hi Geoff, you can find the map at www.greatwallforum.com. Juyongguan, where you visited, is a short distance south of the inner line of the Great Wall at Shixiaguan, Badaling, Qinglongqiao, Shuiguan, etc. There's also an outer loop that splits off at Jiankou and heads towards Zhangjiakou and to the west from there. I hope you'll join the Great Wall Forum and discuss your questions and share your photos there with our many knowledgeable members. Thanks! -Bryan