The Great Wall
Monday, February 21, 2005
So, this is The Great Wall! It was pretty amazing...I was a little dissapointed I couldn't get better pictures, Beijing is highly polluted and so there was a big cloud of smog the whole time...not so good. But it was still pretty cool to see and climb for a bit...There were alot of stairs and it was pretty steep alot of the time...I can't imagine how they built it! Apparently, the wall was originally a series of small walls to protect individual cities and then eventually the government just said this is silly, we should just join them together, and so then they had the Great Wall.
I traveled in China with my parents. They came and met me in Japan and then we spent a few days in Tokyo before going to China. We we just in China for 4 days, so not very long at all but it was still great to be able to go. We did a good bit of sightseeing, several Temples and Palaces as well as go to the silk and pearl markets and of course The Great Wall. It was the end of the Chinese New Year, so many people were still on holiday. Near our hotel there was a festival of sorts, fireworks at night, lots of street vendors and interesting foods.
The temples in China are much more ornate than those in Japan. Many had gold roofs (to symbolize wealth). Red, Green and Blue were also known to symbolize weath and longevity so almost everything was decorated in those colours.
