Imperial Retreat

2009 09 15 – Day 81 – Chengde

Chinese Emperors spent significant time in the cooler valley climate of Chengde, escaping the summer heat of Beijing, which is why there are so many historical sites in the area. Much of their time was spent in Bìshǔ Shānzhuāng, which translates as 'Mountain Resort for Avoiding the Heat'. The resort is spread over a large area, including palaces, administrative and ceremonial buildings and is landscaped in such a way as to mimic the hugely varied terrain and undergrowth of all the Emperor's territory - there are grasslands, woods, hills and lakes. The various buildings and artifacts on display were interesting enough, but the real pleasure for me was wandering the grounds in glorious sunshine.

There were various minibuses and boats to help you get around, but I felt more inclined to explore by foot.

Being by myself and moving softly enabled this chance encounter:

I was amazed to be able to get so close (this is taken with a wide lens), but it didn't hang around for long, gliding gracefully into a wooded area nearby as other people approached less softly.

It was quite something to watch this fishy feeding frenzy provoked by tourists. I think they were using fish food... I hope so.

All in all, the gardens of the resort were a lovely place to spend a few hours wandering and sitting in g the shade reflecting.

The Early Bird Catches the Tour

2009 09 15 – Day 81 – Chengde

Arriving in Chengde at 04:30 or thereabouts, I expected a bit of a wait before I could find out about visiting the tourist sights. I was wrong. Riding the high-tide of arriving passengers, I was teased out of the flow like a tickled trout and, before I knew it, I had negotiated a tour deal and was sat in a minivan on the way to a hotel to dump my stuff, splash some water on my face, find some food and wait for the sun to rise!
After freshening up, I had a bit of time to wander the chilly pre-dawn streets.

This square was virtually empty just 20 or 30 minutes earlier, but now was alive with people exercising, some individually, but mostly in groups. Aerobics, dancercise, tai chi and foot-badminton were the most common.

And while some exercised their limbs, others exercised their songbirds

Now most of the city was awake I could get breakfast:

On my morning stroll, I'd seen one of the reasons American fast food chains like McDonalds and KFC are making headway into the Chinese market – because, at certain times of the day, they're the only places open!
I'm glad I held out for a genuine Chinese breakfast.

I See No Sea

2009 09 14 – Day 80 – Shanhaiguan

I rose early with ambition to climb the nearby section of The Great Wall, hopeful of a grand view over Shanhaiguan and out to sea, before checking out some of the touristy stuff in town and a visit to the shore before heading on to my next destination at the end of the afternoon. Seemed feasible.
A short but wobbly ride in a three wheel red Reliant Robbin wannabe got me to the Great Wall park before anyone else, including, it seemed, the park staff! At first, I was being told by my driver and others hanging around outside, that it wasn't open yet and I couldn't enter, but the gates were wide open and my persistence eventually revealed that actually it was just the chairlift that wasn't operational yet and if I was crazy enough to walk up, then of course I could enter! Which I did. At that point, of course some staff did materialise from round some corner or other to make sure I paid my entrance fee.

Didn't look too bad a climb.
Before I knew it I had my own personal Great Wall climbing coach:

Waddling up to my side and then bouncing on ahead, then pausing to grin back at me – come on Martin! It's enthusiasm was infectious. I'm not quite sure how it managed to bound up stairs twice the height of it's legs, but it was inspirational!

As the climb got progressively steeper I started to worry for my little chum, who now needed more regular breaks, lungs clearly working overtime, visibly heaving. But the panting pooch would not give it up... Until the onward path was a ladder into a tower:

Or so I thought! Down the other side of the tower and re-joining the wall, there was pooch, waiting for me! Clearly the little bounder had been this way before.

Entering the wooded crest of the hill I began to encounter beasties:

Spiders with leg spans of about 15cm, and possibly the hairiest caterpillar ever:

Good thing the temple at the peak had some guardians:

Over the other side, the scenery was quite different and the sun began to power its way through the smog, giving me hope of a fine view:

But time wore on and sun and smog seemed to reach a stalemate and I had to return to the town if I wanted to fit everything in.
By the time I was most of the way down, the smog had won and, though I had a reasonable view of the plain between mountains and sea that Shanhaiguan protected, I would not have the view to the sea that I'd hoped for.

But a wedding or two is not a bad substitute!

One of the two couples enjoying a photoshoot with the greatest of walls on their special day.

Back in town, visiting the First Pass Under Heaven, I got a consolation prize:

At last! A view of the sea!
Ok, not quite what I'd hoped for, but a fine artistic depiction of the strategic significance of Shanhaiguan and its position between mountains and sea.

Shanhaiguan Nightlife

2009 09 13 – Day 79 – Shanhaiguan

First stop after Beijing – Shanhaiguan – a heavily 'restored' old town to the east of Beijing, occupying a strategic location between the mountains and the sea and well known for being the only place The Great Wall meets the sea.

Having arrived at the end of the afternoon, I'd barely had sufficient time to find a place to stay and settle in before darkness fell.

And so out I strode into the warm summer night in search of dinner

The spiders crafting impressive webs on their lampposts were easily large enough that a few could make substantial and possibly nutritious dinner... but no way was I tempted to try!

There were very few people out and about, but those that were still managed to obstruct my photography:

having said that, I think the silhouettes add to this photo. I believe the man is airing his crickets – which gave the street a lovely gently musical ambiance.

Eventually, having left the old town, I found a streetside barbecue.

