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| 万里长城万里长 |
I had been to various sections of the Great Wall of
China, including the far flung and less visited Jiayuguan Great Wall
(嘉峪关) in Gansu
Province 甘肃省 in the West. I was always visiting
as a sightseeing tourist taking the easy route up and lingering for some
snapshots of this man-made wonder of the world. I thought I had seen enough of this
monumental wonder …..
But I couldn’t have been more wrong! My heart palpitated the moment I saw a notice for a 5-day Great Wall hike and what jumped right at me was the mention of a one night camp on top of the Great Wall! And the alluring thought of appreciating the moon and enjoying mooncake there during the mid-Atumn Mooncake Festival. What an unique hike of a life time it will be for me!
My only concern was having to carry our own tent and mat up to the wall for the overnight camping. After resolving the problem with the hire of a porter, I quickly bought my return air ticket and started my 2-month training for the exciting albeit arduous climb to the remote and old sections of the magnificent structure (The Great Wall was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and accorded the status of One of the New Wonders of the World in 2007).
The timing was perfect as I could train at the toughest trail in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR) before the national park closed for 2 years of repair works. I alternated my 2.5-hour training at BTNR with 3,000- step climbing at a nearby 30-storey HDB block almost religiously 6 days a week. Being the oldest in the group of 11. I was determined not to be a burden to them.
Day 1 (22 Sep 2014) : Singapore to Beijing
It was finally take-off time at Changi Airport. Apart from looking forward to the exciting
adventure, I was also glad to escape the worsening haze in Singapore, only to
be greeted by a worse situation in Beijing with a PSI of 181 upon arrival in
the early evening.
It was a non-eventful first night, with just time for a relaxing dinner at a nearby mall and everyone retired early to bed. Four of us decided to buy a local mobile data-plan each to ensure constant connectivity with friends and love ones back home .
Day 2 (23 Sep 2014) : Huanghuacheng Great Wall 黄花城/Yellow Flower City
After a heavy breakfast, we were all ready to charge
up the Great Wall. But alas the weather
on Day 1 of our hike was far from
desired. It rained and drizzled non-stop
the entire day. Regardless, we were
determined not to let the weather dampen our spirit.
After 2 hours on the road by coach, we finally arrived
at a local guesthouse operated by farmers. It is located right next to the
Walls. It was already 11.23am when we
finally stood high on the ancient walls at the lesser known but very charming
section called Huanghuacheng Great Wall (Yellow Flower City) .
What a very pretty sight to behold. Pictures of the Great Wall have always been that perched on rolling hills and mountain tops but this section actually overlooks a dam, a reservoir and a lake. Built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), what distinguished Huanghuacheng from the rest of the Great Wall is that part of this section of the Great Wall is submerged in waters and still visible from higher ground.
We lingered a long while here posing for picture-perfect shots at the beginning of our hike
After the bright wide smiles for the camera, it’s time for the real workout: ascending a steep and crumbling section of the Old Walls. A clear distinction between the Old Walls and the repaired or restored Walls is that the Old Walls are in its original, unrestored condition, littered with many loose and broken rocks.
In addition hiking on the old section of the Great Wall involves trekking through forests and nature trails. It can be treacherous too walking on the old section as many parts are narrow and crumbling apart. The restored sections, in comparison, are a lot safer and easier to hike with broad, paved walkways and steps.
The total hiking distance today was just 5km
but it took us a good 5 hours to complete because of the
incessant drizzle and our frequent photo stops.
Not that we were in a hurry.
It was a non-eventful first night, with just time for a relaxing dinner at a nearby mall and everyone retired early to bed. Four of us decided to buy a local mobile data-plan each to ensure constant connectivity with friends and love ones back home .
Day 2 (23 Sep 2014) : Huanghuacheng Great Wall 黄花城/Yellow Flower City
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| Group picture before heading off for Day 1's hike on the old walls |
What a very pretty sight to behold. Pictures of the Great Wall have always been that perched on rolling hills and mountain tops but this section actually overlooks a dam, a reservoir and a lake. Built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), what distinguished Huanghuacheng from the rest of the Great Wall is that part of this section of the Great Wall is submerged in waters and still visible from higher ground.
We lingered a long while here posing for picture-perfect shots at the beginning of our hike
After the bright wide smiles for the camera, it’s time for the real workout: ascending a steep and crumbling section of the Old Walls. A clear distinction between the Old Walls and the repaired or restored Walls is that the Old Walls are in its original, unrestored condition, littered with many loose and broken rocks.
