Beijing Day 4 (The Great Wall at Mutianyu)

Our big excursion from the city was to visit the Great Wall at the Mutianyu site. On our first trip to China, Rich and I went on a brutal excursion to the Simatai site. We also saw section of it when we road the TransSiberian railway. Our big trip there back in 2000 was very...well, un-glamorous (we were young an broke). The van we rode was cramped with over a dozen others (in a mini van). I sat on an upturned plastic bucket sandwiched between the drivers seat and the first row of seating. It was a miserable ride. However, the site was not at all commercialized, as it was over three hours away from the city, and fairly desolate. The wall was crumbling (which we preferred over the rebuilt sections), and we were basically alone. That made it worth the ride. However, we were stalked/harassed nonstop by a salesman (which tainted the day, especially after he and Rich got into a yelling match after he refused to leave us alone).

This time, however, we're 14 years older...and we're traveling with a 5-year old and two seniors. We didn't want to subject them to a long, cramped van ride, or hot sweaty hike. Broke hippies (like we were) they are not. :-) So we arranged for our same driver who took us to and from the airport to drive us for the day (not much more than renting a car) to a site just outside the city (Mutianyu). It was about 2 hours away, vs. the site in the city (Badaling), which is notoriously crowded and has more of a Disneyland-like environment. The ambiance at Mutianyu was much more pleasant than I'd envisioned. While it had some 'modern' creature comforts (a ski lift, the toboggan track), it was still fairly quiet, remote and didn't feel 'touristy.' It also had a tiny market and felt fairly remote.

I've read so much conflicting information on the Great Wall, but I believe it was somewhere in the neighborhood of about 13,000+ total miles of wall. Many parts of it were destroyed during and after the Cultural Revolution (they were encouraged to salvage building supplies/bricks from the wall by Mao). However, one thing I am sure of is that the belief that you can see it from space is a myth. It doesn't make any sense- the wall is narrower in width than a freeway, and you can't see those from space. (Which explains why I myself bought into this one for YEARS...because as I've pointed out many times here- home girl isn't too bright.)

We all rode the ski lift up (Ryan could have easily fallen out and plunged to his death...no one else seemed remotely concerned over this so I just clutched him for dear life). But we LOVED it. I think it was his first time on a ski lift (he's ridden an aerial tram at the San Diego Zoo, but this was way more...well...open and dangerous?).  I think it was about 10 minutes up (vs. a 1-2 hour hike).

Hiking there is still pretty tough...we were all gasping for breath. The stairs have sections that are often so steep and narrow that you have to sort of scramble up on all fours.

My parents loved this sign, which instructed all to "Please take care of the senior(s) and children."

Scrambling up into one of the many watch towers

Of course all the graffiti was in Western script...ai yai yai, Anglos!

Rich snapped this pic by zooming in on the un-rebuilt section of the wall...you can see how vegetation has taken over and it's starting to crumble.

The toboggan tracks

Lovely to look at, but I stopped buying these kinds of things a few years ago when I realized I got tired of them after a few years and got rid of them (which just seemed so wasteful). 

More souvenir shopping for the boy...I came home with 0 souvenirs, Rich got 1. Ryan has about...oh...30? :-) At first Ryan was aghast at the bargaining, but by the end of the trip he was proudly doing it on his own (with some guidelines of course)! Most (but definitely not all) people thought he was cute and gave in laughingly...so it worked out. :-)

Because we were out in the countryside...there was stall after stall of dried fruits and nuts (which were jacked up so much in price for visitors that they were more than what I'd pay in the states for the same items). Nonetheless, we tried to buy some nuts to help support the locals...only to find mid-transaction that she tried to cheat us by covertly dumping out half the nuts. So, no nuts for us! We are willing to overpay in many situations, knowing that these people work hard to survive and it's not life or death for us. But when we're cheated? We retreat.

The best vegetable dumplings and friend rice I've had in years

On the way home, we had time to kill...so we asked Wang Cheung to take us to the '08 Olympic site. I'm not sure what this building this is, but it's definitely an eye-catcher.

Recognize this?! The Birds Nest!

Rich and Ry with Wang Cheung (he and Ry have one thing in common- they're crazy about Hot Wheels)! Wang Cheung has over 3,000 at home, in a room dedicated to them. He griped that even though they're all made there, they cost $3 each instead of the $1 we get them for here. :-)