China Travel Diary 5: The Great Hike on the Great Wall!

Call time was 6:00AM, too early for this tourist (naks!) to get his body out of bed.But since we got a tour package for The Great Wall trip, we have no choice but to follow it.

Mutianyu is located 90 kilometers north of Beijing. We decided to visit rather than Badaling wall because it's not that crowded unlike Badaling.

See? no people!! =D

There are 24 stations in Mutianyu, we start from Station 6 then walked all the way to Station 17. We didn't finished till Station 24 (but Olive does want to finish till the end though) because me and rose are exhausted. From station 17 we returned back to station 6 and walked to station 1.

At first we had great time posing here and there. See those happy faces? naks!But after 30 minutes of going up and down (and more ups) we we're exhausted!

What makes it hard to walk in Great Wall is that some of the steps are above average in size. Mega-effort talaga ang pag-akyat at baba sa mga hagdan =(.

Malalaki ba paa ng mga Intsik kaya ganito kataas ang steps ng hagdan nila?

Despite the hardship of travesing the wall, still the sight is awesome!

Ni hao ma!

Along the way, we've met a man with a donkey for hire. I just wonder how the hell can the donkey walk on narrow and high steps of the wall??!! Diko na tinanong si manong, baka sipain ako ng donkey nia if i did ask. Jejejeje










At the back of the wall (on the side of china) there are steps going down the hills. These are located on every station quarters of the wall. Maybe it is use to deliver the goods or girls or anything to the soldiers =P.

The secret passageway

Lahat ata ng stations nagpapicture kami, unfortunately my solo pictures are saved on Olive's camera and I can't retrieve it now coz she's in Japan already!! Waaaa!

Olive where's my picture???!!!!!!

It was drizzling and foggy (or smog) when we went to the Great Wall. Though it was cloudy i got a sunburn from our trip to the wall =(. The smog lifted up at around noontime, just in time before we descend from the wall =D.









On the 4th station we noticed this wooden structure erected on the wall. The marker said that this is where the general used to live. So while the soldiers live on a stone station (which is actually cramped and small) the generals live on a cool and breezy quarters. =P




















Along the way, we've seen different type of people wearing extraordinaire clothes. The hot, young and handsome European men opt not to wear any shirt, topless kung topless! No wonder hindi makapagconcentrate sa paglalakad yung dalawang kasama ko!



But This one really got our attention! Yan ang ultimate Summer outfit!

"Best in Summer attire"

At the end of Station 1, there's a marker instructing that no person should go beyond this point. It is an old part of the wall that was not rehabilitated and its dangerous to go beyond this area. But since matigas ang ulo namin ni olive we ventured far beyond the marker, only just to see trees and shrubs where the walkway of the wall used to be. =(.

Dead End na!

Funny thing happened here. Since it was the 1st station and I was exhausted climbing up the stairs I sit on top of the stairs above the foreigners you see in the picture below:

Stairway to heaven ba ito?

Maybe due to exhaustion or nawindang lang talaga ako sa taas ng inakyat kong stairs, when i grab my 2 liters (or was it 1.5 liters) of gatorade it slip from my fingers and natapon sa 4 na foreigners sa harap ko =D.

Thank God they we're Europeans and kind as well coz hindi sila nagalit. The Ginger haired girl even laugh and she said "It was ok".

Here's Olive re-enacting the gatorade splash moment (minus the gatorade nga lang). I think i've never been this exhausted in my entire life!

We've seen some canons line up on the wall, unfortunately it is cast already to the cement, para hindi siguro manenok ng mga magnanakaw =P.

Amd this is the highest steps that i've seen inmy entire life! Napaisip talaga ako kung ang mga sinaunang Chinese ba eh mga long legged?








Olive, the daredevil, walked on the side of the stairs na ang taas-taas! See the picture here:

Sige na, ikaw na ang matapang! =P

Some walkways also are very difficult to walked on coz sira-sira na sha. Thank god i was wearing my trekking shoes kaya roads like this is an easy breeze for me (goodluck nalang sa mga naka heels!)



I think the experience at the Great Wall is something that I will never forget. One, it tested our patience with each other (we are all cranky with the heat, fatigue, thirst and what not). Second we've value the true meaning of friendship and the motto "no one will be left behind" (when rose decided not to proceed anymore to station 18) and most importantly how travelling is fun and enjoyable when you're with your makukulit na barkada.




