More hiking around Beijing
Trip Start
Jul 20, 2004
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117
157
Trip End
Jul 20, 2012
Beijing,
China
Monday, August 27, 2007
Shidu means Ten Ferries, or Ten Crossings. The name derives from the fact that before the new road and bridges were built, travelers had to cross the river ten times as they journeyed through the gorge between Zhangfang and Shidu.
Other hikingtrips led us to Miyun Reservoir, which is located 100 km northeast of Beijing City, and is a mountain valley reservoir. It was built in September,1960, and is the largest reservoir in the Beijing area. Two main rivers, Chaohe and Baihe, flow into Miyun Reservoir. The initial purpose of building Miyun Reservoir was flood control, irrigation and fishery, but it has become more and more important as a main drinking water storage for Beijing area. The water quality is therefore of great importance.
Here, we befriended a local farmer family who has a lovely dog which i baptised 'Mocca'
Beijing - dinner with friends
. We took the dog on a hike to Wuzoulou mountain, but due to heat and not being used to the excercise, Mocca decided to find refuge from the heat under some bushes. We left him there and continued our hike. Returning about 2 hours later, the dog was still asleep where we left. He was happy to see us though. After the hike, we had beer and dinner at the farmer's house. I stayed overnight and Sue went back to BJ.In the meantime, i have returned a few times to the farmer and have taken Mocca on hikes with me. In a way,he became my adopted dog in China. I have visited Hailong tan pools
and Yunmeng Gorge.
30 min from Pinggu by bus nr. 8 or 9 (can't remember)we came to the stunningly new Jiangjunguan New Village and its solar-panel-topped villas. There was also a small strip mall there with a large restaurant and small shops selling daily use items.
Here, there were no kitschy tourist booths, no cable cars to the top, which was very high in the sky. There were, instead, locals who seemed to appreciate those who appreciated this section of the Great Wall and who were eager to talk about its legends and lore
Jiangjunguan - I like Sunflowers
.A farmer said that that portion of the wall had been built by a widow from Henan who came to build the wall under a government edict and to make money. But before she began building, she swore that the wall would never collapse and that the stones she used would never lose their colour.
The legend had an effect. The old man said, "No one ever removed one stone from that wall and the stones never darkened."
This is not true for the eastern side of the road where people have used the wall's stones and have even built houses and water tanks on the wall, despite obvious attempts at some repairs and restoration.
I am no Great Wall expert and will leave it to others to tell the tale of Jiangjunguan, although an old woman, whose orchard we visited, told us that the area was a battleground during the War of Resistance Against Japan and the Chinese Revolution.
