or, the time I climbed the Great Wall with bursitis
When traveling, like in life, you need to know how to roll with the punches. Sometimes (often) something bad or unexpected will happen, and if you can’t react to your situation then you may find yourself very discouraged, depressed or flat-out pissed off. These things do happen, and as many can relate, they often happen in threes. That’s not to say I had a terrible time this past weekend in Beijing, but if I wasn’t expecting some adversity or mentally prepared myself (through first-hand experience) of these types of hiccups then it could have really ruined my weekend.
One of my classmates and fellow Shanghai student teachers lost her mother to a battle with cancer around the Christmas holidays this year. She decided to push on and come to Shanghai anyways, and it was her idea for us to do a fundraiser walk along the Great Wall of China for the Canadian Cancer Society to celebrate her memory. We originally set out to raise $500, but through our combined efforts (and viewers like you!) we raised over $3500!
Because of Qingming, the National tomb sweeping holiday, we were given Monday off so decided to use the long weekend to tour down to Beijing and experience another aspect of Chinese culture. The holiday is used by the Chinese to pay respects to those who died, which also seemed appropriate for our trip to the Wall as all of us have loved ones lost to cancer or other illnesses. Last week my own Aunt Laurel peacefully lost her own battle to a brain tumor, so I felt it necessary to continue to Beijing to complete the walk by any means necessary.
Getting to Beijing from Shanghai would be our first hurdle. We researched the high speed train as our original intentions, but due to cost reasons decided to then take the 12 hour regular speed train that runs overnight. Due to some confusion on how to buy tickets, by the time we got to the station the train was completely booked up. We went with our third, unexpected option of flying, which was a bit costly but since we were already this committed we couldn’t turn back now. [problem #1: solved.]
Because of Qingming, the National tomb sweeping holiday, we were given Monday off so decided to use the long weekend to tour down to Beijing and experience another aspect of Chinese culture. The holiday is used by the Chinese to pay respects to those who died, which also seemed appropriate for our trip to the Wall as all of us have loved ones lost to cancer or other illnesses. Last week my own Aunt Laurel peacefully lost her own battle to a brain tumor, so I felt it necessary to continue to Beijing to complete the walk by any means necessary.
Getting to Beijing from Shanghai would be our first hurdle. We researched the high speed train as our original intentions, but due to cost reasons decided to then take the 12 hour regular speed train that runs overnight. Due to some confusion on how to buy tickets, by the time we got to the station the train was completely booked up. We went with our third, unexpected option of flying, which was a bit costly but since we were already this committed we couldn’t turn back now. [problem #1: solved.]
Because we were flying in on Friday night instead of taking the train for Saturday morning we had to get a hostel for that night. After taxiing to the hostel we were surprised to find out that no, they did not have our reservation because the booking website we used was apparently a scam. We were able to secretly cram the eight of us into a two-bed hotel room that was located nearby. A couple of us decided to trek out and find some snacks, but Beijing apparently shuts down much earlier then Shanghai. We were eventually able to track down an empty restaurant, feed everyone who was still awake and get to bed by 3am. I had a lovely sleep underneath a table. Just like camping. (problems #2 & #3: solved.]
The next morning we split to check in to our hostels and the boys and I decided to use the day to explore the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square and the Olympic park. These are some of the most famous landmarks in all of China, and it was exciting to be able to see them first hand. As a history major, I studied some Chinese history in school, but reading in a book and hearing about it in a lecture pale in comparison to actually standing in the spot major events happened.
The Forbidden City housed the emperors and leaders of the Ming and Qing dynasties for over 500 years and served as the center of the Chinese government during this time. The Forbidden City holds 980 buildings, almost 9000 rooms and covers 720,000 m2. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It was remarkable to see in person and to explore the grounds. It seemed to keep going and going. Every time you stand in one of its large squares, you step through another gate into a larger square. Some stand empty except for a hall in the middle, but some contain gardens, steps or viewing platforms with beautiful architecture and details. Of course some, because this is 2014, have museum exhibits and shops (you’ll be pleased to know you can still get an ice cream cone in a building 3 times older than Canada's Confederation).
The Forbidden City is surrounded by a moat. I thought it might make a cool picture but it was kind of underwhelming. As I hopped back over the small fence I walked around to take it, I rocked my leg off of one of the knee-high fence posts and went straight to the ground. A couple of nice Chinese people gathered around to watch me squirm around on the ground and offer me a Band-Aid, but it would have been for naught. I immediately gave myself bursitis. AKA water on the knee. AKA something you really don’t want to have when you are planning to walk around a major city and the Great Wall of China over the next two days. Owwwww. [problem #4: ongoing as of Wednesday]
The next morning we split to check in to our hostels and the boys and I decided to use the day to explore the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square and the Olympic park. These are some of the most famous landmarks in all of China, and it was exciting to be able to see them first hand. As a history major, I studied some Chinese history in school, but reading in a book and hearing about it in a lecture pale in comparison to actually standing in the spot major events happened.
The Forbidden City housed the emperors and leaders of the Ming and Qing dynasties for over 500 years and served as the center of the Chinese government during this time. The Forbidden City holds 980 buildings, almost 9000 rooms and covers 720,000 m2. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It was remarkable to see in person and to explore the grounds. It seemed to keep going and going. Every time you stand in one of its large squares, you step through another gate into a larger square. Some stand empty except for a hall in the middle, but some contain gardens, steps or viewing platforms with beautiful architecture and details. Of course some, because this is 2014, have museum exhibits and shops (you’ll be pleased to know you can still get an ice cream cone in a building 3 times older than Canada's Confederation).
