The Great Wall
This morning we visited the Juyongguan portion of the Great Wall. This section of the wall has been rebuilt.
Once it had many guards to defend China’s capital Beijing. You can
see from the pictures how beautiful it is and how steep. We climbed over 1,000
steps up in addition to much ramp walking in between. The site is absolutely
beautiful and although it was excessively hot, the view and the fact that we
were on such an ancient structure, made it well worth the trip.
Cloisonne’
After lunch we visited a workshop where cloisonne’ products are designed. Cloisonne’ is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects. The decoration is formed by first adding compartments to the metal object by soldering or adhering silver or gold wires or thin strips placed on their edges. An enamel powder made into a paste is then put into the compartments. Several kiln firings are required between the layering of the paste. Jewelry, vases and decorative items were all available at this workshop and store.
Olympic Park in Beijing
In 2008 when the summer Olympics were in China, the events took place in six different cities including Hong Kong and Shanghai as well as Beijing. We saw the Water Cube, site of the swimming events, and the Bird’s Nest which is the National Stadium. According to ancient Chinese lore, round (the shape of the Bird’s Nest) represented the sky and square (the shape of the Water Cube) represented the earth. The water has been removed from one of the pools which is currently being used as a location for musical performances. One of the other pools has been converted into a water park. When we visited the stadium, it was offering opportunities for tourists to ride segways around the track.
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The water park in the cube
The torch originally had been atop the Bird's Nest but is now at ground level.
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