In addition hiking on the old section of the Great Wall involves trekking through forests and nature trails. It can be treacherous too walking on the old section as many parts are narrow and crumbling apart. The restored sections, in comparison, are a lot safer and easier to hike with broad, paved walkways and steps.
We
took our time to take in the surrounding sights and enjoyed our hikes through
chestnut orchards and hawthorn shrubs amidst the forest trails. Some sections were slippery, aggravated by
the rain, and I was struggling to avoid falling down the steep descent.
My
heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Chin who swiftly came to my rescue and walked
hand in hand with me down the many tricky descents throughout the entire 5
days’ hike. He had a firm grip on my
left hand while I used the trekking pole on my right hand to find my
balance.
I was to discover that
ironically, ascending the Great Walls was not at all a daunting feat but coming
down posed a big challenge for me where there are no steps and the ground is
smooth and/or slippery. In stark
contrast with me is Shinta, the second youngest member in the group, who
trekked in her crocs to keep her trail shoes from getting sodden by the wet
weather. The last time I hiked in my
crocs in Singapore, I ended up losing both my big toe nails!
Our stomachs were growling audibly when we arrived at
the guesthouse early that evening as we had skipped lunch to enjoy a longer
trek. After a quick shower, we flocked
to the dining area eagerly awaiting our food.
In no time we swiftly gobbled up the 10-course dinner and next started
to wonder how to while away the long night.
Then someone discovered the karaoke system in the dining hall! It was a God-send way of killing time. Almost everyone spontaneously took to serenading their favourite songs. The choice of songs was a clear give-away of the generation gap amongst the 11 travel mates. It was a rousing end to day one of our Great Wall adventure.
The weather was perfect for hiking today with clear skies and a temperature of around 23 degrees Celcius. We were warned by our guide that today’s hike will be the toughest of 5 days. In fact I read that this section is rated as a level 4 difficulty on a scale of 5! Though distance wise it is also about 5km, it took us 7 hours to complete the journey, including, as usual, plenty of photo stops.
That had always been our intention, to hike at a leisurely pace to avoid stressing ourselves and have time to enjoy the grandeur sights.
Jiankou is one of the most original and untouched sections of the Great Wall ever traversed by modern man! It is also one of the most dangerous sections of the Ming’s wall, zig zagging from east to north and a lot more winding and varied. Built with a local material called dolomite, the large white pieces of rocks are most striking even when viewed from a distance.
It was originally built in the Tang Dynasty and largely restored in the Ming Dynasty. It connects to Mutianyu in the East and Huanghuacheng in the West.
Without exception, anyone who wishes to visit Jiankou has to crawl and climb on all fours, in particular, at the renown 38-big-steps vertical parapet angled at almost 80 degrees. We needed our bare hands more than our trekking poles on this day to scramble over largely similar terrain.
Apart from the steep and crumbling wall, the trek also involved hiking through thick shrubs and overgrown vegetation. The trails are generally very narrow and treacherous. A great salute to Mey who being fearful of heights, intentionally joined this trip to overcome her vertigo! While we could see her struggling with the precipitous trails on several occasions, she really passed with flying colours at the end of our hiking trip.
We had some fun and memorable moments here taking interesting shots, including yoga poses, led by our selfie Queen Shinta. Not only is she adept at taking good selfies, she also poses and struts around like a model.
While we all carried as little belongings as possible during the hike, she was always sprinting ahead with her fully loaded daypack. And most amazingly, she would have time to change into 2 or 3 different outfits along the way just to be photographed! She took an epic 3900 pictures on her mobile phone on this trip! Perhaps because of the numerous long photo stops we made on this hike, we did not feel that today’s hike was as difficult or challenging as what we had been warned.
In fact we even implored our guide to allow us to hike further, up to the base of the infamous Sky Stair (天梯) where we gingerly positioned ourselves for one of our many group pictures.
While the bulk of today’s hike was on high and stony
grounds, the last hour or so down in the valley was a delight. I was excited to see many wild gooseberry,
hawthorn, jujube and berry shrubs lining both sides of the trail and spent time
examining and photographing them. It was
no surprise that I was the last in the group to emerge from the forest trail.
It was the second consecutive day that we skipped
lunch for a longer workout but we were not complaining. Before returning to the guesthouse, the guide
brought us to a local supermarket to stock up more supplies for our breakfast
on top of the Great Wall the day after tomorrow.
