The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China, is an amazing historic landmark and is known to be a popular landmark for the tourists who visit the place. The Wall is the most fascinating and the most extraordinary is known to be the one of the seven wonders of the world. People from all over the world visit this amazing piece of architecture and is known in China to be an appaling piece of monument.

How was the Wall built

The Great Wall of China was built by the Chang Cheng and the Wan Li dynasty. This was built somewhere around the 206 and 220 B.C and then again by the Ming Dynasty in the year 1368 to 1644 AD. Millions of people were believed to be the labourers and had died working and building the Great Wall of China.

How long did it take to build the Wall

It took around more than 2 milleniums to build the Wall. After the Qin emperor was said to have unified China, the Wall had been built and extends to around 5000 km. This Wall is said to resemble the Chinese dragon and runs across the rivers, deserts, mountains, plateaus and the grasslands. This amazing piece of architecture is believed to have swept through the Shanhaiguan Pass and then onto the Liaoning and Hebei and then going into Tianjin, Beijing and reaches to Shanxi and Mongolia, Ningxia and then into Gansu and finally ends onto the Jiayuguan Pass. This Great Wall measures upto 6,700 km long and the entire structure had been built by using hand and stone, bricks, sand, straw and other materials.

The Wall today

The Wall stands tall today and had been again rebuild by the Ming Dynasty. It took almost about 600 years for the dynasty to build the Great Wall again. At that point of time, there wasnt any cement available and so the Wall was built by using rice flour to make the structure strong, instead of mortar and bricks.

Apart from the Great Wall of China, there are other places where you can visit. The Baishui Gardens are another great place to visit.

The Baishui Gardens are the most amazing place to visit. The garden is one of the oldest and the most exquisite place to visit. There are a number of activities which you can do at the place.

Wudang Mountain is situated in the Shiyan City of the Hubei Province. It is renowned as across the city as the Taoist memorial. Commonly it is known as the Xuanyue and the Taihe mountains. The huge old building structures and the attractive natural sceneries are very much popular. UNESCO has declared the Wudang Mountains as the World Heritage Site in the year 1994.

Structure:

During the Tang reign the construction of the old building structures was started. The 5 dragon temple was constructed during the rule of Emperor Taizong. The temple of 5 dragon was been constructed on the Wudang Mountain. Around 33 palaces were constructed during the Ming’s rule. The construction includes the Palace of Harmony, Yuxu Palace, the Yuzhen Palace and also the Grand Purple cloud palace. Later the huge and splendid structure was been constructed.

Today the existing structure’s compound includes the Grand Purple Cloud Palace, the Palace of Harmony and the South Cliff Palace, remnants of the Yuxu Palace the Yuzhen Palace, the 5 Dragon inherited Temple, the Fuzhen Temple, and also the Xuanyue Gate which is a gigantic arcade

The palace of Harmony is located at the Tianzhu Peak’s southern division. The palace composes the Forbidden City, the Gutong Hall and also the Golden palace. Golden palace is commonly known as the Golden peak. Most of the celebrations take place in the Golden Palace. The Golden palace is 10 feet wide and 20 feet high and also 13 feet long. Bronze is used for the construction of the palace. Emperor Zhenwu’s statue is placed in the hall near the memorial of Jade Girl and the Golden Boy. He is attended by the generals of water and fire on his either sides. The weight of the statute is around 22,046 pounds. A golden plate hangs over the shrine and has 4 Chinese characters written on it. The characters are written an emperor named Kangxi who belonged to the Qing Dynasty. The 4 characters are Xiang, Jin, Miao and Guang. Even after so many years the palace still has its richness and glamour.

The Grand Purple cloud palace:

The Grand Purple cloud palace is located just beneath the Zhanqi Peak. It is the most-conserved as well as a splendid structures ever constructed on the Wudang Mountain. The Grand Purple cloud palace covers an area of around two acres. The palace comprises of the Tiger and Dragon Hall, the Shifang Hall, the Stele Pavilion, the Grand Hall of Purple Cloud Palace, the Parents’ Hall, and many other such buildings. The palace is enveloped by blue colored glazing tiles and has blue as well as yellow colored carving on the roofs. The most wonderful wooden arrangement found on the mountain is placed in the Grand Hall.

The South Cliff Palace:

The South Cliff Palace is located beneath the Duyang Cliff. The palace has around 2 bearings hall, 1 Tianyi Hall, 8 diagrams Pavilion, the flying Cliff, the south heaven gate etc. The palace was constructed during the Yuan dynasty in the year 1271-1368. The Tianyi Zhenqing hall is the most famous hall in the palace. Every door, beam, pillar as well as windows are engraved in the stone. The palace is completely carved out of the stone and is a popular Chinese work of art.

