Day 18: Great Wall of Climbing

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An early start this morning to head to the Great Wall. While we were originally scheduled to go to the Huang Ya Guan section that is 3 hours away, it was changed to the Mutianyu section, only 90 minutes away.

The drive out was fairly monotonous, with no information from Our guide for the day, Cecelia. Once we arrived, Cecelia purchased our tickets, handed them to us and said "You go up this way. See you again in four hours!" Lyle and I were both shocked that our tour guide was not going to be our 'tour guide'. Nonetheless, we headed up the slope, with innumerable steps up to the Wall. Less physical people can opt to take a cable car or chair lift.

The Wall was fantastic and exactly what I had expected. It was a very long stretch, snaking along the top of a mountain. It went UP on some extremely steep bits, where walking became climbing (on all fours). The Wall here is well maintained, with vendors at every watchtower offering drinks at inflated prices. "Ice water, cold beer, postcards!" They even sold tourist medals for having made the climb.

Lyle was more brave (silly?) than me, heading off to the high outpost on the next mountain ridge. I didn't venture as far, but did go beyond the "tourist section". I don't think it was particularly forbidden, because vendors went beyond there, too.

The way back down was easier because I took a Luge ride, that got me to the bottom in 5 minutes. I purchased an "I climbed the Great Wall of China" T-shirt to celebrate. "20 Yuan" ($3) said the vendor, so I pulled out my money. "This one is Cotton," pointed out the vendor. "50 Yuan for this" she added. So, I walked away but she quickly came after me, selling it for the earlier agreed ¥20.

Then yet more food. While it was about 3 o'clock I still didn't feel particularly hungry after the climb. I'm definitely going to skip dinner tonight. In fact, I'm writing this diary entry on the iPad in the van while heading back from the Wall and I have booked a ticket to an Acrobats show tonight, which I found cheap on the Internet (http://www.chaoyangtheatre.com/).

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You know, up until this point I didn't really "get" Beijing. Everything I've done since arriving has been tourist-oriented and pre-organised. This changed the moment the driver dropped me off at Sunlitun Village shopping centre and I waved goodbye. I entered Village, spied the gigantic logo on the Apple store and suddenly felt a tear in my eye. I have been immersed in a different culture for 19 days and now, seeing the Apple Store, I was reminded of home. All the American brands of the stores around me suddenly felt 'normal' whereas they had felt out-of-place and unwelcome just a few days ago. I guess I'm yearning to return home, but that's still a few days away. It must feel worse for the ex-pats and I now understand why they tend to group together in strange cities.

I took advantage Apple's great wi-fi and Internet bandwidth to do a FaceTime call home to my wife and children. It was the best connection of the whole trip! I used the wi-fi to plot my path to the theatre, too.

Ironically, while using my iPad in the Apple Store, I noticed that my Home Button wasn't working. Looks like I'll have to swap it over under warranty once I get back to Sydney.

I hopped on the nearby subway to go one station to the theatre. The subway in Beijing is only ¥2 (15c) regardless of distance, even cheaper with a stored-value card. Cecelia told me that this is to appease the citizens and make them appreciate the government!

I found the theatre and followed the instructions I had received via SMS... look for the tall person in front of the ticket office. Sure enough, there he was, holding my name amongst others on a sign. I paid ¥100 ($15) and got a good seat. The normal price for tickets range from ¥180 to ¥880.

I had a bit of time before the show, so went for a walk towards a strange tower. You have to see it to appreciate it, but it basically breaks all norms of physics with bits overhanging voids and slanted edges. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Central_Television_Headquarters

I'm now enjoying the Beijing traffic. Crossing the street still requires 360-degree vigilance but I walk with the locals and make it across safely. There are bike paths down the side of the roads and I saw a mini-taxi, which is a motorbike with two wheels at the back, a metal casing and a couple of seats 'inside' at the back. It's so small it can go down bike lanes!

http://images.travelpod.com/users/tmadeira/1.1299249338.6_3-wheeled-motorcycle-taxi.jpg

The acrobatics show was very good, with people doing some amazing stuff like walking up and down stairs on one hand, balancing on stacked chairs in precarious postures, feats of human strength, etc. All the performers were Chinese this time (as opposed to Chimelong in Guangzhou). I shared my enthusiasm for the show with a Chinese lady next to me. She could not speak English, nor I Chinese, but we equally agreed with the quality of the performances. She even took a photo with me!

After the show I noticed that there was a nearby park. It was dark (9pm) and I wasn't too sure if the park would be safe, but I saw a young woman enter without a sideways glance, so I followed. The park was populated with mostly elderly citizens going for a stroll around a large lake, people using exercise machines like a public gymnasium, and a large group of women doing line dancing (which I've found in every park I've visited). It appears that the city calms down as it cools down, with the hectic city giving way to a bit of relaxation. I even updated this blog sitting on some steps outside a nearby restaurant and felt quite peaceful with the surroundings, watching people walk their dogs (which are all little).

Shop windows showed real estate properties available for purchase. The standard is to show the price per square metre, which for these apartments was around ¥30,000 ($4,500). So, a 60sqm apartment is $270,000.

As I was writing this, a 20-ish girl sitting nearby peered at the iPad, so I did my normal thing of turning on the camera and showing her face in strange variations. This got the usual laugh and 'broke the ice' so I proceeded to the standard 2nd phase of showing family photos. I showed pictures of our family trip to Vanuatu and the pictures of the children holding strange animals (chameleon, coconut crab, snakes) always get a laugh. If they are still interested I show pictures of our home and even a recent cruise holiday. One thing I've noticed is that most of our pictures are from "special occasions" such as holidays or school functions. I really should take a series of photos of just our house and 'a day in the life of' to show what things are like living in Sydney. Nonetheless, we communicated in a friendly manner, using mobile phones to translate occasional words each way.

It was getting late so I bade farewell and headed back to the main road. Catching the subway would have required several changes of lines (they're building a new one that would have taken me straight back to my hotel), so Google Maps on my iPhone recommended a bus. Buses are even cheaper - only ¥1 (15c). I walked to the appropriate spot, caught a bus and tracked my progress on the iPhone. As fate would have it, the iPhone ran out of power close to the end of the journey, so I hopped off, looked around and thankfully recognised some buildings, getting back to my hotel successfully.

After this evening's excursion I no longer dislike Beijing. Getting away from the tourist activities and mixing it with the locals has given me a friendly consideration for the city. I still think the sky is polluted, that consumerism is rampant and the traffic sucks, but now I just laugh at it.

One more day of Beijing, then a bit of Shanghai and then the comfort of home. Yippee!

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