Beijing: Day 3

The 3rd day was what I thought the most exciting of all! Climbing the Great Wall of China. In Mandarin, it is called - "Wan Li Chang Zhen" instead of GREAT cos' it was reputed that many low wages workers died building it and apparently their bodies were thrown in to fill the voids O_o. Before one begins the climb, there is this stone thingy that says: "Sth sth Chang Zhen, Fei Hau Han" - I think it meant: If you've never climbed the great wall, you've got no balls!

The climb up the great wall was tougher than I thought. I initially envisioned it to be as easy as walking up steps... you know... just like Batu Caves. But no lor... the climb was extremely exhausting as the steps were totally uneven. Some were higher than the others, and some shorter... All I could concentrate on was to take one step at a time. And the most frustrating thing was... I had to climb on and on, or else cause a human jam. Becos it was a dangerous climb, railings were installed at the side but the left side is for those going up and the right for those coming down. Since the steps are uneven and steep, nobody tried to overtake so any stop by anyone would cause a jam to everyone else holding on to the railings at the side.

The higher I climbed, the more I sounded like a horse or a donkey... I went like heeee hoooor heeee hoooor... and was already out of breath at the first stop but since my father was happily climbing so I thought... niarrrrmind... just do it! By the 2nd stop, I swear I couldn't feel my legs, couldn't breath properly and I thought I would have to roll down the steps to get down. But miraculously, I came back down safely... See... so unfit... even my father's fitter than me! Sigh...

But the climb was worth it cos hor, at the 2nd stop, there was this stall selling metal certificate with your Chinese name engraved on it... to certify that you've indeed "conquered" the Great Wall and have climbed a total of 888li! I'm so proud of myself... tee heeeee...

As you know, I injured my knee during the climb. Initially it was ok but when we visited the Ming Tomb, I was already hobbling! P.S. I can't remember if the translation for "Ding Ling" meant Ming Tomb but I think so la... Anyway, we had to walk many many steps down this building that was made entirely of cement (think freezing cold) to view the placement of 3 coffins. 1 for the emperor, the other 2 for his queen and favourite concubine. "Siao Liu" told us a story... but I can't remember anything... Was too busy hopping around remember...

Next stop was Temple of Heaven. This was the place where in the olden days, the emperors would go to pray to gods as well as to make offerings to their ancestors. It was said that long ago... if someone shouts at the wall barricaded around this temple, it would echo back. But at that time, the temple was rather peaceful. Now it's full of curious tourists... so even if you shout till you loose your voice also you won't hear the echo - according to "Siao Liu" la...

Here's where the emperors' ancestors are placed...

And here's where the emperors would pray... Note: My parents and I :)

We ended the day with a supposedly "FREE" foot massage. But actually hor, those people were only interested to sell us their "Tung Chung Har Chou" and other products. They kept massaging only one of your feet while telling you... your ailments... Like... you're not well here, here, here and there... And when it's time... (i.e. poor sales), they stopped abruptly... So in the end... I only got 1 1/2 foot massaged.