The Wall

I’ve travelled to China 5 times in my life and three of those trips hold special significance.

My first trip, in 2002, was special for two reasons. First, it was my first time on an overseas trip but second and more important was the fact that I met my future wife on that trip.

You can read about our meeting in my story, Lucky Man.

My third trip to China was in 2003 and changed my life forever. That trip was the most important of my life as it was the one, on which, I married the holder of my heart.

My fifth trip, in 2016, was the last time I was there and created one of my most treasured memories. It was the trip that I scratched an awe-inspiring item off my bucket list. I visited the Great Wall of China.

In April 2016 my wife and I were scheduled to meet some friends and family at a trade show in Beijing as we were trying to set up a business there. When we went to purchase our travel tickets at our usual agent we were offered an add-on we couldn’t resist. For an extra $500 we could book a tour of Beijing and the surrounding area that included all the major attractions. It would extend our trip by a week and included accommodations at a five-star hotel and guided tours each day. The tours included Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven, The Summer Palace and The Great Wall.

On the night before we would separate from our friends, and begin our tour, they took us out for a special dinner that included a private show. It was a wonderful time with friends and good food but the highlight of the evening was the young man that entertained us by playing an ancient Instrument called a, Morin Khuur.

The Morin Khuur, also known as the horse-head fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is a square, two-string, type of violin with a long, straight neck, curved at the tip and topped with a sculpted horse's head. It’s supposed to represent the movement and sounds of a horse. An interesting fact about this instrument is that one string is “male” made with 130 hairs from a stallion's tail while the other is “female” made with 105 hairs from a mare's tail.

In the right hands, this instrument produces sounds that will move you. Below is a short video of our dinner party, showing that the Morin Khuur was in the right hands that night.

The first day of our tour included a trip to Tiananmen Square followed by a short walk across the street to the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and was the former Chinese imperial palace and winter residence of the Emperor of China from the Ming dynasty (since the Yongle Emperor) to the end of the Qing dynasty, between 1420 and 1924. The Forbidden City served as the home of Chinese emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of the Chinese government for over 500 years.

Below is a short video I took in Tiananmen Square followed by pictures from the Forbidden City. Please note at the beginning of the video the camera is pointed towards the Forbidden City across the street. Also later in the video, my wife is the lady in an orange sweater standing with the tour group.

We literally had to just walk across the street.

Our next day included some shopping and a trip to the Summer Palace.

The Summer Palace, in northwest Beijing, is said to be the best-preserved imperial garden in the world, and the largest of its kind still in existence in China. It is only a short drive (15 km) from central Beijing, but seems like another world.

In 1750, the grand Summer Palace was commissioned by Emperor Qianlong as a lavish lakeside retreat from the heat of Beijing. With pavilions, walkways, gardens, and bridges, the UNESCO World Heritage site on Kunming Lake served as the seat of government for Empress Dowager Cixi during the last years of her life.

Below are pictures from our visit to the Summer Palace.

For the next couple of days we toured older parts of Beijing that included an ancient flea market and a tea shop that was 200 years old. We spent an afternoon at an old downtown theatre watching a thrilling acrobat show before a driving tour of the city at night, which was spectacular.

Our next main stop and the last one before our day trip to the Great Wall was a beautiful site called, The Temple of Heaven.

The Temple of Heaven is an imperial complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest. The Temple of Heaven was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."

The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is a magnificent triple-gabled circular building, 36 m (118 ft) in diameter and 38 m (125 ft) tall, built on three levels of marble stone base, where the Emperor prayed for good harvests. See the picture below.

The final day of our tour and the one I’ve been waiting for finally arrives. I guess they save the best for last.

Here are some facts about The Great Wall of China.

1. The Great Wall of China became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1987.

2. The wall is the longest man-made structure in the world, with a total length of about 13170.7 mi or 21196.18 km.

3. Made over the course of hundreds of years, the wall was built by over 6 different Chinese dynasties, and is over 2,300 years old. The most famous of the dynasties was the Qin dynasty, during which the northern walls were connected.

Apart from minor restoration, no work has been done on the wall since 1644.

The Gods smiled on us the day of our visit to the wall as it began with rain but by the time we arrived the clouds had cleared and left us with a beautiful blue sky day.

Below is a short video and some pictures from our day at the wall; a day I will never forget.

The mind-boggling size of this project and the time it took to build it is awe-inspiring. It shows what can be done by us as humans if we are determined to do it.

All photos and videos in this story are by the Author.