The day after visiting Happy Happy Valley I went to the Great Wall of China! I signed up for a tour with the hostel. My new Aussie friends Steve and Darren came, too.
The Great Wall stretches east to west across northern China. Construction began as early as the seventh century BC and including all its branches is over 21,000 kilometers long (more than 13,000 miles). Parts of the wall have been desroyed and some have been reconstructed. Some sections are barely standing, but much of it is still intact and in surprisingly well condition. The tour I visited was a 10km stretch from Tin Shan Ling to Si Ma Tai. This section was about three hours or so outside of Beijing (by minibus).
A van picked up the two Aussies, a Colombian couple, and myself at Peking Yard at 8:30AM. There were about ten other people from different hostels in Beijing also on the tour. On the way to Tin Shan Ling our tour guide gave us a brief history of the Wall and of Beijing/China. It took over three hours to get to the Wall, but we all voted to take the highway back, which would only take about ninety minutes, but we all had to pitch in Y10 ($1.60USD). The Germans told me it was a tough hike and Lucas told me to bring water. Beau said it wasn't too hard. I brought lots of water and wore appropriate hiking clothes (shorts, lightweight shirt, running shoes). I was prepared for a hot, sweaty day of hiking the Great Wall. I was not prepared for the absolute downpour that greeted us about fifteen minutes away from our destination.
The Mongolian farmers were prepared for the rain. When we pulled up to Tin Shan Ling a half dozen Mongolians were there with umbrellas, waterproof ponchos, rain jackets and hats. I was really thankful for that because rain was the furthest thing from my mind. At this point in my travels I had only one or two days of rain, and one of those days was only a little bit for a short while. I should have figured it was too good to last. The Philippines definitely made up for my no-rain days, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Darren, Steve, and I bought a poncho each and set off on our hike.
On the way to the Wall our guide told us there were cable cars we could take to bypass the first couple kilometers if we didn't want to walk the entire length. I was planning on walking the whole thing, but in the rain I thought maybe the cable cars would be a nice alternative. Too bad there was thunder and lightning, so the cable cars were closed. No matter, we had ponchos.
What was really nice about the Tin Shan Ling to Si Ma Tai section was how far out of Beijing it was. That meant not a lot of tourists. I am well aware of the irony displayed in statements like that when I myself am a tourist. Sounds a bit hypocritical, I know. However, it is nice when there aren't a lot of people crowded around trying to see and do the same things as me. Usually. Anyway, in addition to our minibus there were two tour buses that I saw and I don't think they were full for as few people as I saw. That meant I could get a photo of a long segment of the Wall without hoardes of people. Or I could have if the weather was better. The rain wasn't bad because I had a poncho and it wasn't cold, but it was really foggy. By the highest point where I should have been able to see most of the ten kilometers I just hiked I could barely see my own hand in front of my face. Oh well.
Despite the rain I still had a good time. I was still able to enjoy the walk and appreciate the structure. Like the Forbidden City I probably would have appreciated it more if I had read some history books, but it was incredible nonetheless. The Germans made me nervous, but it wasn't bad at all. Some points had very steep stairs and I needed to use my hands, but I was not out of breath and I didn't need to stop to rest at all. What I found particularly impressive were the poor Mongolian farmers who will walk alongside the tourists, talking to them, helping them all day in hopes of a tip or a chance to sell them a cheap souvenir at the end. One woman who was at least late fifties, probably sixties, walked with us for thirty minutes before she even brought up the fact that she wanted to sell us something. We knew, of course, but I felt bad telling her to shove off when she hadn't done anything more than just walk with us, smile, and wait while we took photos. Steve ended up giving her some money after a half hour and she trotted off to "assist" some other travelers. The woman was a bit hunched over, carried a backpack, and was likely arthritic; yet she walked nearly the entire length of ten kilometers (or more!) every day. There were old men as well.
When we finished in Si Ma Tai we waited and ate our bag lunches inside a building. I don't know if the building was a meeting place or a museum or a gift shop; there was a cafe and some restrooms, but there was no power in the building so the cafe was closed and the toilets were dark and scary. The drive back to Beijing was much shorter and quieter than the way there. Everyone was tired and wet and pretty subdued.
When we got back to the hostel around 4:00PM Beau was packed and about to head to the airport. I said good-bye to him and we agreed to keep in touch. I went to the dumpling restaurant for the third time in one week, then showered and relaxed.
Later, around 8:00PM, Lucas, Li, the Australians, and I went to the Olympic Stadium. We didn't go inside the actual stadium or the aquatics arena; they were closed and cost money, but we saw them from the outside. There was a lot of activity and many vendors outside as well. I called Li a goat because he eats so much- even more than GGG- and shortly afterwards we found a sugar artist who procured a perfectly crafted goat made of sugar. It was really neat. The sugar artist used liquid sugar- similar to the consistency of molasses- to draw a beautiful goat on wax paper. He then set a stick on the sugary ram, and when he was done the sugar had dried and Li had a goat-shaped lollipop. Only it looked much better than it tasted.
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| Sugar artist crafting a goat for Li |
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