Great wall.....Amazing......Armstrong......

The journey to the Great wall began after the visit to the Jade mines and factory. There are options to hike to the highest point. To hike from the start or take the cable car to the top and from there continue the hike on the wall.  We took the cable car option to the highest point. The view was fabulous. The building of the wall began as early as 7th century BC.  The first Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang supported the building of the wall. Since then empires changed, but the wall was continuously being built till the Ming dynasty. The wall extended on the mountains covering provinces and strategic posts on the Silk Road. The traders and travellers paid toll to cross the great wall.  Today the wall is witnessing tourists from all across the globe paying an admission fee.  UNESCO has proclaimed the Badaling side of the great wall as its heritage site. The grand panoramic view made me to wonder on the marvels of an ancient man-made structure on these mountains, preventing enemies, paving way to interact with far off lands,  and preserving the culture. I silently stood on the very old remnant of the wall paying tribute to those workers and builders.

This weekend Neil Armstrong passed away. Landing on the moon was indeed a 'giant leap for mankind" and he won my heart as a hero when I was a school girl. My prayers to him.

PEACE ON EARTH

All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

Cities.... Tombs.....Ming.....

I got into the dilemma when the two Great wall tour options were offered to me. One is the most visited Badaling or the North Pass and Mutianyu in the South East which also connects with Badaling.  I chose Badaling mainly to check out the famous Ming great wall and the fortress.  With the itinerary settled,  I concentrated on the business side of the trip.  The most awaited Saturday arrived. The Beijing morning was sunny, the tour guide chirped the history of Beijing and its famous city gates that separated the royals from the commoners. 

After hearing a nice lecture about FengShui, we stopped at the Ming Tombs. The ancient faith in life and death and sending the soul to the nether world follows the same belief system be it a Pyramid built in Egypt or in Mayan land.  Apparently, immortalizing a mortal king or queen must have reinforced the power and monarchy.  The Ming tombs contain beautiful jade artifacts.  The museum has some of the treasures that are recovered from the tombs. The history of  the Ming dynasty unfolds like a suspense thriller. The penniless Buddhist monk who had overthrown the powerful Mongolian Yuan dynasty and to become the famous Ming emperor Hongwu.  He got support from the red turban rebellion, the White Lotus secret society, and the scholars from the school of  Confucius. These factors helped to change the fate of China from 1368 onwards. The original ethnic group Han regained their power in the Chinese history. The cities Nanjing and  Beijing flourished developing a class conscious society with a powerful monarchy. I was thinking that the human race is always trying and experimenting with changes and like a volcano where the old lava is being pushed out to churn the new one the old ideology and belief system are pushed out to pave way for the new one!

After touring the tomb, and when crossing the gate that supposedly divide the mortal from the immortal World, the guide asked us to shout in Chinese that "we are back into the World again" ! We promptly shouted in unison so that our names will be taken out of the register of death for a while!  We headed to a nearby Jade mine and factory and had our lesson Jade 101- difference between jadeite and different types of jade. A fascinating experience but expensive as one is tempted to buy the gift items.
Having visited the netherworld and back into the earth again, our mortal souls craved for a nice lunch. The guide took us to the restaurant and I had the vegetarian clay pot. Sometimes part of heaven can come in disguise as food!!!

China chronicles will be continued.....


PEACE ON EARTH


All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.

China....... Changes........Capitalize

Beijing,  gripped by one ideology after another, one regime after another is now basking under the shades of the capitalist high rise buildings.  The development is amazing. It is almost 10 days now since I landed up in Beijing and every day has not gone without an "ah" or a wow!

The infrastructure development is amazing.  Like the petals of the lotus, Beijing expands spirally with its ring roads. The well kept gardens, parks and the tree lined streets give it a zen like peaceful setting.

The high rise apartments dot the skyline of the city along with the corporate offices and the shopping malls.  Khaki green uniform coats are things of the past.  Designer stores like Burberry, Tiffany, Chanel etc entice the customers.  Spending power reflects the Chinese empowerment.

Has poverty been completely eradicated? Of course not but there are more opportunities. The hutongs, migrant workers, working class with low income, homeless are still there. But, it is the optimism, the sense to achieve that vibrates and the city marches to the tunes of capitalist economy with smiles.

China chronicles will continue.....




PEACE ON EARTH



All content copyright © by Sobana Iyengar.