It was yet another early start the day we embarked on an adventure
to conquer the Great Wall. I am happy to say that, as according to the
saying, I indeed became a hero! I can now check off ‘Climb the Great Wall of
China’ off my bucket list, huzzah! I guess I didn’t really go in with too many
expectations, but here were some surprises:
- It should probably be renamed the Great Wall(s) of China
It’s a common misconception that the Great Wall of China is just one long stretch of wall, but in fact, it’s split up and you can climb different sections of the wall. When we were dropped off by our coach, tour guide Dave said we had a couple of hours to climb to the top and meet back at the car park to move on to the next tourist attraction he had scheduled. To my surprise, there were two different parts of the wall to choose from. Dave pointed out that the section to the left was incredibly steep and would probably take a long time to climb to the peak and regrettably (although not that much), I chose the ‘easier’ side. It was a bit of a blue pill/ red pill choice. It’s not to say it wasn’t tiring, but part of me wishes I took on the challenge of the harder to climb wall. On the other hand, the side I did choose had varyingly steep steps which made the descent back to the car park especially nerve-racking. The last thing I wanted was to have said I got to the top of the wall, but also broke my leg on the way down (although that would have been a good one to tell the kids one day), so I can’t imagine how terrifying it must have been to walk back down on the other side. Don’t fret though! You’ll be happy to know I made it down in one piece. - Cats live on the Great Wall.
Half way up our climb, we were drawn in by a sweet little ginger cat completely content with life. Needless to say, this cat was a true hero. Here’s a photo of Fraser looking the happiest I’ve ever seen him in the company of the Great Wall cat:
- You can also get ice cream on the Great Wall
There are obviously some clever Chinese people out there looking to make the most of the thousands of tourists who visit the Great Wall every day. I for one really appreciated the fact that I could stop off for some shade and enjoy a little ice cream break. Kudos ice cream sellers!
It really was a great feeling getting to the top of the Wall
and getting a panoramic shot of China. By this point, it hadn’t really felt like
I was really in China yet. The first few days were such a blur. Things happened
so quickly and I was half asleep most of the time fighting against jet lag. We
were then whisked away into the middle of the mountains and lived isolated from
the proper world. Not being able to leave the school campus made it feel
like we were living in a bubble. But finally, this was it. The real China!
I was really grateful for the beautifully clear skies that day, a
rarity in somewhere like China as I would soon learn. We of course had a mini
photoshoot when we reached the top. We all needed proof that we had conquered
the Great Wall of China to show everyone back home. Here’s me living up to my ‘Super
Asian’ persona, peace sign and all.
I managed to get a really sweet photo of the gang with my
Instax. This photo now sits nicely in the middle of my photo collage above my
desk as a reminder of the great people I’ve met since being in China and how
grateful I feel to have shared my first few weeks in China with them having an
absolute ball.
(Excuse the chipped nail varnish…)
Next up on the list on the first official day of sightseeing
was the Summer Palace.
It was a bit of a shame that our schedule was so jam packed
that we couldn’t spend more time exploring the Summer Palace. We were given a
short tour and speeches about the history of the palace before being given a
little time to wander around for ourselves. We took a stroll down the seemingly
never-ending Long Corridor, admiring some of the original painted decorations
along the inside. Given more time, I would have liked to have gone inside the
Incense Tower (pictured above). I’m sure the Summer Palace is the kind of place
you could spend an entire day at and still not have explored all of its
corners. This can only mean one thing – must go back and visit properly!
Still, my day was made by this one particular woman who had her selfie game on point. Forget your selfie sticks, this woman came with her own tripod and a sassy 'I don't need no man' attitude.
That night, we decided to experience some Beijing night life.
It was lucky that I had a good friend who had been living and working in
Beijing for a few months already. Andrew actually very sweetly came to visit me
on the day I flew into Beijing. I remember feeling so jet lagged that actually
seeing him for the first time in ages felt like a dream. He recommended we
check out what Sanlitun, a district in Beijing popular for bars
and expat clubs, had to offer.
Our confidence was still on a high since being able to
successful order food using limited Chinese, so we jumped in cabs and uttered
the words ‘Sanlitun’, hoping that the taxi driver would know where we meant.
Success!
We ended up at a LGBT friendly bar called Adam’s, drawn in by the bold rainbow flags that hung either side of the bar sign. The board outside indicated we missed out on the 'Buy one get one free before 8pm' cocktail deal, but we managed to convince the owner to extend the offer for just one hour longer.
The cocktails weren't too bad. I stuck with what I knew (mojitos and the like) but Sam's inclination to order something a little different didn't go down too well. When in Beijing, it would only be fitting to order a cocktail called a Beijing Romance, right? Well, word of advice for anyone thinking of making the same mistake - that cocktail is far from romantic and you should steer well clear.
We'd also ended up in what I would describe as China's answer to Oceana, or Pryzm as I think it's now been rebranded as. I can't say it's really my scene, but the night was hilarious for many reasons. Charlotte provided endless laughs and it was great to finally let off some steam after what was an intense introduction to life in China. Perhaps though, our decision to have such a late night wouldn't bode too well the next day when day two of official sightseeing kicked off...
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