Camping in China?!

Last weekend, I had the ultimate outdoor experience in China. I went backpacking with a group of 6 other American students and 2 guides, and we literally camped on the Great Wall. We departed from Beijing on Saturday morning and drove about 2 hours outside of the city to the mountains. At the base of the mountain, we had some lunch at a small, dilapidated bed and breakfast before venturing up the mountain. We ignored the signs that claimed this section of the Great Wall is closed to the public.

The section of the wall that we hiked is called Jiankou. This section of wall has not been restored, so there are loose rocks and sections that have fallen, which made for a more adventurous hike. We even got to do some rock climbing.

We set up several tents near an old guard tower on the wall and cooked dinner over an open flame. There were very few other people hiking this section of wall, but a couple of Italians passed through and joined us by the camp fire. Our guides, in addition to food rations, also packed some Great Wall wine, produced at a vineyard near the Great Wall.

The next morning, we did the more intense section of Jiankou, which included going up the Sky Stairs (a narrow stairway that is at a 70 degree incline) and reaching the Eagle's Nest, which is the highest point on Jiankou. The views were breathtaking; unfortunately the breeze wasn't strong enough to blow away all of the pollution though. Sadly, even in the mountains here, you still have permanent smog.

Saturday Trip to a Cave and the Great Wall

Saturday morning, along with my friend Kyan and his coworkers, I hopped in a van for a day trip to a nearby (2 hr drive) cave. Well, 2 hr drives in China are never actually 2 hrs, closer to 3 and involving many winding mountain roads. The views would have been really pretty had they not been obscured by smog and fog. Upon arrival, we trekked up some stairs and waited in a packed room just outside the cave for a tour guide. Peter (one of the guys in my group) and I were the only 2 westerners on the tour. The tour was given by a young girl that screamed into a megaphone in Chinese the whole tour. Needless to say, I did not catch much of what she was saying. The cave was underwhelming at best. It was really big, and allegedly millions of years old, but it had been subjected to neon and LED lights placed throughout, detracting from the authenticity of the experience.

After the cave, we went to lunch en route to the Great Wall. We had lunch at a very traditional chinese restaurant. There was a picture of a deer on the menu, and one of my group members ordered donkey meat. It looked like sausage and apparently was extremely processed and not good; subpar by donkey meat standards. I stuck with mushrooms and onions. The menu was nearly 10 pages long, so there is no telling what other delightful things were available.

After lunch, I made my first venture to the Great Wall. I am going this weekend to a much more remote section of wall for a camping trip, but on Saturday we did about an hour hike and got some good views. The people watching was also pretty spectacular: several women in heels, a lady in a see through lace top and green spandex capris, and old chinese men with their shirts lifted over their belly. Men literally walk around town like that, and it's not uncommon to see old men walking around without shirts on.

Chinese Foot Massage

It's been a slow week in TEDA. The World Cup showed here at 2:30 am Monday morning, so watching it entailed staying up all night Sunday night. Between staying busy in the lab, proofreading another 53 page Chinglish manuscript, and attempting to catch up on some sleep, there hasn't been much to report. Taryn's mom has been in town all week, so last night, we finally ventured to one of the many Chinese massage parlors in the area for foot massages. The 3 of us had a group room with extremely comfortable chairs and we started with a hot mineral foot soak. Originally we considered getting pedicures, but after much discussion and having to call a friend to translate for us, we realized that there was only one pedicurist and thus it would take an extremely long time. Instead, we opted for a package that included a foot, arm, hand, leg and back massage... for a grand total of about $10 USD each. 3 masseuses came in and got to work. The back massage was so intense that it almost felt like it left bruises. The foot massage was the best part. The guys did not speak much english but Taryn speaks some chinese; they were all quite curious as to what 3 American women were doing in TEDA. The whole spa experience lasted for over an hour and we left feeling relaxed and refreshed. Taryn and I are already planning a return outing next week, and next time we're thinking of adding head massages.

