Quarrymen’s Trail to the Ming Tombs
With an actual autumn coming to Beijing (as opposed to the fake ones we get in LA and Houston), this is the time to head out of the city for some hiking, set the camera on vivid, and partake in some leaf peeping (I like this latter term probably a bit too much).
This particular trail is two hours outside of Beijing, and as the name suggests, is the same trail ancient quarrymen stomped on transporting stones to two Ming emperor tombs and other ancient ruins in the area. It’s too bad this particular day was as hazy as it was, but a hike is a hike - anything to get mind, body, and soul out of the city.
We were joined on the trip by both a naturalist and a geologist, so we got a good helping of science lessons along with the usual scenic landscapes. As a nerd, I can’t complain.
(Golden orb spider!)
Credit goes to Clement for that last photo. Good things clearly come to those who wait (and have fast reflexes!).
A Wall of China.
And of course, what we came here for: leaf peeping!
The Chinese are fans of gates in the middle of nowhere. I think they fancy they’ll eventually build something around it, so this is just some preemptive fencing.
Next up, the tomb of a Ming emperor who was apparently a furniture aficionado, thus explaining why the stereotypical Chinese furniture look originates from the Ming era. Back then, if the emperor had a favorite hobby, it was also the nation’s.
(Notice the trees poking out of the walls…)
And here is the tomb of the Ming emperor that supposedly “saved the Koreans” from…something. I wasn’t really listening, and I’m sure the Koreans remember it differently. The same way Chinese people are pretty sure the Japanese did not “modernize” China.
