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The Great Wall Jinshanling
this was the picture I really, really wanted!! So, in our attempt to take advantage of every opportunity we can, we stumbled on some great airfares, and ended up in China! It was a long flight from Boise - Beijing and even longer for Patti and Doug flying from Boston to Beijing, but we all managed to meet within an hour of each other. Our trip had us flying into Beijing for 6 days, taking the hi speed train to Xian and then 3 days in Xian. Since this was a quick 10 day trip, we decided to maximize our time and sign up for some tours thru China Highlights, an agency found thru multiple searches with good reviews. And it was a great choice. Our two different guides were wonderful and everything flowed just perfectly!
So, Bill is waiting for us, yes, he has a Chinese name, but as we struggled to attempt to pronounce it, we all switched to calling him Bill. We spent 3 days with Bill as our tour guide and thoroughly enjoyed our time with him. He was easy going and flexible allowing us to wander and take pics. He was knowledgeable with the highlights of the places we visited, patient
with our questions, and also providing a glimpse of his personal life, too.
Our first full day in China also coincided with the 2nd day of a 3 day holiday celebrating Labor Day, May 1st. Adding just a few more people to the city of 21 million. But, we were all up early, enjoyed a stroll on the side streets of a hutong (traditional neighborhoods) nearby. Bill lives in the SE corner of Beijing. Beijing currently has 9 ring roads, as they worked on the 10th ring road encircling the city. The last ring will be a 900 mile circumference of the city. He told us it could take up to 1.5 hrs to get to central part of the City, depending on traffic. So, we were surprised when he showed up a half hour early, telling us traffic was not too bad, so far. It was an early visit to Tiananmen square and we were surprised to see it quite empty. But, once we walked to The Forbidden City, nearby, the crowds had arrived. Bill later would show us a photo of the square, absolutely jammed with people later in the afternoon.
The
day was spent touring the Forbidden City, although with the crowds, we only saw such a small part of it. We encountered the first of what would become many photo opportunities. Doug said it was the first time he was the tourist attraction! Mothers would try to have their children come close to us, so they could snap a picture. And more than a couple of times you would see what appeared someone taking a selfie with a selfie stick (which Bill told us, he thought it was called a selfish stick.... sounds like a better name). but their camera was facing the wrong direction, actually taking a picture of us. It really did become quite comical. But, everyone was quite good natured about it.
The day's tour included a hike up to the Jinshan Park Pavillion where we could get a good vista of the size of the Forbidden City. Lunch at a traditional Hot Pot restaurant which involved dipping a variety of thinly sliced vegetables, meats, and some items we could not identify. Fortunately, Bill did all the cooking and explaining. It was enough food to feed an army, and we barely put a dent
in it. But most of it was delicious! Then on to the Temple of Heaven, an acrobatic show, the Pearl Market, and finally a light dinner nearby to finish the day. It was probably as muchh as one could cram into a day!
The next day was a 2.5 hr drive to JInshanling, north east of Beijing for our Great Wall hike. It was great to get out and see the countryside. And amazing to see the construction of one more high speed rail line. Bill told us, the government wants to reduce the population of Beijing and will be moving 3 million people out of the city by 2018. Such a different world than what we live in, but there is an advantage to a functioning government with a 10 year plan?? One of my favorite quotes from a fellow traveller in 2004, "China is excited about the next 500 years".
The Great Wall has been something I have wanted to see for a long time, so I was very excited about this part of the trip. Wanting to do more than just 'see' the wall', we booked a 4 hour hike along
the wall. And I loved it!! It was a beautiful, clear day and just amazing to walk along such a stretch of the wall including a section that has not been repaired. At times, it was steep, and at one point, sitting along the edge of the wall, not realizing our zipper on our day pack was open, my camera case tumbled out to @ 15 ft to the ground on the outside of the wall. Fortunately, I had the camera. But we all kinda looked down at it,wondering how on earth we were going to get it back! We had strategy hep from a couple of people nearby and finally, connected two hiking poles with finger nail clippers taped to the strap as a hook and Bill (our resourceful guide) managed to snag the bag and haul it back up to us. We were all abit surprised that Bill had the fingernail clippers and tape with him. But it worked.
Returning to the City, staying in the hutong area. Today was a free day, wandering around the clothing market and then on to the zoo. I had read that they had Pandas and snow leopards. But,
Another High speed train as we are riding ours
Notice the fog/pollution in the background - a terrible sandstorm that clouded everything from Beijing to Xian 800 miles! it was quite disappointing as there were only a couple of sleeping pandas, no snow leopards and lemurs that looked pretty sad. But the grounds were pretty and somehow we managed to meander most of the afternoon there.
Thurs morning we wake up to gray skies and strong winds. As we wandered to the subway station, we noticed many of those around us were wearing face masks. Assuming they knew more than we did, we stop at the Pharmacy at the end of the lane and picked up some masks. We were told this was one of the spring sand storms that Beijing is known for, and we were so lucky to miss for our day at the Great wall! For the next two days it would be incredibly hazy with visibility of 30-40 ft, and very high pollution levels. Almost armageddon-ish! On Monday, Bill had introduced us to the Metro. It is a great subway, with both English and Chinese signs. We quickly became quite comfortable and ended up spending the rest of our transport time using it. We took the subway to The Summer Palace and spent most of the day just wandering amongst the
gorgeous temples and corridors. Everywhere you looked were the most gorgeous paintings. We saw very few western tourist, but the place was crowded with lots of domestic tourists.
Friday morning, still very hazy, we go to the silk market, bargain for some pearls and then head to the train station for our high speed train ride to Xian. 750 miles in 4.5 hours. It was fantastic, smooth ride. You would have no idea you were traveling at almost 200 miles per hour. Watching the countryside fly by, we saw probably almost 400 miles of planted trees on both sides of the train tracks for as far as you could see, all meticulously cared for. Then it was mostly wheat, all interspersed by huge new cities, between 20-30 high-rises with at least 20 - 30 stories tall, many newly constructed or in the midst of construction. You did wonder if, and who will fill them all.
Arriving in Xian, Jenny is there to meet us. A 30 yr old, recently married, with lots of opinions, we liked her immediately. We had two great days in Xian, all of us really liking this city. The Terracotta
soldiers, the city wall, the cultural dance performance and just wandering the streets. The Muslim quarter was packed with street food, lots of alleys of small shops selling just about everything. We spent time in the tea shop learning how to make a proper cup of various teas. Xian is a city we definitely plan to return!
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Grant Wiegert
non-member comment
The Great Wall etc.
As usual great photos and informative text to set the context. I think the air quality would scare me in Beijing though China in many ways is leading the world in reducing it's carbon footprint. I would love to get there sometime and travel a bit. As mentioned I will have to consult with you about future travel down the road. I figure my retirement will be postponed till Oct of 2018 as I lose some time with the accident eating up a lot of leave. As usual it looks like you are clever about seeing the best of the best in most places you visit. Grant