China #15 Final Day in Beijing (15/09/15)

Nov7

We had one more day in Beijing before we each went our separate ways… most to go back to work. But I was bound for south-west China to Kunming, in Yunnan Province, and then onto another adventure trek in far western Mongolia. More about them in future musings.

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I must say that I was a little shocked to wake up in Beijing to this view with the sun trying hard to find its way through the thick smog. Where was that blue sky and fresh air we had been enjoying on our trek along the Wall and that was present in Beijing when I first arrived some ten days earlier? Anyway, whatever the weather, we still had one day together in Beijing; another day of exploring in the city before we attended a Reception given by the University of Newcastle to thank us, the ‘Heroes of the Wall Walk’.

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We started out early in an attempt to beat the traffic since we had to take quite a long drive across town to the 798 Art Precinct. This large area used to be a group of factories making electrical goods but it’s now used by all kinds of artisans.

One little saying I spotted which I particularly liked was – “the two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you found out how”!

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Arriving as early as we did, we found that most of the shops weren’t open. A catastrophe for the shoppers among the group. However, most of us still found something to buy to make the whole exercise worthwhile. Like your new cap, Chris!

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These bottles were hanging around an outside bar area. I wasn’t sure if this was an art installation… or, indeed, if we were expected to add a container to the line-up! I think the former. Just imagine the hundreds… no thousands… no probably millions of containers the Chinese public would add to this line up. A bit tempting though!

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There were lots of weird sculptures.

I’ll leave you to make what you will of some of them.

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A fisherman and his son

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The fisherman’s wife and another child

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Happiness times four!

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Was this art or graffiti… or maybe both?

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It’s amazing how time flies when you are just wandering. It was soon time for yet another lunch… this time at Hua’s Restaurant. Note the red carpet! Was that really for us… or does Hua welcome all patrons as VIPs? I rather hope he does.

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Lunch was rather special… Peking Duck! I know, we were in Beijing, but this famous dish is still called Peking Duck. This is a “nouveau cuisine”, or avant garde, way of presenting the duck. After watching the chef prepare the meal, we enjoyed the eating.

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The traditional way is to wrap duck slices and veggies in little pancakes.

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And after the duck… desert, of course.

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Our next stop was at a promising looking square on the edge of a hutong. But the promise was totally unfulfilled. The anticlimax of the whole trip, for me, was about to unfold.

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It started with a rickshaw ride that, although it was on the itinerary, cost us each 20 Yuan! Not a problem. But when it turned out to be for only around 10 minutes, I thought it a rip-off. We got off our conveyance a couple of times, firstly to stand at a doorway and be told that we couldn’t go through because it was (I think, I wasn’t really listening) a military / police area. Fascinating!

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The second time we ‘got down’ was to make a home visit. Great expectations of seeing the inside a hutong family home. Not to be! We were ushered into an outer room, served a ¼ cup of green tea, talked to by the lady-of-the-house, who really told us nothing new and …

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all the time we were being stared at by a poor minah in a cage.

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Deposited back in the square we walked to the Drum Tower, which formed one end of the square, where a performance was taking place high above our heads. It would have been interesting to see the drummers doing their thing but it must have been deafening to be in the drum hall while the performance was actually taking place. It was loud enough outside.

Meanwhile our city guide’s explanation of what was happening etc. was being continually interrupted by her mobile phone ringing. It rang three times that I know of. On the third occasion I told her that I wasn’t going to pay her the 10¥ she wanted (from each of us) if she answered the thing again. Sure enough, it rang again; and nobody paid.

We were back at the hotel by mid-afternoon as we had to ‘fancy-up’ for the University’s reception put on by the UoN Vice Chancellor as a ‘Thank You to the Walkers’.

It was a bit of a shock to be in shirt and tie, and cocktail dresses for the ladies, after 6 days of sweaty walking clothes. But, with a bit of spit and polish we all shaped up very well!

