Today was the best day of my Beijing experience (perhaps my whole China experience?), because today I went to…drum roll please…the Great Wall of China!!!
Iris and I got an early start that morning and went to the lobby for breakfast, where we met up with Camelia, as well as our newly-arrived friends, Hanna and Maria (Sweden). The five of us, plus a group of four European adults, all piled in a van and began our journey to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall.
The drive to the wall was about an hour and a half, and it was actually quite interesting. As tired as I was, and as much as I wanted to sleep, I was really fascinated with our trip out of the city, through the upscale (I mean, REALLY upscale) suburbs of Beijing, and through the outlying villages to the mountains.
We were dropped off at the bottom of the mountain, where a series of kiosks and booths lined the path up to the stairway to the Great Wall. Our driver took us to a large souvenir shop for a restroom break and then told us (one of the European adults knew Mandarin, so she translated for us) to meet back at 1:00 pm. From there, we were cut loose!
Iris and I were very cold, even though we’d dressed our warmest. One of my professors at school told me to dress warmly, since all the crosswinds in the mountains would make it freezing. We bought some warm gloves from a vendor (Iris got a pair of colorful snowman mittens) and we were on our way.
Because the actual wall is situated on the mountainside, we had to take a stairway to get there. It was probably the most difficult hike of my life, and it made me wish that I wasn’t too afraid to take the cable car up (I’d taken it in Hong Kong, but I’d had my fill with cable cars). It took about a half-hour, just to get up, since we had to keep stopping for a rest and a water break.
At last we made it to the top! It was an absolutely breathtaking view of the mountains, and the Wall weaved in and out of the peaks. Unfortunately, we were there in the early April season, so the trees were still bare, but we saw some beautiful photographs of the Wall in winter, covered in snow, as well as autumn, when all the leaves were red and gold.
At least the weather had warmed up at that point, so I stuck my gloves in my pocket and rolled up my sleeves to enjoy the sunny day! We casually walked along the Wall for a few hours, taking our time and enjoying the amazing view of the Wall stretching through the scenery. There were a couple of vendors selling snacks, so we bought some chips and candy and had a small picnic on top of one of the watchtowers.
We finally reached the cable car and toboggan exit, but we still had about a half-hour to kill before we had to be back. The five of us sat down on the stairs and just enjoyed the sunshine (which we didn’t get much of in the city), basking in the warmth and taking in the view.
I could have stayed there all day long, so I was a little bitter that I was on a tour and had to leave. Camelia, Hanna, and Maria walked down the stairs to the bottom, but Iris and I decided to take the toboggan ride down to the bottom.
It was an absolute blast! The line was a little long to get on, but it was definitely worth the wait. We got to control the speed of our toboggan, although there were employees standing at points along the ride telling you to slow down. So I did, and then Iris caught up to me and almost ran into me! I sped up, but the employees kept yelling at me to slow down. It was very confusing, so after a little bit I just ignored them all and enjoyed myself. : )
We met up with our group at the bottom, and we went to eat at a nice restaurant in the vendor area at the entrance. At the restaurant they served us a variety of dishes in the traditional Chinese-style of dining, with all the dishes placed on a center turntable, and you just pick what you want and put it on your plate. It was pretty decent, but not enough for nine people. We drove back to our hostel, where they dropped us off after a long, but amazing, day.
It was about mid-afternoon at that point, so we thought we’d take the subway back to the same Bar Street we were at during our second day. We got a little lost trying to find it, and a local woman stopped and asked if we needed some help. She was so nice to us, even though we were Westerners, and her English was excellent. It seemed like one of the only times I actually felt welcome in Beijing, since at this point I’d gotten the impression that locals don’t care for Westerners so much.
On our way I found a peach blossom tree in bloom. One of my dreams was to see a cherry blossom tree in bloom, but they only flower for a few weeks each spring. Cherry blossoms are identified with Japan, while peach blossoms are Chinese, but they look the same to me, so I was still really excited to actually see it for the first time. I’m sure the Chinese would say it is good luck to see it in bloom…
We found Bar Street, and it was absolutely beautiful in the daytime, just like I thought it would be when I saw it at night. It was sunset, and the river was full of paddle boats. I got some great pictures.
However, we were starving, and it was difficult to find an actual restaurant. There were so many beautiful bars and lounges with live music, and they looked like a lot of fun, but we needed a good meal, not some peanuts and chips.
After traversing up and down the entire street, which wraps around a river, we looped back to our starting point and found a Vietnamese restaurant. It was really delicious food for a decent price, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was incredible. The waitresses were dressed up in colorful traditional costumes, and the presentation of our food was very nicely arranged on the plate (I had orange chicken).
However, the service was probably the worst I’ve ever experienced. Some of the waitresses were nice, but others seemed impatient with us, or they just didn’t enjoy their job, who knows? And we were there for about two hours from the time we ordered our food and drinks to when our last dessert came. The dinner came out in a timely manner, but it was hard to track down one of the waitresses to order dessert. And when we did, it took about a half hour for the first two to come out, and another half hour after that for the last one.
At that point, we were so tired from all the walking and hiking we did that day that we couldn’t really feel annoyed. We started laughing uncontrollably, amused at our situation here in this strange city with its bizarre dining practices. It was a very unusual reaction, I know, but we couldn’t help it. At least the dessert was pretty tasty when it finally came.
After that we took the subway back to our hostel, where we took our showers and crashed for the night. It was certainly the best day I’d had in Beijing, and I was a little worried that everything from that point on would seem lame in comparison to my spectacular experience on the Great Wall of China.
Coming up next, “Beijing: Day Five.”
Kati
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