On our first full day in Beijing we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We had time to walk around, although not everywhere as this is the largest public square in the world, 100 acres, able to hold over a million people. I was expecting to pick up the energy of the square, but I just could not feel the presence of any history, the way I did in Berlin when I crossed the bricked lines in front of the Brandenburg Gate where the wall had stood. Here, although there were crowds of people, I felt nothing but the excitement of actually being in this place. There are also gardens planted here; flowers are everywhere in Beijing, adding beauty and a softness to an otherwise basic modern cityscape.   

     Then we crossed into the Forbidden City. The name alone creates excitement! Emperors and dynasties ruled here, but for 500 years the common people were kept out. Protected by a large moat, the Forbidden City or Gugong is enormous. We saw the Gate and Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony, the Hall of Preserving Harmony. I recognized a few places I had seen in movies we'd watched; somehow connecting the movie's stories with where I was standing made the Forbidden City come more historically alive. It was an exceptional afternoon.

     But yesterday, after visiting a cloisonne factory and learning all the intricate steps that create this gorgeous art, we drove to the Great Wall. For many, this is the ultimate experience in China, and again, while I didn't spend much time pondering the historical significance of where I was, being here was incredible enough. We climbed the Badaling Wild Great Wall, a section that is much less frequented, and under repair in places. I am a fast hiker, and chafed at at first being held back to wait for the others, but finally our guide let me go ahead to wait for the other climbers at the first gate on our path. I waved to others far below as they made their way up the steps, and after catching my breath, I started to the next gate. At one of the gates two other hikers joined me, so the three of us continued on and on and on, through and past several other gates until our guide finally insisted that we stop. I asked him what number our last gate was; he said #4. I wish we could have hiked to the very first gate on this part of the Wall, only three more gates away! But we had a time limit, and we learned later that some of the group had not even made it to the first gate and had been waiting at the bus the whole time. While the three of us were standing at our last gate, exuberant at our accomplishment and photographing each other, we saw two more of our group trudging their way up to us. This was a very very steep part of the wall, an angle of almost 90 degrees for one section! What views we saw! Now the Great Wall continues for 3750 miles (it used to run for 6200 miles); seeing the snaking Wall continuing and continuing, I fantasized hiking the whole Wall one day, but make no mistake, this is not an easy climb. It was a totally wonderful, fantastic, extraordinary morning, unforgettable, climbing the world's greatest civil engineering feat.