How to reach:

The Shiyan city has its own large railways station which is very-well connected to other important cities in the country. The nearest airport is the Tianhe Airport which is located in Wuhan City. Wuhan city is connected to Shiyan city by means of roads as well as railways.

When to visit:

Spring and autumn is the best time to visit Shiyan city.

Entrance Charges:

Every individual has to pay CNY 110 as an entrance charge. Further additional CNY 20 is required to visit the Golden palace and CNY 15 to visit the Grand Purple Cloud Palace. You can have a tour across the mountain that will hardly cost you CNY 70 for a round trip. You can use the cable car by paying CNY 80 for a round trip.

Opening times:

The palaces on the Wudang Mountains are open throughout the year for visits from 9 in the morning till 7 in the evening.

Striding ahead, I could view the magnificent ‘Palms Together (Heshi) Dagoba’ that exhibits an image of two palms joined together as for a prayer. This shrine is also the part which is to be revamped to become China’s most famous Buddhist shrine. It is a colossal 500 feet high creation that just overshadows the whole surroundings and is flanked with grandeur Buddhist descriptions. It manifests a soothing legendary 2500-year old culture and history of the Chinese Buddhism. The holy ‘Palms together’ structure is built to immolate the Buddha’s finger-bone sarira. Also the 1, 00, 000 location is left for the monks and lay man for the purpose of worshipping.

Heading your steps ahead over the holy topes is an elongated track taking you to half a mile away. The “Golden Bodhisattvas” sitting calmly fringes both the sides of the walkway. Both of these majestic structures arouses sense of adoration and veneration and as one proceeds ahead, one feels as if he is walking towards the path of enlightenment as did Gautama Buddha. This grand imposing ritual shrine sanctifies the human being, with holy messages carved on the impressive structures. One message conveys “the sufferings and pain that one bears is not essentially always the fruit of karma” which reaches to the heart and touches one’s soul.

When I was walking with the crowd, I was feeling that I had come here with little or no knowledge of this religion and as if I was a total foreigner to this reverential spot. Still, the place is so pure and hallowed that it fills one’s mind with lots of ritualistic knowledge. As I strolled the path ahead, I felt that I am on the way towards of spiritualistic ‘Nirvana,’ seeing the carvings which represented the Chinese history and culture.

The imposing stupas sit as the Gods are immersed in deep meditation. Stupas also called as ‘Dagobas’ are ancient Buddhist sculptures that transmit holy remnants across the past time. They are legendary structures and they convey ancient teachings of the heydays. They are basically very old embankments. ‘Palms Together Dagoba’ has a very practical and futuristic look and thgerefopre it seems to be one, but the truth behind that it too is an ancient antique structure. Not only this, it has authentic sacred finger bone of the founder of Buddhism i.e. Siddhartha Gautama. This remnant has been secured from that reign and has been consecrated at a chamber in the ‘Palms Together Dagoba.’ It was essentially built to enshrine and shield the finger of the religious founder Buddha.

Famen Temple:

The original Famen Temple is located very closeby and it is the legendary place where the finger-bone remains was secluded for safely preserving it. In the middle of the temple, stands a large stone ‘pagoda’ and do you know that this ancient structure has actually been re-erected after it dilapidated. As the pilgrimages pay their respect and homage to the Buddhist structures, the plain monks gaze them dressed in simple attire.

Getting there:

To travel this place, I left from the chief city of China, Xi’an. From the train station, I boarded a bus and went across 70 miles towards the west side for the legendary Famen Temple. This holy antique temple is believed to be standing from past 1500 years. This year there has been a slight renovation to the temple’s structure and also a new feature has been added to this temple which is going to be unmasked this year itself. When you are visiting this pilgrim, don’t try to capture photographs as it’s not allowed and if any monks catch you, they may scream at you, as the case took place with me.

Visiting the revered spot:

After touring to the pilgrim spots, I headed forward passing by the temple gates and landed in local town, I gelled with the indigenous crowd that clustered the market place. The market area is populated with huge crowds, also the market offers with cheap and naïve food. Some vendors were selling chunks of giant cake by cutting its slices. But as the area is densely compact with loads of local crowd, you will find it difficult to be seated, but don’t worry, you get to sit over the small stools and have your meals on foldable tables.

Therefore, during the lunch time, I preferred an unoccupied hotel where I paid for costly meal, although the same was available at frugal prices out in the market area. Here, I ate the leafiest green vegetables, you know I desired to savor the local dishes and therefore the restaurant’s owner recommended me so.