Feeling like a kid again

Today Charlie, Tony, Elena and I rented a car and drove out to Mutianyu to see the Great Wall.  On our way there and back I got a nice glimpse of life in rural China as we passed through a couple of small towns en route to the Wall.  This was more of what I always thought China would look like.  There were green trees everywhere and it was dry and hilly, a lot like some areas of Idaho.  I saw a small herd of bony cows and a shepherd with his flock.  We passed several shallow streams alongside which people fished or picnicked. The little towns, being so near such an important monument, bustled with traffic and street vendors in open air markets.  Our driver took us down some not-so-major streets and I was able to peer down the quiet alleys and into the slightly cracked plain metal doors embellished minimally with what certainly must have been luck-bringing flair.  I watched a little stooped-over old man shuffle down the street to take refuge from the sun in a small garage along with a couple of his peers where they sat calmly around a table enjoying tea and watching traffic go by.

Photographically, it is really difficult to capture what this place is actually like.  I can shoot interesting buildings, people or activities, but it never really does it justice.  The photos all come out looking dull and random and unfocused as far as subject matter is concerned.  Even video may not do it justice.  You really just have to be here to experience it.  You have to take in all the little fleeting details for which you would never think to whip out a camera.  You have to smell the dusty, polluted air mixed with the smells of cooking street food, fresh produce, raw meat, and blooming flowers.  You have to hear all the sounds at once, a cacophony of traffic horns, squeaking brakes and revving engines mixed with birds, the sing-song cries of the street vendors and pleasant chatter in a variety of dialects and accents.

You have to see the people.  Old folks dressed in drab blue or gray traditional Chinese button-up shirts and short-billed hats shuffle around, pausing to stare at us or at whatever is interesting, always curious, sometimes expressing disdain for whatever is going on.  They are exactly what most Americans probably think a communist looks like.  The younger and middle-aged crowd, wearing the latest ridiculous fashion, using the latest electronics, buzz around in nice cars or on trendy scooters.  Families with one little bare-bottomed toddler each hold their little prize up in front of scenic attractions to take his or her picture for their photo albums.  Hard-working laborers with leathery faces toil on bicycles under heavy loads of recyclables or building materials, disregarding motorized traffic altogether, intently focused on their own strife and how much more they might have to endure before reaching their destination. Loud, friendly women emerge from their shops to greet each other or sling their goods to the next passerby, both in Mandarin and sales English phrases such as, "Good price!" or "Have a look!"  They always have something that is good for something else, guaranteed to bring good luck, wealth, great skin or weight loss.

For me, China is all of these things.  You cannot capture such complexity with a camera.  This is something that must be taken in with all of the senses.  I only wish I had more time here to discover and understand the subtleties of such a large country with so many kinds of people, languages, and cultural nuances.

All that being said, I will now recount and show you some lovely pictures of our outing today.  Just keep in mind that what you see here is only the tip of the iceberg.  If you like, I encourage you to get your ass on a plane and come experience it for yourself.

So where was I?  Oh yes... on our way to Mutianyu we passed through some towns.  Here are some very vague images of what rural China kind of looks like.

After about a 2-hour drive out of Beijing, we finally arrived in Mutianyu.  We made a pit stop at a horrible public toilet (although I have seen worse) where it was so crowded and there was so much competition that you literally had to stand right in front of the stall door to wait for the occupant to come out so that you could push passed her into the stall before someone else did.  I even saw one eager woman push her way into the stall before the user had exited.  While I observed this chaos and eventually pushed my way in for a turn, Tony was off pushing his way through a crowd to get a tickets for the cable care that would take us up to the Great Wall.  I was relieved to learn that this was our method for getting there after seeing the hillside towering over us and trying to prepare mentally for the physical torture that I knew climbing it would be.

Making our way up the crowded pathway toward the cable cars, we were hit up by several vendors hawking their touristy wares.  Feeling the heat on my face already, I knew I was going to need a hat so I opted for one of the green communist hats with the red star sewn on the front.  I thought they were cool and figured I wouldn't look like too much of an ass wearing it since I had seen several other Chinese people with it on, unlike the time in Hong Kong when I purchased a woven conical hat and embarrassed the hell out of Charlie with it.  Charlie approved enough of my new hat that he bought one for himself too.

