I have been contemplating what I could possibly say about a country as huge in size, population and economy as China. It is a daunting task and I am daunted. I have been thinking to myself, “What if someone from China visited the United States and sent a message back that mentioned only the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon and the Golden Gate Bridge?” Bringing this thought to a more local level, what if I told someone I was from San Diego and she immediately started waxing poetic about our border fence and how that was on her ‘bucket list’ to visit? I have probably seen more of the border fence than most San Diegans. I visited the portion on horseback that goes out into the Pacific Ocean. I have visited a portion when I was hiking in Tecate and I have observed another section when driving near Jacumba. 
I am writing about our border fence to compare it to “The Great Wall.” While we are on “sea days”, we have the opportunity to attend lectures about upcoming ports we will visit. I have been particularly impressed by a presenter named Terry Greenberg. He lived in China for years as a diplomat from Canada. I have been told he has an excellent website although I have not spent any valuable on-line minutes to look it up yet.Mr. Greenberg let us know that the Great Wall is not a big deal to the Chinese people. The Great Wall cannot be seen from space. Mr. Greenberg said he could not even spot the wall when he has been a passenger on a jetliner which was landing near a portion of the wall and he knew what to look for and where to look!
As a Canadian diplomat, Terry Greenberg had the opportunity of traveling throughout China and seeing and sometimes hiking near and even climbing on sections of ancient walls. He showed us slides while he spoke of his experiences. My image of one huge wall that was built of stone and ran over two thousand miles was quickly shattered. There were a variety of walls of varying composition and various designs spread over a huge expanse. In some places, the walls were disassembled by local farmers who utilized the stone on their farms. Other walls were only made of clay which disintegrated with time. There never was a contiguous wall defining China’s boundary and keeping out invaders.
Even though the Great Wall was not ‘great’ in the way I had expected, I was impressed nonetheless. Mr. Greenberg said sections of the wall had towers which were within eyesight of one another. Messages were conveyed with remarkable speed through the use of smoke during the day and fire at night. It sounded akin to the smoke signals used by Native Americans.Knowing that the Great Wall was not all that I thought it was did not deter from my extreme delight in actually setting foot on it. OK, I set foot on one restored portion after a bus trip of approximately 150 miles. I assume that the section I visited was a popular tourist destination. The site was complete with a souvenir shop, coffee shop and plenty of space for motor coaches (buses) to park.
I am writing this poolside. The temperature is 84 degrees. Today is what is called a “sea day” and circumstances are idyllic. I am comfortably seated at one of the 40 tables situated around the Lido Pool. There are people, eating breakfast, reading, typing on their laptops, chatting, or just taking in the beautiful view of the ocean. Two men are playing ping pong and another is practicing Tai Chi on a special stage designated for this activity. Pleasant classical piano music is playing in the background.In a few minutes, a “golfing tournament” will take place. Passengers will prove their putting skills on odd mats which have been spread out on the deck just for this special activity. I am sure the event will be highly amusing but I plan to attend a lecture to learn more about an upcoming port.
The balmy shipboard paradise I am enjoying is in sharp contrast to the cold snowy conditions of our first day in Xingang. Yes, I said snow. For many of the crew members who lived in Polynesia, this was their first real experience of snow. There was much excitement, and eventually two snowmen, out on the Seaview Deck.This was our first port in China. China was one of the two countries which required every passenger to have a visa before they could even get on the ship to start their trip. I had to have a certified check of $160.00 made out to the Consulate of China to obtain the required visa. The process to have this visa acquisition was facilitated by a business which specializes in helping world travelers fulfill such requirements. The business also helped me obtain a visa for India.
The India visa cost less but both required time to obtain. My passport had to be sent to the offices which processed my visa applications. Fortunately for me, the visa acquisition business knew what they were doing. I had both visas in my passport when I embarked from San Diego. When I say “in my passport” I mean that they are permanently stamped on pages, not something loose. My passport had to be sent via FedEx in a very safe, and expensive, fashion. In addition to the money I sent to the Consulate of China, I paid another $355.00 to make this all happen. I recognize this as one of the necessary expenses of world travel. I am pretty sure that I am not alone in worrying when my passport is out of my possession that I am not going to get it back. Much of the time, my passport is in safekeeping at the front desk of the Amsterdam. When it is in my possession, I keep it in a safe located in a closet in our stateroom. 
When I venture on shore, I wear it around my neck in a special wallet which doubles as an identification holder. It may not be fashionable but I prefer to be safe than sorry. I have heard too many stories, over the years, of the ordeals people went through when they, for one unfortunate reason or another, were separated from their passports.Our trip to the Great Wall was supposed to last 10 hours. The actual travel time to the wall was projected to be 31/2 hours. This would be broken up by bathroom stops and lunch. Due to the snow, everything took longer. Chinese officials who manage customs and immigration took longer than expected. Our disembarkation from the ship was delayed. Once we were finally on board our buses, there was yet another delay due to clearing the roads. Imagine you are sitting on a bus which is stopped just where Camino Del Rio becomes Interstate 8. There are no vehicles on the freeway and only other buses stopped around you. That’s how things were for about a half an hour and then, without any explanation from our tour guide, we were finally on our way.
Since our start was delayed, this meant our lunch was also delayed. About an hour before our arrival at the restaurant, we were provided with refreshments, the tour guide distributed little cans of potato ships. They were quite tasty. They were like Pringles but nothing on the container gave credit to that inventor, well now that I think about it, the writing was all in Chinese. The written Chinese language has over 7000 characters. I cannot imagine learning how to read or write Chinese.When we finally got to have lunch, it was really similar to what you might find in a Chinese restaurant at home. It was served “family style” at round tables. There were ten of us at a table. The dining room was huge. There were many other tourists also enjoying their lunches. The dishes of food were situated on a huge “Lazy Susan.” The servings were generous and there were a variety of items. No one left the table hungry.
The dining room was located at the back of a huge store specializing in jade. Picture a building that rivaled Costco but the only product was jade. There were large carved statues made of jade and an endless supply of jewelry of every imaginable kind. It was really impressive. I am lucky I am not an impulse buyer or I would have blown money I don’t even have!We finally made it to the Great Wall. I am guessing that, by that time, we were about two hours behind schedule. We were given plenty of time to explore the wall and more. Even if the part we explored had been restored and I had already learned from Mr. Greenberg that what I was exploring did not run for thousands of miles, I was impressed. The start on the first wall may have been 600BC.
I had my private time near the Great Wall. Remember how I mentioned it had snowed? I had in incredibly good time walking around. I was the first to make footprints in the newly fallen snow on a section of the Great Wall. This was a peak experience for me.Then, first stop, the ancient city of Jizhou and the Dule temple. Originally built in 894 AD, it had been modified over the years.
The entrance on the Temple road
Everyone rode on these little mopeds, children piled on too. They all had the ‘wind-breaker’ to keep them warm(er)
A 30-minute stop and then back on the buses towards the Wall. In the summer, the area would be packed, however for our visit we were the sole participants. Not a souvenir stall to be seen, this changed rapidly, (someone must have phoned them), the sellers appeared as if by magic. I will let the photos speak for themselves……
