Ni Hao from Beijing!
The flight yesterday wasn't great. Just like last time I flew Air China, they let us board and then we sat there for 1.5 hours with zero explanation. Once we landed in Beijing we taxied for 15 minutes and then had to get a 10 minute shuttle still!! I was so exhausted after all that that I treated myself and got a taxi into the city instead of figuring out the train. Finally got to my hotel at 10.30, about two hours later than anticipated. I was very glad to get to bed!!
This morning I woke up to the sound of pouring rain, but I had faith, my weather app had told me this would clear by 8am. But it didn't! I had organised a Great Wall private tour and my guide James picked me up at 8am. It continued to pour with rain during our drive. We chatted away and he told me there are 55 different nationalities living in China, and that 22 million people live in Beijing. That's nearly the population of Australia!!
The traffic was horrific. James said there are 7 million cars in Beijing and the government have put a lot of rules in place to try and ease congestion problems. They make it hard (and expensive) for families from outside Beijing to get their kids into school in Beijing so they don't move there. They also only sell cars to people who fit a certain criteria, and car owners can only drive to work four out of five days per week - the day off rotates by number plate type. If people break the rules there are cameras everywhere and they get fined for every hour during which they are caught.
We continued to drive in the torrential rain and I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Though I never believed it would be sunny and clear, the rain was so heavy that you couldn't even see two cars in front of you. This continued for the majority of our 2.5 hour drive out of Beijing. But strangely, as we approached the town of Gubeikou (pronounced oo-bay-ko) the rain eased off and you could see a bit better. There was hope!!
We started walking and I had on my raincoat as well as my backpack cover. But I was happy it just wasn't torrential anymore. We walked up a path to get to the wall and so began our 3.5 hour hike.
Most people go to the Mutianyu or Badaling sections of the wall when they come here. Those are the two most touristy, best restored and probably easiest to get to. Gubeikou is an unrestored section of wall. Some parts of it are literally falling apart, especially as parts of this section were bombed by the Japanese during WWII. At points the path got extremely narrow or very steep (or both!!), and it was a great adventure hiking this section.
I counted, and including a woman in one of the watch towers selling stuff, we saw eight people in total on the wall. I am so happy that I went to this isolated section because I think at the touristy places there are hoards of people. When James and I stopped walking, it was silent except for the sounds of nearby insects. It was such a wonderful and peaceful feeling being in the middle of nowhere on a wall whose history stretches back over 2000 years. Different dynasties and emperors constructed different parts, but the earliest part started back then.
As we hiked along I took in the beautiful views, the watch towers and the hills surrounding us. After a couple of hours we reached the highest tower of this section and low and behold, the sun appeared!!! Considering we were pretty much in a cyclone this morning, I was not expecting that at all. I was so happy!!
From here we could see another section called Jinshanling that is closed for restoration at the moment. James thinks that one day the government will restore the parts of Gubeikou that are really falling apart. I hope they don't "tourist" it up though. It's so natural the way it is that I could picture soldiers running along it looking out for Mongolians trying to sneak into northern China. Contrary to popular belief stemming from the Telstra Bigpond ad in the 2000s, it was not built to keep rabbits out - haha!!
James said that in the 1960s farmers started to take bricks from sections of the wall like this to build their houses. However in the 80s the government bought back these bricks and restored parts of the wall using them. Apparently being a farmer isn't very popular anymore, but the government have made it so farmers pay no tax to try and encourage people to go back to this industry.
After 3.5 hours on the wall I was pretty tired. Considering that two weeks ago I was so sick I could hardly get out of bed, I was stoked at how fit I had been climbing the wall. The hiking stick was a great help and my wrist even decided to behave itself and not hurt too much today, so I was able to use it to my advantage. It might sound like a cliche - but I was just so grateful to be fit and healthy and take part in something so amazing!!
James and I had lunch in a tiny local restaurant. The food was the best I've had so far in China and a cute little old lady who cooked it for us hung around with a huge smile on her face. I absolutely love it how two people don't speak a word of each others' languages but something as simple as a smile conveys thanks and gratitude on my part, and happiness on hers.
After James presented me with a certificate (particularly cool because it has my name in Chinese on it!!) we set off on the journey back to Beijing. The sun was still out a bit so I was able to see the mountains more clearly from the car.
The journey back went far more quickly due to no rain and minimal traffic. James dropped me at the 2008 Olympics precinct and we said our goodbyes. He was such a kind and generous guide, even buying me beautiful fruit from the local farmers to try. This was one of the best travel experiences I've had. I urge you if you are visiting Beijing to look up his company at www.trekclub.org and book a tour. It's a little more expensive than Mutianyu or the touristy ones, but well worth it for a great experience (sorry about the pun!).
I love Olympics precincts. I always remember watching particular Olympics on tv and for some reason I love visiting those places if I get the chance. I have been to a fair few now! So I walked around and saw the Water Cube, the Bird's Nest and the precinct from the 2008 games. It was very hot by this point so once I had had a look around I got the metro back towards my hostel. James had marked on my map some places to visit this afternoon so off I went.
The metro here has really easy English translations so it wasn't a problem travelling it solo. I didn't see any other westerners on it. I went and saw the Drum Tower and Bell Tower (both of which were originally built in the 1200s but have burned down and been reconstructed numerous times). Then I walked through some cute Hutongs (alleyways) and took in the sights and smells until I arrived at a nearby lake.
By this point I was feeling pretty exhausted. I caught the metro one stop further and then walked back to my hostel. Due to a lack of energy and admittedly a small fear of accidentally ordering pig's brain or duck's feet to eat (could genuinely happen!), I've bought a supermarket dinner consisting of snacks and fruit. Tomorrow night I meet up with my G Adventures tour which goes for one week, so I figure from then on I'll be taken to dinner and I can't go wrong (...I hope!!).
What a fantastic day. Definitely in my top ten of all of my travels. Even though I'm really tired I can't wipe the smile off my face!
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
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