Fear and Awe on the Great Wall

Trip Start Oct 07, 2008
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Trip End Oct 25, 2008


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Thursday, October 9, 2008

     Today I took an 8 kilometer hike from Jinshangling Great Wall to Simatai Great Wall.  The wall is a wondrous sight but the hike scared me to death.  A woman from Germany from my hostel, Sabina, and I took an 18 minute cable car ride up to a section of the wall.  It was a frightening 18 minutes.  Then on the wall there are many steep sections with and without stairs and it's incredibly rocky and slippery in places.  Many of the sections don't have any side barriers between you and the hills below.  When you're going up or down the rock steps you have to constantly make adjustments because the rocks are different heights.  There may be a few steps that are two inches high while the next few could be eight inches high.  As someone who has fallen UP regular stairs in the U.S. at least twice and twisted her ankle once going down a 3-step staircase, I was nervous, to say the least.  Did I mention that in many places on the wall, there are no side barriers?  Sometimes you have to walk right near the edge!  And it's a long way down!  All I kept thinking was that I was glad I got travel health insurance. You'll see what I'm talking about when I post my pictures (once I get the right equipment, hopefully while I'm still in China!)  The walk was so long and so steep I thought that my legs would give out.  Less than halfway up I thought I was going to vomit.  There are a few souvenir sellers on the wall and one helped me halfway up the wall in return for me buying a souvenir at the end, of course.  I haggled like you're supposed to in China.  I probably still overpaid for the book I bought, but as the woman saved my life, I'm not gonna worry about it.  It's hard to haggle effectively if you don't know how much things are supposed to cost.  Another woman helped me part of the second half.  Oh my goodness!  Parts of the path were a steep mixture of gravel and rocks of all sizes conspiring to have someone break an ankle.  At certain parts, I was tempted to sit down and wait for someone to come get me (in a helicopter maybe?)  After the hike my entire lower body, my back (from the leaning I had to do on the steep parts), and even my toes were hurting.

I thought I had it bad hiking, but imagine the men building the wall who had to carry the rocks up the wall, go back down, and do it again! 

Now for the awe:  That section of the Great Wall is magnificent!  It is vast.  There is lush greenery around it, and a river when you are at the Simatai end.  The mountains are beautiful.  Pictures are coming soon.  It is a long ride from Beijing, so it's not as crowded with tourists as the most popular section Badaling. 

Obnoxion ( I know it's not a word but I'm using it anyway): As a foreigner and a black person, I was used to the stares of people in the neighborhood where I'm staying and when they see me in a vehicle, but when I was on the wall one young woman got wide-eyed, acted scared of me, and hid behind her boyfriend when she saw me.  I said hello in Chinese and she and her boyfriend said hello back.  I wanted to say "Don't worry, I don't bite," but that wasn't covered in my survival Chinese class!  I was a little amused by the situation because it was ridiculous in my opinion, but still obnoxious.  Then some Chinese people hanging out near the entrance of one of the towers with three or four really high stairs said I was going up the stairs like a monkey.  I was, but still!

Anti-obnoxion:  One Chinese woman told me my people are beautiful people.  Now that's better!

When we finally finished our walk, we started our drive back to the hostel.  We left at the right time because it rained the whole way back.  Sabina and I went out to eat at a nearby restaurant and then went for a walk around the neighborhood (as if we hadn't done enough walking for the day)!  At least it was easy walking.

Unsolicited advice of the day: If you are going to do the Jinshanling to Simatai hike, eat a light breakfast, bring food and water, wear well-fitting shoes with a good tread, do some squats and lunges as part of your exercise routine before you go, go slowly, and take lots of pictures.  If I had spent as much time exercising this summer as I did planning for this trip, I'd have been in much better shape for this hike.  I'd have still been scared to death though!  I didn't think I was afraid of heights.  I love huge roller coasters.  But I guess being strapped into a roller coaster car with a seatbelt is a little different form being on rocky ground inches away from the side of cliff!

Bottom line for this hike:  Am I glad I hiked this part of the Great Wall?  Yes.  Would I do it again?  Never!