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The Reception was to be on a ‘garden roof’ on the 6th floor section of an 80 floor complex. So while waiting for the main event to start, we whizzed right up to the very top floor for a drink and a peek at Beijing from way up there. Pretty impressive.

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Looking down on Beijing! Much of it lost in the smog.

The formal part of the Reception was a rather tedious affair with everybody, both Chinese and Australian, in descending order of importance, having to be mentioned. Everything had to be translated into the other language as well. We ‘Heroes’ had to parade up onto the stage and be applauded – and rightfully so! We had walked 77.4km which included the hikes necessary to get up to and off the Wall proper. A sterling effort on all our parts even if I say so myself.

Just as well we’d had that good lunch. There were 170 guests and all we saw of food was some small triangles of pumpkin. The other illusive offering we were told of was a prawn! At least the beer, wine, and I think bubbly, didn’t run out.

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It was a beautiful night outside on the rooftop Pine Garden.

And so, ended our adventure. We were all very proud to have participated in such an exciting experience and to have raised in excess of AUD80,000 for Shaping Futures Scholarships. This means that about 20 extra disadvantaged students will be given the opportunity to study at UoN next year. We sincerely thank every one of our supporters who made it all possible.

I hope, in turn, that you have enjoyed joining me for the journey through these musings.

David

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/50kmFor50Years

Click on “Sponsor a Friend” under the photo of the great wall

Type in David to get to my donation page.

China #14 Section 5 – End of the Great Wall Walk (14/09/15 Part b)

Nov6

This Walk on the Wall is About Helping Others to Help Themselves

AND NOW…THE FINAL SECTION OF THE GREAT WALL WALK!

Tanya… a well earned rest!

Lunch over, Tanya found a rocking chair for a bit of a rest. But it wouldn’t be for long… we hadn’t quite finished yet! So wake up Tanya… we had one more section to walk.

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The area around the lunch stop had several small stalls… we were obviously back in tourist territory. Good luck charms and ‘I walked the wall’ souveneirs abounded. All of this overseen by warrior statues. I wonder what the wall builders would think of people who walk their wall these days. Maybe they would applaud our efforts on our five day challenge.

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At times it would be good to be able to read Chinese!

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A museum room.

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Our Christmas tree will sport the knot souveneir on the left.

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Some souveneirs were hanging on a tree.

Were they left by walkers?

Just before we began to walk again, our guide, Hero, showed off. I wanted to get him stopped in mid air. Too hard in a photo, so I took this photo from a piece of video! Well done Hero! He had been an exceptional guide and is obviously a very fit young man.

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Back on the Wall but this time with lots of day tourists ‘doing the Wall’. Well, we thought… what did they know about the real Wall experience? Not a lot, I suspect. But we did.

Our Walk the Wall challenge was set up as a 50 Km for 50 years walk to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the University of Newcastle in NSW. We felt pretty special… we had conquered 77 km… that’s quite a bit more than the 50 km we set out to walk.

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THE END IN SIGHT !

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When I made it to the bottom of our last flight of steps on the Wall, I was able to cheer on the last of our team as they made their final descent! Oh! What a Feeling. The END.

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Not much use reading this sign now, was it?

But we’d all made it all the way.

WELL DONE TEAM.

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Way out… and off the Wall. And as we come to the end of this Great Wall Walk Challenge, I again sincerely thank all of my sponsors. Our walking effort will fund at least 20 Shaping Future’s Scholarships. A great result for our 17 team members.

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A bus trip back into Beijing was very welcome after another hard day on the wall. On the way, we drove by the wonderful Olympic Swimming Pool, designed by an Australian company, PTW Architects. It’s looks pretty special and we all felt very proud of the Ozzie connection.

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Huge, colourful sculptures adorned some of the green sections by the motorway.

We would visit a Beijing art precinct the next day.

More of that anon.

David

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/50kmFor50Years

Click on “Sponsor a Friend” under the photo of the great wall

Type in David to get to my donation page.

