At last it was the turn of the Great
Wall to have our feet pattering over it. There are several places to view the wall and we were taken to
the most popular, crowded and touristy – Badaling. A garrison was stationed beside this sanitized bit of wall plus
lots of tourist stalls. Originally 1200
km long, (only 600 km now remain) built between the 5th century BC and 16th
century AD to keep out invaders from the North, the Great Wall is one of the
most awesome manmade sights in the world.
(And it’s NOT possible to see it from the moon!) We were given 2 hours to wander up and
down. Enthusiasm soon turned to red
puffing as we climbed enormous steps and small steps in random order; it really
was quite an effort as the temperature was well in the 30’s. Having climbed to the second Watch Tower we
took our obligatory ‘self-timer’ photo, rested, admired the view, watched
others struggling with the climb and then descended. What a good job there were railings to hold on to as the downward
trek was much harder, especially on the knees.
An amazing concept, the Wall.
How many men died during its construction? How many feet have trodden
the same path? It’s one of the wonders
of the world, but at what human cost?
(Must remember to look up details of Hadrian’s Wall for comparison.)
One thing that isn’t mentioned on the
itinerary is the number of ‘stops’ made for the guides to get a bit of
commission. Here are some samples:
River Pearl Factory: starting off with a short demo
of how up to 25 pearls are seeded into oyster shells and subsequently
harvested, then a ‘half hour to look at the finished products’. The shops all seem staffed at very high
levels and as soon as you show any interest in an object, a girl is beside you
offering to put it on you, wrap it up and get you to sign the chit! (Mrs PC bought a string, which had to be
re-threaded and knotted – while we waited!)
Sea Pearl Factory: This came a few days later and the girl introducing the pearls
was at pains to say how superior these pearls were in every way to the river
pearls, so Mrs PC had to have a string of those as well!
Cloisonné Factory: this one was highly
interesting as we saw the complete process for making one of the most
attractive souvenirs available. A
brass or copper base is shaped, a complex pattern is traced on to the outside
and then a whole battery of young women painstakingly glue pre-formed metal
shapes to the outside of the object.
The formed shapes are then filled with liquid enamel paint and the
object is 
fired for the enamel to
harden. This painting and firing
process can be repeated up to four times until finally it is ready for the last
phase – polishing with a mild abrasive under running water. The showroom was a feast for the eyes,
ravishing colour combinations, elegant traditional designs and a remarkable
range of artifacts from small round dishes to huge vases and even a 3 ft high
Bactrian camel! Very tempted to buy
the stuff as it is so eye-pleasing.
Silk factory Shop: the Chinese have been making silk for thousands of years (Silk
Road…) and we were promised a demonstration of how thread is unwound from
cocoons but it turned out to only be a shop!
There was some nice stuff – uncrushable Pashmina shawls in glorious colours
for £78, beautiful warm Cashmere wraps for £120, but sadly the silk shirts,
blouses and dresses were in dowdy styles and outdated patterns so the quality
was immaterial.
Jade Factory and shop: another talk at the beginning –
how jade colour varies, how to tell if something is really made of jade (it
scratches glass), how it is carved and then another half an hour to look around
the showroom. More girls on hand. We were quite staggered by the different
items that can be made of jade: teapots, jewellery, bas-reliefs, carvings and
there is a great deal of difference in the quality and precision of carving as
well as the price!
SCI-TECH Plaza:
this is a bit different, a very modern air-con shopping mall with high prices
and designer labels. Obviously for the
upwardly mobile Beijinger and there were plenty of them!
Friendship Stores: More on the lines of ‘Pile it high, sell it cheap’ jack of all
goods stores. Here there was a mix of
all the goods mentioned before – and more!
Carved or lacquered furniture, Cloisonné bowls that were very
tempting, original paintings and painting sets with stones for grinding black
inks, and long calligraphy brushes.
Beautifully carved ‘chops’ that
make the signature of the artist on their work and miniature crystal bottles
with minute detail painted on the inside.
Brian bought a ball shaped miniature with a famous scene of bridge and
road. Here the Pashmina shawls were
only £58 and infinitely better quality than the £99 ones from Marks!
Art and paintings shop: Here one is treated to a brief explanation
about the way Chinese art differs from western art, the techniques used, the
paper and the brushes used. Rice paper
is nowadays made from straw. Weasel
hair, mouse whiskers and even baby hair are used to get really fine
results. Every painting has a
‘signature stamp’ made with a ‘chop’ and details who the artist is, when and
where the painting was done etc. (Mrs
PC bought 2 paintings – a Tiger and a bunch of cherry blossom, $450 each.)
Hospital Scam: Here’s a story that should get a wider audience.
Our group was asked if we would like to go
to see ‘The Health Care Consultative Center of Beijing Chinese Medical
College’, a local Hospital specializing in Chinese medicine, for a free lecture
and diagnosis by doctors using ‘traditional’ methods. There was a unanimous ‘Yes’.
The Hospital smelt like all hospitals and in the hallway we were shown
specimen jars of Ginseng, mandrake root, various herbs and barks. We were ushered into a small ‘classroom’
with acupuncture posters on the walls and three rows of desks. We had an interesting talk by a Health
professional about the perception of medicine – East v. West and how the Eastern
tradition with thousands of years of knowledge about herbs and their
restorative properties was the natural way to heal the body.
Time
for a demonstration – and two young men in white coats came in (Ding and
Dong). Ding stood to attention,
breathed deeply, stretched arms, folded arms, closed eyes, swelled his chest
and concentrated hard. Dong then gave
Ding a live wire in each hand and demonstrated that he was ‘live’ by putting
one of those screwdrivers on him with a light bulb at the end and it lit up! Ding then linked hands with us in a circle
and proceeded to send ‘live current’ around the group. Exit young men. (Quite what all this was meant to illustrate to us we were not
sure)
Then in came two Chinese doctors – looking
the part in white coats and they first sat down in front of Phyllis and
Tom. There followed some intense
‘looking, smelling, touching and feeling’, taking 3 deep pulses in each wrist
and conferring through a translator about various symptoms and finally their
‘diagnosis and solutions’ were conveyed.
I was told my liver was possibly a little congested and I probably had
slightly high cholesterol. Brian was
also told he had a congested liver plus a blockage in his nose. At the time he was suffering from the final
stages of a cold! We didn’t buy
anything, but on the strength of their suggestions Phyllis, Elizabeth, Tom and
Ina all bought pots of herbal pills.
They were not told how much the pills cost before handing over their
Visa cards. I only know how much P.
paid for her month’s supply of pills – 1600 Yuan (£120!)
Normal, rational people would never
normally spend that amount of money on the basis of a complete stranger, whose
only qualification was a white coat, making a diagnosis after only a brief
external examination and not speaking a word of your language. I cannot conceive that the local Chinese
can afford prices like that.
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