So, we had an adventure at the Great Wall, (and I don't mean the restaurant in Cedar Falls!)

   Saturday, August 6^th, at the end of our first week in China, we decided we were tired of looking at the four walls of our hotel rooms.  We’d had a couple of trips into Tianjin (takes an hour each way), and done some shopping at stores within a mile of the hotel, but it was time to get out of town.  The only problem here is that “town” never seems to stop.  Sure, there will be canals and fields, but suddenly there will be a group of 5, 10 or even 20 high-rises under construction.  The building going on is phenomenal!  From our hotel room, I can count at least 15 boom-cranes at the top of high-rises under construction.  And that’s just on one side (south of us). 

   Although it was still hazy (actually somewhere between fog and smog), with a forecast of rain, we decided to go see the Great Wall.  The touristy section of the wall is near Beijing, but there is a beautiful section closer to us, north of Tianjin.  It took about 2 hours to drive (by 6-lane expressway) to the mountains, which suddenly rise up out of the flat plains.  With the haze, it seemed they appeared out of nowhere.  It took another 30 minutes driving up a canyon (2-lane, winding road), with scrub trees at first, then cedars.  The vegetation was lush, but familiar.  There were fruit trees and tall corn, but the plots must be small family plots, for the trees were interspersed with the corn rows.  It seems that it would be more efficient to have a section for the orchard and then the corn, but apparently not here.  I know that you don’t want to buy vegetables at the roadside stands—or at least you don’t want to eat them until they are washed with soap, for the farmers here use “night soil” to fertilize their fields—and you don’t want e.coli from the human waste.  We did stop and buy some peaches.  They are safe to eat.

   An American friend told us about this section of the Great Wall, and recommended taking the golf cart ride to the top of the mountain and then hiking the wall back down to the parking lot; after all, the segment of the wall is only 3 kilometers.  That sounded alright to us, so we paid the $20 (a piece) entrance price and the $10 (each) ride price.  And even with that much money, there was no brochure to explain exactly what we were getting ourselves into.  And that would have been greatly appreciated! 

   We sat in the “golf cart”, which carried 12 people, and I’ve noticed that the Chinese are not overly concerned with safety so I thought it strange that they made sure the chain was locked on each side—so no one could fall out.  The ride itself was awesome—we had a driver who felt it his personal mission in life to beat every other car.  I think the last time I careened around corners with the air blowing in my face was when we drove up to float the canal, riding in the back of the pickup, with Grandpa Bailey driving.  It put me in mind of that good memory!  Even going that fast, it took several minutes to get to the top, which should have been an important clue, but we missed it.

  We were all ready for adventure after that ride, and the first thing to happen was a group of Chinese asked Elley and Alice to be in a picture with them.  We’d been advised that this would happen because blondes just aren’t very common. (The only hair colors available at the store are black, dark brown, and dark red).      

  From the drop-off point, it is a bit of a hike up to the wall, but once there, it was exhilarating seeing one of the 8 wonders of the world.  The section begins with the Wall going right into the side of a mountain.  Guard towers were situated every so often (1/4 mile, maybe).  We explored along that way for awhile, viewing both sides, and wondering why the wall was even needed here because the landscape below was so steep, it seemed nearly impossible that anyone would be able to invade from that direction.  But then we noticed that the slopes were slightly terraced, and corn grew almost to the base of the wall. 

About this point, we were ready to turn back and get a ride back down the mountain on the golf cart.  Without any kind of brochure, we thought we were probably over half-way, so we decided to continue on, after all, it looked to be mostly downhill from here.

This next section was nearly at at 45 degree descent.  The steps were about 12 inches deep.  And, does my face look red as I look at what we're going to do?  It's the old Scholes' trait I inherited from my English forebears who didn't know how to just sweat.  But believe me, before the hike was over, I had that part figured out as well.  Or maybe it was just the humid, heavy air.

We thought going UP the steep parts was bad, but we found out the going DOWN is even more painful.

And we're back on level ground.  Notice Kevin is carrying all the bags/backpacks.  We were all soaking wet, with wobbly legs.

We found out that there is a great visitor area and low-level section of the wall that we could have walked along without the herculean trek.

As we got into our car, we looked back at the bottom section of the trail, and remembered how nearly vertical it was.  

And, as of yesterday (Wednesday, Aug 10), we are no longer hobbling around.  I can now go up and down stairs without grimacing.  For a couple of days, I felt like a cripple.

So, if any of you come to visit, we'll do the easy section of the Great Wall of China.

And, if it is a clear day, this is what the Wall looks like.  

I'm glad we did it, now that I've fully recovered,

and I have great admiration for those who built it and those soldiers who patrolled it.  

They had to be in such great shape!