One day trip to Shanhaiguan

I took the train no.1521 from Tianjin at about 16:00 and arrived at Qinhuangdao at about 21:00. My destination was Shanhaiguan Pass, but I had to spend one night at Qinhuangdao and go to the wall the next day. My classmate at college picked me up and I spent one night at her home. The next morning, we started our Shanhaiguan Great Wall trip.

We took bus no.13 from Qinhuangdao to Shanhaiguan Bus Station. At the station, I bought a map to orient ourselves. There were many private cars or minibuses claiming to take visitors to The First Pass under Heaven. We took a taxi and spent CNY 10 to The First Pass under Heaven. Actually he had ripped me off when I found it was only a ten minutes’ drive. But…Ok. I would not let it influence my happy mood.

The Great Wall was right under our noses’ along! I felt heavenly excited because this was the first time that I saw the wall. After five minutes’ walk, we reached the foot of the wall. Walked along the wall and turned right, we saw the city gate of The First Pass Under Heaven. The ticket cost CNY 50 including the gate tower, Wang’s House and Great Wall Museum.

Standing at the top of the wall, I had a lot of feelings. What great effort the ancient people had made when built such a long wall? This long stone dragon was lengthened generally simply by manual labor. This was just the city tower that Wu Sangui opened and let Duo Er Gun enter. Henceforth, the Chinese history was changed. Inside Jingbian Tower and Muwu Camp, there was a variety of weapons that the soldiers in Ming Dynasty used, which included artilleries, bows and arrows and broadswords. Their weapons were so primitive! I thought, but as a girl, I did not show much interest in wars.

Three hours on the towers were quite enough. It was at noon. We had a quick meal at street side shanties, baozi (steamed stuffed bun) and porridge. Our next destination was the Wang’s House. During Ming and Qing Dynasty, the Wang's House was owned by a local rich. It was said that once Wu Sangui and Chen Yuanyuan lived there when Wu garrisoned Shanhaiguan Pass. Today, the local people have rearranged the house into a Ming-Qing Dynasty folk-custom Museum. It was a typical courtyard in Ming Dynasty. Visitors could see the life scenes in the past from a variety of exhibitions including gold & silver jewellery, clothes, candleholder, beds and the four treasures of the study. The basic life necessaries could all be found. The life of the past millionaire was indeed luxury.

After some comfortable sunbath, we headed for the final destination – Shanhaiguan Great Wall Museum. Though both of us not interested in museum, it was a pity of the entrance fee we had already paid. We took a pedicab there. The museum was the biggest Great Wall museum in China. Visitors could understand the military function of the Great Wall after seeing the ancient weapons, maps and pictures on exhibition. I finally realized that the Great Wall was much complicated than what I had imagined before. After taking some photos, we went out of the museum.

Felt hungry, we had a quick bite in a snack bar in the scenic area. After a moment roaming on the street, we went back home. A nice day!