The Great Wall (part 1) and North Korea.....only a stones throw away!!

Well, we finally checked the "big one" off the list. the GREAT WALL. the mac-daddy of tourist destinations in China. Only we went to a section that is a little less touristy and not nearly as extensive as the one in and around Beijing. The portion we went to is in a city called Dandong. That's right.. Dan.....dong. I won't even bother with the puns. Anyways, the city is located along the Yalu River which separates China from North Korea. So when I say "North Korea was only a stones throw away" I mean exactly that. IN fact, just to prove our point we all threw rocks over the river and into North Korea during a walk at the base of the Great Wall. Pretty crazy experience to be that close to one of the "axisessess." We walked out onto a bridge that was bombed during the Korean War by AMERICANS!! They left it as is, so you can walk out halfway into the river and then it ends. Super windy when we were out there, but well worth the 20 yuan. It was amazing to see the contrast between China and North Korea, even with the limited amount of N.K. we could see. Dandong had some high-rise buildings, major roads, cars, traffic lights, etc. pretty modernized. While the North Korean side was purely agrarian with a few 2-story buildings and that was it. Oh, and a non-functioning Ferris Wheel of all things. I think it was just for show, to say "hey, look! We have all kinds of fun over here!!"

After checking out the bridge to nowhere we had lunch at a North Korean style restaurant. Interesting food, not bad. The soup was excellent. Then we headed out to the Great Wall. THis section of the Great Wall is its beginning, in the Northeast. History lesson::: Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC. The most famous is the wall built between 220–200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.The Great Wall stretches over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles)

Quite an impressive feat, and only about 2-3 million people died building it!! (wiki) The Wall was impressive looking and our friend Hunter got us excited to see the one in Beijing which is much longer. Most of the original Great Wall has disappeared so there are only portions of it around the country you can still see, and many of these, such as the one in Dandong, are restored. The best part about the one in Dandong was that it climbed over a really steep hill and then went down the other side. WHen we were on top we had a great view of North Korea. At the end of the wall, near the Korean border, we went into a little museum which was all in Chinese and then walked along the Yalu River back to the start. It was here that Hunter had the brilliant idea of throwing a stone into North Korea. We agreed that had there been a North Korean on the soldier and we had hit them with our stones then we most definately would have started WWIII. no question.

Back in the main city of Dandong we had dinner at a great South Korean restaurant on the river. It was pretty cool how we prepared our food. They brought the meat and mushrooms out on skewers and we would place them into this contraption in the center of the table that rotated the meat over hot coals. When the meat was done we'd pop up the kebab, dip the meat in some spice, and enjoy... Went for a few beers next door afterwards and then tried a crazy Chinese nightclub that had a bouncing dance floor! This was fun for about 10 seconds until your insides wanted to be on your outsides. Our hotel room had a view of the river and North Korea, just so we could keep on eye on them. You never know! Actually, you couldn't see a thing over there at night. Curfew. Lights out!

The following morning we watched a wedding celebration out of the window in a coffee shop. They love setting off fireworks and confetti cannons and poppers. So that's exactly what they did, in the middle of the street, as people walked by and traffic flowed as usual. The bride and groom step out of their limo and it was CHAOS! fireworks, loud cannon sounding things, giant poppers in the shape of a heart (that caught on fire and burned in the sreet for awhile). this is all pretty standard wedding stuff according to Hunter...if you can afford it. Oh yes, and doves were set free as well. QUite an entertaining show over breakfast! the bride looked a bit stunned though. oh well. i think they got us on film..

Our last stop was the Museum of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea. That's the Korean War in English. Pretty interesting to read about their "perspective" on the events. It was English so that was good. I'm planning on checking out a few "facts" that were posted on some of the pics. Very interesting indeed. Hopped on a bus home, and played "crazy bus driver" for the next 6 hours. Seriously, this guy was doing computer game maneuvers. ALong the way we would stop to pick up as many people as we could, until the aisle was jammed full of people sitting on little benches. A shady little side business these bus driving maniacs like to run. BUT, we did arrive safely in Dalian and overall it was a great trip. Got some culture, some pictures, and some nausea. Adios DANDONG!