Great Wall Beach Party

On Saturday night, along with 9 other people, I boarded a mini bus to attend the annual Great Wall Beach Party. The bus ride was expected to be about 3 hours and the party lasts all night, so we left TEDA around 8pm. 5 hours and several pit stops later, we made it to the spot where the Great Wall meets the water. When we arrived at 1 am, the party was in full swing. DJ's spinning and lots of people dancing, and as soon as I walked in the gate, I ran into my friend Sahil, who I have already visited in Beijing. Neither of us knew that the other would be there and the party was huge and chaotic, so the odds of us running into each other were so slim, but it was an awesome surprise.

The people watching at the party was insane. The party was literally on the beach, so lots of people were in swimsuits and kept running into the ocean. While it was warm enough to swim, the water was a frightening shade of brown and less than alluring. The sand was also brown actually. It was an interesting mix of both foreigners and Chinese people of all ages, including an old Chinese man tripping on X and dancing by himself like the karate kid.

Our mini bus departed at 5 am, which was when the party was starting to die down. It actually gets daylight here around 4:30 am, but we couldn't really see the sunrise due to all the pollution. We were all exhausted and for the first few hours of the ride home, I managed to sleep, but woke up in a horrible sweat to slamming brakes. We hit a horrible traffic jam on the highway and the bus driver had shut off the AC due to the fact that we were nearly out of fuel. The highway was literally at a standstill and we did not have enough fuel to sit til we made it to the next exit. Good thing there are no traffic laws in China... our driver just pulled a u-turn and drove the wrong direction in the emergency lane, after first reversing in the lane for 2 km. We then drove the wrong way up an exit ramp and ended up on some gravel backroad, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We found a gas station that looked like it had been shut down since the 1950s, but apparently was still open. After refueling, we at least had AC again, but at this point everyone was awake and cranky and anxious that we were lost and not getting back anytime soon. We then hit a traffic jam on the backroad, so our driver literally took us off-roading on a weird farm road. Unfortunately, the road ended in a closed gate guarded by tattooed local gangsters. Our driver had to get out and negotiate a fee before we were allowed to pass. After getting through, we hit the ultimate traffic jam. We were on a 3 lane road, but cars in all three lanes were going the same direction. About 1 km ahead, all three lanes of traffic were going the opposite direction we were, thus resulting in a face off of vehicles and a dispute over money. Apparently, these traffic jams are quite common and sometimes take all day to resolve. We all got off the bus and walked around for a bit; some locals gave us popsicles to eat and we definitely got more stares than normal. We called the police and a couple of hours later, they resolved the situation. In those 2 hours, we moved a total of about 20 meters. By this time, it was already 11:30 and we were still nowhere near home. The driver refused to attempt the highway again, so we took backroads home. We ended up making it back by 1:30, after 8.5 hours in a bus and staying up all night. It was exhausting, but such an experience.

There's more to TEDA than pollution...

This week has been a blast! Due to being locked out of the lab on Monday, I ended up getting the chance to explore more of TEDA. A friend and I visited the TEDA library, where we found their meager English section, consisting of mostly finance and computer textbooks and some world atlases. From there, we checked out the TEDA Archives, where we discovered that TEDA won an award for being the best host of the world ping pong championships. We then decided to find a tall building and check out a broader view of the area, which entailed lots of stairs and ending up on the 21st floor of a financial building. We discovered 2 pyramid shaped buildings and upon further investigation, found out that they are the botanical gardens, so a future field trip shall ensue.

Wednesday was also a blast. A group went out to eat Japanese food as a farewell dinner for some friends that were departing home for South Africa. Farewell, Tyron and Tacita!

Friday consisted of World Cup Fever: Brazil vs Holland. I couldn't make it through the entire Ghana game due to work this morning.

Next on the agenda... we're going to a party tonight where the Great Wall meets the Ocean at Shanhaiguan. It's about a 4 hour bus ride away and a group of 9 will be attending. I'm excited to see the beach and wall together!