Monday, November 7, was exciting; maybe a little more adventure than we needed.
We were picked up by our guide and the driver at 8.30, to be driven to Jinsanling, at the Great Wall. About two thirds of the way there, the car broke down.
Long story short, our guide hired another car, from a nearby town. After a 1 1/4 hour wait, we were on our way again. In the meantime, I did a few sketches. Here’s one
The walk from the national park entrance to the wall was long and steep, and walking along the Wall was a challenge in this hilly area. Steps had been added in the reconstructed areas, even where the original Wall did not have any. Wherever possible, horses were used to move people and things along it.
The area in the Jinsangling park is very scenic, even in the wintry state it was in. Views are broad, the stretch you can walk is amazingly long–we only did 6 miles. Most of what we walked was reconstructed, but there was also an area where the watch towers were in ruins, and so was some of the road surface. Where this had probably gotten too bad, the surface was repaired to make it walkable. Also, we only saw three other tourists on the Wall while we were there, and a snack vendor and a couple of maintenance men. This is a great choice, if you ever have a chance to visit the Great Wall. Some sections, according to our guide, are so overrun with tourists, all you see is people’s backsides climbing to the wall, and heads on the way down.
This was a fantastic trip. Dad would have loved to see this, and I tried to look at it as much as I could through his eyes.
It was too cold and windy to stop and sketch, and I’m tempted to load the blog with photos from the Wall, but I think I’ll hold off on that.
The Shows
We only got back in time to drop our stuff and clean up a bit, and then we were driven across town to a Chinese acrobatic show. After having seen Cirque du Soleil, this came off as a cheezy, second-rate act. The gymnastics and the contortionist were impressive, but not worth $50 apiece. I’m not even going to document it with a sketch.
The driver came and took Mary back to the hotel, and the guide walked me to a nearby hotel to see a Chinese opera performance. I do promise to post a drawing or watercolor of that. In my mind it was the quality level of good off-Broadway opera, and I’m glad I went.
I was then driven back to the hotel, and met up with Mary to go to a nearby restaurant for a dinner of mapatofu, rice, fried dumplings, and sauteed broccoli. The tour company shouted us because they felt bad about the business with the car, and our delay.
Next: The Hutongs of Beijing and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
