The Great Wall

The holiday week here in Beijing has been fascinating. I've explored several different areas of the city and tried a lot of new foods (the most interesting so far is pigeon eggs...I haven't worked up to scorpions just yet!!). I slept in a hutong, a traditional Chinese community nestled in between the new skyscrapers all over Beijing. With friends, we spent an afternoon in Beihai Park watching old Chinese couples waltzing and children writing Hanzi (Chinese characters) on the sidewalk with water and calligraphy brushes. Couple those images with some of the Beijing Opera singers practicing their music by shouting over the lake, and you have an idea of how cool parks in China can be!

I spent an afternoon with my friend Anna-Lina, from Austria, in Tian'anmen Square. There were tens of thousands of Chinese from all over the country who had come to visit and see the sights from the parade and 60th anniversary decorations in the Square. I felt like a minor celebrity after having at least 15 different groups of people ask to take their picture with us! Anna-Lina blames my blonde hair for all the attention!

The absolute highlight of my time in China so far, and certainly something that I will remember for the rest of my life, was the 10km walk from Jinshanling to Simatai on the Great Wall. The weather could not have been more perfect - it was clear, cool and visibility was great! Anna-Lina, Chloe (from Kansas) and I departed Beijing early on Sunday morning. The hike took us 4.5 hours. It was a very difficult hike, but still not as bad as the Inca Trail en route to Machu Picchu! The wall is about 6-10' wide and has a tower about every 100 yards or so. The parts we walked have not been well maintained (aka not a lot of tourists!) and so the walk was rocky with bits falling off every now and then!

Despite the challenging climb, the views were absolutely worth my legs feeling like lead weights at the end! The landscape was breathtaking...mountains with the Wall stretching as far as the eye can see in either direction. Truly a remarkable man-made barrier and even though it didn't really work for the intended purpose, I'm sure glad the Chinese spent over 1000 years building it!

We didn't have a place arranged to sleep, so we were lucky to find a place at the Simatai Guesthouse...a small place with only three rooms just down from the Wall run by a nice Chinese couple. The Tsingtao beer that I am drinking in this picture with Chloe and Anna-Lina was the best, most well-deserved beer I have had in a long time! We got up at 4:30 the next morning to watch the sun rise over the Wall. I wanted to hike a little faster than the others, so I walked alone for over an hour with the Wall lit only by moon light. We were the only people on the wall at that early hour. I got to a perfect sun rise viewing spot about 10 minutes before the sun came. Sitting alone on the Great Wall and watching the sun rise was one of the most moving, peaceful and spiritual moments of my life. It still gives me chills just thinking about it.

Aside from all of the tourist spots I visited, I also tried to go shopping for a winter coat and boots. A word of advice to anyone who wears a size 9 (or 41 for my European readers!) shoe or higher: don't expect to find shoes that fit you in China! Even at H&M, they didn't have my size! I honestly don't know what I'm going to do to get through this winter season, but I'll figure something out. My quest for a coat was also a fun experience. I feel like a giant when shopping for any type of clothing here. I finally found one that fit, but it looks like I should be trying out to be a dancer in a Jay-Z video! (fair warning for future blog pictures. I recognize the jacket is silly, but it fits!).

Another experience that every female should have once in their life is to get a haircut in a country where no one in the salon speaks English. Also, since you haven't covered the all-so-important 'hair cut' chapter in Chinese class, you're terrified at what you're asking for. Once we finally understood that I didn't want a perm or to color my hair, my hairdresser set out to wash, cut and blow dry my hair. It actually turned out to be a pretty decent hair cut (no hair cut experience will ever be as good as Arthur & Tamara Isard in Winston-Salem, NC though!) and it only cost me $4.40 USD, so no complaints! I'm just glad I still have hair and not the all so popular bob that all the Chinese girls are sporting right now! I couldn't pull it off like they can!

Erica - congrats on the Wedding! Gators - hope you beat LSU! Lindsey - I can't wait to catch up and tell you my latest story about this beautiful butterfly I saw in Sanlitun!! ;)

Zai Jain from Beijing!