Since we last updated the blog, we have been to the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. We went to the Forbidden City on Sunday and it was mobbed--not by foreign tourists, mind you, but by Chinese tourists. They travel in China the same way they do in America--in big tour groups. We just decided that was part of the experience as well. It was pretty impressive in size and gave us a little glimpse of how big Beijing truly is. The Forbidden City is twice the size of Vatican City and on some city maps looks like it takes up two big blocks.
Yesterday we went to the Great Wall. We decided to do the 4 km walk from Jinshanling to Simatai. We went with a group of about 20 organized by the hostel a five minute walk from where we are staying. We left at 6:40 and road for about three hours before arriving at Jinshanling. It was raining in Beijing and rainy when we got to Jinshanling, but the overcast was good for photos and the weather cleared by the end of the day--we even got to see blue sky and clouds - a real rarity in Beijing because of the pollution. Included in our fee were all our entrance tickets as well as a guide whose only purpose was to make sure no one fell too far behind and prevent the touts along the way from bugging us too much.
We opted to take the cable car up to the wall to save our energy for the actual hike and we are sure glad that we did! I'm not sure if it was the weather or that it was a Monday but we ran into only a handful of people (other than the ubiquitous touts) along the way. It was a surreal experience as you approached the wall for the first time. It was like having a picture come to life and then walking up to it, into it, and through it. It was really amazing to see just how far in extended in both directions from where we were. After a few photos, we set off along the wall going east toward Simatai.
This walk has both reconstructed and not reconstructed parts of the wall. Although the original parts are great to see, hiking on them is another matter--up or down you are walking on rubble and looking for a distant foothold. Also, not sure who the stairs were designed for, because they were narrow and very steep. Reid wondered how this could possibly be a short-cut for moving troops! It was exhausting and exhilarating as we walked up and down between watch towers. I won't say it wasn't frustrating in parts as we walked up and up and up to reach a guard tower and you felt as though you had accomplished something only to look ahead of you and see more undulations before the end. Luckily the second half o the hike was mostly downhill. And, by the time we got to the suspension bridge (which I ordinarily would have been pretty scared to walk across), I was just grateful that it was flat!
I tried to include one photo and we'll have to do a better recap of our day on the Great Wall with more photos once we can access blogger again. Although, I don't think any of our photos do the experience justice.
Oh, and we capped off our day with some Peking Duck at a place around the corner without an English menu. It appeared quite popular with the locals and, lucky for us, pictures are included in Chinese menus, so we were able to point to the duck to make our order. Our waitress was very helpful and between her and our Mandarin phrasebook we were also able to order a vegetable dish (it was green beans in garlic and red peppers that was pretty amazing) and a couple beers.
As you might imagine, once we got home and laid our heads on our pillow, sleep wasn't too far away. I think we may try to get out to the Summer Palace today and other than that just wonder around a bit of Beijing.
No comments:
Post a Comment