Other stuff: 
Interesting store names of the day:  Grifted, Wazzap, and Afro Fashion (I really wanted to see what the merchandise looked like but we were passing by in the van and it was too rainy to see.)

Interesting signs of the day:  Chinese Electronics Standardization Institute and Country Hygiene Area.  
 
 Tomorrow: I leave the hostel for a hotel (yay, T.V!) and do some more sightseeing.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

The cable car station The cable car station Cable car view 1 Cable car view 1 Cable car view 2 Cable car view 2 Cable car view 3 Cable car view 3
Cable car view 4 Cable car view 4 Cable car view 5 Cable car view 5 View from behind the cable car View from behind the cable car Getting closer Getting closer
Almost there Almost there Lush greenery surrounded us Lush greenery surrounded us Lush greenery 2 Lush greenery 2 View of the Great Wall 1 View of the Great Wall 1
The Great Wall 2 The Great Wall 2 The Great Wall 3 The Great Wall 3 The Great Wall 4 The Great Wall 4 View of stairs and one of the towers View of stairs and one of the towers
The Great Wall 5 The Great Wall 5 Ready to hike the Great Wall Ready to hike the Great Wall The Great Wall 6 The Great Wall 6 View from one of the towers View from one of the towers
The Great Wall 7 The Great Wall 7 The Great Wall 8 The Great Wall 8 The Great Wall 9 The Great Wall 9 The Great Wall 10 The Great Wall 10
Steps up the Great Wall Steps up the Great Wall Whoa! Whoa! Me on a crumbling staircase Me on a crumbling staircase On one of the crumbling towers On one of the crumbling towers
Another view Another view The Great Wall 11 The Great Wall 11 The Great Wall 12 The Great Wall 12 The Great Wall 13 The Great Wall 13
Me on a crumbling tower Me on a crumbling tower Sabina and me on the tower Sabina and me on the tower One of the beautiful views One of the beautiful views Another beautiful view from the Great Wall Another beautiful view from the Great Wall
An entrepreneur An entrepreneur A hazy view A hazy view One of the towers I needed to hike to One of the towers I needed to hike to A sideless section--my favorite! A sideless section--my favorite!
View of the Great Wall from a Tower View of the Great Wall from a Tower Same tower, different view Same tower, different view More of the winding Great Wall More of the winding Great Wall Me in the tower Me in the tower
The Great Wall 14 The Great Wall 14 The Great Wall 15 The Great Wall 15 So close to the side So close to the side I don't know who this guy is I don't know who this guy is
Inscribed brick Inscribed brick The Great Wall 16 The Great Wall 16 No sides! No sides! View from over the side View from over the side
Me again on one of the scariest parts. Me again on one of the scariest parts. Sabina taking in the view Sabina taking in the view A steep path A steep path On another tower On another tower
A farmer down below A farmer down below Almost at the end of our hike Almost at the end of our hike View down below View down below The Mountains The Mountains
The mountains and greenery The mountains and greenery Down some more steps Down some more steps The Great Wall 17 The Great Wall 17 Downhill at the Great Wall Downhill at the Great Wall
At the top of the metal staircase At the top of the metal staircase The last staircase The last staircase I had to stop for a minute I had to stop for a minute River view River view
The view after descending the metal staircase The view after descending the metal staircase One the wall near the river One the wall near the river The river and mountains The river and mountains One of the towers One of the towers
One last picture on the wall One last picture on the wall Finally finished! Whew! Finally finished! Whew! A beautiful view A beautiful view The river from ground level The river from ground level
Map of the Great Wall sections in the area Map of the Great Wall sections in the area View of cablecars View of cablecars River River Praying mantis Praying mantis
Wazzap store Wazzap store A bar in the hutong where I stayed A bar in the hutong where I stayed The smallest bar in Beijing The smallest bar in Beijing A store in my hutong A store in my hutong
In my hutong In my hutong Leaving my street Leaving my street My bedroom 1 My bedroom 1 My bedroom 2 My bedroom 2
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