China: The Great Wall
When I was in middle school, I came up with a list of "The Top 25 Things I Want to Do Before I Die". (It's not as morbid as it seems.) Number 16 on that list is to visit the Great Wall of China. Since my brother hadn't gone there yet, we decided that this would the marquee destination of my stay with him. We had such a awesome time--we even shot some Discovery Channel-esque documentaries. (See my brother explain the differences in wall quality, or you can investigate some mysterious holes with me.) I asked him to be our "guest blogger" and give us his account of the trip:
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"We started on the Great Wall at a place called Jinshanling. There, the terrain is steep and at times a little peirlious, so it is not as touristy as other locations along the wall. Our driver agreed to drop us off there and then pick us up in the next village (Simatai), which was 10 km to the east along the wall.
Like trying to outrun a Sherpa
Some enterprising locals who were laden with goods were eager to sell souveniers to the tourists as they passed by. Occasionally, one would join us as we hiked along the wall with the hope that we would finally be worn down and buy something. I made it clear to one such lady that we were not interested in buying anything now or later. She stayed with us. Dan and I decided to turn it into a game and try to lose her, so we scrambled across the mountainous region as quick as possible for about 1 km. Noting her profession was climbing the Great Wall on these mountains, Dan noted it was "like trying to outrun a Sherpa (of the Himilayas)." We made it to a watchtower, where we hid while resting. She caught up with us after a few minutes. I complimeted her strength, and then reiterated a 3rd time we were not interested in buying anything. This and the last km convinced her, and we were then able to enjoy the rest of our time on the wall ourselves.
Where we were at, the wall was about 450 years old. Remodelling had occured in the 70's at our starting point, but the rest of the wall was in various states of disrepair. With clear blue skies, the view was great and ideal for photos. We took many, and made several observations about construction and defense of the wall. We were most interested in the defense mechanisms we discovered built into the wall. Another interest was the different materials used in construction for different areas: brick, stone, and even sand.
As we neared Simatai, we were greeted by a couple of people that claimed they were security guards (one of them did have a “Beijing Security” patch on his coat). They said we needed to give them money for tickets on the Great Wall. We produced the tickets that we had purchased in Jinshanling, but they told us that those were unacceptable in Simatai. One of them also held a Jinshanling ticket, but I noticed they did not have tickets to give us once we gave them the money requested. We decided they were trying to scam us and told them that we were not going to give them any money. They didn’t like this and physically blocked our way, reiterating that our Great Wall tickets were no good there. I continued to show my ticket, and then realized that the guy with the security guard patch was not holding a ticket like the rest of us. I told him that the rest of us had Great Wall tickets and could therefore stay on the Wall. He did not have one and I would have to usher him off immediately. He laughed. After several other silly antics that made him and his friend laugh, they let us pass through on the wall in exchange for a bottle of water. I was told later by others those guys were really legit! Oh well.
We finished our tour of the wall at dusk where a large lake reflected the mountains and the wall. As we climbed into the van, we saw the stars were brighter than I had seen in years. The Milky Way could be clearly seen. This day trip with my brother was probably the most memorable experience of my 2 years in this country."
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"We started on the Great Wall at a place called Jinshanling. There, the terrain is steep and at times a little peirlious, so it is not as touristy as other locations along the wall. Our driver agreed to drop us off there and then pick us up in the next village (Simatai), which was 10 km to the east along the wall.
Like trying to outrun a Sherpa
Some enterprising locals who were laden with goods were eager to sell souveniers to the tourists as they passed by. Occasionally, one would join us as we hiked along the wall with the hope that we would finally be worn down and buy something. I made it clear to one such lady that we were not interested in buying anything now or later. She stayed with us. Dan and I decided to turn it into a game and try to lose her, so we scrambled across the mountainous region as quick as possible for about 1 km. Noting her profession was climbing the Great Wall on these mountains, Dan noted it was "like trying to outrun a Sherpa (of the Himilayas)." We made it to a watchtower, where we hid while resting. She caught up with us after a few minutes. I complimeted her strength, and then reiterated a 3rd time we were not interested in buying anything. This and the last km convinced her, and we were then able to enjoy the rest of our time on the wall ourselves.
Where we were at, the wall was about 450 years old. Remodelling had occured in the 70's at our starting point, but the rest of the wall was in various states of disrepair. With clear blue skies, the view was great and ideal for photos. We took many, and made several observations about construction and defense of the wall. We were most interested in the defense mechanisms we discovered built into the wall. Another interest was the different materials used in construction for different areas: brick, stone, and even sand.
As we neared Simatai, we were greeted by a couple of people that claimed they were security guards (one of them did have a “Beijing Security” patch on his coat). They said we needed to give them money for tickets on the Great Wall. We produced the tickets that we had purchased in Jinshanling, but they told us that those were unacceptable in Simatai. One of them also held a Jinshanling ticket, but I noticed they did not have tickets to give us once we gave them the money requested. We decided they were trying to scam us and told them that we were not going to give them any money. They didn’t like this and physically blocked our way, reiterating that our Great Wall tickets were no good there. I continued to show my ticket, and then realized that the guy with the security guard patch was not holding a ticket like the rest of us. I told him that the rest of us had Great Wall tickets and could therefore stay on the Wall. He did not have one and I would have to usher him off immediately. He laughed. After several other silly antics that made him and his friend laugh, they let us pass through on the wall in exchange for a bottle of water. I was told later by others those guys were really legit! Oh well.
We finished our tour of the wall at dusk where a large lake reflected the mountains and the wall. As we climbed into the van, we saw the stars were brighter than I had seen in years. The Milky Way could be clearly seen. This day trip with my brother was probably the most memorable experience of my 2 years in this country."
Video: Dan investigates some mysterious holes.
Running time: 1 min, 22 sec
File size: 1.8 Mb (Quicktime)
Running time: 56 sec
File size: 1.0 Mb (Quicktime)
Tomorrow: The Forbidden City
posted by Dan at 11:16 PM
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