Beijing, China Day 2

Our wake up call was at 6.30am, May and I didn't wake up.

Our 2nd wake up call was at 7.00am by Mum, which we still did not wake up.

By 7.30am, grumbling, we decided to shower and get dress, and we reach downstairs at 7.50am to get breakfast where we bump into Duncan, our tour guide, who said you're only down now??!! I told you guys we have to leave at 8am!!

Well, in my defense, I did try to wake May up but she just won't budge.

So, on our 2nd day, we took a trip to

Great Wall of China!!!

It's truly a magnificent sight even from a far..

It was a very long drive from the city to the Great Wall, because it's at the outskirts, it's probably like a 2 hours drive. Duncan did told us that Beijing is as big as 18 Hong Kong's. Can you imagine how huge Beijing is??

So, once we reach the wall, Duncan said, right, hopefully you all will reach at least to the 2nd tower or the 3rd, and once you've reach the top and climb down, don't worry, we will send you to the nearest hospital. where everyone broke out into nervous laughter's. Is it really that steep?

So in my heart I'm thinking, yeah yeah, no problem. I'll probably climb to the 4th or 5th even! And I was set on getting those certificates where everyone has been saying you will get if you climb from one tower to another.

Now, if you notice at the side of the wall, there are a row of locks.

Now the story is this, when a couple gets married, they will come here to lock a lock here and throw the key into the forest, so that their marriage will lasts forever.

Cheap love!!

Okay! Up we go!!

Now, if you think climbing up the wall is easy, you're CRAZY! The steps are incredibly steep and it's so high! Not only that, it's freakin faaaaaar!

I don't even dare look down as I'm climbing, I'm scared of heights actually hehe.

Haha, I reach the 2nd tower faster than May did. She was so out of breath that she had to stop many times.

Tired May..

That's a tired yin

Not only young people are climbing the wall, even oldies are. Can't imagine how much energy they have. They were even climbing to the 3rd tower! Me and May could barely even reach the 2nd tower. Our knees started shaking and we could barely even stand. We are sooo out of shape..

When you've walked from the 1st tower to the 2nd, you get a certificate. It's not free, it's 20 yuen. Makes a nice souvenir, would be nice if they included how far we've walked..

View from the 2nd tower up

A little ultraman on the wall..

"You are not a hero until you have walked the Great Wall"

The chinese just love to write things on a rock

View from the wall down. Very high up, huh? You fall, you break your neck!

The 1st pass over gate of the wall or something

The walls goes through a dam

Okay, final shot of the Wall, Bye bye wall!! So we got back on the bus,and the retired couple were telling us about their adventure on the wall. They actually made it to the 6th tower!! *Shame, I only made it to the 2nd!* They said that once they reached the 4th tower, it gets easier to walk and it isn't as steep as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Walking from the 5th to the 6th, there weren't even any steps there! Dammit!!

So after the climb, we were so hungry, we were exhausted and we were given a treat indeed!

This drink has a lethal alcohol content of 56% content. The food wasn't bad, wasn't good either. But the alcohol.. phew! It's so lethal, I couldn't even finish the little cup. It was too strong for me, even JD don't taste that bad!

So after lunch, we visited the Imperial College and the Confucius Temple. The van drops us off at this road side, and we followed Duncan along the alley. Imagine, this place has been here for centuries! It's a really nice place to just walk around and chill.

Man playing chinese chess on the streets. *I took this picture and ran, in case the guy starts running after me..*

This is the entrance into the Imperial College. The College and the Confucius Temple are side by side, so we didn't have to walk from one end to another. Imagine, this school was built in 1784 and this was the place where the emperor's deliver their lectures.

The story of the Imperial College. Just click on the picture for a bigger view

This is the entrance into the hall where the emperor sits on his big gold throne.

More like big red throne.. It was easy to take pictures in here because there were no crowds at all in here! Thank God, if it were another trip like the Forbidden City... you will get trampled and people won't even notice!

There are pictures in every 4 corner of this small hall. Basically they are pictures of what the place would like when the emperor is in here giving his speeches. It's like a big parade! Click picture to view it bigger.

View from the hall out. So, from what Duncan says, the students and scholars will kneel out here and since there are so many students, they will kneel from outside the hall to the entrance of the college. Amazing! Since there are no microphones back then, everytime the emperor says something, there will be scholars passing the information along to the students kneeling outside.

This is what a "classroom" looks like

Wow, a student needs to kneel in front of the teacher to ask any questions!

So after playing around in the Imperial College, next stop is the Confucius Temple. Basically it's a temple where they worship Confucius. His shrine is placed there, along with the other scholars, but his is placed in the middle because, he's like smartest of them all and stuff.

What are these you say? These are tablets where names of people who graduate in the college. It's a very big honor when someone graduates, because it's very very hard to pass the exams, which they have once every 3 years. Only 5% will pass the exam and only the rich are able to afford to go to school. But anyone in the country can enter the exam. So if a farmer boy is able to pass the exam, he will bring honor to his family, and his name will be written on the tablet. This days, we just get a piece of paper and be done with it. I want my own tablet!!

There are hundreds of tables in the temple.

I notice alot of this around the college and temple too..

Well, my guess is someone must have gotten electrocuted here before..

End of 2nd day!