Who sells the "The Great Wall Kicked My Butt" T-shirt?

The day started early with a 6am alarm to enable my prompt arrival at a nearish hostel where my tour to the Great Wall was meeting. Around 8am we piled on a tour bus already packed with Western tourists from other hotels and hostels. It's always fun being the last one on and taking the seat next to someone who *thinks* they have narrowly escaped 2-person seat occupancy. In this case it was a grumpy German with ear buds and legs too long to fit in his half of the seat. That's not to say he was particularly tall. No, my legs at 5'6" required diagonal positioning.

The ride to Jinshanling (the portion of the Wall we were to start our 10km trek to our destination, Simatai)was a 4 hours ride away. When we arrived at Jinshanling the two tour buses with our group were the only ones there. We started out as a pack, but quickly spread out as ability and stamina varied. As we started our very steep ascent to the Wall my only thought was that I really should have done the stair master more at the gym. Did I say more? Perhaps at all is more accurate.

I reached the top and the view was stunning and terrifying all at once. The Wall was so vast, winding up and down the mountainous countryside, and like nothing I had ever seen or...climbed.

I would climb to 13 towers some with upwards of 120 steps up and 120 down. The steps varied in size and in condition. Some parts were well maintained while others I feared would crumble under my feet.

Toward the beginning of my journey, I acquired a "friend" who wanted to sell me a souvenir book so badly that she walked 1/2 way to Sumatai with me. She was quite nice and spoke excellent Wall-related English. When asked questions or pushed past tidbits of information about the Wall, her vocabulary showed its holes. She lived outside Jinshanling and her family members were Mongolian farmers. It seemed that half of her village came to the Wall every day either to guide/guilt tourists into buying goods or sell cold waters and cokes to those tearing through their rations more quickly than expected. I found it very ironic that the very people the Wall was meant to keep out (the Mongolians) are now the ones saturating it with their commercial endeavors.

While the conversation at the half way point (the end of the road for my friend) was a bit painful -- I didn't want to buy the book, the other book, the T-shirt, the small purse or any of the other goods stowed away in her shoulder bag and she didn't want to just take the "tip" I was offering her -- I was glad to have the company and the direction on a few shortcuts here and there. After she left, finally accepting my small offering, of course I took the wrong route to a towner and ended up having to back track.

There were times on the 4 hour trek that I thought I was going to DIE. My thighs burned, my calves burned, my heart was racing, my lungs couldn't get enough air and I couldn't drink enough water to keep up with my sweat. There were times where I questioned if I'd rather be working. The answer was, of course "no," but the fact that this question entered my mind provides quite an accurate illustration of my state of mind.

I did make it along with a band of other travelers huffing and puffing. With one final ascent I came to the cement walkway that led back to the buses. Much to my delight, there were options for the route back. I could walk...more OR pay 35 RB (about $5) to ride the zip line down. The answer was simple.

I arrived home at 10 pm exhausted and terrified that I would be so sore that I couldn't use the squat toilets effectively.

Big Spender!

I just spent 13 cents on dinner - RAD! I suppose it makes up for the $10 I spent on water today.

First Days in Beijing

Finishing up my 4th whole day in Beijing, I must say it's tiring. I've gotten much *better* at navigating around without language. I am now very good at taking the subway. Taking it, however, is the easy part. Knowing which way to go without being able to read signs or ask for directions to your destination is the difficult part. Suffice to say, my feet have made up for a lot of this and they are sore.

I can also take taxis if I have the address written in Chinese (available for some things in the guide book) or if I can figure out where it is and mark it on the Chinese character/Chinese English letter map I acquired from a retired engineer who was seeking out English-speaking tourists to practice his volunteer skills for Beijing 2008. So far I have gotten to the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City in the way of historical/cultural sites and a host of lesser-known destinations including a lake with evening entertainment, an insane knock-off market, random alleys that I have no idea where they are located and an in-progress art compound.

You can check out all of the pictures on smugmug.com (click "my pictures" link) While you can probably see similar pictures of the great historic sites in any guide book, I would especially recommend the pictures taken at 798, the art compound. Most of the art in the galleries (with a few exceptions) was fairly bland. The "impromptu" graffiti art throughout the alleys was most exciting. Here is a little flavor of what you'll see if you have time to look at the pictures.

