Sep
22
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9/22/2009
We had a wonderful time in Beijing. Hiking the Wall was definitely the highlight of our trip. On Tuesday morning, we were picked up at our hotel and shuttled two hours outside the city to the Gubeikou section of the Wall. Led by our guide, Cheney, we began our ascent up the mountain in order to reach the Wall, which runs across the ridge. According to Cheney, the portion of the wall we hiked on our first day was constructed nearly 2,000 years ago during the Qin Dynasty and was later repaired during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). We were able to differentiate between the two time periods based on the building materials: the Qin Dynasty used mainly stones, while the Ming Dynasty used bricks.
We had very comfortable weather as we hiked, with the temperature in the 70s and a soft breeze. Unfortunately, it was a little cloudy, creating less-than-ideal lighting for taking pictures. However, Cheney said that it is usually only clear in the dead of summer when temperatures hover around 100°. So I guess I can’t complain.
At the end of our hike that day we trudged down the mountain to spend the night in a small farming village, which stood in stark contrast to the modern urban environment of Beijing we had left that morning. Seeing small rustic farmhouses surrounded by an assortment of crops which occupied every square inch of arable land, it seemed as though we had been dropped in the middle of a third world country.
Day two began with a hearty breakfast of rice porridge, cabbage, a Chinese version of an omelet, and steamed bread. By 8:00am, we were back on the Jinshanling-Simatai portion of the Wall. Since this section of the Wall is a good distance from Beijing, and it is no longer tourist season, we literally only saw one other small group of hikers during our entire two days of hiking. So we had not only a private tour but what seemed like a private viewing of the Wall altogether. Our second day of hiking consisted of following the Wall along the ridge in the background of the picture.
We concluded our climb with a zip line across a gorge at the foot of the Wall. It took Rochelle a good five minutes to work up the nerve to step off the platform. I have at least a dozen pictures of her as she stood anxiously reasoning with herself while our guide yelled at her, “You must go! You must go!”
It looks like she is about to jump...nope.
Kent and Rochelle
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