China #13 Section 5 – Final Walk on the Wall (14/09/15 Part a)

Nov5

This Walk on the Wall is About Helping Others to Help Themselves

But on this morning, I needed help… I was in deep trouble!

Why? Well… the morning didn’t start off at all well and I have to admit it was ‘mea culpa’! A number of us had been looking forward to a slice of toast, a bit of a rarity in China. A nice fried egg on top of a freshly cooked and hot buttered slice of toast… that was the thought on quite a few minds. Yours truly arrived fairly early on… salivating at the thought of a piece of hot buttered toast. So helpfully, and hopefully, I plugged in the toaster. Bang!!! I blew the bloody thing up! The staff came running but all they could do was to cover the damn thing up. The poor machine lay there, covered as if in a shroud, all through breakfast. I was not the most popular of people I can tell you. Ah well. What can you do?

‘Twas almost a PB when we finally left the hotel at Huairou for our last day on ‘that Wall’. We were only ten minutes late.

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We drove out of Huairou and up a different valley… a very picturesque drive past more market gardens and nut groves and fish farms.

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Chestnuts with very prickly skins.

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A tantalising sight… a fresh pear. Almost harvest time in this part of China.

Many of the farmhouses were traditionally built. We passed lots of restaurants and motel-like places which made me think this area must be a popular weekend get-away for the city-folk.

All too soon, there we were making our way along yet another rough section of the Wall. Hero told us that this, our final wall walk, was to be almost 11 km… divided into two sections.

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We were soon back up on the Wall preparing to walk between the forts, beacon towers and guard towers of the The Huanghucheng Great Wall. This section of the Wall was begun in 1575 during the Ming Dynasty by the fastidious General Cai Kai. It took many years to complete.

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Although some of this section of the Wall has been restored, other parts are quite rough. Some notices even suggested that hiking this section of the Wall is not officially permitted. But we headed off down a steep part of the wall with our guide. Presumably, he had permission.

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Lots of shrubs along this section meant lots of flowers. But I had seen and photographed most of them before; and to be quite honest, I was almost to the point of being ‘over the Wall’. My enthusiasm for photography on the Wall was beginning to wane. But this one was lovely.

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However, I knew that I was on this journey and challenge not just for myself, and not just to raise money for Shaping Futures Scholarships, but also to share with all of you, our friendly armchair travellers. So I kept that finger tapping away on the camera whenever a view like this presented itself. This gives a really good idea of the morning’s walk. ‘Twas a long way down from the top… and we were just about to start another upward climb. It was relentless.

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See what I mean. Here we go, climbing up again!

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And it really was a long way up! Hard work for all of us.

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And when we reached the top of that ridge, we had a marvellous view down over parts of the town of Huanghuacheng (or Yellow Flower City). This town is famous for having several lakes and reservoirs close to the Wall. In fact, some of the Wall was submerged when the reservoir was formed. We were now just 60 km from Beijing… the end of the walk was beckoning.

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With a view like that below, this was as good a place as any for a rest stop.

Indeed, after a climb like that, most legs refused to go further!

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But onward and upward we had to go.

This was the type of steep ramp walking that I found the hardest.

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So how steep is steep? Thanks Scott for the demonstration.

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Or perhaps you prefer this Demo!

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Down again…steeply… seemingly with a drop off into a lake!

Now, closer to a town, we began to be joined by some Chinese day walkers.

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A dog’s paw prints in the concrete pavement!

A wonder how many years they’ve been there… centuries perhaps!

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Steps to nowhere… or so it seems. An up and over part of the walk!

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Thankfully these were the last of the steps before we stopped for lunch.

It had been a very hot, humid morning.

We were all ready for a good break, some good food and a long cold beer.

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We finished this really difficult part of the day’s walk at a restaurant near a dam wall.

Lovely country-style food was served to us …

along with an equally lovely COLD beer!

