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N4 www.philly.com THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Sunday, October 30,2011 AYear and AWorld Avoiding thecrushatthe GreatWall

By Larissa and MichaelMilne wall undulating over the hills FOR THE INQUIRER Information in the distance. At this angle Chinese emperors built the it looks like alarge gray Great Wall to keep out ram- ¢ The Great Wall at snake sunning itself in the paging hordes of Mongolian Mutianyu is 55 miles crisp mountain air. soldiers mounted on horse- north of . The day was also perfect back streaming down from for ayoung couple who were the north, but no amount of Hours taking pictures before their stone and mortar can repel wedding. We were treated to Open 365 days ayear. hordesoftourists riding luxu- amodeling session by the April to October,7a.m. ry motor coaches. These bride and groom as the pho- to 6p.m.; November to groups, armed with digital tographer artfully worked March, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 cameras, arrive by the thou- them through various poses. p.m. sands each day.You can That alone demonstrates the avoid them, though, by veer- Admission solitude here; can you imag- ing slightly off the beaten ine abride fanning out her The Great Wall at path to tour apart of the wall wedding gown amid aflock of Mutianyu is aChinese that is less visited. Hiring tourists tromping around? national park. Admission your own driver will also vast- Instead of signing up for a to the park is 40 CNY ly improve your Great Wall tour bus, we had hiredadriv- ($6.25) for adults, 20 experience. er whom we found by check- CNY ($3.15) for children According to urban legend, ing recommendations on Trip- 12 and under. the Great Wall is visible from Advisor.The cost of $150 is outer space. Like many tales The cable car costs 65 not that much more than a that get passed around from CNY ($10.15) for a bus tour,and the benefits are modem to modem, it is round-trip for adults, 35 many.Our guide, Joe, was flu- wrong. The structure, which CNY ($5.50) for children ent in English and gave us a follows the undulating con- 12 and under. personalized history lesson tours of the hills and is in Personal Driver/Guide along the way.Joe’sgreatest some areas no more than an value, though, was that we earth-colored pile of dirt and www.cometobeijing.com. went only to the wall and rubble, is barely visible from Ask for Joe. wherever else that we wanted an airplane flying at 40,000 to go. feet, let alone by an astronaut Ahired driver also offers in low earth orbit. utes.Badaling often has more greater flexibility with tim- What may be visible from than 100 tour buses in its ing. Most tour groups leave at outer space, though, are the parking lot; when we went to first light so they can arrive numerous shiny trinkets and Mutianyu there were two — early and avoid the crowds. tchotchkessold at the unend- and only enough parking Unfortunately,they arrive ing souvenir stands at Badal- spaces for about 10 total. along with dozens of other ing, the most popular choice Visitors do walk through a tour groups all trying to do for tourists to view the wall. row of souvenir vendors to the same thing. We asked Joe The place should rename it- get to the entry gate (they to pick us up at 10 a.m. We self Bada-bling. can’tbeavoided wherever left at areasonable time and Badaling suffers from its tourists congregate), but they quite often had the place prac- close proximity to Beijing. are less intrusive here. tically to ourselves. From the capital it is easy to The Mutianyu section of The Great Wall of is sign up for abus tour or hire the Great Wall dates from arguably one of the “must ataxi that will take you there. 1368 and was built upon the see” places in the world. It Since Badaling is convenient- foundation of an earlier wall deservestime for quiet con- ly located rightoff amulti- from about 550 A.D. Visitors templation of its sheer mass lane interstate highway,itis can amble anywhere over a and grandeur, as well as the easily accessible to tour bus- 1.5-mile stretch. The struc- MICHAEL MILNE scenic beauty that surrounds es. ture is about 14 feet tall and is Abride poses for photos at the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall —which would be impossible it. Unfortunately,the majority Amuch less visited section accessed via asteep hike or a at the heavily visited section nearest Beijing. Mutianyu is less accessible to tour buses. of visitors do not get to experi- of the wall is 55 miles north short cable-car ride. Natural- ence the magical silence of of central Beijing at Mu- ly,weopted for the ride. watchtowers along the ridge- one watchtower to the next, sandwiches from, believe it the wall. To do so, go abit tianyu. The last 10 miles are The view from the peak is line, spaced approximately we could imagine what it was or not, aSubway shop located farther afield and travel inde- by local roads, which makes superb. During our weekday 100 yards apart, dividing a like more than 600 years ago near the tram entrance, and pendently.You’ll probably it less accessible for tour bus- visit, there were moments hike into easily manageable to be asolitary guard on the enjoyed an impromptu pic- only see the wall once in your es. The ride from Beijing took when we had entire sections portions. As we strolled along lookout for invaders. nic. From our vantage point life; make it atruly memora- us aboutanhour and 10 min- to ourselves. There are 22 the granite walkways from We brought along afew we took in the view of the ble experience.

