The Earth Dragon and The Ming Tombs

It is said that one of the wonders that is visible from space is the Great Walls of China. Even Ripley's Believe It Or Not said so. 

Neil Armstrong proved it wrong. No man made structure is visible to the naked eye from space.

The poetic name of the Great Walls is the Earth Dragon.

These walls, made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, were first built around 3rd Century B.C. by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Hungdi (the one buried in Xian with all those terracotta soldiers).
A series of fortifications, with towers walkways, built along east to west line across the historical northern borders of China, in part to protect the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups, in part for border control.
It was said hundreds of thousands of people died building the walls. Much of it, now-a-days have eroded, or fallen to disrepair.

The Great Wall was not discovered by the Europeans as a tourist spot until the 17th century.

The part that is open to the public is the part near Beijing, built by Ming Dynasty Emperors (1368-1644) and restored by the Peoples Republic of China.
 
Visible from space or not, it is one of the many wonders on earth. And I had the chance to walk on part of that 5500 miles wonder, at Badaling, not too far from Beijing. 
The atmosphere was haunting. You could almost see the poor souls who helped build these walls. Much of the vista was desolate, mountainous, yet beautiful. 
Some parts of the wall were so steep, it was difficult for me to climb up or down. 
And you could see for miles from the towers. 
You could certainly spot the invaders approaching if you were on the watch.

A wonder it was!

Some thirty-one miles northwest of Beijing, there is a collection of imperial mausoleums built by the Ming Dynasty Emperors.

Built at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, there were memorial archways and gates. We saw stone ramps carved with dragons sporting in clouds in bas relief. There were marvelous, huge stone animals standing guard on both sides of the walkways leading to the underground palace. We descended into the underground tombs. A bit eerie. 
Much of the real treasures buried there had been removed. It was interesting nevertheless. 

We had lunch in a nearby restaurant. Lunch was good.

There were a couple of English ladies in the group.
My friend Bee and I and the English ladies decided we would abstain from going to the restroom until we return to the hotel.

I will tell you the reason why, in case you have not been to the parts of China outside the big cities. It is the way they were built! We had no problem in the hotels. Although you did have to make sure that the compartment you enter was providing modern styled commode. Because there were some that were not.
But outside the hotels and good restaurants, watch out!
The restrooms! What should I say? They were not made for us ladies. 
A hole in the ground!
And Bring Your Own toilet paper!
We did not think that we could survive if we had to visit the countryside everyday.