TRAVELLING IN THE MIDDLE EMPIRE

GREAT WALL AND SUMMER PALACE - MAY 2002

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萬里長城 - THE GREAT WALL

The Great Wall is a defensive fortification built in the Chinese northern border by 200 BC and greatly improved from the year 1368 through 1640, during the Ming Dynasty. The Great Wall at present starts east at Shanhai Pass, crosses nine provinces and 100 counties, and ends west at Jiayu Pass, at the limit of the Gobi Desert. Though a defensive structure, the fact is that the Great Wall didn't avoid the fall of the Ming dynasty. The Great Wall is one of the "Seven Medieval Wonders of the World", and was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987.



"START - Fresh starting the journey"


"MIDDLE - Still in good shape"


"UP - Getting tired"


"TOP - «He, who has not climbed it, is not a true man»"

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SUMMER PALACE

The Summer Palace was created in 1750, and includes the Kunming Lake and the Longevity Hill. It covers 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The Summer Palace was also included in 1998 on UNESCO's World Heritage List.


"ENTRANCE - Need an umbrella?"


"昆明湖 - LAKE KUNMING - A man-made lake with an area of 2.2 square km, and an average depth of 1.5 meter. Non fit for swimming, but instead for ice skating in winter, when it shows a thick ice coverage"


"万寿山 - LONGEVITY HILL - Always climbing. Longevity Hill is a 60-meter-high hill with several buildings on its southern slope: The Cloud-Dispelling Hall, the Temple of Buddhist Virtue, and the Sea of Wisdom Temple"


"FROM THE TOP - Great lake with the Seventeen-Arch Bridge connecting the eastern shore with Nanhu Island, which represents the mythical Penglai Island"


"石舫 - MARBLE BOAT, a 36 meter long pavillion on the Lake, is also known as the Boat of Purity and Ease. It was first built in 1755, and actually is made out of wood but it is painted to imitate marble"