Happy hiking

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Well I have to get into training for my Taishan challenge so I started with an outing to Mr Mao’s Chestnut Orchard, run by the Beijing Hikers, and a very international group they turned out to be. We had to take a coach an hour and a half north of the city. A young guy from USA sat next to me, he was in China for 6 months working on an animation film, but I also talked to French, Dutch, Australian, Malaysian, Chinese and English with a mixture of tourists, embassy staff, teachers and IT experts, so it was a very multi-cultural day.

It was incredibly well organised, right down to providing sun tan lotion - and yes we did need it - walking sticks, water and chocolate biscuits. They even tied red ribbons to the trees as we went along the trail so no one could get lost. It was delightful - the sun was shining and the blossom was out on the apricot and almond trees. We scrambled and clambered over a hill and along a dry river bed, then down into the village for a home cooked meal with our local guide, Mr Mao (no not that one) - rounded off, of course, with home grown roast chestnuts - delicious!

This weekend I also went on a hike, but it was unintentional. I was invited to go to the Botanical Gardens to see the peach blossom in bloom, which has flowered virtually overnight, as Beijing leapt straight from winter to summer temperatures. But we hadn’t counted on the equivalent of Bank Holiday traffic. Last weekend China celebrated Labour Day and had a long weekend. I was advised not to try and travel out anywhere but didn’t realise the crowds that would overwhelm Beijing itself - plus it was the first really sunny day. So we literally could not physically get on the bus,it was mayhem. There were no available taxis and rickshaws were charging double………..so with our Chinese colleague Guozhi we leapt on a bus, any bus that was empty just to escape the crowd. After about an hour of bus travel (standing) we found our way to a “little path” we had been advised would take us just 40 minutes and enable us to enter the gardens from the other side. In reality this turned out to be an hour and half hike over a small mountain in the height of the sun! (I heard later 32C) The walk was enlivened by Violeta (visiting from VSO London) posing her favourite question to us all - did we think it was possible to eradicate world poverty? Nothing heavy! So with brains and bodies having had a work out, we did eventually drop down into the park, which was lovely - if not exactly peaceful (see pic), and finally found refuge in a very civilised Tea house to cool off.

My final effort at training for Taishan is to climb the stairs to my office each day instead of taking the lift; we are on the 15th floor. However on my first attempt I arrived to find the door locked and had to go back to the 11th just to get in - best laid plans!!

So my challenge now is the girly one of what on earth to pack in an overnight bag that will suffice for a formal Chinese banquet, the opening of a new factory, sleeping on the train and the mountain walk - LBD and stilettos should cover it girls what do you think - it’s OK just joking!

G x

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Photos

we reached the lake
with Laura (Spanish) and Violeta (Roumanian) finally in the Botanical Gardens

little blossom
please note my T shirt matches the scenery

all the gang
outside the T house - revived