Day two saw us on excursions to the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall. First however was a stopoff at a Jade factory for an opportunity to purchase some local artifacts. Such opportunities turned out to be a common feature of our tour. I expect the tour company gets some commission for any purchases made. While we resisted for the most part it was nonetheless fascinating to see some of the extraordinary workmanship.

At a Jade outlet I saw this massive carving comprising some 94 individual horses made from a single piece of multi-coloured jade. It took a single craftsman over 3 years to carve. It is valued at a lazy $1.8 million US, including delivery. Sadly I had to pass on this, but here is but a small section of it. The mind boggles at the scale and workman ship of this piece. More so, how could a man, seeing a great lump of rock "see" the 94 horses within and set about carving them.



Next stop, the Ming Tombs.

There are many tombs in the area and only one or two are open to the public. This one comprises a series of pavilions and gates leading to the burial mound. The circular area surrounding the burial mound is not open to the public.



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The "Hall of Eminent Favour" viewed from the "Soul Tower" with the "Ling Xing" gate in the foreground.



The "Soul Tower" with the "Fiver Offerings"



View of nearby mountains from the "Soul Tower" The Great Wall is behind this mountain range.



A short lunch break and brief tour of a local Cloisonné factory and outlet. Cloisonné is an ancient art involving intricate enamel designs on a copper base. Amongst the many treasures there, I found an old friend, a sulphur crested cockatoo. All the lines and borders of this are formed from fine copper wires soldered onto a copper vase.



The Great Wall

A highly anticipated highlight of the trip. Despite all I have read and all the photos and documentaries seen, nothing can prepare on for the sheer scale of this thing even bearing in mind we are seeing but a very small fraction of it's length.

A hand held pano . (Oh I missed a tripod)



Of course we had to take a walk along it. Nothing could prepare me for the steepness of it. Stairways up to 70 degrees in parts and uneven heights had me utterly stuffed by the time I reached the second level. Then to contemplate the treacherous descent.



The detail of the thing is simply awesome. If you look closely at the above picture you can see small dots below the ramparts. These are "portholes" I presume for some defensive purpose. (Archers or boiling oil is my guess) On the inside each of these has a moustache like carving on the brick above it. How many of this type of brick alone were needed?



Not for the first and certainly not for the last time on this trip I was blown away by the sheer scale of things. Sadly too little time to take it all in.

[tim60]

Thanks for the information, this pattern was very common in many places. It is good to know the origin of it.

I just checked a book I had downstairs. This motif was used in the late Shang era, 12 C. BC on bronze ware.

[Chrysanthemum]

Thanks for your kind words. I can't recall exactly where it was except it was in a Cloisonné factory somewhere close to the Ming tombs and the Great wall about an hour or two out of Beijing. I can make some enquiries . Hopefully some of our groups may have retained a brochure.

---------- Post added 19-04-15 at 09:04 AM ----------


Thanks for the information, this pattern was very common in many places. It is good to know the origin of it.

Hello Bruce,

Did you get a chance to ask anyone in your group about which cloisonne factory you were at?

[Bruce Clark]

Hello Bruce,

Did you get a chance to ask anyone in your group about which cloisonne factory you were at?

Hi

Sorry no response from anyone

[Bob Harris]

what an amazing adventure you've been on, some place I'll never visit myself, so I really appreciate the photos and narrative Bruce.

[Bruce Clark]

what an amazing adventure you've been on, some place I'll never visit myself, so I really appreciate the photos and narrative Bruce.

Thanks Bob, you caught me out, I have several hundred images from last year's trip I have barely even looked at. I think I did promise a few from each day of the journey.
I had better get busy

[Kerrowdown]

a single craftsman over 3 years to carve. It is valued at a lazy $1.8 million US

Stunning piece of carving, well captured, that said it's still a pretty good hourly rate.