Beijing Day 3

This morning we left the city of Beijing for the suburbs. There we visited a Cloisonne factory. Cloisonne pieces are a cultural relic of Beijing, and were made popular by one of the Emperors. Producing closionne is a very labor-intensive process, broken down into roughly seven steps. In the first step, copper is pounded into the proper shape for the piece (vase, plate, bowl, etc.). Then copper wires are glued (and later soldered) to form the outlines of the patterns. After the pattern has been placed it is colored using a mix of minerals and water using drops from an eyedropper. After the compound air-dries, it is fired in an 800 degree celsius oven for 3-5 minutes. The painting and firing is then repeated usually five times to ensure even color coverage. After the design is fully colored, the entire piece is sanded and polished using three different stones. Once the pattern is smooth, the non-colored sections are gold plated. The detail in many of the patterns and pieces is amazing. There was a vase about 6 feet tall and 2 feet across that took 16 workers over a year to complete. The average time to complete a piece is a month.

We then proceeded to the Sacred Way (and Ming Tombs). We walked along the very peaceful pathway where the Emperors body would be carried before burial. The path was lined with willow trees and stone statues. Each pair of statues had a separate meaning and they were considered protectors of the Emperor. The Emperors body would be carried all the way from the Forbidden City, usually taking 3 days by foot. Sixteen people would carry the body at once, and they would be switched out every kilometer.

Next we drove through the countryside to get to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. We saw many villages where people would cross the road without looking, left their bikes parked in the middle of a lane, and let their dogs and hens roam freely. Many of the bikers biked in the middle of the road, complete oblivious to traffic. As we got closer to the wall, the terrain became more mountainous and was very green and lush.

We had lunch at a restaurant near the wall. We commented to our guide on how fresh the food tasted, and she replied that was because the trout was from the pond outside and the chicken was from the next village over. Good thing we didn’t know that before we ate, otherwise we would probably not have enjoyed the food as much. The chicken was chopped up with the bones still in it, including some ribs!

The Great Wall is absolutely breathtaking. Words cannot describe how beautiful and awe-inspiring seeing the wall wrap around and through the mountains. Since the wall was on top of the mountain, we took a cable car to the wall, and then hiked (and climbed some parts) up the wall as far as we were allowed. Some parts we so steep we felt like we were climbing a stone ladder! We wanted to post just one picture – we climbed to the top of the tall vertical section in the background (just to the right of the Chinese lettering)!


Tonight we saw a Kung Fu Show. It is a very long running show – ours was the 3013th performance in this venue. Neither Amie nor I expected the depth of the storyline, but we both enjoyed the martial arts portion.

Tomorrow we have a tour of one of Beijing’s Hutongs (their old city sections), followed by our flight to Xi’an.