In my mind’s eye, the Great Wall of China is an incredibly long and remote barrier in China that is accessible only by bushwhacking or airlift. Imagine my surprise, then, when we hopped on a bus in Beijing and our Great Wall destination was on the normal route--and not even the terminus! We were among the lucky few to have seats on a packed bus, but that came with consequences. Kristin’s: “my shoulder was in so many crotches.” I was kept awake by elbows to the head and a ponytail fwapping my face by a standing girl (but the stimulus that takes the cake is the woman who hocked up loudly and spat right on the bus floor.)
Wang, the newest member of our lab, acted as guide. As a native Beijinger, he’d been many times before but moved to Shanghai when he was 12. Our goal was simple: find the brick that bears his carved name that he tagged as a boy.
“But wait!” you say. Having done your homework, you interject, “Isn’t the Wall thousands of miles long? Finding one brick among so many is… well.. inconceivable!” Calm down, Sparky. Wang remembered in which watchtower he carved his name, and considering how relatively few surnames there are in China, our chances were pretty good we’d find it.
Upon arrival at Badaling, some in our group were tempted by the cable cars. Chairman Mao said that “[S/]he who hasn’t climbed the Great Wall isn’t a real [wo/]man,” so being good little Communists, we departed on foot. Badaling is the most popular section of the Wall, probably due to its proximity to Beijing and its reconstruction. We passed by an “exquisite genuine jade” vendor, a California Beef Noodle King USA restaurant, and camels (Genghis Khan so idolized the animal which he used to conquer Asia that a decree was made to mimic its attributes. Thus began the spitting trend in China).
Mongolian soldiers no longer attempt to overtake the Great Wall, but have been replaced by armies of tourists. Their weapon of choice: umbrellas.
As the Chinese are very skilled in sun umbrella usage, they usually pose no threat. However, at tightly packed bottlenecks (aka sweat-swapping parties), it’s quite easy to get poked in the eye or wedged between two umbrellas (it’s more awkward than you’d think). Benefit of having fellow warriors with umbrellas? Occasional free shade.
After an hour or two of fighting/climbing, we stopped for a quick lunch of pb/kewpie jelly/banana sandwiches next to a period-original kiddie ride.
Having had more views of the backs of others’ heads than of the majestic Wall, we were a bit jaded at this point. But following a hairpin turn at the summit, the Wall U-turned and we found this part of the trek much less crowded which afforded views like this:
note: those fortresses have been used as latrines.
We soon found one reason for the sparse tourist population: the steepness of this section. Our hamstrings and gluts trembled in masochistic glory as we braved 30% grades (70% grades on stairs).
Recent blog entries have been wayyy too void of cat references, so I’ll slip one in. Here, Kristin recreates Ninja Cat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzzjgBAaWZw) on the Great Wall while exhibiting its steepness:
After all this traversing, Wang reported that the fortress bearing his signature was within view. However, we soon discovered that the section was closed to tourists. Not willing to risk any unpleasant repercussions, we decided against scaling the closed section and returned instead to the bus for a comfortable ride home.
I should note, too, that no passengers stood on the return trip; no shoulders suffered from improper impositions.
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