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We arrived at a much later hour in Beijing due to a delaying plane and missed the train to Wu Han. So we had no choice but to find a hotel and go on the train the next day. We awoke early in the morning on Sat and we signed up for a tour group around the Great Wall Of China and the 13 Tombs of the Ming Dynasty.
The wind is fierce and strong on the Great Wall. If anyone thought the Great Wall was horizontal, they were wrong. No, the ancient walls are woven around the mountain peaks by men who lived a short life. Our goal is to reach "Hero Slope" and we did.
Before we went to the 13 Tombs, we went to the Shop where they carved and sold "She Wen Yu" translated as "Snake Pattern Jade." They say this type of jade is alive, unlike others.
Why? Because the pattern within the jade or maybe just the shading will change across time. As history states, the jade was found in Tian Shou Mountain and it's very valuable. They say one of the kings of the Ming Dynasty was buried with robes made from "She Wen Yu" Also his pillow, which he and his queens rested on was made from "She Wen Yu." This is the key to why the king was preserved as if he were living even though he died centuries ago.
One of the things they carved from "She Wen Yu" is the creature Bi Xiou. Bi Xiou is one of the three gardians that protect and promise well being. Bi Xiou is the one that makes sure you're successful in work and earn lots of money. Bi Xiou is one of the nine sons of the Dragon king. The story goes: he worked well on Earth and went up to heaven to become an immortal but when he was drunk at some celebration, he accidenty
peed on the Emperor's throne. The Emperor was really angry at Bi Xiou and made sure he never needed to go to the washroom again and returned him to Earth as a gardian. Bi Xiou's mouth is always open because it means "What comes in, Never comes out.
After this, we went to the 13 tombs. Only 3 of all 13 tombs is repared and tourable. The one we went into was certainly creepy. And I swear, the guide was payed extra to make sure we were more spooked as it is because she talked about the gates that separated the living and dead and she made us go through it by saying: if we didn't go through it, we would miss a point of coming so far to this royal tomb. She said not to take any pictures because we wouldn't want to leave our spirits in photographs of the underworld. She also talked about the people who were silenced because they knew of the tresures in the tomb.
The day ended and we got onto the train to Wu Han. It was a really long ride. we arrived at around 7:00-8:00am and my aunt Gao Yun greeted us. We went into the streets of Wu Han to have some breakfast.
After breakfast, we walked to "Huang He Lou." We took some amazing pictures. My mom and aunt told me the rediculously long story of the "Huang He Lou." The tower is 5 stories high and by the time we climbed to the top, my legs turned to jelly! The story? I don't remember a word!
After this visit, we went to the southern part of China to visit my dad's side. The stay was for 13 days. During that long time, we mostly stayed in the house but we did go to the "Ma Zhu Miao." It's a temple for a girl named "Ma Zhu." The "Ma Zhu Statue" is 16.4 m high. It is made of 365 blocks of stone to represent that she looks over all fisher-men everyday of a year.
The whole temple is protected by stone lions. Lions are one of the 3 gardians too. There was a pair at the exit. They seemed to roar their invatation so I took a few pictures with me conqueroring the stone lion.
When the 13 days were up, we went to the northern part of China, to my mom's side of the family. We traveled by plane because it would have at least taken 2 days by train because we sorta went from the top of China to the very bottom just like from Nunavut to Ontario in Canada. There we met up with my aunt again as well as my grandparents. The strange thing is, I'm the only kid in my mom's side. I have 4 cousins in my dad's side and around 2 of them can't understand what I'm talking about. I have 2 uncles, and a aunt in my dad's side. I have one aunt and uncle in my mom's side and I'm the only kid. I find that strange.
