I was at the Forbidden City over May holiday, and there was garbage everywhere. Not many foreigners. Can't defend the sex and drugs though.

Hi,
Photos are here, pity, nobody has been caught pants down because they are protected by the money submitted to the adminstration commitee.

There is some misunderstanding about the nature of the Great Wall. It was never a singularly a defensive instrument as it is often perceived to be nor was it particularly meant to repulse invaders alone. The wall itself is too long to be properly garrisoned and the purpose of the wall itself was more to act as a signal to nearby garrisons to sorty and meet possible invaders. It's not so much of a fortification as it was a reconaissance tool. The wall had limited military applications because its efficacy was dependant upon the conditions of the dynasty behind it. When dynasties were strong, military control extended well beyond the Great Wall and its purpose was rendered redundant. When the dynasties were weak, the wall was useless because sufficient forces were not capable of being mustered to deter the invaders. The Wall can argueably be said to have served more as a socio-cultural construct, a physical reminder of the notion of us and them. Also it did wonders for taxation purposes what with all main routes being manned, no way merchants could sneak past! It's surprising how ultimately so many things boil down to simple economics and land issues.

As to the origin of Chinese horses, I believe the story has it that they were domesticated fairly early, somewhere around 2000 BCE and of course feature prominently in the Chariot warfare of the early dynasties. The ancient asiatic horses were indeed raised in China and the early dynasties were not continually dependant on the steppe nomads for fresh mounts. There was a change however, im not sure when, but I believe that a newer larger breed of horse from further west in central Asia became more dominant in China. Indeed by the Sui, Tang, and Song period, evidence exists of Chinese using war horses that the nomads did not possess. Horses large enough to carry the burden of heavily armored kataphractoi which a Mongolian pony certainly could not. Naturally larger and more powerful horses were better suited for agricultural purposes as well. The original asiatic horses are pretty rare, though I believe there are still a small number of surviving specimens in Japan, which are normally no bigger than 12 hands. There is an irony here in that many of the historical figures of the past are literally larger than life. Many historical armours in Japan are fitted for men that are no more than 5 feet tall, so a pony would have been sufficient. It wasn't until the 15th or so century that larger sized horses began to appear which as elsewhere eventually drove the original breeds to near extinction.

Yes, I believe that is a fair comment about the wall and its symbol as a demonstration of power. As I mentioned, it was meant more for buying troops garrissoned nearby enough time to react.

On the horses Jing, I believe those were sourced during the Tang period and thereabouts for Ferghana, in Central Asia. It was not until the later dynasties that they became wholly dependent on the Mongolian pony (which people continue to insist on calling the China pony).

The inability to maintain a large breeding stock of horses in China, from what I have read, boils down to the fact that no grasses native to China can provide or sustain enough calcium adequate to the needs of the standard warhorse. This is why, from early on, the Chinese had to import most of their equestrian needs.

You could argue the wall is doing it's job - it is drawing away foreigners and their influence from important parts of the empire. Well it was until it was splashed all over the papers.

This pissing on the wall is such a non-issue. It inevitably all boils down to money like many things in China nowadays.

A Chinese company leases a section of the wall and holds parties, party attendees of all nationalities relieve themselves on the wall.

Yawn.....Next.