More anon

David

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/50kmFor50Years

Click on “Sponsor a Friend” under the photo of the great wall

Type in David to get to my donation page.

China #12 Section 4 – Walk on the Wall (13/09/15)

Nov4

This Walk on the Wall is About Helping Others to Help Themselves

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See that Wall snaking its way up and down and along the ridge; that was the aim of the day’s walk! And see that tower on the very top of the closet ridge; that’s the bump we could see from the bus stop. It really had been a long climb to get here. And more to come.

The good news was that this part of the Wall has mostly been restored; yes that was good.

BUT… the not so good news was that this section was 10+ kms… the longest walk so far… and on our tired, aching legs it was quite an ask. But conquer it we would!

As you’ll see in these clips, it was not easy.

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Clip #36

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The day was clearer and a good deal warmer than the day before but there was an occasional spot that caught a refreshing breeze. It was still hot and sweaty work. We needed a rest.

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Suzanne… a long way still to walk but still smiling!

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I rested in the shade beneath some red good luck ribbons.

At least I hoped they were good luck ribbons.

We’d walked a long way and so far no one had suffered any real injury.

Everyone was aware of the need to be careful.

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Chris… checking each step carefully as he went.

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…ever downwards

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Tanya… made it down these steps… at last

As we go ‘down along’, we pass others going ‘up along’!

Whichever way. the word ‘long’ is relevant!

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Every now and then, there was a short respite from the endless steps.

But these were sloped ramps and I, for one, found them harder going than the steps.

They found out different aching muscles.

I stopped here for a rest and a short ‘Thank you to my sponsors’ clip.

Clip #38

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We had ordered a ‘Subway’ sandwich for lunch. These were given to us before we got on the bus back at the hotel – there’s no home delivery on The Wall. We ate our sandwich on top of one of the watchtowers which gave us a marvellous 360º view of the surrounding hills, ridges, valleys and various sections of The Wall. Some lunch spot!

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After lunch we walked on and on conquering more towers as we went until, finally, we reached the top station of a cable car. This allowed a short-cut back to the bus park at Mutianyu at the bottom of the very ridge we had walked up at the beginning of the day’s walk. A few of the group took this option. They’d had enough of the wall and opted for a different view.

Jo’s photo of David

The rest of us walked on for some distance to a place where I was able to opt to walk the 1200 steps down to the same car-park where the cable car ended. This turned out to be a delightful walk through the forested side the the valley.

The rest of the group walked for a further 20 minutes to a toboggan run. It was a quick fun way to get to the bottom and it ended at the same car-park. I arrived at the appointed meeting spot, a ‘Subway’ outlet no less, at 15.15 and very quickly got hold of a lovely cold beer. Even at 35 Yuan (AUD9), the most expensive beer I’d had in China to this point, it went down a treat.

It was just a 25 minute bus ride back to the same hotel we’d stayed at the night before… there to be reunited with my lovely washed apple… still sitting where I had left it in the morning. There was just time for a quick, and, dare I say, a much needed shower, before heading out to dinner – another delicious banquet. Photos follow… just to tantalise your taste buds.

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A pyramid of finely shredded and fried who knows what!

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Diced carrot, peas and corn.

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Your guess is as good as mine!

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…same here. Who knows… but it was good.

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An Asian green like bok choy with added glass noodles

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Shoestring zucchini, and carrot.

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Really delicious dumplings with dipping sauce.

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A lovely dinner… but we couldn’t finish it all.

There was just too much… even though we did our best!

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But Richard… just had to have a little more! He’d earned it.

And then it was time to turn in… a fairly early night was needed by all.

We had to be up early for our final day’s assault on the Great Wall of China.

David

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/50kmFor50Years

Click on “Sponsor a Friend” under the photo of the great wall

Type in David to get to my donation page.

China #11 Section 4 – A Long Climb up to the Wall (13/09/15)

Nov3

This Walk on the Wall is About Helping Others to Help Themselves

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Our hotel at Huairou.

