The Great Wall, and Other Wonders

Today was Great Wall Day for the Mason family. Our guide told us we were going to "climb" the great wall, which I took to mean a flight or two of stairs to the top of the wall, where we would walk across it for several hundred yards. No, it was really a climb.

China is really a picture in contrasts. The Great Wall was no exception. It was absolutely marvelous to behold, a ribbon of stone stretching up the beautiful mountain peaks at impossible angles. It's about 2,800 miles long. We saw maybe half a mile of it and it was really impressive. Yet the section we saw had a four-lane highway right next to it, and one of the guard towers on the wall had been conveniently converted into a cell tower. Kinda ruined the effect at points.

We huffed it up the Wall, which was quite steep. All of us were winded and tired at the top. Though it was built in 211 B.C., conveniently the Emperor of China apparently had the foresight to locate a refreshment stand and T-shirt emporium at the peak. Did I mention it was crowded? We got plenty of great photos, although I will have to remove the power lines and transmission towers from some of them in Photoshop to being back that Ming-dynasty ambiance.

After the Wall we stopped for lunch at a combination roadside Chinese diner and shopping mall. Keri said it was like the Asian version of a Stuckey's. We also went by a jade market, which by the cost of it must be the most precious stone ever discovered by man. We determined we could go through life jade-less and be able to give our daughter the college education she deserves.

By this time we were pretty tired, and so we added insult to insomnia by touring the Hu Tong district of Beijing, where we saw how some of the locals lived about 300 years ago. Again a study in contrasts--like being driven around in a rickshaw by a driver wearing an iPod. Or walking into a million-dollar home that barely had indoor plumbing and a window unit for cooling.

One interesting thing we noticed today was the fixation on symbolism of abundance. Many of the things tourists are told to buy or you see for sale have to do with material wealth. Everything symbolizes something. For instance, fish = abundance. Peaches = long life. Color Red = wealth. Color Yellow = wealth. Four posts above your front door = wealth. Jade = wealth. Pink pearls = happiness. See a recurring theme here? Much of what we hear from our guide and others centers on the people's fixation with material things--wealth, abundance, long life, happiness. All of China seems in pursuit of these things.

Retirement age is 55, and so again you see a contrast. Young people striving to get stuff. Older folks sitting outside their homes with nothing to do at all but play chess or chat or people watch. The country seems to be moving at two different speeds. Oh, did I mention it was crowded?

Tomorrow a few more sights, then on to Wuhan on Saturday where we eagerly await little Eden coming into the Mason household. Thanks for your continued emails and prayers for us while we are away. We're having a lot of fun, but miss home and can't wait to be back in the house with our new little member of the family.