Tag Great Wall

An Ancient City and the Great Wall

By inTravels Tag , , , , ,

It is a great privilege to visit with teachers from other universities, also in the BYU Kennedy Center’s “China Teachers Program.” We visited a very quaint ancient city just a few hours train ride from Beijing. PingYao has a wall around its ancient town, and very fun architecture.

A great way to see PingYao is to do it by cart. We laughed so hard as we navigated the streets, and got many odd looks from the locals.
Some of the fun things we saw at Pingyao
More fun in Pingyao. We also noticed a KFC “knock off,” much like many other knock-offs of U.S. businesses. They make no effort to hide the fact they are using the same branding colors, fonts, and images to look just like their American counterparts. We ordered chicken at ZFC.

In addition, we saw the Great Wall from a new vantage point–Mutianyu, which is a very popular stop.

    We went to Mutianyu with Matt and Judy Batschi, Steve and Lorraine Swift, and a young Chinese student from another university. We were able to write our names on the “wall” which was actually a wallpaper designed for that purpose so that no one would actually deface the wall itself.
    The Great Wall of China is a true marvel.

    Ever Wonder Where the Great Wall Ends? We Found it!

    By inTourist Sites, Travels Tag , ,

    A group of us sat around one day and said, “Hey, where does China’s great wall end, anyway?” Next thing you know, we found the end–where the great wall hits the ocean. Check out these pics:

    LaoLungTou (Old Dragon’s Head” is the name of the spot where the wall meets the ocean.
    Chuck and Laraine Chamberlain at LaoLungTou (Old Dragon’s Head)
    The Great Wall descending from the nearby hills on it’s way to the ocean. In the foreground, the “Great Wall” is more like mounds of dirt. You can see how the wall disappears. Then, closer to the ocean, it was restored.
    This is an original part of the wall that led to the water. Many parts of the wall have had the bricks removed to use for other projects

    Our trip included fun in the sun and sand at the beach, waiting in a visitor’s waiting room to cool off after our long trek, colorful kites, antique doors, the Goddess of the Sea, various historical figures, and even a very tall city wall connecting to the Great Wall.

    The Motley Crew outside our university excited to get on the bus and head out to see where the Great Wall ends. (L to R): Kevin, Joseph, Eli (child), Mike, Stacey, Ruth Ann, Laraine, Ryan, Harris, Sai, “Zhurki”, Luke (child), Chris, Chuck