RUSSIA N KAZAKSTAN MILES KAZAKHSTAN MONGOLIA 0500

KYRGYZSTAN Mutianyu

Great Wall Beijing of China Yanchi Yellow Sea CHINA TIBET East ALNEPAL China BHUTAN Sea BHUTAN INDIA BANGLADESHBANGLADESH

MYANMAR HONG Bay VIETNAM KONG of Bengal The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center 100 Renmin Ave., Shanghai Located on the north side of People’s Square Park, MICHAEL MILNE adjacent to the People’s Square Metro Station. Open 9 The Shanghai skyline at night. The explosive growth of the city has occurred in arelatively brief period, especially in the Pudong a.m. to 5p.m. Tuesday through Thursday,9a.m. to 6 district east of the Huangpu River.Twenty years ago, it was mostly farmland; today it boasts more than 35 . p.m. Friday through Sunday.Closed Monday.Admission: 30 CNY ($4.70). The English audio guide is available for 40 CNY ($6.25). Shanghai growsup, up,and out Shanghai World Financial Center 100 Century Ave., Pudong New Area, Shanghai SHANGHAI from N1 urban region, including both way stops from the exhibit. co flashing lights. Take the Metro to the Lujiazui Station. Open daily 8a.m. Shanghai street scene from of the city’smassive airports. Just 20 years ago Pudong was After our brief trip back in to 11 p.m. Admission: 120 CNY ($18.75). 1930, including old street- Toss away the guidebooks mostly farmland and afew time we reentered the mod- Shanghai Metro lights, trams, and sepia-toned and maps, none can compare warehouses along the Huang- ern era as we strolled around photos of the period. From to feeling like amodern-day pu River.Today it is the site the observation deck. Angled Operates daily from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Final train here visitors ride the escala- Gulliver with the city laid out of one of the most distinctive floor-to-ceiling windows, times are clearly marked, but vary by station so it is tor to the Exhibition Center at your feet. skylinesinthe world, boast- along with afew cleverly important to take note if you are out late. A and are instantly launched Visitors can view this ing more than 35 skyscrapers placed glass cutouts in the single-journey ticket is 3CNY ($0.50); aone-day into the 21st century. Shanghai in miniature from including the two tallest build- floor,give the impression that unlimited pass (good for afull 24 hours after first use) Acontemporary structure multiple perspectives by wan- ings in China. The growth has you are floating above the is 18 CNY ($2.80). Purchase tickets at automated with an abundance of natural deringaround araised walk- been so remarkable that the growing city.Having come so machines at all stations; one-day passes must be light, the center consists of way that circumnavigates the district is even getting its recently from theUrban Plan- purchased at customer service desk at the station. five floors of both permanent model.For abird’s-eye view, own Disneyland, due to open ning Center,wefelt there was and rotating exhibits. They take the escalator up one in 2016. asurreal aspect to the whole all relate to Shanghai’sdevel- floor and peer down from a Avisitor to Shanghai only experience. Laid out below us that give it the appearance of bright yellow construction opment and are presented in balcony onto this “mini Shang- five years ago would have ex- in every direction was the agiant Lego set. From this cranes swung over the site of both passive and interactive hai.” Handsets can be rented plored the observation deck city,exactly as we had viewed perspective it is not hard to yet another future skyscrap- formats to interest all ages. in English that highlight the atop the 88-story Jin Mao it earlier in the day —only believe that more than 23 mil- er,the Shanghai .Ithad On our recent visit, there city’sdevelopment. Tower,then the big game in this was the real thing. lion people live in Shanghai. loomed large in the scale mod- was a360-degree film that The model is a“living docu- town. Today the Jin Mao is Using the Huangpu River The view was mesmerizing, el at the Urban Planning Cen- was prepared for the 2010 ment”that is still used by ur- passé as the 101-story Shang- as alandmark, it is easy to but the observation deck was ter.When it is completed in Shanghai World Expo, whose ban planners and constantly hai World Financial Center spot the Bund, the cluster of crowded, so after ahalf hour 2014, this new kid on the theme was “Better City,Bet- updated with new building (SWFC) has risen across the early-20th-century buildings we left in search of aquieter block will top out at 128 ter Life.” projects. Included are those street. In modern Shanghai, that front the river and give vantage point. We walked floors, surpassing both the The center’scrowning glory that are still under construc- one-upmanshipisthe order Shanghai its signature blend across the street to the Jin and the is its three-dimensional scale tion —they are represented of the day. of Asian and art deco architec- Mao Tower.But instead of go- SWFC. In modern Shanghai, model of the city of Shanghai. here in clear plastic to indi- We bought tickets to the ture. We could even look ing to the observation deck, “bigger,faster,more” is an un- It is officially listed by the cate their “work in progress” SWFC’s100th-floor observa- down at the peak of the Jin we opted for the 54th-floor ending refrain. Guinness Book of World status. Thus the Shanghai of tion deck, the tallest in the Mao Tower. lobby lounge of the Grand Records as the largest model the future is also evident. world.Within about 90 sec- Aparade of high-rise apart- Hyatt nestled within the struc- Larissa and Michael Milne are of its kind. At more than With this new perspective onds we were smoothly ment complexes stretched to ture. living around the world for a 6,500 square feet, it is the on the city,weset out to see whisked to the viewing area the horizon, distinguishable There we enjoyed adrink year. Follow their journey at sizePDFof three compression,singles tennis the OCR,skyline firsthandweb optimizationin the in an elevator usingthat fora watermarkedsome from this height evaluationonly by the and copytook inofthe CVISIONview at our PDFCompressorwww.ChangesInLongitude.com. courts. It displays the entire city’sPudong district, two sub- reason featured 1970s-eradis- color-coordinated rooftops own pace. Down below us,