Where the Great Wall Meets the Sea.

We left early on Thursday on the fast train to Shan Hai Guan.  We've been here for over two years and the fast train continues to amaze me.  We don't really live close to the ocean but with the fast train it's less than three hours.

Small trips like this make a big difference for us.  We are busy with work, family, projects and just life.  Last year we were very homebound as we had a very sick little guy with us.  This year, since it's Elisabeth's last year in China and we have a great helper who will watch our little guy, we are trying to see more.

The first place we went after arrival was the place where the Great Wall meets the sea.  Our taxi driver took us to the worst museum ever.  Worst- all displays of dead people (very bad mannequins) and people dying of torture.  Dim displays, horrible effigies.  Ever Paul the Museum Enthusiast thought it was bad.

Then we taxied over to where the Great Wall meets the sea.  This is place of tremendous historical significance for China.  This part of the Great Wall was built in the Ming Dynasty and was destroyed by foreign armies in the earlier part of the last century.  It was restored in the 1980's and while it is beautiful, it doesn't have the same rough feel as other parts of the Great Wall.  But we still enjoyed it.

 

There were several displays in the compound of old buildings and the life they lived at the time.  I like these kinds of "living" displays as they remind me that history is made up of real people who lead real lives.

There was a large maze- I'm not sure why.

This is the Laolongtou (Old Dragon's Head) as the Great Wall meets the sea.

Looking down on another building- I never get tired of those grey slate roofs.

Looking up from the same building.

Still to come- the city wall, hutongs and the Great Wall in the mountains.