Great Wall China Pictures: Badaling Great Wall In Beijing Photos

Does anyone ever go to Beijing for the first time and not take pictures of the Great Wall of China ? When our tour group paid a visit, there were many pictures taken by the group members, and our first glimpses of the Great Wall passed all our expectations. Perhaps the visit to the Great Wall was the highlight of our visit to Beijing, because so many of us had seen pictures of this wall in books and in the cinemas. We travelled from the hotel to the Great Wall, in our air-conditioned 'tourist' coach, but this was not the only 'tourist' coach on its way to the Great Wall on that day. During the journey there was the occasional police escorted car or coach, with their VIP passengers, making the same journey to the Great Wall, with the sirens of the police cars and the voice of policemen on loudspeakers, making sure that all forward traffic, including the 'tourist' coaches, cleared a way for them. From our elevated position seated in the tourist coaches, we had good views of the scenery, rice paddy fields in some parts, views of mountains in others, but everyone of our group was looking out for the first glimpse of the Great Wall. The first sight of the Great Wall was seen between two mountain peaks, which raised the excited anticipation of the group members. When we arrived at the car park, there were quite a number of other coaches already there, and we began to wonder whether there would be enough room on the wall for another group of visitors!

We might not have known much about the history of the Great Wall, but we were aware of how much its existance meant to the people of China. The Great Wall was a symbol of conflict; if there had been no conflict, then the Great Wall would not have been built, rebuilt, extended, or repositioned, by the Emperors of China. Our briefing had included some statistics about the Great Wall being more than 3000 miles long, and parts of the wall being more than 2000 years old. Some parts of the wall were in ruins, and the rocks and boulders with which it was built, salvaged by the people living in the vicinity, to build homes, and walls of terraces for growing crops. There are many stories, true or legend, about the workers who lost their lives during the building of the wall, and whose bodies were buried under sections of the wall itself.

Our visit was to the Badaling section of the Great Wall and we were free to choose whether to climb the part that had been restored, making it easier and safer for visitors to climb to the Great Wall Towers, or to climb the part that was still waiting for restoration work to be completed. My friend joined four other members of the tour group and and went for the unrestored section, and the rest of us took the easier walk upwards to the Towers, using the stone steps of uneven heights and treads, flights of steps very steep in parts, less so in others. There were 'modern' handrails fitted to the sides of the 'ancient' step walls that were polished smoothe and bright from much use. There was the occasional landing where it was possible to rest your weary leg muscles, and yet give the impression that you were admiring the views of the Great Wall and the surrounding scenery. On one such landing, a Japanese man wearing a white hat as protection from the blazing sun, was painting a picture of the scenery. A black umbrella, brought from the UK in case any monsoons or hurricanes were experienced during our China tour, became a welcome sunshade during the climb of the Great Wall!

For a wealth of information concerning the Great Wall Of China, you may wish to use the 'Wikipedia' link, at the bottom of this page.

The Great Wall China Pictures below are links to larger copies which will open in new windows, close the windows to return here. Enjoy your climb !

" " "The Great Wall of China (pinyin: Chángchéng; literally "long city wall") or (pinyin: Wànli Chángchéng; literally "The long wall of 10,000 Li") is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built between 5th century BC and the 17th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC, the most famous being the one built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; this wall was located much further north than the current wall built during the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains.The Great Wall is one of the existing megastructures and the world's longest man-made structure, stretching over 6,352 km (3,948 miles) from Shanhai Pass in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. " " " Src: Wikipedia