"Line Up Day"

If you've been to Chinatown or out to San Francisco's Richmond District, you'll recognize some classic Chinese behavior...pushing and what Westerners consider "cutting." While we may consider these to be rude, it is very different here. No one waits for you to get off the subway or the elevator before boarding themselves. Drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians play chicken in intersections throughout the city with no apparent regard for who's bigger or more vulnerable. Walking down the sidewalk can even be dicey with bicycles and small motorized vehicles trying to get past or get ahead of the mysterious "other" they seem to be racing.

In the Chinese government's great wisdom, they recognize that this type of behavior will not show well when the world's attention is on Beijing in 2008 (Yes, the Olympics are on everyone's mind from the workers building 5 new subway lines to aggressive hawkers already selling the official merchandise for Beijing 2008). So, Chinese officials have launched a social conditioning campaign to get people to line up! Apparently every 11th day of the month is "Line Up Day" where extra personnel is dispatched beneath the ground to the subways where they encourage the orderly Western concept of a line. They have even painted arrows on the ground to direct passengers on how to comply.

It doesn't seem to working all that well, but I admittedly have very little to compare it to. However, I would encourage the government to perhaps increase the number of "Line Up Days" because at this point, I think the Chinese people need a few more than 11 conditioning days.

The Fog Rolls In

I forgot to mention that yesterday that Reid's apartment has magnificent floor to ceiling windows that overlook Beijing. I awoke after a brief nap and commented that the fog seemed to have rolled in a la San Francisco...Nope. The smog had merely condensed to a *greater* extent during my rejuvenation.

Fly Me to Beijing and Let Me Play Among the Stars

I landed in Beijing 11 hours and 42 minutes ago.

After getting taken for the proverbial "ride" by my taxi driver (who overcharged this fresh of the plane/boat whitey), I arrived safe at my friend Reid's cement block communist-inspired apartment (like most in Beijing). He is so kindly letting me borrow it while he tours grad schools in the States.

I cleaned up, wound down and shipped out to meet my friend Walter for a homestyle Chinese dinner. The logistics were brilliant and the tactic I will surely use again as my Mandarin podcasts have me up to "hello," "longtime no see" and "how are you doing" (none of those were going to get me to my destination with any sort of reliability). The key is to:

1) Flag down taxi
2) Call Walter on a cell phone
3) Have Walter tell the taxi driver where to take me

...works like a charm.

We had a lovely dinner catching up and then went to LAN, one of Beijing's newest and hottest night spots described in local rags as an "opulent and luxurious venue." The decor was perhaps over designed, but fascinating. Each design element was quite striking on its own, but created a bit of visual chaos when the cow skin couches, old Chinese pictures, a rhinoceros head, black glass chandeliers, gold eagle-topped thrown, etc. were all combined. Some of Walter's co-workers joined us later adding even more interest with tales of their diverse backgrounds. LAN truly seemed to be "the new Beijing" -- an international and modern city.

As we mingled and moved past the week's hectic schedule (both theirs in the rigorous world of investment banking and mine clearing out my apartment and fitting in final goodbyes), a smooth and soulful voice spread through the crowd. The manager
had told us earlier that a jazz singer was booked for the evening, but I had no idea that it would be so...well...good. I had to do a double take when I peaked around the corner to the stage where a Chinese woman stood where I was sure they had imported an African-American singer for their "world class" venue. Her sweet honey voice spread through the mellow crowd lulling us with jazz standards and mesmerizing me with each word..."Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars..."

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: When do you leave?
A: I leave San Francisco on Thursday, August 23rd and arrive in Beijing around 2:30pm the next day.

Q: How long are you going for?
A: Three to ten months. We'll see how long it takes for me to get sick of my own company.

Q: Don't go to the Middle East...I mean, do you think it is a good idea to go to the Middle East?
A: Yes. I will be joining an organized tour to explore Jordan and Syria. Of course, before I get to the point of committing myself to this leg of the trip, I will double and tripple check State Department warnings and recommendations.

Q: Are you excited?
A: Yes.

Q: Are you nervous?
A: Yes.

Q: How can I keep in touch with you?
A: There are many ways to stay in touch:

1) Check my blog regularly and post comments
2) Email me at jessica@jessicaheinzelman.com and I'll email you back
3) Send me your address and receive postcards from me along the way
4) Leave me a voicemail at 415.508.4157 and I can pick it up at any Internet cafe
5) Join Skype (www.skype.com), add me as a friend (genericaddress79) and we can chat over the computer for free if we find ourselves online at the same time