China

When I backpacked the Far East one of my main targets was China. But before I got so far as China, I jumped a ship, which was crossing the Indian Ocean and never made it to China. But in August 1999 the opportunity presented itself and I grasped it. Unfortunately it was a very short stay; 10 days and most of them spend in Beijing with short excursion to The Great Wall and to the tombs of the Ming family. Despite the short time in China I managed to get a good impression of the country and the people. My greats experience in China was to walk The Great Wall of China. Just imagine 6000 km long. It was originally build to protect China from attacks from the north. Another fantastic experience was a visit to The Forbidden City, from where the Emperors ruled China. The further in to the city you got the more restrictions was in the old days enforced. So only a very few of the Emperors advisors could enter. One of the Emperors was a very young boy who was inserted as Emperor at the age of five.