Today was our ¡°free¡± day, one where we didn't have a lecture or assignment or anything to do with our project, and it was one of the only ones we'd have our whole trip. Wanting to throw us into Chinese culture right away, Prof. Lin decided that today was perfect for seeing the Great Wall. I woke up and learned that hot water for showers is available every morning from 7am till 8:30 am, only. Breakfast was traditional, consisting of cooked peanuts, eggs, vegetables, rice porridge (basically boiled white rice put in a serving bowl with the water not drained) steamed bread, and dumplings. There was also coffee and hot cream/milk. I got a huge craving for frosted flakes, which I'm sure I will never see once the whole trip.
A bus came to get us and the ride up into the mountains was gorgeous. Some things I've noticed about Chinese drivers however:
1. The love to accelerate hard, then slam on the brakes, sending all of us passengers flying into the seat in front of us
2. Merging is not only a driving technique, but a game of ¡°chicken¡± between any vehicle. Small car? Don't worry, the semi will eventually move so you don't get in a side-by-side collision and get crushed. A bus? Nevermind, the small cars will finally see you out of the corner of their eye and (hopefully) let you in
3. Horns are not optional and are not for emergencies. They are for every time you pass a vehicle going slower than you, whenever you go through an intersection, and whenever you turn a corner
4. Bike lanes are not for bikes, they are for passing on the right. Warnings for the bikers in the lanes are given by honking the horn frantically and forcing the bikers off the road into the grass.
Once we got into the mountains the view turned beautiful. The mountains were huge and very jagged. We saw people all over the sides of the road, walking, biking, moped-ing, horseback riding, and even camel-back riding. We laughed as we passed them all on a bus (hey it's mean but did they really expect to climb the Great Wall on a camel?). We went to a spot less known to tourists. While there weren't many people on the trail we took, we somehow managed to run into a couple from Wisconsin and a whole study abroad group from Grand Valley. Weird.
Before hiking, we went to a tiny village consisting of four houses and families. Our guide called our trip ¡°eco tourism¡± as our money helped out this family. He forgot to mention that we helped destroy a 2,000 year-old monument every time someone climbed on it, therefore not making the trip very ¡°eco-friendly¡±, but ah well. The families served us watermelon, water, tea, and lunch. At first only four small saucers were brought out, making all of us somewhat confused. But more and more and even more were brought, so much food there was no possible way we could have eaten it all. There were green peppers and ham, an omelette, pork and potatoes, some sort of green vegetable, corn cakes, corn soup, cabbage made into a sort of coleslaw, more peanuts, and many other things. The Chinese way to eat is to have many small dishes, out of which you basically snack. It still feels weird to dip your chopsticks into the serving bowl after you¡¯ve already eaten off them, but eventually we will all get used to it.
The climb up was HOT. We were all sweaty and out of breath and needed many breaks. Everyone, that is, except our tour guide, Zeta, who seemed that he could bound his way up top and never lose his breath. We felt especially dumb after watching him smoke cigarettes at each break and still being able to breath better than the rest of us. When we finally made it, we followed part of the wall off to one side, balancing precariously on a skinny path of uneven rocks. Being terrified of heights, I definitely didn't do well. When on the other side, exploring and proud of passing the rocky path, I finally let myself enjoy the view. We were up high in the mountains, and all around us we could see the wall sweeping in and out, following the mountaintops back and forth. Ahead of us was an almost vertical stairway leading beyond this area, and many in our group climbed it to explore. Not I. I had already crossed the skinny, rocky path where a sudden slip would plummet you down vertical mountains on both sides. I'd done my brave deed for the day, right? WRONG. Oh so wrong.
That initial path I had been scared of turned out to be absolutely nothing compared the other areas we had to climb. I had honestly never been so freaked out as I was that day. Two students eventually went back, but I somehow made myself follow everyone over tiny bridges of rock, paths with no foothold, and hard climbs uphill. Our immortal guide kept getting to the tops
of each mountain, seeing another higher mountain, then telling us we were going there. We ran into the student group from Grand Valley, who was eating lunch and having a lecture on philosophy inside one of the larger towers. It was nice to hear English again. Then, up ahead, the path stopped. Actually it didn't stop, it went straight up into the air, for several hundred feet. I laughed. ¡°Okay, time to turn around.¡± A few people turned and stared at me, until I realized they meant we were climbing that god-forsaken vertical mountain. Turns out that we couldn't climb back down some of the paths we'd been able to climb up because of a ¡°lack of proper path¡± and sliding rocks. I had no choice. I had to climb ¡°the stairway to heaven¡± as it's commonly called. I did alright, I must say. I did not fall off either side, nor did I fall backwards. The hardest part was definitely the very last few steps, which had no good handholds or footholds, and gave you only about two feet of clinging area before dropping off to an absolute vertical drop on both sides. I didn't do so well here, and almost froze, trying as hard as I could not to glance off the sides. After getting a hand up, I made it.
I have no idea how far we actually walked, at least a few miles, some straight up and down. We ended up reaching the highest peak there was in the area. I had no idea that walking the Great Wall would end up being a mountain climbing experience.
Our group decended after about three hours of climbing, and I was definitely glad to be down. I didn't get to enjoy the sites and much as I could have, because I spent most of my time in fear and NOT looking down, out, or around. I took as many photographs as possible though. I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life as I was when we left on the bus, which was awful because our lovely Chinese driver drove in such a way as to wake us up every time we dozed off. We arrived home a little after seven, when I promptly went to bed in all my clothes. I woke up only when my roommate dragged me down to dinner, which included (what else?) cabbage celery, fish, and those god-forsaken peanuts again. I ate about three bites, excused myself, grumbling about how much I was craving chocolate and anything besides peanuts, and went back to bed.
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