Beijing - Day 2 - Great Wall
It's time to get out of city and head to the mountains. Today's excursion is to the Great Wall. An early start with a 20 minute Didi to meet our guide. We've got just enough time to grab a Maccas brekky and coffee (the only food place around) before we hop in the van. We've booked a fairy small tour group, it's just us, another Aussie bloke from Byron Bay, Harry, our guide, Devit and a driver.
It's about a 2 hour drive up to the spot we're starting the walk. There's a few places you can visit the Great Wall and we've been told this is a less busy spot so it shouldn't be heaving with tourists. The drive is easy, pretty much on the freeway the whole time. We chat with Harry, straight into the heavy topics of politics and admire the scenery. It's autumn in China and the further we get away from the city the prettier it gets with all the trees turning golden and brown. We've picked a great time of year to come.
We pick up some hiking poles along the way and arrive at our starting point. We take off a layer after learning it's an 1,100 stair hike to the highest point and we're pretty much straight into it. Courts is positively frothing at the desidous trees surrounding us on all sides. And then an orange cat comes strutting across the path! This is all before even glimpsing the views of the Great Wall.
We make it to the highest peak of the section we're hiking, 680 metres above sea level. We didn't really think too much about what hiking the Great Wall might entail but the ascent was no joke. I bet Harry is regretting that ciggie he lit up earlier on. We make it to the top which is one of many watch towers. The Wall was built to keep enemies alout but it beats me as to how or why any enemy would bother to traverse these mountains. The view here is THE view. You can see the wall snaking across the mountains for miles. The boys try to work out the logistics of building such a great feat and figure out where it goes while Courts admires the view. It's truly spectacular and a deserved spot as one of the 7 Wonders of the World.
We continue on. Our hike will be 6kms in total and we'll get picked up on the other side. We get a bit more history about the Wall. 1% of people involved building the Wall died during it's construction and they made these lovely little holes that they could drop rocks through onto their enemy. It's also very steep in many sections, so they would have the higher ground to mow down the enemy. Again, I wonder how many enemies bothered to make the trek this far. It's definitely worth for the view though.
We continue on, up and down, some very steep and hairy steps. We take a million snaps, have a couple of rest stops, admire the views while Jeff and Harry try to figure what to do about the Australian cricket team. It's starts to get a bit busier the further along we get but it's not overcrowded, especially compared to everywhere else we've been in Beijing. We make it to end and it's short walk on flat ground to get to our ride. There's virtually no flat ground on the Wall so it's like trying to get your land legs back after being out at sea. Sort of.
Part of our tour includes a farmhouse lunch, farmhouse meaning a rural/traditional type restaurant. We're served up a shrimp and noodle dish, King Pao chicken, cabbage and some sort of soy dish and a saucy eggplant dish. A couple of Yangjings to wash it down, of course. It hits the spot after our huge morning and find the food not too dissimilar to what we've been eating in the city.
We bid farewell to Harry, he's staying overnight and do a second hike tomorrow, as he's wanting to capture both susnet and sunrise at the Great Wall. We hop back in the car, more than ready to put our feet up for a few hours. We've been told the ride back is longer due to traffic and it is. It takes about an extra hour but we don't mind. Gives us time to process the day that was and plan for the evening.
Jeff asks a few questions about life in China. He asks about sport, noting he hasn't seen many ovals around. Devit says it's study first, then sport. Probably too much study - the next generation are placing a higher importance on their health.
We arrive back at our hotel around 5, a quick shower and change and we're headed back into our trusty hutong. We've got our eyes on a brewery tonight. Apparently craft beer brewing is a big thing in Beijing. We're headed for Great Leap Brewing (very questionable name choice but according to our research the founder claims it's not related to the time of horrific famine in China's history's. We ask our guide about the name - he either didn't understand or didn't want to understand the question), which seems to be a franchise. It's a tucked away in the hutong and has a good brewery vibe. Nice ambient lighting in a courtyard setting. A mix of local and westerner patrons. We settle on one of pale ales and it's pretty malty and strong, not necessarily in a good way. We decide to try the flagship pale ale next which is much better.
We head out in search of some food. We land on a tiny hole in the wall restaurant with about 4 tables. We're seated across from a local council worker who's slurping and sweating his way through a bowl of noodles whilst knee deep in the AI soaps on his phone. We order one of those, a plate of dumplings and two beers. There's a fridge full of them but we're given warm ones from a crate. We just go with it, the two beer buzz probably helps. The noodles and dumplings arrive and they're both outstanding. Maybe the best dumplings of the trip? Maybe it's the two beer buzz. Whatever it is, it's been a great day of travel, one for the books for sure.
