Girls' Camp in China

We experienced a new "first" this weekend--Girls' Camp in China!  Our church has a commitment to holding an annual camp experience for our young women, ages 12 to 18.  It can vary in length of time depending on the local circumstances, but is usually 4 or 5 days in length.  In nature and away from all electronic media, it is easier to connect with other girls and feel close to Heavenly Father.

Our girls' camp experiences have been in Iowa, with heat, humidity and tornado threats, as well as canoeing, swimming, and fairly tame hiking.

Things are a bit different here.

For one thing, the only "wildlife" we encountered was a teddy bear poodle with a collar and leash that wandered over to see what was happening.  And of course it didn't take long for Alice to be cuddling it.

 Some things were the same:  a night-time campfire with roasted hotdogs and s'mores.  Somebody paid big time for those items at the import stores!  

 This was an overnight camp and was held at the Goose and Duck Ranch in the mountains north of Beijing.  About the only way to get Alice there was with the driver, and Kevin and I decided to go along.  One thing very different--we had cabins!  With heat, running water, western toilets!!!, and almost-soft beds.  Wow!  (Did I mention the western toilets?!?)

We were comfy!  So, no mosquitoes.  No sleeping bags.  No tents.

 And the place was really cute.  But then, the fee was about the same as a fairly nice hotel.  

There's one thing that doesn't change, no matter where the camp is held:

sleeping chaos in the girls' quarters.

 I've been wanting to show the types of brooms used everywhere here.  Bamboo. Just tied together.

It doesn't seem very efficient to me.

 Yet it seems to get the job done.  At least as much as it needs to be done.

 The hike was also a bit different.

We started out in a parking lot, then got to ride gondolas up the mountain side.

 That silver snaky thing on the ground is a slide.  You ride the gondola up, hike around, then ride a tiny cart down the mountain--kind of like a luge run except no ice.  We were looking forward to that, but unfortunately, it began to rain and we ended up riding the gondola back down (with rain dripping in our faces)! Then came the real hike--the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall.

 A brisk day, in the 40's (another difference from our typical summer camps), and

the fall foliage was wonderful.  The misty morning made everything surreal.

Just to show how steep some sections are!

 And when we got to the end of the reconstructed portion, we kept on.  Hidden in the trees on each side are the two sides of the wall.  Bushes and trees have grown up between the stones.  Occasionally, an intact stone stuck up to trip people.

 The girls held up their yellow (poncho) flag to commit to virtue as Young Women all over the world have done over the past couple of years.  I, unfortunately, was in the wrong spot to record this picture as Alice is behind a bush.  In my defense, there were others also taking this picture, and I was on a sharp ledge with nowhere else to move to, except over the edge.  Sorry Alice!  Maybe if the official picture is published in the Church News, you'll be visible. 

We were lucky the rain held off, and only began in earnest the last part of our descent.

Back at camp, hot chili and hot chocolate was wonderful as we all needed a quick warm up.

Then crafts, and a service project of fleece blankets for an orphanage,

supper, testimony meeting, and off to home.

Another successful Girls Camp as the Beijing girls (and one Tianjin girl) bonded and had a great time.

My thanks to great leaders with the vision to carry this off.