Gear Change Up

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

It's quite a wall.

The Chairman himself once said that anyone wishing to be a hero must first climb the wall. So, check that one off my "Hero: To Do" list.

The day started with an alarm at 5 AM, because like any self-respecting member of the hyper-intensive clan we call "Chase" I of course had first person on the wall. After a quick breakfast of oatmeal and a banana, me and fuzi (not "fuzzy") hit the the dark streets of Beijing and discovered the only time that it actually is pleasant to ride in the city. The streets were quiet up until I reached the Dongzhimen long distance bus station, which was a flurry of activity. I jumped on the 916 bus bound for Houriou, and proceeded to pray for 2 hours that I got on the right bus.

I arrived at Houriou and was greeted by a man in a bright yellow mini-mini-van who was really enthusiastic about taking me to Huanghuacheng for 120 kuai. I was not in a mood to negotiate (note to travelers: everything in China is up for bargaining. Everything. It's fun, but sometimes I wonder why everything must be such a discussion around here) so when he said he would come back i jumped on that ship. He took me the last 45 minutes to Huanghuacheng. After I gave him the first 60 kuai, we had a little bit of a discussion about when he was coming back to pick me up. He was convinced he was coming back in two hours, when indeed I was telling him he was coming back at 2:00 (5 hours). He finally agreed, although he wasn't all that enthusiastic with the plan. But I went off, and he drove off, and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to see him again.

See, when going to the Great Wall from Beijing, you have several choices for where you want to go. There are many restored sections of the wall open to tourists. They have easy bus access, museums, climbing trains, and guard rails, and the stairs don't crumble beneath your feet. Huanghuacheng is not this kind of place. You have to go with the locals, and find your own way to the wall. And once you get there you are in rural China in the we're-not-kidding-around-friends kind of sense. So of course while I could have easily gone to places in the wall easier (and safer (although nowhere in China is really unsafe (yay totalitarianism))), as a self-respecting member of the hyper-intensive clan "B-rit," that was never an option. Why? I found I was asking myself that a lot. But for some reason it's not enough to go to China by myself, to hit the wall by myself, I must do the most difficult section I can access. And there is no other way to do it.

So there.

Now Huanghuacheng. It is the unrestored section of the wall. No climbing trains, no guardrails, and definitely no other people. Especially on a Wednesday in November. This is the Great Wall of the past transported into the present, and there is no way to describe the feeling of standing on the Great Wall after a year of creating this project, getting the fellowship, and freaking out about how exactly I was going to get this done. But lo, there I was, standing on the edge of the world, China to my left, and what would have been Mongolia, to the right.

And let me tell you, if I was the Mongols and I was all ready to rape pillaige and plunder, and then I ran into that thing, I'd be pissed! It's huge. And very sturdy. I hiked on the wall for about 2 and a half hours, and let me tell you, those that built the wall were not big on switchbacks. They go up and down the mountains. Straight up and down. At many points you're at a good 70 degree angle. Sweet. At the tops of the mountains they have the ruins of the guard towers which you can climb and look out at the scene. The wall stretches on forever. I could have kept going for days, but I had to go tempt fate with a mini-mini-van driver.

Or did I?

To get back to the road, I chose a local path to hike on that paralleled the wall. The path understood switchbacks so it was a lot easier getting back. It led down into a tiny village, where I stumbled upon an old man chopping wood, a rooster (which for the record I avoided), a donkey, and an open kitchen with a table outside where 12 retired australians were having lunch. They asked me if I wanted a beer.

Any path where there are 12 aussies at the end of it offering you beer is the greatest hiking trail ever created. In case anyone ever asks you where the "Great" in "Great Wall" comes from.

They sat me down and bought me lunch. They're touring China for two months with their swiss guide who does all sorts of China tours for international tourists if anyone is interested. I have his card. They were in Beijing for the next few days seeing the sights, and offered me a ride back. Word. We said our goodbye's at a subway station, they went back to shop, and I made it back to the bus station, picked up Fuzi (not "fuzzy"), and sent me on my way.

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