In the Land of Dragons

To me the most fascinating thing about Beijing is the Great Wall. I have seen the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Tianamen Square.....But for me Beijing means journeying to the Great Wall. We have been to see this legend four times. The most fantastic thing about the Great Wall is its sense of continuity and endlessness. And that is what it denotes. It spans 2000 years of construction and an endless sense of length. Estimates are between 1500 to 5000 miles ...............The materials vary from mud to sturdy stone walls. It starts from Mongolia and stretches to the coastal town of Shanhaiguan on the Yellow Sea......that's nearly upto the Korean Bay. It is a story that encompasses endless eras and endless tears. Thousands of laborers were buried under the wall through the ages. It encompasses stories of cruelty, legends of achievement and of loyalty. It has been much written about, fantasized. It has been painted by numerous artists in different styles. They even made films on it, even Bollywood movies. And of course S.T. Coleridge's famed Xanadu refers to it “Twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round.” So, imagine, when I was finally on the Great Wall the first time, it was the ultimate. I felt this crazy sense of exhilaration coupled with euphoria. I could imagine ancients, especially, unwashed Mongols, giving out blood curling whoops riding on their sturdy horses with both horses and the riders’ manes flying wild -- riding to invade the plenty in China. I could imagine delicate, frightened princess hiding, sheltered and cocooned by the hardy soldiers behind walled mansions protected not just by the walls of their palaces but by the Great Wall , which grew greater with the tears and blood of the common man who labored to give his land the ultimate protection from invaders. I had tears in my eyes and also a sense of achievement because this was something I had wanted to do from my teens and we finally did it the first time when I was past forty. The Great Wall was built to protect and unite the people of the different kingdoms from invaders like Huns and Mongols and other aggressive tribes outside the bounds of the Chinese empire. The Wall becomes an embodiment of the Chinese spirit of endurance and hardship through the ages. It is a ballad to the blood and tears of the common population. As well as, it upholds certain Chinese values which are very unique to the nation. It makes China into what it is today. They protected the country that was the center of their universe (Zhong guo) from invasion of different cultures and traditions. While the rest of the world intermingled, the Zhongguoren (the people of the center of the world) remained unique. Unlike its neighbor India, China for a long time was untouched by world events. I don't know if that's good or bad. Some people may call them insular. But I think this built up their inner resilience in a way that makes them survive through thick and thin. It is not that other nations do not survive or suffer. But staying for this many years in China makes me realize how unique it is. I can see sometimes fleeting similarities to an Indian in the common man, but that's because they are human and both children of two great nations with immense history. But while China was the untouched center of the world, India was the hot pot of all cultures. To be an Indian is unique, as unique as to be a Chinese, because we have the blood of most of the races around the world in the veins of India. Isn't that something fantastic too! It's like being two opposing poles of a magnet. For all of us, the Great Wall has been a unique experience every time we have been on it. We drive down from Beijing. There are six entry points to the Great Wall from Beijing alone. The most popular is of course Badaling with the major Ming architect, Qi's statue. This man visualized and created what majority of the people know as the Great Wall. He was a soldier and a creative visionary. He worked for ten years on the Wall. Then he fell out with the Emperor and died in ignominy. However, his vision was so unique and great that it was realized even after him and today we have his dream listed as one of the wonders of the world . The first time, we went to the entry point at Mutianyu. We went up on a cable car to the foot of the Wall and then climbed the steps to the Wall. Ha! We were there atlast. And then, though it was end of September, we realized it was very warm and sunny. We wanted my four year old, Surya, to take off his sweat shirt and jacket. Since Surya was very fond of that outfit, he set up a wail of protest cum indignation. It lasted till we crossed through the crowds and came across canons on the wall. The protest gave way to admiration of the canons. There was peace at last. My husband and Aditya photographed the Great Wall and the fabulous scenery around it. I gazed beyond, dreaming as much as I could till Surya expressed a desire to relieve his bladder. I had seen a Chinese boy of about five using the gaps in the wall to relieve himself but, somehow, that seemed a bit incongruous. So, we decided to descend at the next exit to the mountains below. As we went down the steps and on the mountains, Aditya spotted a donkey. He was really was excited and kept shouting, “Mamma, gadha, gadha .....gaa dhaa....gadha....” A 'gadha' is a donkey in Bengali, our mother tongue. Surya was equally excited. He went really close to the donkey and would have probably pulled its tail if we did.