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The bus transferred us to the start of the day’s walk.

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The sign said quite clearly ‘This section of the Great Wall is not open to the public”.

I guess we must have been “private”… for walk it we did.

But first there was a long, hard climb just to get up onto the wall.

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The walk went up a steep, winding path through a forested area.

Several plants to photograph on the way up.

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We walked through this quaint village on the way up. There was a road of sorts this far, after which it was just a track to the Wall. We were aiming for that little bump on the horizon on the right of the picture, almost obscured by power lines in the photo.

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Aconitum sp. commonly known as Monkshood

Now, let me digress slightly and tell you something about this plant with its unusually shaped, deep blue flowers. It is a deadly toxic plant. There are several examples in history of the poison from this plant being used to kill animals and people. For example, it’s been used to kill whales and wolves… the latter giving the plant another of its common names, Wolf bane.

But there’s one story that’s relevant to our walk on the Wall. Here in China, in centuries past, when wars were fought with bow and arrow, Aconitum poison was used on arrows… and not just on the tips. A paste made from the plant was smeared along both the points and the shaft of the arrows… presumably very carefully with something to keep the paste from the hands of the soldiers! Then, it was hoped, that anyone in the opposing army who attempted to remove an arrow from a wounded ‘mate’, would also be poisoned and die in agony. Is that maybe the ultimate for the saying “two for the price of one’!

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Light through the petals of Aconitum buds.

Because of the lovely blue flowers, Aconitum is often used in formal garden beds especially in Europe. It was a long held belief, that only the roots are poisonous. But it’s been proven that all of the plant is toxic and the plant should be handled with care. As recently as November 2014, an inquest into the death of a gardener in England found that he had died from multiple organ failure after handling Aconitum plants without protection. Apparently, the toxin can enter the body through broken skin. Even if it doesn’t kill, it can make you pretty sick.

So the moral of the story is, learn about the plants you propose to plant in your garden. There are many, like daffodils and daphne, that are toxic to some level but not deadly unless eaten.

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Being autumn, there were various examples of fungi to find. What a beauty this is. BUT, this is another type of plant that can be toxic. Know your mushrooms before you touch or eat!

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Another fascinating fungi… very ‘architectural’.

Look but don’t touch.

While I was searching for plants to photograph, some of the group were still making their way up the long, winding, steep, difficult climb. This small clip will show you what I mean.

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A rest stop in the shade was much needed before we actually got to the Wall.

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The view from the rest stop was rather awe inspiring.

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And so say all of us. (Note the bhpbilliton involvement!)

This area is just too special to spoil in any way at all.

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And this was the view that greeted us when we got up onto the actual Wall.

‘Twas a bit daunting after that hike just to get to the start point.

But now it was time to conquer this stretch of wall.

More of that anon.

David

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/50kmFor50Years

Click on “Sponsor a Friend” under the photo of the great wall

Type in David to get to my donation page.

China #10 Section 3 – Walk on the Wall (12/09/15)

Nov1

This Walk on the Wall is About Helping Others to Help Themselves

I was up a bit before 06.00 on the morning of the third day of our Walk on the Wall. The sky was bright, and cloudless, but the sun hadn’t as yet risen. By the time I’d showered the sun was hitting a tower of The Wall that I could see from my room. All looked good for a wonderful day hiking along the section of the Wall known as Jinshanling.

How was I feeling after the past two days on the Wall? Well…I had some lactic acid to give away! Thighs in particular were quite stiff. Oh, what I wouldn’t have given for a good massage. And on this next section, Hero warned us, there were even more steps. Surely there couldn’t be! However, the good news… this part of the Wall is mostly restored. Not all, but most.

Breakfast was a bit different… a “Chinese” breakfast. I think someone asked for it and good on them because we all ended up trying something most of us, if not all, won’t do again! So what did we have? Pickled who-knows-what (other than they were of three different kinds of plant material), a watery soup, cucumber, some oily pancakes, scone-sized puffy things that were made from the same stuff that steamed buns are made of, and a boiled egg or two.

