Travel Notes #长城
Huangyaguan Great Wall: The Bagua Fortress Rebuilt by Qi Jiguang
At the northern tip of Jizhou, Tianjin, Huangyaguan was first built in the Northern Qi and rebuilt by the Ming general Qi Jiguang. Its water gates, watchtowers and octagonal Bagua fortress make a complete defensive system; from the pass the hills roll like waves and the wall winds like a dragon.
Badaling: The Pass Worth Climbing, and the Trait It Cut Through
A pass at a thousand metres, a Ming section of wall, 3,741 metres of rampart and nineteen beacon towers. Badaling is neither the longest nor the most dramatic stretch of the Great Wall — but it was the first to open to visitors, which is why six centuries later almost everyone recognises this particular frame.
Beijing Travel Guide: Three Millennia of Capital, the Central Axis and Seven World Heritage Sites
Beijing has three thousand years of city-building and eight hundred years as an imperial capital, with seven World Heritage Sites inside and around it. Here is how to make sense of the city's grand axis and palace complexes — and its equally real daily life in the hutongs.