Hiking on Ancient History: Great Wall of China

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Spoiler alert! Our China trip is now over, and we’re back- swine flu free and clear- to the grind of Korea. OK- undue the spoiler alert! I thought I’d wait a bit between entries so not to blog-overload everyone with our experiences in Beijing. Both Cass and I were looking forward to this day of our trip as soon as we made our reservations. Through our hostel tour company (that’s basically how trip arrangements are done here) we signed up to hike 10 km. of the Great Wall of China. The designated ‘Wonder of the World’ did not let us down.

We met the small bus already loaded at 6:45 in the morning and settled in for the three hour bus ride to a more remote section of wall- we learned our lessons about the crowds in the Forbidden city- this section was called Jinshaling. From there we would be hiking the roughly 5 miles to the section of wall named Simitai. These sections were recommended to us by friends and this blog site because it is less touristed, less crowded, and not rebuilt- just what we were looking for.

It’s always a cool environment when gathering with a group of travelers. There is a common interest of the group, a shared view of life and its journey you don’t get working 9-5, and you get to meet wonderful people you otherwise would not. It seems there is a collective attitude to seek the positive this world has to offer, no matter where that takes them. Plus, living the travelers life has a particular romance to it… imagine sitting in a café overlooking the hip shops of Beijing’s intimate hutong alleys, old Chinese men and women ride their rickety bicycles by you as you sip on a cup of coffee (our first legitimate good cup of joe in months) while you wait for the bus to arrive… that was us.

So, driving in any Asian country is usually a practice in survival more than navigation, Korea-Philippines-China, craziness doesn’t discriminate, but on our way to the Great Wall, we experienced one of those ‘happenings outside of the plans’ I mentioned in the last blog. The bus was going to pass someone, and it was a bit extreme if I say so myself, and apparently the person we passed was having a bad day. We got a bit too close- people on that side of the bus said the vehicles didn’t touch- but he may have thought we did and demanded we pull over. We did, and there was some shouting involved. We almost hit the man standing in front of the bus and refusing to move as we tried to leave. I guess he wanted 200 RMB (china money equal to roughly- 30$) to fix his imaginary broken mirror; more shouting, some phone calls, and then we simply drove off. Not sure what really happened, I’m still learning hello and thank you in this language, but it was rather interesting to say the least. It was over just as quick as it started.

With that excitement behind us, we pulled into a half full parking lot, got a few different sets of tickets and instructions, and were off. We had a glimpse of the wall on the ride in, but it wasn’t until halfway up the gondola ride that we caught the entire breath of the scenery. We were advised to take the cable car up to the wall since the path up was apparently ridiculously steep; if we wanted any energy to enjoy the hike, we should ride the car. From that point on, we were free to explore.

I’m glad took that advice once we saw the route of this meandering line of ancient bricks and mortar delicately balancing the rugged ridges. It seemed the wall stood on those ridgelines just to spite their steepness, crawling up mountains without effort. Envisioning the construction of this massive structure was nearly incomprehesionable. Over 4,000 miles long. How big is outer space? Yeah, that’s how we were trying to wrap our minds around this thing.

Apparently the majority of the wall was built around 700 b.c. It was built in sections by the individual ruling governments of each particular area. I forget the name of the dynasty that united the individual societies, but under that ruler, all the individual sections of wall were joined together in order to defend the kingdom from the Mongols in the north. I’m no math major, but if it was built in 700 b.c., that means we were hiking on a structure roughly (carry the one…) 3,000 years old!! Um, how big is space? That’s how old this thing is!

Once up top, we had one of the most amazing views. The wall zig zagged to the horizons in both directions, watchtowers jutted up every so often, and this was only the beginning! It was a clear, beautiful, and hot day, a situation indeed where pictures or words can’t well enough describe what we got to experience. The few words I can use to describe our time could be, “ice cold water, soda, beer?” Only because the locals scattered along the hike kept repeating that, shortly followed by us repeating the word, no.

After our initial realization of our present situation in time and space, we got to the hiking. This wall is wild, the majority of the steps I would describe as wide enough to fit the ball of my foot on, and no more, and borderline waist tall. Numerous points along the hike, we were climbing stairs on all fours, I stood straight up, reached my hand out without bending over, and could reach the next step (if that helps you get an idea of the incline). The condition of the wall is still relatively good. The top layers of bricks are fairly broken up, to be expected, and the degree varied a lot throughout the hik. There were small sections where the outer wall has fallen, but I thought, overall, it was remarkably still well intact.

The watchtowers were a pretty cool part of the hike also. Some were fully standing and looked as if it were just built. We could explore the upper floors and lookouts. The cool arch windows and doorways made for some great views of the wall in the distances. Other watchtowers succumbed to the will of Mother Nature and were little more than a pile of bricks with a beaten path through them. However, even they had their own charm. It made the age of everything really palpable when you stop to eat your lunchtime snickers amongst all the ruins.

At the end of the hike, there was a cool suspension bridge over a river that we needed to cross and then on of the more astonishing climbs we saw on the hike. Luckily, our meeting place in Simitai was just before this, so we ditched out while shaking our heads at the people continuing up. The bus was waiting to take us back to the hostel, but not before a drink and rest in the air-conditioned restaurant he was outside of. Besides, Cass’ one shoulder and rosy cheeks needed a break from the sun.

Tired, exhausted we headed down the hutong to our hostel, but the lure of Beijing’s smallest bar was too much to pass by. We enjoyed some ice cold local beers sitting in the window seats of a bar measuring 12 square meters. It was adorable, and surprisingly cozy, as long as there’s less than 10 people in it. There, we decided our mission for the remainder of the night was to find a restaurant serving the famous local cuisine- Peking Duck.

A change of clothes, an inquiry at the desk of our hostel, more wandering through the neighborhood, and we found our restaurant. Another practice in pointing to some appropriately wild Chinese characters in our phrasebook, and we were soon eating duck. The picture we saw was of an entire roasted duck sprawled out on a plate, rather unappetizing, but we were given two plates of sliced meat. It was great. It was served with some tasty black sauce and what we believe to be wonton squares (basically thin noodle sheets) that we could use to make a little duck burrito with. After living in Korea and now experiencing this phenomenon in China, I’ve become a sucker for mini food burritos. Really, what’s not to love? …and the rule is, if you eat it with your hands, the calories don’t count!

Regardless, we got some shopping in on the way back, our hutong street is loaded with cool little shops and trendy bars. Mostly, we were ready to crash, but we also wanted to be ready for our bike adventure in the morning.

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