Most of us bought biscuits and snacks. A few of us could not resist the temptation of a cool refreshing popsicle or ice cream. Not many stayed back after dinner for crooning tonight. I for sure preferred to spend time packing the essentials for the key highlight of my trip, camping on the Great Wall the next night , while others simply wanted to retire early to bed.
Most of us bought biscuits and snacks. A few of us could not resist the temptation of a cool refreshing popsicle or ice cream. Not many stayed back after dinner for crooning tonight. I for sure preferred to spend time packing the essentials for the key highlight of my trip, camping on the Great Wall the next night , while others simply wanted to retire early to bed.
Day 4 (25 Sep 2014) : Jiankou 箭扣
to Mutianyu 慕田峪
Our hike today covered 9.5km moving eastward towards Mutianyu. This included a 3km hike to the starting point on the Great Wall at another section of Jiankou. It was already 9am but we were blessed with another day of cool weather.
Today’s hike was quite unique, traversing on both the old (from the 35th to 23rd Watch Towers) and new walls (from the 23rd to 14th Watch Towers). It was a relatively easy hike that took just 5.5 hours to complete despite the longer distance. While we encountered few hikers on the previous two days, the popularity of Mutianyu (second to Badaling 八达岭) is obvious from the heavier flow of human traffic on this part of the Great Wall.
A sharp contrast to the previous trails and hikes, today’s journey involved ascending and descending long and undulating flights of stone steps. While it is not as steep as Jiankou, there are two sections angled at about 50-60 degrees. For the first time on our hike, our national flag fluttered high on the ancient Great Wall, thanks to the thoughtful Chin who brought along a brand new flag.
It was a special and proud moment for each of us to be photographed on the majestic monument with our national flag!
Visitors have 2 options to reach the valley
below. You can walk to the 14th
Watch Tower and take the cable car or hike further, to the 6th Watch
Tower (another 40 minutes) for an adrenalin pumping experience sliding down a
3km long toboggan.
It was an unanimous decision to slide down in style! It costs 80rmb per person per trip (note that for those who have time and wish to repeat the toboggan ride, you can opt to buy a return trip for just 100rmb). After the thrilling slide was a short sedentary shuttle bus ride (10rmb) to our coach for a 2-hour drive to a farmer’s lodge to clean up and have dinner.
It was an unanimous decision to slide down in style! It costs 80rmb per person per trip (note that for those who have time and wish to repeat the toboggan ride, you can opt to buy a return trip for just 100rmb). After the thrilling slide was a short sedentary shuttle bus ride (10rmb) to our coach for a 2-hour drive to a farmer’s lodge to clean up and have dinner.
By 7.30pm, we were all geared up for the one-hour
uphill night hike to a Watch Tower in Gubeikou (古北口) where we would pitch camp
for the night. We were equipped with head torch and powerful handheld
torch. 2 female farmers-cum-porters went
ahead of us to bring the light weight tents and sleeping mats to the camp site.
This turned out to be an unexpected and toughest short hike for me, having to carry my own daypack and trudging up steep forest trails. I was really thankful to Dennis Q who offered to carry my daypack during the last 15-20 minutes of the hike. I would have been able to make it without help if the pace was slower.
This turned out to be an unexpected and toughest short hike for me, having to carry my own daypack and trudging up steep forest trails. I was really thankful to Dennis Q who offered to carry my daypack during the last 15-20 minutes of the hike. I would have been able to make it without help if the pace was slower.
Todate I am still puzzled by the hurried pace of the guide since we were simply heading there to spend the night. It was also not safe to charge ahead in the pitch dark forest leaving his foreign customers trailing far behind. Thank God that we all arrived at the camp site without any incident. Though it did not rain as forecasted, the sky was ink black without a twinkle.
I quickly wiped down inside the tent and changed into my trekking clothes for the next day as I intended to sleep in them.
Some of us gathered at a nearby ridge to enjoy our snacks, mooncakes and hot beverages. After a good time of bonding, we switched off our torch lights and settled down to enjoy the enveloping silence and darkness.
We retired to our twin-sharing tent around
midnight. I found the tent surprisingly
wind-proof and actually felt warm sleeping in
my own personal sleeping bag.
On the other hand, some of my travel mates felt it chilly and had to sleep in their warm clothings!
On the other hand, some of my travel mates felt it chilly and had to sleep in their warm clothings!
