Great Wall of China

It seems like yesterday was so long ago!  I guess I need to write every night so I can actually remember everything!

We left the hotel around 8:15am on TWO buses for the Badaling section of the Great Wall.  I was the only Jayhawk employee on the trip -- the rest of the guys I workw ith had to go to company meetings all day.  Since I am the one who arranged most of this, I got to go with the clients!  :)  S

o the other bus only had one kind-of-English-speaking tour guide.  The people on my bus were VERY happy they had me - even though I am no tour guide for China it made them feel much more comfortable.  So when we pulled up to the Great Wall, we could immediately see how crazy everything was.  Turns out we were VERY lucky we chose that day.  The following day (today) that section was shut down for the torch to come through and then a cycling race there.  I had no idea...just lucky we got there that day!  There were huge camera crews all over the place filming, and there were big cameras on cables flying by above the roads and the wall...it was just insane the publicity and press that was there on that day! 

Anyways - when we pulled up - both of the buses stopped kind of in the middle of the road.  The other bus (the one I wasn't on) was in front, and the tour guide got off and started yelling at the people on the bus to get off.  So of course they just got off and started trying to cross the street to get to the entrance to the wall.  Meanwhile, the police start running over swarming the bus and yelling at them (in Chinese) to get back on the bus.  Well they didn’t know what they were saying and just kept getting off the bus and crossing the street (dodging traffic) - following the tour guide and almost getting run over.  Meanwhile, I am FREAKING OUT on the bus behind them watching all of this happen!  I was yelling at our bus driver to let me out to find out what in the world was happening, but he wouldn't open the door – especially not after he saw the angry police everywhere!  Everyone got off the bus, crossed the street, and disappeared in to a sea of people...and our bus just kept driving down the road.  PUKE.  I was about to throw up - seriously.  So we pulled in to this parking lot down the hill - both buses - and we all got off my bus and started walking back to the area where the people from the first bus got off. 

It was probably 10 minutes away, and the whole time, I'm thinking I just lost half of my group and I'm going to lose my job. ;)  Well thankfully, they were ALL standing there waiting on me...all confused.  I couldn't believe it!  They said the cops were yelling at them and the tour guide told them to just keep going – apparently he didn't know it was illegal to empty a bus in the middle of the street on the busiest day ever at the Great Wall of China...shocking.  We bought our tickets (disaster…again…) and finally got to walk on the famous Great Wall of China (with very strict instructions to meet back at that spot at a set time)! 

About half of the group went to the right - the easy way that is very crowded, while the other half (and myself) went to the left - the more steep and less crowded section.  It was a very hazy day...not sure if it was pollution or what, but you couldn’t see all that much.  We just kept walking and walking and walking...and finally reached the highest spot we could see.  And when we turned around to see how far we'd came, you could barely even see the bottom or the winding wall that you see in the pictures going on for miles.  It was a little disappointing, but still cool to say I've walked on the Great Wall!  I got a couple good pictures. 

I did get to see quite a few more Olympic athletes that were also at the wall.  There were some massive blonde girls from Sweden...not sure what sport, and the Argentinean men's basketball team was there -- they were all at least 8 feet tall, I swear!

After climbing for about an hour and a half, we ALL (I counted at least 14 times, for real) made it back to the meeting spot safe and went back to the buses and headed for lunch.  We stopped at some little tourist trap shop in the middle of no where and of course they made us go through the factory and look at the gift shop before they would let us eat...SO cheap though.  The food was very traditional Chinese, but most of it was pretty edible.  Some shrimp, some chicken, a little beef and a lot of pork and veggies, some other stuff I’m not quite sure what it was.  Fruit for dessert as usual – the Chinese aren’t real big on ice cream and cake and desserts…unfortunately.  Maybe that’s why they’re skinny and we’re not?? 

Most people managed to choke down enough to get them full, and we all looked around the gift shop a little more to keep the tour guides happy, but no one bought much of anything.  Then it was off to the Ming Tombs.  TOTALLY overrated in my book.  It was such a waste of time...but then again, I'm not really in to history or anything like that at all.  We basically walked through some underground temple where there were some tombs and bones...and that's about all I got out of it. :)  BORING. 

We headed back for the hotel and arrived around 4:30pm.  All I wanted to do was take a nap - I was just exhausted from walking all day - but I barely had time to shower and get back down to the lobby to organize the next bus to dinner.  EVERYONE got on two more busses and we went to this really cool outdoor area around a lake for dinner – I can say it but I have NO idea how to spell it, so I won’t even try.  There are just lots of little restaurants outside around this beautiful lake and the weather was perfect. 

We reserved the whole roof top area of a bar and had traditional Chinese barbeque.  Let me tell you, I am SO SICK of "traditional Chinese" food.  Just SICK!  They actually had little barbequed DOVES (the bird) on skewers!!  The corn on the cob was absolutely NOT edible, as was much of the rest of the food.  No one really complained much, but I know they were all thinking the same thing! I literally took a couple tiny bites of most everything they had and just spit it right back out!  The guys did manage to drag me down to the bar and do a tequila shot with them to loosen me up...and my whole throat and stomach burned for at least an hour after that!!  No food and tequila is a BAD combination - especially for someone who drinks as little as I do! 

We walked through a little hutong area (an old traditional Chinese residential area) to get back to the bus, and there were bikes EVERYwhere.  Most people in Beijing jut have bikes, not cars.  So one of our old, rich, and very reserved clients was walking along and a bike came out of no where and hit the little bell on the bike RIGHT behind him.  It scared him and he tried to jump out of the way but ended up jumping right in to the path of the bike.  Oh it was just great - he was so embarrassed and shocked and just didn't know what to do.  The lady on the bike was so pissed and was just standing there glaring at him...and obviously had no idea what he was saying as he apologized right and left. :) 

Good times in China.  ;)

We got back on the bus to head back to the hotel around 10pm.  So THAT is why I was just too tired to write last night...

More to come tomorrow. :)

-TK