 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in Explore the Great Wall (Rucksack Readers) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Product Description
About the Author
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
I went to China armed with the appropriate Rough Guide which devotes about 4 pages (albeit of small print)- and does not do it justice. ‘Explore the Great Wall’ gives you the background history and descriptions of the other sections of the Wall that enabled me to put the tourist section (at Badaling) into context. It helped me realise that there is great variety in the Eastern sections of the Wall. In fact, the first revelation was that my schoolboy concept of a continuous Great Wall was far from reality: as the maps show, there are several Walls dating from different dynasties and they are far from continuous.
I am less convinced about the general information on planning and preparation because there is insufficient room within this compact, rucksack-sized publication for all of the detail I think you need to plan and execute a trip to China (unless you are very accustomed to ad hoc travel). The real value of this book lies in the history of the construction of the Great Wall and the detailed descriptions of the sections that are within reasonably easy reach of Beijing.
The photographs are, as in the other Rucksack Readers, excellent and far better than those I took, in November, on an overcast day when it was starting to snow! My reward was that I was almost alone on the Badaling section (described in the Reader as the single most visited place on the Wall). Perhaps no one ever died of loneliness on the Badaling section: I might have died of exposure had I not kept warm climbing uneven sets of steps and marvelling at the atmospheric views that appeared through the mists.
This book is a must for anyone visiting the Great Wall – whether as a walker or a member of an organised tour.
Despite common perception, the Great Wall of China is not and has never been a complete continuous wall across China. In fact, the individual structures collectively called the Great Wall is a number of wall sections built, demolished, and rebuilt throughout the various periods of Chinese history beginning around 1000 BCE. Due to this periodic building and rebuilding process, various sections of the wall were built using a variety of materials types and an assortment of architectural forms depending upon the particular dynastic regime building the particular wall section. Revitalization and rebuilding of various unwalkable wall sections is constantly being completed in an effort to rebuild individual sections to their previous state.
Most of the eight wall sections described in Explore the Great Wall were made during the Ming dynasty, 1368-1644. During this period, many earthen sections of the wall were replaced by masonry. Thus, these Ming dynasty sections look like the Great Wall as most people commonly perceive it. Along these routes are ample opportunities to see and visit towers, and tombs dating from the Ming dynasty. Moreover, the scenery along these walkable sections is simply breathtaking.
Explore the Great Wall outlines not only the background of the building episodes of the Great Wall and the various walkable sections of the wall (including full color maps) but also details various long walking and hiking fundamentals. These details include what types of equipment the participant should bring to complete the walk, how long the various sections of the journey will take, and how temperature and seasonality will affect the walk. There are also helpful tips especially for novices about daily mileage, feet, weight, and the right gear.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
