Beijing Day 4

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Tuesday was our last full day in Beijing, so we headed out to the countryside to check out the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. Here's a surreal experience- Mutianyu, the section of the wall that we visited, is serviced by a chairlift and toboggan. Above is the chairlift taking us up to the wall and below is us on the lift.
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A section of the wall.
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The wall was quite steep, as it runs atop the ridgeline of the mountains.
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As we hiked along the wall we came to small fortifications every quarter mile or so, sometimes less. The fortifications generally had a few rooms on the first floor, and an open area on the roof, which was a good place to take a break.
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Looking out at the wall from inside one of the fortifications.
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On the wall. The Chinese term for the Great Wall is long castle or long fortress, and while walking along the wall we came to understand how that is a better description than the English term Great Wall.
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Looking to the north, the Mongolians would have had to cross this mountain range and then overtake the wall. Eesh. You can see a distant section of the wall in the middle of the photo. As we hiked I came to feel that I was repeatedly viewing the same thing, yet I also had a contradictory feeling that I hadn't seen enough of the wall to grasp it. We probably hiked about 4 miles, so 2 miles of wall (out and back), about .04% of the total 5,000 miles of wall.
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Walking back. The first wall was constructed during the Qin Dynasty, about 221 B.C.E., but the wall as it exists today dates from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 C.E.).
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Joe at one of the fortifications.
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After walking out in the hot sun came the fun part, the toboggan ride down to the bottom! If taking a chairlift up was a little weird, tobogganing down was even stranger....
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We stopped for lunch at a roadside cafe.... and ate more of the fantastic chili garlic green beans that we had come to love.
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Next stop- Ming Tombs. We visited the Underground Palace of Dingling, tomb of the 13th Ming Emperor and his two Empresses dating from the 1580s. The tomb complex included a museum to house the excavated objects.
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The structure in front of the underground tomb.
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After descending about 5 or 6 floors underground we came to the tomb itself.
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The underground stone thrones and gateways.
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Emerging from the tomb, which was sealed after the Emperors burial, only to be excavated in the 20th century. Of the 13 Ming Tombs, this is the only one that has been excavated.
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Our next destination was the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs. This willow lined road was the ceremonial entry to the Ming Tombs, which are spread over a 40 km square area, nestled into the surrounding mountains. The Sacred Way was probably a half mile long; our driver dropped us off at the north end and we met him at the south end, which is the reverse of the proper order. Along the way are huge stone sculptures, so of course the appropriate reaction was to take amusing photos of ourselves with said sculptures.
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No, I'm not trying to tip it over, I'm trying to get the sword out.
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Looking toward the Stele Pavillion at the south end of the road.
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Inside the Stele Pavillion is a huge 50 ton tortise with a stele resting on its back.
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Back in Beijing, some interesting architecture near the Olympic Grounds. We drove past the Birds Nest and the Bubble-like swimming stadium, but my photos of those are a little blurry.
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... and back at Cote Cour, our hotel, the front entrance.
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The hotel was a small 14 room rennovated hutong.
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The hotel lounge, where we had a fantastic breakfast each morning including yogurt and granola, fresh juice, dumplings, Chinese-style crepes, toast and eggs.
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Joe on the rooftop lounge. The hotel was a quiet retreat from the city, and a nice way to get to know one of the hutongs.
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Looking down at the courtyard from the rooftop lounge.
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We saved dinner at Pure Lotus for our last night, and were not dissapointed, the vegetarian meal was probably one of the top five of my life. The decor was ethereal- our table cloth was cloud-like and we ate from large, pearly shells while sitting in oversized high-backed chairs. Joe with course one, Barbeque "Chicken" Wings.
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Course two, Spicy Sichuan "Chicken".
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Greens with Goji Berries. We also had a Peking "Duck" Soup during this course that had a slight honey flavor to the savory broth, and included two types of wheat gluten veggie meat to immitate the two textures of dark and white meat.
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Savory Veggie Patties and Dumplings. All of the dishes had ostentatious names like Heavenly Love, but everything was so exquisite that I didn't care.
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Dessert- watermelon served in a hollow log with dry ice. We also had a slice of chocolate cake. Overall, Pure Lotus had fabulous service to accompany their relaxing decor and otherworldly food- a highly reccomended experience for any foodie.
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