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China - The Middle Kingdom The Great Wall of China at Badaling |
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| The Great Wall of China at Badaling - View of the South West section from the third watchtower. One of the many sections of the Great Wall near Beijing, this wall section is 67km NW of Beijing. Restored for about 3 km, after that it becomes ruins of mud, rock and stone with natural overgrowth. It was during the Ming Dynasty where stone and granite were used to reinforce the ancient mud and rock walls from previous dynasties going back to the Zhou Dynasty 1000 B.C. | |
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| Watchtower View - Closer view of the south west section from the second watchtower. | |
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| Ground View - SW section up close from the valley at ground level. | |
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| North East Section - The other section of the Great Wall at Badaling, this section is open in the summer and fall, it is the steeper of the two. In the winter and spring the other section is open. | |
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| Guard Duty - Rack of ancient Chinese long weapons - Long-Handled Saber (Da Dao), Spade (Chan), Spear (Qiang), Fork/Trident (San Cha), Long-Handled Battle Axe (Yue), Lamp Staff (Deng Zhang), Horse Halberd (Ma Ji), Upright Melon Staff (Li Gua), Elephant Nose Long-Handled Saber (Xiang-Bi Da Dao), Ring Spear (Quan Qiang), Rod (Gun), Bone Flower Staff (Gu Du). | |
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| Steep Climb - Much like climbing the CN Tower, it is deceptive and after one long flight most people are panting and exhausted like my Dad. Notice how everyone stays close to the hand railings, the stones are well worn on each side but not in the middle. View looking down on the NE section. | Higher View - Mom is coming up slowly from the rear. |
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| First Way Station - 15 minutes to get here. | Reward for Climbing - This is a strategic rest station built for tourists. Just as you feel you want to quit after passing the first watchtower, you surprisingly can purchase a certificate to reward you for your efforts. We did the cheap way and just took a photo ourselves. Most people dared to go on to at least the first tower, very few ventured past that. |
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| Dare to Struggle and Dare to Win - Dad in the second watchtower After 20 minutes of climbing we made it to the second watchtower. | Is It Half Way Up or Half Way Down? - Yin-Han, Karen, and me. 10 minutes later we reached the third watchtower, unfortunately we had only an hour left and had to turn around. |
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© 2002-2005 Stanley Yee |
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