The only low down of this trip was when knee joint give up to those repeated ups and downs. Until now I still feel the pain in my joints (but im too lazy to go to the doctor parin!)


But all in all, it was all worth it. I love the palce, the history, the uniqueness of the architecture and more importantly a appreciate how the chinese people turn their God-giving talent to prepare a extraordinaire masterpiece like this.



Definitely worth the visit!








so much more to come! abangan! =D

China Travel Diary 4: Hail to the Emperor!

After we've seen Chairman Mao's iconic portrait in Tiananmen Square we rushed ourselves to enter the Imperial Palace Grounds. It's 1:00PM already and we haven't eaten lunch yet. All that sustains us during the trip was a bottle of water and some cookies and chocolates. Inuna pa ang pasyal kesa kumain!

Entrance fee to the Imperial Palace cost 60 RMB. Not bad, since you'll get a chance to visit a former forbidden palace in China, and once the seat of power of the whole Chinese kingdom. =D

This is where they sell the tickets, it's near the East Gate of the complex

One happy tourist =P

As you've read in my previous post about San Agustin Church and my love at first sight to the detailed design of the antiques and architecture of the church, well in China they have LOADS of it!!! The building is intricately designed and painted up to the roof of the palace. So many details, so little time to see them all!

Details! Details!! Details!!!!!

After passing thru the Meridian Gate a large open area will greet you. And not too far from the horizon is another gate (ang daming gates dito pramis!) called Gate of Supreme Harmony. Noticed the crowd here, kala nio konti lang noh? Wait till you get inside!

The Lion guard, which is a common fixture in every house/establishment/store and what not, stands majestically in the entrance steps of the gate. I wonder if I get one in our house, swertehin kaya kami? Jejeje. jazz kidding!

And also another common fixtures in the Chinese palaces is these brass urns, where they put fire during ceremonies and winter. In short, isang malaking gasera =D

The courtyard, taken from the steps of the gate

The hall in the Gate of Supreme Harmony is short and narrow, and at the both side of the gate is a souvenir shop.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony is on the horizon, and while resting we had a chance to have our picture taken (solo pic pa!), but some rude tourist shove us to have their picture taken din from our resting place. ;(.

Visitor's are not allowed inside the Hall, though there is a viewing area outside the hall. This is what's inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, some antique religious stuff and the throne as well. It's hard to get a picture because almost all people want to see the throne inside!!

Olive brave the throngs of people just to get a picture of the throne, i just contended myself with one photo and that's it. Ayaw ko makipagsisikan at makipagtulakan para lang tignan ang isang bagay na puede namang makita sa internet =P

While the people are more interested on what's inside the hall, this stone carving at the steps of the Hall caught my attention. The design is so intricate and detailed. Super Ganda!!! It reminds me of the stone carvings on the stairs or Persepolis.

If you've seen Kung Fu Panda you might have noticed the animals they use, they are the popular animals in China pala. Some animals have sculptures around the palace just like these turtle and heron.

Lamp Post of the Palace

Vats, in copper and iron, are also located outside of the hall. It's an original vats from the past kingdom in fairness.

A long corridor allows us to breath some fresh air and escape the mad dash of people on the palace.Shown here are the quarters of the palace personnel and concubines (daw!)

Stone carvings are on the rage!!

And after the long corridor we are lead to another Hall of the palace. This place is quiet popular because according to the history this is where one of the empress hang herself, which means the place is cursed from then on. Pity the hall is huge pa naman, but unfortunately the other emperors didn't want to use it.

Gold plated Door design

Rest mode =P

The crowd gets bigger and bigger until the afternoon. We've decided to finish the trip as soon as possible. Though the palace is mesmerizing but the hunger, thirst and fatigue overcome us =(.

Remember the stone carvings earlier? Well here's the history on how the stone carvings was done and how it was brought up at the palace..

And the much decorated Hall of Preserving Harmony..Dami paring tao!

At the back side of the palace lies the Imperial Garden for the emperors. Huge and old cypress trees are planted on these parks. Impressive!

Here I am, hindi halatang pagod na :P

Was surprised to see this golden elephant statue in the Imperial Garden. Teka, do they have elephant in China ba or was it a gift from the Maharajah of India?

At last after spending almost 6 hours inside the Forbidden City we finally made it to the red wall, i.e. the wall that separate the palace from the outside world! Yipee!!

Thank you for Coming!

Oh well hello there Ba-hai park =P

Next stop, the hike to the Great Wall of China..Abangan!