Nearing the cable car, Charlie asked, "Did you see the camel?"  I had seen a camel out of the corner of my eye, but as it was sitting dead still I figured it was a fake photo-op prop and ignored it.  Realizing that it was a live camel, I gasped like an excitable 5 year-old and immediately made my way over to it, happy to pay any price to sit on it and have my picture taken.

Yay!

My fuzzy buddy: well-mannered and extremely smelly. This was the first time in my life that I had ever had the pleasure of being so close to a camel and it was delightful. 

After that, we continued up the hill and got into our cable car.  Here is a video of our ascent to the wall.  Conveniently, Tony was making his own video at the time so he can be heard narrating it. Yes, that scary, rickety knocking sound is the cable car.


As the earth dropped out beneath us we began to be able to see the small populated valley from whence we had come, and above us along the hilly ridge the snaking fortification slowly came into view.

 We alighted atop the hill onto a wide plaza and were greeted by the first of many sets of knee-high irregular steps which require a little extra balance and muscle strength to scale. Elena, Charlie and I went up first so that Tony could get this matching hat picture that I forced Charlie to endure.

Looking uphill in the distance you could see a few Chinese characters on the hillside calling its readers to "Respect Chairman Mao".

In an attempt to avoid too much bodily hardship, we took the most downhill route we could along the wall, only having to suffer through a couple of short stints of stair climbing.  Even though it was downhill it was still difficult.  All of the stairs are irregular, some only a couple inches in height, while others are almost two feet high in areas.  One must pay close attention so as not to trip and face plant on the hard stone walkway, a real risk at any given time.  Plus, after going down so many stairs with such care our legs were just as wobbly as if we had been walking uphill the entire time.

 Stairway from hell.

Just to the right of the farthest hill where you can still see the wall in this picture, there are two little red dots just to the right.  This is our destination.

As you can see, the wall is not very wide, but is pretty high.

No Climb-Over.  No shit.

If you stick your head into the openings on the sides you get a nice natural blast of air conditioning, which was very welcome on this hot day.  I took comfort in knowing I was not the only red-faced panting tourist attempting to schlep my way along the all in the hot sun.  The interior of the guard towers provided shelter from the heat and many people would sit inside them to rest.

There were vendors parked in the few shady corners along the way, offering ice-cold water, soft drinks, beer and popsicles. Unfortunately, the site suffered because of this.

Here are a couple more shots and video panoramas to give you a better idea of what the area looks like.

Also, before our journey ended, I insisted that Charlie misbehave acrobatically on yet another important Chinese monument.


Our method of getting back down the hill was exciting and unconventional.  Much to my surprise and delight the Great Wall has a toboggan ride! 

I followed the rules like the guy loading people onto it instructed and did not use my camera during the ride.  Anyway, I was a little unsure about my abilities to operate a toboggan with only one hand.  Here's a picture of the ride beforehand.

And lucky for all of you, some other hilarious tourist did break the rules and videotaped his ride down the hill.  It really is as fun as it looks.  I could have done it all day long.


And thus our sightseeing at the Great Wall concluded.  We traipsed back down the hill to meet our driver.  Along the way I saw a woman with one of those fruity popsicles, the kind that is actually mashed up frozen fruit, and I decided I had to have one.  With my strawberry popsicle in hand like a child who had just won a prize, I happily loaded my exhausted butt back into the car for the long journey back to Beijing.

We stopped on our way back to buy some cigars and see the school that Charlie had attended during his stint in Beijing from 1989-1993 and then headed back to the apartment where I blogged and Charlie and Tony enjoyed cigars on the balcony while Tony played the harp.

Just look at him. That's even a Cuban cigar.  Damn commie.

After a short rest, we ventured out to Da Dong Roast Duck, Beijing's most famous Peking duck restaurant.  Like a complete idiot, I forgot my camera, which is rather unfortunate because the presentation was really nice.  Please see the next blog entry for Charlie's write up of the meal. Hopefully by the time it posts I will have found some pictures of this restaurant's food online that I can include.  Bon Appetit!