{"id":8846,"date":"2021-05-13T11:18:37","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T15:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=8846"},"modified":"2021-09-09T06:35:20","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T10:35:20","slug":"episode-339-great-wall-of-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=8846","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 339 GREAT WALL OF CHINA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 339    THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA   circa 2013<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
May 2021<\/div>\n

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\u201cSo Kevin, what\u2019s up for today?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cFirst, the hotel breakfast\u2026take what you want buffet\u2026including bacon and eggs and coffee.<\/div>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWe will need all the energy we can muster.  We will have to climb on ancient stone blocks<\/div>\n
to get to the site and then we can walk for 13,000 miles \u201c<\/div>\n
\u201cGet serious Kevin\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWe are going to climb onto the GREAT WALL OF CHINA\u2026One of the great wonders<\/div>\n
of the world.  13,000 miles long with some gaps.   We will climb onto the most famous<\/div>\n
parts of the great wall.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMany people will be there I bet\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLots of people but the wall is so big it just swallows the crowds\u2026you will be stunned by<\/div>\n
the place.   Up top it is as wide as a highway\u2026up and down high hills\u2026ramparts\u2026forts.<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy was it built?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGood question.   The Wall was designed to stop barbarian invasions.   It never really did that.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat year was it built?\u201d<\/div>\n
-You mean what century\u2026the wall took hundreds of years to build.  Began perhaps as far<\/div>\n
back as the 5th century B.C\u2026some parts even earlier\u2026around 220 B.C. The Chinese emperor<\/div>\n
at the time ordered his people to build the wall\u20263,500 miles constructed with primitive tools and<\/div>\n
animals and thousands of people\u2026some say that over 400,000 workers died building<\/div>\n
the Great Wall of China and many of their bodies are buried here and there under and inside<\/div>\n
the wall.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Marjorie and I could hardly believe that we were actually going to walk sections of<\/div>\n
the Great Wall of China.   But we were there.  First we wound our way up a steep<\/div>\n
hill which was packed with little sales booth\u2026souvenirs, food, silk clothing\u2026everything<\/div>\n
from soup to nuts.   Then we had to climb up a rather chaotic stairway of large stepping<\/div>\n
stones until we arrived on  top of the wall.<\/div>\n

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We were part of large crowd of tourists\u2026all nationalities included a whopping big<\/div>\n
number of caucasians.  Once on top of the wall the crowd seemed to disappear.  Getting there<\/div>\n
however we had to thread our way through a forest of arms, legs, elbows. On top the crowd just disappeared.  As you will see.<\/div>\n
An interesting crowd.  When they saw Marjorie\u2019s cane many offered help\u2026the cluster parted to let her through.  Manners\u2026respect<\/div>\n
for older people.  Just a bit surprising.   <\/div>\n

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HERE IT IS\u2026THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA<\/div>\n

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WHY THE CANE?  Marjorie just had knee surgery\u2026titanium knees yet she was able to scale the wall.  She had to do that.  Feared<\/div>\n
we would leave her behind sitting of a block of stone carved thousands of years ago.   On top of the wall the walking was easy.<\/div>\n

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UPDATED:<\/dt>\n
NOV 5, 2019<\/phoenix-timeago><\/dd>\n
ORIGINAL:<\/dt>\n
AUG 24, 2010<\/phoenix-timeago><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Great Wall of China<\/h1>\n
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HISTORY.COM EDITORS<\/a><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n