With the help of the smiley, friendly, if a little embarrassed, teen girls waiting the tables, and a good deal of pointing and not being fussy, I managed to have a fairly tasty dinner of fish, sausage, garlic bread and pepper. I'd innocently ordered what I thought was a bell pepper to add some veg to the meal, but in fact it was a massive chili pepper! It was one of those hot peppers where you know its hot after you've had some, but the true heat doesn't come through until two or three bites later... by which point it was far too late. Trying to keep my breathing normal, stem the sweat at the hairline, soothe my mouth with beer and not cry was tough for a moment or two, but I beat it... mostly... I did have hiccups for much of the rest of the evening!
Walking off the chili-pepper before bed and exploring the town a little, I hadn't gone far before the sound of drumming danced out of the darkness and, like the flame beguiling a moth, drew me to its source.

A small troop were giving a bit of a streetside show and a rag-tag band of onlookers had gathered. It looked like some kind of amateur/hobby group thoroughly enjoying themselves. I watched from the sidelines for a good 15-20 minutes till they were done, enjoying the rhythm of the drums, the crashing of the symbols and the enthusiasm of the performers. One sprightly elderly gent with a twinkle in his eye, and doing a good job of looking like a Chinese drag-queen, spied me grinning from the sidelines on his way by and made at least a couple of attempts to rope me in! A negotiation that brought much to the amusement of the chubby teen who'd sidled to my side for a closer look at the sole foreigner present.
Soon after the last drumbeat had ebbed out into the night, I beat a hasty retreat back through the old town to my bed.

The Great Wall

2009 09 07 – Day 73 – 3 hrs bus north west of Beijing

“The Great Wall of China; a miracle of Chinese engineering, so big you can see it from anywhere in the world.“ - Father Ted ("Are You Right There, Father Ted?").

Thanks to Ben for tickling my brain with this particular piece of comedic genius. I laughed my way along the four hour walk that is the Jinshanling to Simatai section.

For those who'd like to see that I was actually there and placate the enthusiastic middle-aged local Chinese lady who'd decided we were walking buddies. A whole group of them joined us tourists at the point we got on the wall – the men-folk were apparently working the fields. My 'guide' entertained me with her broken English banter for an hour or so, before persuading me to buy a few of her goods. Normally I would have avoided buying, but she'd been so enthusiastic, cheery and not pushy, that I wanted to acknowledge her good attitude as much as anything.

It's quite amazing when you get views like this, with every rise within sight having a tower on it and the wall snaking its way up and down along the ridges between.
Although we had something of a timetable to keep to meet a bus at the other end, I was confident enough of my pace, from counting the number of towers I'd passed and watching the time, to allow myself to fall behind a bit, to enjoy the wall alone and take pictures at my own pace.

Occasionally the sun would find its way through the thin cloud, which looks good, but with the temperature rapidly rising, I'd be glad when the cloud covered it up again.

A fair few of these millipedes were also making the trek, despite some gruesome evidence of the hazards of hiker's feet – at least half of the millipedes I saw were splat flat and stuck to the stone.

At times the wall was incredibly steep, managed at times with steps

and at others with slopes

and in case you didn't notice the slope:

Most times you could go through the towers, and buy water, snacks, postcards or t-shirts from the sole occupant entrepreneurs,

but sometimes you had to go round the side and re-mount the wall

The start of the dramatic descent to Simatai

Much of the wall from here to Simatai was heavily restored and, having been sympathetic to the regularly observed indignation to wholesale restoration from travellers and Lonely Planet, I found my perspective on the issue shifting. I think it's important to leave some sections unrestored, just maintaining them and making them safe to walk, but I did value walking on some distance of restored wall and gaining a better insight to how it might have looked and felt when it was in use. Of course I'm no expert in the nature and implementation of such restoration works and couldn't say that they'd done the job in the most historically sympathetic way or not.
It was along this restored section near Simatai that I passed an enthusiastic German family. Though we were the only people in sight, they tempered their exuberance as we neared, as most people would, and we exchanged polite nods and hellos. I'd hardly walked 20 meters further when the father couldn't hold back any longer and opening his lungs at the wilderness to the north he roared:
“Die Mongolen kommen!!”
Which gave me something else to laugh about for the rest of the day :)

A section in the process of being restored that I couldn't help but think of as a massive skate ramp!

A bit like a roller coaster, no sooner had I come down, than I wanted to go up again!

The Wall climbs dramatically beyond the Simatai exit, which made me want to ascend, but I only had strength and time enough to climb past two or three towers. Besides, you can't get to the top of that section, or at least it's shut off, as it's deemed too dangerous for general access.

All that up and down is tough on the legs and plenty of tourists pay a few RMB more to ride the zip-line down the last section across a little lake

But I quite like walking and so I did that instead.

Capital Curiosities

2009 08-09 – Beijing

Just a bunch of interesting stuff sighted around the city

Iconic, cliché, but bears repeating I think.

I'd not previously thought of kite flying as a way to chill out.

There's nothing sensible anyone can say about this, it's just plain wrong!
But as strange as the dog with jeans was, I was more taken aback on a late night walk home from a club, when I passed a man walking his goose!
No that's not a metaphor!
No it wasn't the alcohol and no the goose didn't have a lead, but its owner did walk in such a way as to protect it from over-curious passers by, be they man or beast!

What better time to revise your algebra than when stuck in traffic?! Very practical.

How many young Chinese men does it take to hoover the road?... Three apparently.
Lets hope they really were measuring pollution levels or something useful like that.

I have never before walked into a shop to such a simultaneously horrific and comedic greeting!
These cheeky chops reminded me of the Ren & Stimpy episode A Yard Too Far... thankfully, in the real world of that particular Chinese shop, there was no sign of an over-amorous guard baboon!