Saved the Best for Last

Today, the Great Wall of China - Changcheng. My aunt Marty and I hired a driver to take us to the Mutianyu section (about an hour outside the city) and back again. This is the section of the Wall that I’ve heard the most about. Not a lot of tourists – I could count on two hands the number of people there today. A good exercise, with steep gradient and large stretch open to the public between hazardous areas. And cool ways to get up and down: we opted for the cable car on the way up, and louge/toboggan on the way down. I felt like I had my own Cool Runnings taste of the winter Olympics.

It was the perfect day for the long haul. Sunny, warm, hardly any wind, and serenely silent. Most of the snow had melted, so slippery wasn’t much of a factor, even if vertigo was. The last leg we traversed was an incredibly steep incline, but well worth the climb. It took several breaks on the way to the top, but once up there, the view took away any breath we had left.

We spent two and a half hours trudging up and down the steps, scaling the slopes, and snapping as many shots as my shutter allowed. But I have to say, the louge ride down was pretty exciting, having never sped down a mountain side as such speeds before.

So, on my last full day in China, I ended my time here with a big bang. All I have done in the past three days has been extraordinary; and if for nothing else besides the Great Wall, I would tell people to come to Beijing.

Expat-Turned-Tourist

Yesterday being the last day of Chinese Spring Festival – the day of the Lantern Festival – it meant that it was also the last day anyone was allowed to set off fireworks within the city. That being the case, this morning the streets and alleys were littered with the detritus of these noisemakers. There were moments last night when I thought I was in the middle of an air raid.

But today, I crammed in a marathon of sight seeing in only about six hours. This, of course, after being wakened at 4:00 am to watch the Canadian/USA Olympic hockey face-off. Being American-born, I was routing for team USA. However, my entire family is Canadian (and I have dual citizenship); so it only felt right not to be too sore of a loser. Besides, it is fitting that they won, hockey being their national sport and all. That, and they would have probably drowned me in the toilet, otherwise.

This morning, I went back to the Forbidden City and this time was able to go in. After several major temples that all seemed to have similar names (Hall of Heavenly Peace and Tranquility, Hall of Harmony and Longevity, etc.), and entering and exiting through so many courtyards, the Imperial Gardens and surrounding “city” is incredible. It is a maze, a labyrinth of inner temples, small shrines, tiny courtyards, and ceremonial rooms dedicated to so many ancient arts. It is so easy to get lost in there – and I nearly did.

In the afternoon, I made my way over to the Summer Palace (in winter snow) and befriended a small group of lovely British travelers. One was living and working here in Beijing, and the other two were visiting as tourists. We decided to link up and walk around the gardens together. I'm so grateful we did, because, looking back on it now, the grounds within the walls of the Summer Palace are vast and twisted. Just like the Forbidden City, it would be easy to spend days in there and not get to it all.

The beauty of this place is practically indescribable, especially with a new powdering of snow. It is hard to believe you are in the middle of an enormous city. Once inside the grounds, particularly once you have climbed up and over the “mountain,” sound is so muffled that it could almost be called silence. To me, this was one of the best features – a getaway from the noise of the city. I felt like stopping on the path and writing a poem in the snow. But I was too damn cold.