View & Like the full album on Facebook (click here)
Day 5 (26 Sep 2014) : Mutianyu 慕田峪 to Jinshanling 金山岭
We had requested for 2 porters (the same 2 lady
farmers-cum-porters) to help four of us bring down our daypack while we continued
our sojourn on the Great Wall. We decided
to share the services of the 2 porters in view of the escalating fee!
Breakfast was very basic and simple. We had a mixture of cakes and biscuits and whatever snacks we bought the night before from the supermarket. We set off early at 7.30am for a moderately long hike of 8km which took us 5 hours to complete.
Today’s section of the Great Wall called Panlongshan 蟠龙山(coiled dragon) is the most picturesque. True to its name, here the sinuous Great Wall snakes over ridges from horizon to horizon, sometimes disappearing into chasms only to surface again on the crest of the surrounding mountains. At a section along three watch towers in Jinshanling, we had to skirt around it and trekked through forested areas because of the presence of a military base.
The weather was cool and nice. Much of the hike was through forests and
shrubs. We could see faint autumn colours
dotting the landscape. In another week
or so, the undulating plains will be ablazed in dazzling shades of crimson red
and shimmering gold. What a sight it will be to behold!
I thoroughly enjoyed this morning’s leisurely hike which brought us to a farmer’s house in a valley. We lingered here for almost an hour, simply relaxing and enjoying our coffee and tea and the leftover snacks. The farmer’s abode was a magnet for budding photographers, with small plots of land teeming with various kinds of lush leafy vegetables.
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| Descending to the farmer's house for a rest |
There were also giant mushrooms, chillies and gooseberries sunning by the
window sill……I was also enlightened here that the gourd plant can grow as a vine or tree.
It was
time to bid goodbye to the farmer and continue our hike past the military base
towards the remaining section of Jinshanling Great Wall. The day
ended very early at around 3pm back at the guesthouse.
About half of the group decided to venture out on their own for a second short hike to another section of the Great Wall since dinner was another 3-4 hours away. A handful of us decided to just rest and relax and WhatsApp. Technology has permeated most parts of China.
There’s WiFi even at this remote area near the Great Wall. We were told by our guide that nowadays peasants with their land and guesthouses are very wealthy and much better off than their white collared counterparts in the city.
Day
6 (27 Sep 2014) : Jinshanling 金山岭
to Simatai West 司马台
Simatai Great Wall actually comprises two parts, East and West and is separated by a valley. The steep and precipitous Eastern section has 15 watch towers on 1000m high peaks but this section had been closed since 17 June 2010. Previously, one could end the hike to Simatai East with a thrilling zipline!
Today, visitors can only hike from Jinshanling to
Simatai West which is at Watch Tower 22.
This section of 6km long is graded as a hike of medium difficulty and covers both restored
and unrestored sections of the Great Wall.
It is dotted with 20 watch towers .
While it was a fairly easy and short walk for us, we took our time (3 hours) to savour this last hike on the magnificent Great Wall. We stopped often to linger, ponder and enjoy the vast vista and marvelous sights surrounding us while bidding goodbye to the slumbering giant. This truly is the hike of a life time for me and one item off my bucket list.
Jinshanling Great Wall is clearly
more touristy and crowded, partly
because of the availability of cable cars.
Nonetheless, the sights are still majestic and rewarding.
Back in our coach, a few of us were concerned about the race against time to reach the city in time to catch a prebooked 5.30pm performance entitled Golden Mask Dynasty.
This being a Saturday, vehicular traffic was heavy, and as suspected, we could not make it to the scheduled performance. Fortunately there was a second show at 7.30pm which worked out perfectly well for us as we thus had time to have a quick bite before the show. We made a hurried goodbye to the rest of our travel mates as different members will be embarking on different programme on our final day in Beijing the next day.
The musical-cum-acrobat show was very entertaining and enjoyable. It surpassed my expectation, in particular, the impressive special effects of a raging river mimicking that of a bursting river banks and the perfect act of the gymnast springing upwards from a trampoline into a window and similarly using the momentum from the trampoline to walk on the vertical wall to the rooftop!
And then there were the live peacocks perched on the head gear of the performers, swaying to the rhythmic movement of the graceful dancers!
View & Like the full album on Facebook (click here)
Day
7 (28 Sep 2014) : Yuanmingyuan 圆明园,
Beijing University 北京大学, Tsinghua University 清华大学and
798
Our last day in Beijing. We were split into 2 groups with 3 of us doing a DIY tour of the above mentioned places and the rest, an escorted city tour.