And what did we think of that combination? Most of us left breakfast a little disappointed and still a tad hungry. Maybe we would walk better on some toast and Vegemite!

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At the start of this day’s walk there was an impressive bas relief.

It depicted life on the Wall in days long gone by.

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The Great Wall at Jinshanling was initially built from 1368 to 1389 and then rebuilt from 1567 and 1570 under the direction of the great General Qi Jiguang (1528–1588)… whose story I’ve told on the post for day one of the walk. So, yes, it is old.

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Just before we started the day’s walk, I bought a bottle of beer. My son Peter had suggested that Chris, Julie and myself (all supported by Peter) should have a beer on the Great Wall. So, we did, quite early on in the morning, too. I had no intention of carrying that bottle any further than I had to. I’d even remembered to put my bottle opener in my backpack and three glasses (plastic unfortunately). But having that beer was good fun.

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Taking the photos early on in the day was a doubly good idea as the air was still brilliantly clear. Cheers Pete! And thanks for your support.. and thanks to everyone else who supported our efforts to raise money for more Shaping Futures Scholarships at UoN.

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Julie and Chris checked their photos… all good… no retakes required.

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Beer drunk; time to get on with the day’s walk.

The challenge … 22 towers/beacons and 8km (5mi.) ahead of us.

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Not a lot of chance to stop for flower photography … but…

I couldn’t resist the beautiful light through the petals of this Convolvulus sp.

Most of you will know this flower as Morning Glory.

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Signs like these cropped up every now and then along the wall…

We were all very mindful of minding our steps!

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Crossing… not sure where. Graffiti… Certainly not!

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We plodded on, strung out like the proverbial Brown’s cows…

each one walking at their own pace.

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Although this day’s walk took us over mostly restored Wall, I found parts particularly difficult. There were quite long stretches of steeply sloping ramp which I found much harder to handle than steps, no matter how shallow, deep or irregular the steps were. There were also some very steep, long step sections. I don’t think photos, or even video, really show it as it is.

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Maybe this photo gives a better idea of the steepness. It was really hard work.

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According to the different terrain, the watchtowers were built in different shapes: some tall, some low; some rectangular, some square; most with three to five ‘windows’.

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The Wall at Jinshanling has retained its original look since its construction several hundred years ago. It is relatively isolated and offers great views whichever way you look.

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Because this section of the Wall is a lot more accessible from Beijing than the earlier sections we’d walked, we encountered more people sharing the experience… even a smattering of Aussies along with other foreigners. ‘Twas strange to have to share the Wall.

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All signs were in Chinese and English with a graphic as well.

A fairly clear message, I would say,

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But … he’s a local and I guess old habits die hard.

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He was a drink seller… a long day, just sitting, hoping to make a sale.

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Some of the towers definitely made a dramatic statement.

DSC00515 © DY of jtdytravels

Looking back along the seemingly endless zig-zag of the Wall, we could all be very proud of our day’s effort. But, when we finally finished our section of the Wall for the day, we were a little dismayed to find that it was still a long walk down to the bus park. On the way down, a hen pheasant ran across my path. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Himalaya and China but I’d never managed to see a pheasant in the wild before. So this was a bit special.

All we weary walkers climbed thankfully on board the bus at about 12.30. It was then just a 10 minute ride to the lunch stop, a family run business where all the food served was prepared from home grown organic produce. We had nine courses plus rice. Some of the courses were cauliflower and Spanish onion, an eggplant dish that was really good, some noodles etc. We had well and truly earned that meal and it was eaten with great relish.

DSC00518 © DY of jtdytravels

From there it was a two hour drive in the bus to our hotel for the night, in a city called Huairou. It’s on the outskirts of Beijing. Did I say outskirts? The centre of Beijing was, in actual fact, still 90 km away! Beijing is really BIG.

