Scott In China '09: The Rest of Beijing

There's a lot to cover from the rest of my week in Bejing, i'll try to keep it brief.

Tuesday 3/24

Wake up at 7am and head to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall- it was absolutely incredible. We took a gondola up the mountain to the wall, walked a pretty decent stretch of it, and then rode tobogans back down the mountain(SO FUN!). The section we visited stretches along a series of treacherous mountains, and the wall itself is actually much steeper and harder to walk than I expected. Given that I was out of breath just walking a long the wall, I can't even begin to imagine how much hard labor went into building it. A quick notes about the Great Wall:
It is not 1 single connected wall. Rather there are a few different stretches of wall built in the northern mountainous regions of China. These strecthes were built under different rulers at different times, but all with the common purpose of protecting China from Mongol raiders to the north.

After the great wall we headed to the Ming Tombs, where deep underground the emperor's of the Ming dynasty are buried. I was less than impressed.....

Wednesday 3/25
On Wednesday we went to the Olympic Village which is home to the Water Cube, Birds Nest, and other incredible architectural feats that were built for this past summers olympic games. Though I was astounded by the architecture I was even more astounded by the amount of people who must have been displaced in order to build this gigantic village.

Thursday 3/26
Thursday we took a rickshaw tour of some of the remaining Hutong neighborhoods in Beijing. Hutongs are traditional chinese communal houses, many of which are around 200 years old. In recent years, the Hutongs have been bulldozed in order to make space for high rise buildings and factories. The neighborhood we visited, near the Beijing bell tower (which we also visited), is one of the few Hutong hoods that is protected as a historic sight.

That night we had farewell dinner at a restaraunt called Karorouji in the Shishahai area. Karorouji is one of the oldest restaurants in Beijing and serves an incredible Peking duck. Later we went to a nightclub called Bananas, that is famous for its spring loaded dance floor.

Friday 3/27
We spent Friday independently exploring Beijing before our 7:30 train back to Shanghai. Me and a group of friends went to the Temple of Heaven, which is a series of temples in which the Chinese emperor performed rituals to put heaven and earth back into balance. Without a tour guide to show us around, that is basically the extent of my knowledge about the Temple of Heaven, but it was beautiful and a lot of fun.

Enjoy the pictures.

The Great Wall of China