Second day of sightseeing... Ming Tombs and Great Wall.
8:30 departure today (yawn... we still aren't over jetlag). Driving north out of the city I noticed that the southbound lanes of the main highway we were on were almost empty of traffic, with police at each exit blocking entry. They were probably keeping the road free for the official cavalcade with the President of the Philippines who is here on a visit. I know other countries do similar things... but it seemed as if the Chinese police cleared the road a long time in advance (producing massive traffic jams on the parallel roads). Not behaviour I've ever appreciated elsewhere... and although we weren't inconvenienced, I didn't appreciate it here either. Politicians should be discouraged from adopting Imperial habits....
Later a sudden storm of beeping, we swerve to the side, and a sedan with white number plates surges through the traffic. Military. Apparently they ignore most traffic regulations and although not outfitted with sirens they behave as if they were. I commented that it probably wasn't the best way to ensure popular support for the institution. I think the muffled response was agreement....
North of the Beijing plain mountains rise abruptly, and, since it had rained fiercely in the night, (Lidia says... I was asleep) the sky and air were clear so we could see them well. Beautiful and very rugged. First we went to the Ming Sacred Way, the local equivalent of the Egyptian Valley of the Kings, which was peaceful but for me not very interesting -- a dozen or so pairs of life-size statues (four of which were human forms, so maybe I was too quick to draw the parallels with Islam) on either side of the walkway.
After we went to one of the tombs -- Dingling. Very interesting! For one thing, I find it amazing that the tomb had not been robbed in the 400+ years since it was closed. Of course, Imperial rule was in place for most of that time, but I bet that in Egypt a 30 year break would have resulted in the place being stripped. Ancestor worship? Residual respect for the emperor? Superstitious fear of the dead? I don't know (and as expected our guide couldn't enlighten me). But interesting.
Next interesting thing: large scale (of course) beautiful marble stonework in the underground rooms, but then wooden tombs for the bodies, and wooden boxes for goods and bullion (gold and silver) for use in the afterlife. All had rotted away by the time they were found. Did they reckon the dead weren't going to be in the boxes for more than a few days? Did they want the bodies to rot quickly? Did they think they wouldn't rot if they were underground? Don't know, but the contrast between the tomb itself and the inside packaging was intriguing.
By the way, they found all three coffins (of the Emperor and his two wives) in the same room, although by all appearances a separate room had been prepared for each coffin. Last minute change of plans? Immediate lack of interest in yesterday's emperor? Corrupt and lazy underlings? Would have been nice to have had a truly competent guide.
Lastly, while digging apparently the archaeologists found a tablet giving exact directions to the entrance to the tomb (x meters in, y meters down). Left for the benefit of future grave-robbers? Or sublimely confident that there would be none, and instead left in case anyone wanted to add (or subtract?) more coffins or grave goods later? Again, the contrast to Egypt is stark -- where the Pharaohs went to great lengths to hide the locations of their graves, with false shafts, dummy tombs, and so on.
After a good lunch (we've eaten very well so far) we went to the Great Wall at Badaling. It will probably come as no surprise to hear that we found it VERY IMPRESSIVE. The countryside is so rugged, and the wall winds and turns its way along the tops of ridges -- at times taking 1000 meters to go 100 meters as the crow flies. Beautiful stonework, tall and strong. Lots of people, mostly Chinese: apparently Mao was here, and commented after climbing up to a tower along the wall that no man can call himself a hero who has not climbed the Great Wall... so of course all the Chinese want to do what Mao did so they can call themselves heroes. The other direction along the Wall was deserted. However, not being immune to challenges ourselves, we did the same, hiking about an hour along the at times very steep top of the Wall, surrounded by Chinese (mostly), of all ages and dress (yes, including high heels on occasion) and degrees of fitness, to the highpoint Mao visited. A great experience... highly recommended.
And now dinner awaits....