DSC00519 © DY of jtdytravels

The food looked good! Was good! It was frog! From memory the red are tomatoes and capsicum, the green: celery and the green berries on top are Sichuan peppers.

DSC00520 © DY of jtdytravels

Dinner time was a happy occasion after such a hard day’s walk on the Wall.

More anon

David

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China #9 An Evening Craft Lesson (11/09/15 Part c)

Nov1

After dinner we had the opportunity of visiting a Master Paper Cutter, who had a studio just across the road from our lodgings. Although tired, it was an opportunity not to be missed, particularly as we were going to get an out-of-hours demonstration.

Paper cutting is a craft that can be dated back to the 6th Century. I’d heard that, usually, professional paper cutters are males. So, I imagined the Master was going to be an old man with perhaps a long drooping, but wispy, grey moustache.

DSC00466 © DY of jtdytravels

But, not so on this occasion. A middle-aged lady turned up shortly after we arrived. She is a Master cutter, following a long tradition of this handcraft by women. In the past, rural girls were expected to master this craft, and brides were often judged by their skills.

DSC00466 © DY of jtdytravels

This Master set about showing us her skills, first folding the paper together.

She was quite a show woman!

DSC00470 © DY of jtdytravels

After folding the paper, she started cutting it with a pair of very fine-nosed and sharp scissors. In no time at all she was unfolding the cut paper to reveal, not one but two, intricately detailed and different coloured butterflies. She’d tricked us by working with a piece of blue and a piece of green paper folded together. Her dexterity was amazing.

DSC00471 © DY of jtdytravels

Some more of her multi-coloured work.

DSC00473 © DY of jtdytravels

It was then our turn to see what kind of a mess we could make

with a pair of scissors and a piece of paper.

DSC00472 © DY of jtdytravels

And the result is…

I got an MBE for this; My Bloody Effort!

DSC00474 © DY of jtdytravels

She is certainly a Master of her craft!

Another of her intricate, delicate Paper Cuts. Truly amazing work.

Close up a larger piece… depiction of a regal male.

Detail of the head gear of the Paper Cut above.

And the full Paper Cut together with another work of art.

It is said to be easy to learn to make paper cuttings. However, to master the art takes much practice, great skill and exceptional imagination… and patience. We were very pleased that we had experienced this demonstration. Now, finally, we could go to bed and rest our weary bodies in preparation for another day walking up and down on the Great Wall.

More anon

David

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China #8 Section 2 – Walk on the Wall (11/09/15 Part b)

Oct31

This Walk on the Wall is About Helping Others to Help Themselves

On and on and on went the wall. On and on we plodded. But all in a very good cause. At some of our rest stops we reminded ourselves just why we were doing this; why we were putting up with aching legs and other muscles that were finding us out. We were doing it to help others who are doing it tough in other ways in their daily lives… every day… and without the views.

And as I stood in this crumbling ruin, I remembered so many others who did it tough…

the men who built the wall in the first place all those centuries ago;

the soldiers who lived in these towers to guard their country from invaders.

I was here in this magnificent landscape for but a brief time.

No wonder I could smile.

And it was not only the construction of the wall that I found amazing.

So too, were the many small things I found.

Just look at the incredible construction of this caterpillar

…and the way this flower is formed… delicate but intricate.

…and another quite stunning caterpillar… just don’t touch!

…and here’s a piece of architectural and engineering ingenuity displayed in a caterpillar!

Tiny but quite wonderful.

When you think about how pines conserve water with those needle like leaves

and hold their seeds in cones until just the right moment

Nature is very inventive, isn’t it?

I think these are Sedum sp.

Looking up and out again… the Wall does seem endless.

Just the floor of a second story watch-tower, the rest had disappeared over the Centuries.

But, it still provided an elevated platform for a better view.

Great care was needed on some parts of the path… like this piece…

a steep drop off awaited anyone who slipped.

