Waking up early for the wall, I had to do a bunch of tasks to prepare for the wall like getting money and preparing the flag and getting all my running stuff ready. I was in a bit of a rush today and only had like 5 minutes to eat breakfast but I made it. After about 30 minutes drive we arrived at the Cloisonné factory where we were shown around the factory just like all the other craft stores we went to. I cracked a few sarcastic remarks about the location where we will end up after…. THE SHOW ROOM WITH EXPENSIVE STUFF. I was facetious about this because I fell a bit victim to the appreciation of all the hardwork that is put into these crafts at the silk rug store. Its okay though, these are high quality goods at least. I shopped about and found a nice Cloisonné ornament for my mom. The way they create it is very interesting and it is tough to describe the process in words because I don’t know all the terms but basically after they bend the metal to make the design and paint it with this sand paint stuff…. Each item needs to be heated at 800 C about 6 times before the walls become flat and the color shows through. When in the store I urged one of the people in our groups to use their credit cards to buy a nice bowl. I kept on making the noise of a credit card going through and kept saying “Do it….. come on…. You are only in China once.” It was hilarious for me, but she got annoyed after a bit, so I left.
The next stop was the Ming Tombs. Once we got out of our coach we were bombarded with peddlers behind their stands yelling at us if we liked their goods. We walked in the heat about 1000 meters or so through an entrance that was surrounded by all these animal statues. They were meant to protect the tombs from evil spirits, which is a common thing for a lot of things in China. There are a lot of interesting things that traditional Chinese believed kept away evil spirits. From the zig-zagging bridges to the floor board put in the doorway that you would step over, to the statues in front of buildings. I really enjoyed walking around the main tombs as well as looking at all the ancient things they have found in some of the tombs they have opened. The main tomb is yet to be opened because they are patiently waiting for technology to preserve everything. The museum building that many of these things were on display was made of an ancient tree only found in China called ….. oh shoot….I cant remember…I will have to look at my video to get the name. This wood was completely made of this type and is the only remaining building in the world made of it. If you had some of this wood, it would be worth a fortune. The early Chinese caused the extinction to build these monuments. The view when we got to the tomb was fantastic. We were surrounded by huge mountains (good fung shui for the emperors) and it was one of the most beautiful sights thus far. Even as beautiful as the Yangtze gorges. I enjoyed how there were trees growing out of the cobblestone walls and I even took a photo.
We had lunch before the wall in a friendship store. Friendship stores were once an integral place for visitors to shop at before foreigners had access to the currency. This particular one was huge and had most items that you would find all throughout China…. Very nice stuff. I didn’t eat much at lunch because I didn’t want to run up the great wall on a full stomach. Finally after a while we were on our way to the ultimate tourist destination in China (Which no…. it cant be seen from Space…. If it could…. You should be able to see my moms house in Grand Blanc).
Getting a first glance at parts of the wall was really exciting…. It was amazing how they built it on the highest parts of the mountains because it was an additional barrier that needed to be crossed in order to invade the country. It is said that for every yard of the wall that you cross… one body is buried with it. And after climbing end to end of the tourist marked area, I would believe it. After taking a group photo on the wall (the last photo ever take with my Oakland University hat because the next day I lost it on the transfer to the airport because I clipped it to my bag) with the OU flag, I started my trip up the expert route. I tried to get Ben to hold my camera bag, but he wouldn’t so I had to run up the mountain and wall with it on my shoulder. Running up the expert route was pretty difficult and when my footing was bad or when my heart rate ran high I stopped and chilled out. The good thing about running was that the horrendously bad peddlers wouldn’t follow me, and yet they still had the audacity to try to get me to buy something as I ran by. They were bad because they think you just want to buy everything of theirs. All a tourist wants on the great wall is a little peace and tranquility, but the expert route has none of that. Finally after about 30 minutes I got to the very end of the expert route and was approached by (of course) a fricking asshole peddler. I was tired an a bit pissed at first, but I politely told him if he and his friends stayed quiet that I would buy something from him. So I shot a video in a bit less noise and got some videos of what the old preserved wall looked like. I haggled the guy down on a copper “I climbed the wall” certificate and was on my way back down. I was quite sweaty at this point, but still lively and not completely pissed about my lack of tranquility. Another half hour passed and I made it back. I bought a bottle of water that I had to bargain down because she tried getting 20 Yuan for it and I just decided (In a Forest Gump type manner)… well “why not just keep running up the other end. I am only here once in my lifetime” So I decided to run up the easy end. I got more stares this time because there were more people…. Almost 100% were Chinese and I saw no foreigners on the way up. Surprisingly the peddlers were not bad at all on the touristy end. Plus the view was a lot better on this end. I was pretty tired and soar at this point and the running was limited due to my fatigue and also the people in the way. I finally made it to the top and was approached by a person who wanted to take a photo this stink and sweaty tourist. It was hilarious and I felt really good about running 2 miles straight uphill. It was a hell of a workout, but the main reason why I did it was to first and foremost give respect to the millions who died creating it and to also gain insight into the difficulty in building the wall. After I finally finished my run after two hours, I knew I had to get back to the bus soon and I rushed on back doing a stretch before we left. I couldn’t believe what I just did…. End-to-end…. I am a crazy runner.
Getting back to the hotel, I just laid down in bed until about 15 minutes before we left for our Peking duck dinner. I finally showered and miserably went downstairs to the bus. The dinner tonight was pretty good and I enjoyed the duck a lot. I had good conversations about video games with Levi. The duck was very crispy and had a unique taste to it. Getting back to the bus, I bought yet another Rolex and that makes 4 rolexes total. I have paid 2 dollars a piece, but they are worth it because I wont feel bad when I somehow misplace them (a habit I am known to do). I will give one to my brother and one to my mom. Getting back to the hotel I had to pack a lot still and I passed out early. The following morning we left for home. I was very happy to be coming home…. I have truly felt like I have been on a vacation.
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