Now That Is One Great Wall

Day two of sightseeing took us to one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the Great Wall. In particular, we visited the Badaling section, which is the most common place to visit. Just as at the Summer Palace yesterday, there were a bunch of people; but most of us decided to walk up the left side which is steeper and therefore, less crowded. We all definitely got our workouts by hiking up the interminable steps, further and further into the Chinese sky. Everyone definitely agreed that the experience was a highlight of the trip and something that they'll never forget.

After we worked up a large appetite on the wall, we stopped for lunch and then visited the Ming Tombs to hear more about good old Emperor Yongle and his wondrous accomplishments. The visit to the tombs culminated in a stroll down the Sacred Way, an avenue lined with 18 pairs of identical statues of warriors, officials, elephants, camels, and some mythical animals as well. As you can see, some of the students couldn't resist getting very friendly with the animals. We concluded our visit by rubbing the giant turtle's head for luck at the suggestion of our guide.

Before we went back to the hotel, we made one final stop to have a tea ceremony at Dr. Tea (apparently the more educated sibling of Mr. T). We sampled four different teas including jasmine, oolong (which you have to brew an oolong time!), and lychee. It's always interesting to see how many different kinds of tea there are and how each one has a different way that you should hold the cup and drink it. Many of you back home are going to be the proud recipients of some of Dr. Tea's best wares.

Today (Monday), the students were back in class with me for over two hours this morning as well as this afternoon, so there's obviously nothing exciting to report from that (...unless, of course, you want to hear me teach about Inventory Control methods again, which you probably don't!). Tomorrow we're headed to Joy Mining Machinery in Tianjin for a full-day visit. We get to ride the high-speed train that goes over 200mph, so stay tuned for pictures of that!

Best,
Professor Drake