A notable excursion from Peking is to the Great Wall and the Ming tombs. The Wall we were to see was not the original one, built in 215 b.c., but an inner wall of the seventh century, which had still later been rebuilt by the Ming emperors. We left in the morning for the Nankow Hotel, where we were to pass the night. On our way to the Peking station, we saw the Emperor, en route from his Summer Palace to the city, in a yellow silk sedan chair, numerously attended by persons also robed in yellow. After luncheon at Nankow, we took sedan chairs ourselves for a twenty-six-mile ride to the Great Wall through the Nankow Pass. The long processions of guides and chairs were very picturesque, and there were also extra attendants as a necessary relay. The road was rather rough and very dusty, and our progress was therefore slow. Our roadway wound along, sometimes near a mountain, which lay on one side, with the valley on the other. The first gateway or arch we passed through was profusely decorated, having as a frieze a row of six Buddhas to right and left, and large Chinese figures below. Farther on, we came to another gateway, and then to another, the Pa-ta-ling, thirteen miles from Nankow and the top of the Nankow Pass. From every side long vistas could be seen; then portions of the Wall winding in and out, and ever and anon a massive watch tower looming forth.
We left our chairs and walked a considerable way up the mountain side to the ruined watch towers; the one I entered was a large oblong building, with six windows and two doorways; farther on was another similar watch tower, and, at a greater distance, another. These add greatly to the picturesqueness of the wide massive wall—wide enough for two or three persons to ride abreast. Taken altogether, the view from the Nankow Pass is one of the most magnificent I have ever seen, and, of course, entirely unlike any other. It was a glorious day, and all the elements seemed to conspire to make it a perfect occasion.
Resuming our chairs, we proceeded to retrace our steps; and in about an hour we stopped at a little hamlet for an afternoon collation furnished by our very thoughtful Director. The shades of night were beginning to fall when we resumed our journey, and erelong darkness overtook us. We were all more or less separated, as the guides made no attempt to keep together; and the sensation of being propelled by natives who did not speak one word of English was very peculiar and uncomfortable.
We arrived at the hotel about nine in the evening; a late dinner followed, and we separated with the expectation of meeting in the morning at five, for the departure to the Ming tombs. This is a distance of eight miles, or sixteen there and back to Nankow. The cavalcade left in the same fashion as on the day previous. Our way led us over the hills,—an irregular roadway, first through a field and past two little villages. We then came to a magnificently carved pailow of white marble, fifty feet high, eighty feet wide, and divided into five openings by square pillars. Half a mile farther on stands the Red Gate; and there was formerly a beautiful pavilion of white marble, supported on four carved columns. It may be well to state before proceeding, that there are in this vicinity, within a few miles of each other, thirteen Ming tombs, the Ming dynasty preceding the present one. Yung-lohi is considered the finest of the group, and this was now to be our objective point. Half a mile beyond the pailow already alluded to is the Red Gate. Next is the Holy Way. From here on for about half a mile, there is a regular procession of animals and persons, all cut out of bluish marble monoliths, remarkable for their workmanship and for their great size, which causes one to speculate how they could have been brought from the quarry. First, there are two columns decorated with sculptured clouds, two lions couchant, two lions rampant. Then, in similar manner, four camels, four elephants, and so on. After this come four military officials, four civil officials, four celebrated men, each made from a single block of marble, standing on opposite sides of the way, and all wearing the old Ming dress used by the Chinese before the Manchus introduced their own costumes.
Leaving the Holy Way, we passed through another arch, and came out on a street formerly paved with marble slabs. At some distance to one side, we saw two of the Ming tombs alluded to. We passed three marble bridges, one of seven arches, very much broken down. Two miles farther on, there is the principal enclosure around Yung-loh's tomb; it has a pavilion protecting a huge tablet with white marble steps and railings carved to represent clouds, phœnix, and dragons. Beyond lies the great hall, seventy yards long by thirty yards wide, and supported upon eight rows of teakwood pillars, four in each row, measuring twelve feet in circumference and sixty feet high. This is a typical ancestral hall. Our luncheon was served to us here.