The distance between towers was not far on this stretch of the wall.

Iris sp.

A view to the side. No Wall in sight.

The distance between towers might be shorter but the steps seem to get steeper.

And those steps are not restored. Difficult going here.

At times the wall branches. Which way to our bed for the night?

We’re getting weary. It’s been a long, hard day.

I’m so pleased that I put in the months of training to be fit for the task!

More steep steps. But we were almost there… or so we were told.

And at last, our end point for the day…with a rather magnificent statue to greet us.

End of day two of the walk… only three days to go!

Does anyone want my spare lactic acid?

David

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/50kmFor50Years

our other travel sites

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China #7 Section 2 Walk on the Wall (11/09/15 Part a)

Oct28

This Walk on the Wall is About Helping Others to Help Themselves

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/50kmFor50Years

The goal for the second day on our Great Wall Walk was to conquer the Simatai section of wall which is 5.4 km. (3.5 mi.) long. That’s not so far, I hear you say! But this section contains 34 beacon towers and that suggests a lot of ups and downs between towers, does it not? And so it proved to be. This part of the wall is divided into two parts – the somewhat gentler western section with 18 well-preserved towers – and the eastern, much steeper section, with 16 more crumbly towers. I have also divided my musings for the day into two sections – part a and part b!

To tackle the day, we needed a good breakfast. Annie knew what she needed; she’d supplied it for herself. Vegemite! That black goo that many Australians are fond of. But… how do you spread Vegemite on toast when there’s not a knife in sight? Watch the clip.

Clip #10

We’d spent the night at the 300 bed ‘Hyangya Mountain Villa Guesthouse’ a ‘designated place’ to stay for foreigners and Chinese alike. 120 km from Beijing, it’s located near the city of Tianjin in ‘the Eight Diagrams city of the Great Wall scenic spot.’ The hotel is described as being a “typical quadrangle courtyard with opening character, which can ease your business tension, relax and enjoy your tourist life.” Why bother writing my own description!

T’was time to begin our day’s walk.

I looked back along a hotel path bedecked with garden flowers

and hoped that I would find wildflowers in those mountains beyond the hotel.

As we left this rather imposing entrance to the guesthouse,

we knew that we were leaving behind any vestige of comfort for the rest of the day.

The first task of the day was to hike up the hill to get to the Wall.

Clip #11

This section of the Wall is denoted as the gentler section across rolling hills.

It is NOT restored and at times is little more than a rough path.

Clip #12

That’s me decked out in my UoN Great Wall Walk T shirt. Fetching, isn’t it?

And yes, I had just walked down that path, sometimes 30 cm wide with a drop off.

More like mountain goat country than our usual notion of the Great Wall of China.

DSC00393 DY of jtdytravels

A quick rest, some water and a photo op. at one of the towers.

It was overcast and very humid.

The view ahead… more towers; more ups and downs; more rough paths.

This was not going to be a walk in the park on a Sunday afternoon.

But for the horticulturist in me, there were many delightful compensations.

How could I not stop to enjoy Campanula; blue bells… with dew drops?

As you’ll find in these musings, there was a wide variety of plants to enjoy.

I think this is a Sedum sp.

Berries of a Berberis sp.

Red is one colour that’s often hard to get right in a photo, especially a shiny red.

My new Sony (HX90V) captured these red berries just right.

The team plodded onwards and upwards to the next ridge.

Another delightful bloom belonging to the ‘pea’ family.

Four Chinese guides accompanied us on the walk.

Not another soul to be seen. We were on our own on the Great Wall of China!

How could a pollinator ignore this flower’s ‘guiding runway’?

Nature is quite wonderful, if we take time to look at the detail in the small things

as well as the grandeur of the wider view.

It’s been said that “The Great Wall is the best of Chinese buildings, and that the Simatai section of the Wall is the best of the Great Wall.” It certainly provided amazing views.