My travel kakis were Chin and Shinta. Our primary target was the ruins of Yuan Ming
Yuan, the Old Summer Palace or Imperial Gardens. It was originally built in
1709 by the Qing Emperor Kangxi and expanded over the next 150 years to become a
mammoth private pleasure garden covering 350 hectares or 864 acres and often
referred to as the “garden of gardens” or the “Versailles of the East” during
that era.
The splendid garden was destroyed and plundered in 1860 by the Anglo-French Allied Armies. It was left to burn for 3 days and 3 nights. Whatever remained and was repaired were brought to a complete ruin by the Eight-Power Allied Forces (八国联军) in 1900.
It was my second visit in more than 20 years and I could only vaguely recall the ruins of the European-style palaces (Xi Yang Lou) which were commissioned by Emperor Qianlong and designed by the Jesuits Castiglione and Benoit. We spent 2.5 hours visiting the ruins, gardens and museums before heading to the nearby Tsinghua University (ranked 36 in the world in 2014 and 14th in Asia in 2013), the top University in China.
We were sorely disappointed when denied access to the
University on that day, Sunday.
Fortunately, we met an enterprising resident of the University who
offered to drive us around the campus in his vehicle. He being a resident has free and easy access
to the University grounds.
It was interesting to note that Tsinghua University was initially financed by the US-imposed indemnities after the Boxer Rebellion (1900). President Roosevelt obtained a congressional approval to reduce the excessive US$30 million Boxer indemnity by US$10.8 million on the condition that the said fund was to be used as scholarship for Chinese students to study in the US.
This gave birth to Tsinghua College on 29 April 1911 on the site of a former royal garden (Yuan Ming Yuan/Old Summer Palace) belonging to a prince. It underwent numerous name change before assuming its current name. Its alumni include the present General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Mr Xi Jinping and his predecessor Mr Hu Jintao.
Many students relied on the humble bicycle for moving
around the mammoth campus ground. We
roamed about on 2 wheels, 4 wheels and 2 legs, feeling like students all over
again. Even with a car, it took us almost
an hour to tour a small section of the renown institution.
We originally planned to eat at the student canteen in
Tsinghua University but decided to skip lunch and continued our way to Beijing
University.
Colloquially known by the Chinese as Beida (北大), Beijing University is second to Tsinghua University and boasts of many prominent modern Chinese thinkers including Lu Xun and Mao Zedong. It was also influential in the birth of China’s New Culture Movement, May Fourth Movement and the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989, amongst others.
Colloquially known by the Chinese as Beida (北大), Beijing University is second to Tsinghua University and boasts of many prominent modern Chinese thinkers including Lu Xun and Mao Zedong. It was also influential in the birth of China’s New Culture Movement, May Fourth Movement and the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989, amongst others.
Its buildings are largely of traditional Chinese architecture and amongst its most famous sights include 一塔湖图 (一塌糊涂!) which is an acronym for a pagoda, a lake and a library.
It was a whirlwind tour of the 2 top universities in China but an educational and enlightening trip for me. Our urgent task next was to satisfy our hunger pangs but I was a little worried about the ease of finding a vegetarian eatery as my 2 friends are both vegetarians. As it turned out, a roadside restaurant we stumbled upon served the best vegetarian food that I ever had in Beijing.
Hard pressed for time before heading to the airport, we decided to take a cab to the famous 798 Art Zone (798 艺术区), a bustling hub for contemporary Chinese art with a wide array of differing styles.
This was previously an industrial zone of disused factories built by the East Germans in 1950s. It has become one of the new landmarks of Beijing Urban Culture and is accorded “one of the top 22 most famous landmarks throughout the world” by the Time Magazine.
The total area is more than 600,000 square meters with its official address as No. 4 Jiuxianqiao Road (酒仙桥路), Chaoyang District; opening hours are from 10am to 5pm daily. It requires about 40 minutes for a quick tour of the place which has more than 100 cultural institutions within one square km, including architecture design companies, clothes design companies, interior design companies, music and movie producing companies, artist studios and galleries, clubs, cafeterias, restaurants and bookstores.
Life-like sculptures adorn the broad pavements and colourful graffitis are a common sight on the external walls of the shops.
Finally, it was time to bid goodbye to Beijing. While we say goodbye in English, the Chinese would entice you to return again with their parting words: 再见, which literally means “See You Again”. So till the next time, Beijing, and hopefully more hikes on other parts of the mesmerizing Great Wall.
Read my other blog on Japan Shimanami Kaido Cycling by clicking the link below:
