2 Iowa Girls on the Great Wall

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I love the Great Wall. It truly is one of the most impressive sights I've ever seen. For anyone who hasn't seen the Wall in person: not only is it massive, but it's also built way up in the mountains. Well, they may technically be really-big-hill. It doesn't matter. I just know that every time I go to the Wall, I think to myself, "Why in the world did they need to build a wall way up here???"

Since I have been to the Great Wall more times than anyone who isn't a tour guide, I decided Rachel and I should go to a section of the Wall that I had yet to see: Simatai. There are several sections of the Wall that have been restored and are open to the public, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of Simatai are that it is less touristy and has stunning views. The disadvantages are that it takes a few hours to get there and you have to hike quite a ways to get up to the Wall itself. Since Rachel actually enjoys outdoor activities that require a great deal of exertion (making her the polar opposite of me), I figured she'd enjoy the outing more than almost anyone else I know.

Just to recap, for those of you just joining us, the first day Rachel and I were in Beijing was lovely weather and the second day was colder but manageable. The third day, the day of our Great Wall Adventure, we woke up to grey skies, rain, and a drop of about 15 degree F. But, we weren't daunted (much) as we woke up, wrapped ourselves in layers, packed our packs, and took off to the bus station. Now, it is possible to hire a car to drive you to the Great Wall for the day, but I decided that we could get there ourselves for much less money - which is how we ended up on bus 980 at 7:30 in the morning. The directions I had (thanks to Sen) were simple: take bus 980 to Miyun and then transfer to a mini-bus to the Great Wall or hire a car for 100 RMB. OK, we can do that. So, we got on the bus and the ticket lady asked, "Where do you want to go?" (in Chinese, of course). "Miyun," I answered. "Where in Miyun?" she asked. Um.........Surely lots of people take this bus to the Great Wall, I think to myself. I mean, it is the official recommended route printed on all the maps and listed in Lonely Planet. So I said to her, "We want to go to the Great Wall, to Simatai." And I smiled. There, surely that would clear everything up. A look of great confusion crossed her face and then she attempted to give us a reassuring smile and told us to wait, she'd come back to sell us our tickets later. She proceeded to sell tickets to everyone else on the bus and then went to the front to use the radio. By this time, the bus has already taken off, so I was just hoping it was the right bus and Rachel was just looking at me suspiciously. Finally, the lady came back and gave me a slip of paper with the words "Miyun, 980, taxi, Simatai, 6:30" written on it. She then explained to me that we needed to get off at Miyun Station, then take a taxi to Simatai, and the last bus 980 back to Beijing would leave Miyun at 6:30 p.m. "Thank you!" I say, while wondering why there was any confusion at all when I said we wanted to buy a ticket to Miyun.

At this point, Rachel asked me, "Is this a non-stop, direct bus?" And I said, "I think so." And Rachel asked, "Then why have we already stopped 10 times?" She followed that up with, "Have you noticed that there's no bathroom on this bus? How long did you say it would take?" I asked the ticket lady and she said two-and-a-half hours. "Can you hold it?" I asked Rachel.

Two-and-a-half hours later, the bus arrived at Miyun Station and the ticket lady motioned to us frantically that this is our stop. As we got off, we realized that the temperature was even lower outside the city than it was in Beijing. That's ok, we're tough, we can handle it. So, the next order of business was hiring a car to drive us to the Wall. (The mini-buses don't run during the cold-weather months, apparently.) Sen had told me the price should be 100 RMB, so I began the haggling process with the various drivers who were standing out in the cold, eagerly trying to get our attention. I'm guessing business is bad when it's cold and raining and I'm basing that on the fact that Rachel and I were the only people who got off the bus. One of the drivers quickly differentiated himself from the others by smiling, so I started the serious bargaining with him. His starting price? 250 RMB. Hmmm, I don't think so. So, I tried to talk him down and I finally got him to 200 RMB. I felt very insulted - I'm not even sure that can technically be called cooperative bargaining in China. Cooperative bargaining almost always results in a price less than half of the starting price. This guy surely, I thought to myself and said to Rachel, is being mean and trying to cheat the foreigners. Unfortunately, it was cold and raining and there was no other way to get to the Wall, so we ended up settling for 200 RMB. "Outrageous!" I thought. (Later, Sen told me that 100 RMB was the price to hire a driver one-way and that 200 RMB was a good price for round-trip. And then I just felt bad for calling the driver names in my head.)

It was another 45 minutes to Simatai, and as we drove higher and higher, the rain turned into snow. Snow! Very beautiful, very wonderful, but very cold! Did I mention that I live in southern China and Rachel lives in the Middle East, and neither of us has seen weather even approaching freezing for years? Neither of us owns a hat, let alone snow boots!

When we arrived at Simatai, it was, unsurprisingly, deserted. The driver settled in to wait for us and we headed to the ticket booth. We bought our entry ticket and then hiked about 15 minutes to the cable car ticket booth. After buying those tickets, we entered the cable car embarkation station - and luckily were rapidly pushed into a car before Rachel could begin to process what was going on and panic. I've taken the cable cars at another section of the Great Wall, Mutianyu, and they were very nice and safe and enclosed. The ones at Simatai are very basic and rickety and open-air. Once she came out of shock, Rachel and I managed to laugh at the situation. Here it was, the worst weather imaginable - cold, snowy, and foggy - and we're crammed inside a tiny cable car built for Chinese-sized people that looks like it came from an amusement park graveyard headed up a mountain towards the Great Wall which we can't see because of the dense fog and swirling snow. All we could do is laugh. I chalk it up to just another "Only in China" experience for me and am so glad I could share such an experience with my dear friend. Really, she's been living too sheltered of a life and needs some more adventure and bizarre experiences like this.

After 30 minutes, we finally arrived at the disembarkation station and we tumbled out of the car as soon as they unlocked the door. Freedom! As we headed out the exit, a security guard dressed in the biggest winter coat I've ever seen, fur cap, scarf, and gloves flags us down, points to the path going to the Wall, and says in Chinese, "Very cold! Are you crazy?" Actually, I'm not sure if that's what he said, but it definitely fit with his arm motions. We decided to completely disregard his advice and took off up the path that the sign told us went to the Great Wall. "I promise, it's up there somewhere!" I said to Rachel as we peered into the solid wall of white fog and snow. "Really, it is." It took us another 30 minutes to climb the ever-slickening path. There were lots of steps but no hand-rails to speak of - just a big metal chain that was really unappealing in the freezing weather. We passed a small group of foreigners coming down the path as we went up, and their faces didn't give us much hope about the situation at the top; but we persevered because, by golly, the one thing Rachel wanted to do in China was see the Great Wall and the one thing I wanted her to see in China was the Great Wall and we were going to see the Great Wall by hook or by crook! Again, all we could do was laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

Finally, we reached the top. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see any stunning views because of the snow and fog. In fact, we weren't really able to see the Wall. We decided to walk a bit and go up to one of the watchtowers. After all, being on the Great Wall is a once-in-a-lifetime experience (well, not for me, but for Rachel) and we wanted to make the most of it. Getting up to the watchtower required climbing a lot of steep stairs, which wasn't too bad even in the snow. As we were going up, a cute guy was coming down and he said something to us that was probably encouraging, but we were too busy drooling over his sexy French accent to register the actual words. The 5-second encounter with him definitely made climbing those stairs worthwhile. Coming down the stairs, however, was a different matter. It seems our running shoes were not designed for running down steep, uneven, snow- and ice-covered stairs.

About this time, we decided we were cold and wet enough and that our short time on the Great Wall was already a better story than most people would ever have, so we started the trek back down to the car. During the 30-minute hike from the Wall to the cable cars, we passed an older couple hiking up. "How much further to the Wall?" they asked (as, again, it was too foggy and snowy to see). "About another 20 minutes," we answered. "Oh, no way. I'm going back to the bus," was the woman's reply. (In her defense, she was using a cane and I doubt the climb in perfect weather would have been easy for her.) We rode the cable cars again, and managed to laugh just as much as we had on the way up. When we arrived at the car an hour earlier than planned, our driver didn't seem surprised to see us.

I think our toes finally thawed out on bus 980, about an hour outside of Beijing.

Back in Beijing for our last night, we enjoyed a lovely dinner with lots of talking and laughing again. The next day it was back to Shenzhen. We went for another foot massage in the evening and then a hairwash the next morning because you can never have too much pampering. One final day in Hong Kong and then it was time to say goodbye again.

I'd say my first visitor had a great time. I know I learned a lot about being a tour guide and have a lot of ideas for my next visitor. So, who's next?

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Photos

Rachel and I on the Great Wall
The adventure of getting up there will be a story we can tell at cocktail parties for the rest of our lives.

The Cable Cars
"These look like something from an amusement park graveyard," Rachel said.

Rachel Laughing
In such a ridiculous situation, all you can do is laugh.

I'm so cute!
Looking cute as a button in with my hood up.

We made it! We made it!
Finally, we made it to the top.

The View
Simatai is known for its spectactular views...but apparently not in March.

The View
No wonder I couldn't find any organzied tours.

Snowy Great Wall
I've always wanted to see the Great Wall in the snow. It was beautiful in a "mysterious-and-shrouded-in-fog" kind of way.

Snowy Berries
I snapped this picture as an excuse to stop and rest on the hike back down to the car.