Great Wall, Ming Tombs, and Olympic Park

Ctourus -- Tour of Tianjin, Chengde, and Beijing, China

Day 4 - Chengde, November 17, 2017

Starting our first day tour of Beijing with a hearty breakfast at the hotel. This breakfast buffet was almost as good as the one we had at the Intercontinental in Chengdu. The place was definitely crowded, with many foreign tour groups and local patrons but it's big enough for everyone. Breakfast at the hotels are usually the most enjoyable meal when traveling in China with plenty of western and Chinese choices, except in the more remote areas.

Lobby at the building where they served breakfast at the hotel. We had to take a 10-minute walk from our building to this one where the restaurants are located.

Dining room

After breakfast, we headed out to our first destination of the day, the Great Wall of China.

While on the bus, I noticed a restaurant with a very unique name "Five Loaves and Two Fish" and quickly snapped this photo. This must be a Christian owned establishment and what a bold witness of faith!

An outlet mall with all the name-brand stores just like in the U.S.

It almost felt like a scene along a California highway.

Juyongguan Pass of the Great Wall
The Great Wall of China is called the "Long Wall of Ten-Thousand Miles" (萬里長城) by the Chinese. It tells of how this long stretch of wall (about 13,00 miles) that was used as a border control and defensive system against the invasion of foreign forces and nomadic tribes built during the Qin Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. Many parts of the wall have been destroyed but several sections had been opened to the public. It has to be the most popular tourist attraction in China with visitors from all over the world.

Getting close to the Great Wall.

I wasn't sure which part of the Great Wall we would be stopping at until we finally arrived at the parking lot. I was glad that we were not going to Badaling since that's the busiest part of the wall. We were there when we first visited China in 1988 and it was incredibly crowded. We could see that there were many people up on that part of the wall on the day we were there. For those who only have a short stay in Beijing the closest part of the Great Wall to visit would be Mutianyu Great Wall, which is the closest section to Beijing International Airport.

We, on the other hand, visited the Juyongguan Pass section just like the last three visits we had. Many tours make their stops here now because it is less crowded and just a little bit closer to the city.

It was definitely cold that day and vendors were selling thick warm hats and gloves in the parking lot for cheap. 

Our official tour photo. It was so cold that we were all shivering even with the bright sunshine.

Part of the wall where you could hike all the way up.

We knew we would not be able to hike all the way up but tried our best to go as far as we could.

Our young people already went past us and disappeared as we slowly trek up the hill.

This was as far as we went. Quite empty, as you can see, but gorgeous views.

Then we came back down to the main tower...

and the inner wall near the entrance.

There is a reservoir on the other side with the extension of the Great Wall. That was where we headed next.

Inside the watch tower where we had to go down a couple of flights.

Crossing the Jingzang Expressway.

Watch Tower. Apparently the Juyongguan Pass played an important role in protecting the capital with many guards stationed there.

I just climbed a little up on this side of the Great Wall to take this picture looking back at the main gate.

Nope. Not going!

Zooming in on the Badaling section which is a little bit north of Juyongguan. Definitely more people on that section.

Ming Tombs

We spent close to two hours at the Great Wall. The longest time we spent on all the visits here. It was relaxing without rushing through and we were able to explore on our own. After that we went to the Ming Tombs on the way back to the city.

There are 13 tombs for the Ming emperors clustered in this huge area. Most of them are not excavated and not opened for visitors. We would be visiting the Dingling (Tomb of Stability) of Wanli Emperor and his two Empresses. 

Feng Shui has a lot to do with why this area was picked as the emperors resting place.

Another group picture. It was so cold that covering our faces with masks helped.

Before entering the tomb.

Interesting tree branches. We were told that they are called the Dragon Claws.

The Tomb

Old trees branching out from the wall.

We had to walked to the back of the tomb to the enter.

Inside the underground tomb.

What a fuzzy picture? That was our guide Mr. Yang.

Coming out from the underground tomb.

Looking back at the exit of the underground tomb.

With that we ended our visit to the Ming Tomb. 

Olympic Park

Before going back to the hotel, we were taken to the Olympic Park inside the city. This was built to host the 2008 Summer Olympics in the Chaoyang District of Beijing.

Map of the park.

Finally a group picture with Mr. Yang.

Media Tower

The very familiar "Bird's Nest"--The Beijing National Stadium.

The "Water Cube" -- Beijing National Aquatics Center.

National Indoor Stadium

It was so chilly that we had to cut short of our hour-long visit. We couldn't stand to stay outdoor and found the restrooms to be a good hiding place from the cold. It was clean, warm, and with sitting places.

Olympic Park Observation Tower

Some random scenes of Beijing taken from our bus.

We ended our day with a good dinner at this restaurant before going back to the hotel.

It was a good thing that our tour days were not super tiring. They tried to get us back to the hotel at around 7:00 PM everyday so we could rest and relax in our comfortable hotel rooms.