If We Fail To Reach The Great Wall We Are No Heroes

Hey,

So I promised shorter, more frequent posts. I intend to keep that promise; just not yet. I'm going to put all of the touristy adventures through Beijing in a single post, as I've now been in Hong Kong for four days and am way behind schedule. 

The first morning with the group, we woke up at 7:30 AM, to beat the rush to Teinenman Square. This would be the latest we would wake up until we flew to Hong Kong, as the tour guide kindly thought everyone would want a late morning in to recover from jetlag. While I waited for everyone to show up late the bus driver began to instruct me in the national pastime known as Jianzi. 

Jianzi is like Hacky Sack, except the sack has feathers on one end and is easier to kick. I wasn't half bad.

We headed off to Tienenman Square and the Forbidden City. As we walked Tienenman Square, I listened to our tour guide discuss Chairman Mao. I'm somewhat fascinated by the Chinese adoration of Mao. Chairman Mao had millions of Chinese killed and numerous temples and other cultural relics destroyed during his Cultural Revolution, yet the Chinese I've met all speak of him with reverence. As my tour guide put it, "Sure he made some mistakes, but he is as a god to us. He is a father of China." 

Another point. Cameras and military personnel are everywhere here. They serve as a reminder that for all its recent capitalist development, China is still a One Party Country. Even the recent Olympic motto underscores this idea,"One World, One Dream." It can be unnerving at times.

As expected, it was beyond freezing outside, and three hours into the numbing pain in my fingers, I finally decided to buy a pair of gloves and fake furry 180s. It was only later that I remembered I had brought a pair of gloves with me from the beginning .

As we finished our tour of the square, and entered the Forbidden City, I learned a new fun fact about the dragon statues that are everywhere. Many of them aren't dragons, but in fact are lions. And they come in male and female versions. You can tell them apart by what is under their paw (or claw). Male lions and dragons will have a large ball under their right paw (not very subtle), while females will have a baby under their left paw. Pictured here is a male lion standing tall. 

The Forbidden City contains what is probably the World's coolest gutter system. see dragon heads below. It also has the most ostentatiously named structures imaginable. Between the Gate of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony, the Hall of Mental Cultivation, The Hall of Supreme Principle and more, the Chinese make it clear you should never fail to be awed by one of their buildings.

If not for American Express generously donating of its limited time and effort to create each beautiful sign that adorns the Forbidden City, I'm not sure what the Chinese would have done. 

The Forbidden City also serves the community as an army base, where soldiers like to use the basketball courts to practice marching in step.

Next up, we headed to the Pearl Market for a bit. I felt like an old timer, helping my friends not get ripped off, and showing them the black market watch dealer. Michael - you have your Rolex. 

 The next morning we woke up at 6:30 to head off the the Great Wall of China. The wall is

usually packed with tourists, and it is impossible to get around. Today, however, it was below zero and the first day back at work after a long weekend for New Years, so we had the wall to ourselves. 

The section of the wall we chose to climb was a loop protecting a mountain pass leading to Beijing. It went up and around both sides of the valley, and climbers usually picked one side, and went to the top and back down the same path. Crazier climbers did the entire loop. Our plan was not to do the entire loop, but when I got to the top, I did not want to stop. I found three others who felt the same way, and we started in the other direction. 

One of the people I was climbing with deciding she wanted to count the numbers of steps down the mountain. She gave up around 1548. At this point, she headed down a different path towards the bus, and I took a short break. I could not believe I had climbed so far. I climbed thousands of steps to the top of one side, another 1548 steps down, and I was barely halfway there. Though it was below zero still, I had my jacket of, and shirt open. I then followed the path blazoned by John Stewart, and prayed at the Wall. The wrong wall, sure, but a wall nonetheless.

   

Ya, I climbed the wall as far back as you can see it. That's right. 

After we finished the wall, I treated myself to a really cool looking dragon fruit. A dragon fruit has the consistency of ice cream but with a sort of neutral taste.  

Another point which I love about China is the way even the most official signs never seem to be translated by someone who actually speaks English. I've seen signs on subway emergency exits giving me incorrect and nonsensical instructions. Signs at the Forbidden city asked me not to climb on the perilous hills, to no scratch the protected relics and reminded me that a single act of carelessness ruins an eternity of beauty. The Great Wall's signs were no exception. I was told that speaking cellphone is strictly prohibited during thunderstorm, and I'm not sure what I was told in the sign on the left.

When I finished climbing, I purchased a little plate that reads "If We Fail To Reach The Great Wall We Are No Heroes." I did not fail to reach the Great Wall.

After we left, we went to a more traditional part of town, where we were told people live as they did hundreds of years ago. Apparently, hundreds of years ago, people ate fried scorpions and sea horses, and got their haircuts in the streets. 

 Next, we went to the Olympic Village. The Bird's Nest was huge, and weird to see in person after so many hours staring at in on TV. It had some good signs as well. 

 To finish off an exhausting day, we went to a Kung Fu show which about half the group slept through. We were up the next morning at 5:30, for the plane to Hong Kong. I've been here for four days, and it has been incredible, though I've had numerous little issues such as not having a visa, no internet until Saturday night and not having registered for any courses though class begins on Monday. Still, I'm having a great time and meeting cool new people. I'll try to update soon. I still can't believe I'm in Hong Kong for the next five months. 

Yoni