Terry Achieves Life Goal

Terry Visits the Great Wall of China!

Terry G. Rosga, infamous cruiser, father of 6, pioneer and implementer of fiber optics network for the City of Dallas, competitive swimmer and veteran the Vietnam War (ASA - unofficially), checks off yet another item on his Life Bucket List; walking on the Great Wall of China.  As far as this reporter could tell he was the oldest white guy with a backpack attempting the climb.

Working on the assumption that we share buckets, I guess it was on mine too, although mine also included the countries of Vietnam, Korea and Thailand. Our combo Diamond Princess cruise and land tour fulfilled 4 dreams for the price of...well 4 dreams.

Is that like, Snow??? MMT

China was more of a challenge web-wise than anyone anticipated. We were blocked from facebook and blogspot.  Even our emails were censored.  But where there is a will, there is a way.  I figured out how to get to our dormant family website.  Thankfully I was still paying the annual fee for it, so although it is Much Easier to add pictures to facebook and post via blogspot, it was the only available option. The first photos of Terry's momentous event posted there www.therosgas.com.

Terry and the Wall

The Great Wall began as a collection of walls built to protect against invaders from the North, some of them as early as 7th century BC. They were gradually joined together to make the Great Wall. The Badaling portion of the Great Wall, 70 kilometers north of Beijing, is the most accessible via the Badaling Expressway. It has 5 sections and is about 12 to 13 miles long.

The majority of the existing Great Wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644)  to protect Beijing from the northern invaders. "Bada" in Chinese means "giving access in all directions".  Situated in the mountains there is supposed to be a cable car to help the tourists climb the wall. We saw the sign, but not the cable car, so Terry and his backpack were on their own.



See any other Old White-Haired Guys
Backpacking?



Back in the day, signals from the towers on the great wall alerted the military (and eventually the emperor) of the presence of invaders; one fire of the cannon and a smoke column represented 100 enemy solders, two fire columns signified 500 enemy solders etc.  When the signal is received  the soldiers receiving the signal start their own fires to pass the message on. 



The wall averages 7.8 meters high with the highest section 15 meters.  A beacon tower is built every 2 to 5 kilometers.  The 2,000 watchtowers are  rectangular two storied structures at the top of the wall.  The first floor was for sleeping, eating, living. The 2nd floor was for watching for th enemy and storing the weapons, which were mostly arrows.

The wall itself is 1,000 meters long, 3,000 feet high.  Supposedly from outer space the great wall looks like a small dragon.  I think our astronauts had said otherwise, but who knows. I have no first hand experience with outer space. 

All facts and figures may be suspect.  They were written down in a notebook after a bus presentation by our wonderful Chinese guide Michael. Between his accent, my location in the bus and inability to hear, and the less than optimal writing instruments combined with the instability of the bus, I may have recorded a few mistakes.

Terry was somewhat of an attraction himself. Evidently, old white haired guys with backpacks and big bellies are rare in China. First of all he was a foot taller than most of them (and probably a foot wider). Second, I think some of the residents had him confused with Buddha, since they invariably wanted to rub his belly and run their fingers through his hair.  Some tried to get their picture taken with him, but unfortunately, Terry was too focused on living through the trek to stop.  I did get accused of not having his best interest at heart by not encouraging him to sit this one out. But how could you sit out your bucket dream?? 



If its good enough for Barack,
It's more than good enough for me



Interesting to note that our junior (in age) senior (in prominence) President Barack Obama visited before we did. He was the 4th US President to visit the Great Wall at Badaling. His half-hour tour on November 18, 2009 ended his trip to China, while it began ours. 

Of the experience, President Obama said,  "It's magical. It reminds you of the sweep of history and our time here on earth is not that long. We better make the best of it. ...I'm inspired by the majesty of the Great Wall and am grateful for the warmth of the Chinese People."  Couldn't have said it better myself.



Jin Dian Cloisonne Factory



Many Workers, Many Vases



We stopped here for lunch after the Great Wall Walk.  This factory has been in existence for 50 years, established when CHiang Kai-Shek was the President of the People's Republic of China.

The first floor is the factory for making vases. I'm sure Michael told us all about it, but googling it

Cute Little Guys

gave me this explanation ..."Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects, in recent centuries using vitreous enamel, and in older periods also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and other materials. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné. The

decoration is formed by first adding compartments to the metal object by soldering or adhering silver or gold wires or thin strips placed on their edges. These remain visible in the finished piece, separating the different compartments of the enamel or inlays, which are often of several colors. Cloisonné enamel objects are worked on with enamel powder made into a paste, which then needs to be fired in a kiln."

"... By the 14th century this enamel technique had spread to China, where it was soon used for much larger vessels such as bowls and vases; the technique remains common in China to the present day, and cloisonné enamel objects using Chinese-derived styles were produced in the West from the 18th century." courtesy of Wikipedia

After touring the factory and shop we were released for lunch on the 2nd floor.  A traditional Chinese buffet served on the rotating tray in the middle of the table...as usual way more food than even we could eat, but nonetheless, we did our best!

Rocky enjoying his primo spot by the bus window
On his way back to Beijing