The Great Wall of China

It was one of the highlights of the trip, a wonder I'd looked forward to seeing ever since I first booked the trip. 

We'd stopped by a Ming Dynasty tomb beforehand, but I'd waited too long for The Great Wall to pay much attention.

The landscape was hilly, the highway clogged with buses and cars. And this highway? It goes only to the Great Wall. The traffic was intense, dangerous and congested with drivers honking and coveting your space. The most insane traffic I have ever seen, and I have been around the world. From where we were, it would take us over an hour to get to the first navigable section of the wall.Yet it was a distance of less than 50 kilometres.

The Great Wall was over 6,000 km, but much of it is crumbling. The section closest to Beijing consists of a trap made for the enemy, but once you climb to the top of that section, you can see the rest of the wall. Providing you aren't wheezing too badly, like I was. It was a steep, irregular climb best done in sections and at times, thick with people. We saw one small boy topple down it for a few metres. He'd been acting up and received a few good scrapes for his misbehavior.

At the base are the requisite souvenir shops, closely watched by vendors who call out the cost of trinkets despite their obvious price tags. I wasn't able to haggle for the small statue I bought, but one lady in our group had been more fortunate.

But the exhilaration remains. I have climbed the Great Wall of China! At the base, I am asked to pose for a photograph, something that would become normal in the next week, as those from smaller villages see Europeans so infrequently. 

The day has been good, and tomorrow we fly to Xi'an, a city know for another great wonder of China.

Who's up for Chinese food?

Everyone loves it. We all have ordered take out of it. Well, this trip introduced us to real Chinese food. For us, it's served family style, as we sit around a round table, with a huge glass lazy susan in the centre. First it's a big bowl of sticky rice, then some meat dishes, all different and yet, all the same. Some have chicken fried with peanuts and some is spicy beef and noodles. The vegetables are nearly always bok choy. Sometimes we get dumplings, and sometimes they are stuffed. Onions are offered in many dishes.

We are allowed one small glass of a beverage, a choice between beer, Sprite or Coke. Tea is offered halfway through, usually jasmine, a mild-flavoured tea. It's a huge amount of food, and at the end, they give us watermelon. That and the beer were the most popular items. Tom, our guide, tells us each restaurant is different, each dish is different, but our unsophisticated palates can't tell. Later on, we had shiny black fungi and strips of chewy mushrooms and vegetables we couldn't name. Spoons are the small ceramic ones and we have to ask for forks, as chopsticks are the expected utensil.

No trip to Beijing would be complete without tasting Peking Duck. Thin slices of tender duck breast, shreds of onion and celery and a spicy dark sauce, all wrapped up in a thin tiny tortilla. I'm sure there's a Chinese name for the tortillas, but I hear myself say, "It's a duck taco!" Nevertheless, it's a nice treat. I found out I like duck meat.

Breakfast can also be an interesting experience. Western style is offered, but so is everything else. Salads and sushi and this odd little fellow who actually tasted pretty good. If you can get past his antennae.

Forgive the blurriness. I couldn't seem to manage a decent photo.
As fun as the food is, it can get old fast. We did have Subway subs and KFC when traveling, which was a nice break, but for the most part, the meals were exotic and rich and I wasn't the only one to opt for soup and rice at some meals.
Come back tomorrow, as I show you something else of interest.

The rest of Beijing

We soon found ourselves in Tiananmen Square. Today is National Day and it's packed. But it's amazing, with flowers and flags and that incredible Gate of Heavenly Peace, which ironically, has Mao Zedong's picture on it. 

I immediately notice that soldiers, rail thin and stiff as boards, stand sentry everywhere. Look close at the centre of the photo of the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong below and you can see one. Photographing them at a distance is allowed, just not up close. The day is clear, what they call APEC blue, as when APEC met there, factories shut down and car traffic was minimized so that the skies would reveal their true colours. It was rare to see, and we were told that other places in China would never be so lucky.

In the centre of the square today is a huge vase of flowers. We wandered around, milling through thousands of people, and snapping photos of everything.

And we soon learned that the Chinese love selfie sticks, and to photograph westerners. We look funny to them. Our noses are too big, our skin too white. Young people were furtively taking our pictures. Almost makes you feel like a movie star. 
Then it was on to the Forbidden City. It was really the Imperial Palace, forbidden to all except the royal family and their eunuchs. Only a set number of people are allowed in each day, and we are some of that number. Amazing series of structures with thick walls, and many gates, and traditional styled buildings that date back to the 14th century. We learned it was a lonely existence for those who lived there, torn from their families who hoped the family member would be favoured by the emperor, thus elevating the family's status. I am learning more and more how important status is to the Chinese.

My post would be not be complete without showing you this picture below. A young Chinese woman sleeping at the base of one of the many statues. For some reason, I was compelled to take her photograph, wondering if she, in her fatigue, represented the modern Chinese. 

Tomorrow's post will introduce the food, which, believe me, deserves a post of its own.

Beijing, and the places in which you need to be photographed

The first full day in China and I was tired and stressed from trying to sleep on a hard bed. I have learned that nearly all the beds in China are hard. The internet was down and I had no way to let my children know we'd arrived safely. That and my splitting headache did not make for a great start. 

Thankfully, I took Tylenol, had a big breakfast and remembered that I'd told my kids 'if you don't hear from us, assume we're having fun'.

We met our tour guide, Tom. They take western names, probably because we'd never remember their Chinese names, and off we went.

Our first stop was a park where seniors come to exercise. I love the concept, all the while cringing at how flexible the Chinese seniors are. And how inflexible I am. Close by, there was a long promenade where people play games, sing to exercise their lungs and even tat and embroider. 

Then it was on to the Temple of Heaven.

Joan, one of our traveling companions, said this was one of those places where you simply must be photographed, so dutifully following the custom, we snapped a few shots.

Now I would be amiss if I didn't mention another cultural norm. The toilet. Not your usual American Standard. The locals must have thought I was nuts taking a picture of one. And once again, I marveled at how flexible they were. They needed to be. 

Yes, that's a typical toilet in China. But hey, if you gotta go, you gotta go.

I'll save the rest of the day for another post. This way, you can digest all I've shown you.

The Mysterious Orient

I have recently returned from a trip to China, and wish to share my experiences with you. Come with me to the far east, and each day I will delight you with sights and sounds and smells that are uniquely Chinese.

All right, enough of that verbal nonsense. Let's get started.

My husband and I, along with another couple, took a Sinorama tour. A Cultural Tour of China. There were about 270 on our tour, about 30 on our bus, and 8 at our table. It was a great fit, in my opinion. We were a good group, one as diverse as any I had experienced. Although mostly Canadian, we represented nearly all the cultures in the world. I really enjoyed learning with them.

We arrived in Beijing after a 13 hour flight, and bused to our hotel, The Loong Palace. It was late, and due to a rough plane ride, we'd not been fed breakfast. Interestingly, though, we'd been given a cup of noodles mid-flight, the kind your children beg to take for their lunches, but with both a fork and chopsticks. I chose the fork.

Since we were hungry, we headed out looking for food and ending up in a bar where a Brit recommended the pizza. Yup, our first day in China and we ate pizza.

Little did we know how much the memory of that meal would be coveted.