The Forbidden City is surrounded by a moat. I thought it might make a cool picture but it was kind of underwhelming. As I hopped back over the small fence I walked around to take it, I rocked my leg off of one of the knee-high fence posts and went straight to the ground. A couple of nice Chinese people gathered around to watch me squirm around on the ground and offer me a Band-Aid, but it would have been for naught. I immediately gave myself bursitis. AKA water on the knee. AKA something you really don’t want to have when you are planning to walk around a major city and the Great Wall of China over the next two days. Owwwww. [problem #4: ongoing as of Wednesday]
We then got to see Tienanmen Square, which was the scene for many famous protests, the most famous of which occurred in 1989. You may remember a cheeky fellow by the name of Tank Man. These events were condemned as counter-revolutionary riots and any form of remembrance and discussion of the events is prohibited. The square also contains the National Museum, the Gate of Beijing, the Monument to the People’s Heroes (workers) and Chairman Mao’s mausoleum. The mausoleum contains Mao’s preserved body, which can be viewed before 4 pm. We really wanted to see it, but we weren't able to get there in time.
Instead of taking in a kung-fu or acrobatics show with the girls (and because we could not make it in time), we decided to go to the Olympic Park to see the stadiums and were incredibly glad we did. Because of the lack of Beijing street food, we decided to grab a quick bite at McDonald’s before taking the subway. Bad idea. My gut was in turmoil because of this and I nearly keeled over in the subway. If the Olympic Park didn’t have washrooms I would have been a goner. It’s BYOTP in China, so I had to say goodbye to a trusty black sock. Also, I still had my massively swollen knee the entire time. [problem #5: solved]
Olympic Park was much more than we all expected. The Bird’s Nest stadium and the Water Cube are directly beside each other, and because we got there in the evening we were able to see them both in daylight and all lit up. They are modern marvels of engineering and everyone in the park seemed to be having fun, so it made for a light end to our day. Lots of other Chinese tourists wanted to get pictures with us, being the handsome white devils we are, and we did our best to oblige. That night we went back to our hostel to have a few drinks, and met the girls later out a club. It was good.
Olympic Park was much more than we all expected. The Bird’s Nest stadium and the Water Cube are directly beside each other, and because we got there in the evening we were able to see them both in daylight and all lit up. They are modern marvels of engineering and everyone in the park seemed to be having fun, so it made for a light end to our day. Lots of other Chinese tourists wanted to get pictures with us, being the handsome white devils we are, and we did our best to oblige. That night we went back to our hostel to have a few drinks, and met the girls later out a club. It was good.
I STILL HAVEN’T EVEN GOT TO THE GREAT WALL YET. (More like Terrific Wall though, amirite???)
The Great Wall was awesome. Because we were late to the trigger getting out and about in the morning, we missed the chance for a tour to take us and also missed the transit that would bring us directly to the wall. We decided to go to Badaling, and a helpful woman near the bus depot helped us hire some taxis that would take us round trip for ¥500 (about $90CAD).
Badaling is one of the more touristy areas of the Wall outside of Beijing, but all things considered it didn’t seem too-too busy. We were actually at Badaling Shuigan, which is a restored section of the wall that was built to ease the traffic on the main part of Badaling. Despite our late arrival, the day had lots of sunlight left and we able to enjoy most of the afternoon on the wall. The climb was exhausting, especially on one knee, but was worth the pain. The climb is always tough, but the view is always better from the top.
The Great Wall was awesome. Because we were late to the trigger getting out and about in the morning, we missed the chance for a tour to take us and also missed the transit that would bring us directly to the wall. We decided to go to Badaling, and a helpful woman near the bus depot helped us hire some taxis that would take us round trip for ¥500 (about $90CAD).
Badaling is one of the more touristy areas of the Wall outside of Beijing, but all things considered it didn’t seem too-too busy. We were actually at Badaling Shuigan, which is a restored section of the wall that was built to ease the traffic on the main part of Badaling. Despite our late arrival, the day had lots of sunlight left and we able to enjoy most of the afternoon on the wall. The climb was exhausting, especially on one knee, but was worth the pain. The climb is always tough, but the view is always better from the top.
By some stroke of luck there was a cane hanging on a guard rail that I immediately took into my possession. I’ve been using it since. All of the Chinese kids laugh at me, but at least my knee is happy. Eventually we got to a section of the wall that looked to be the end and were meant to turn around. It took us only an hour to get there, so after hopping over a rail, we had the wall virtually to ourselves. We took some pictures on the other side and decided to keep on going to a tower that looked like it was as high as we could get before it closed for the day. A guard told us we had to turn around, but after some sweet talking and eye lash-batting we were on our way. We had to agree we would be back by 5:00 pm so he wouldn’t get in trouble. He came with us and acted as our silent personal chaperone.
We were cutting it close on time and we knew our taxis were close to leaving without us so we needed to hustle. I ditched the cane and Tyler, Ryan and I boogied to the top while the girls headed back.
The view, as always, was worth it.
We were cutting it close on time and we knew our taxis were close to leaving without us so we needed to hustle. I ditched the cane and Tyler, Ryan and I boogied to the top while the girls headed back.
The view, as always, was worth it.
When going to the wall, make sure you bring snacks and lots of water. Although there are places to buy stuff on the wall they are going to try and gouge you, and you will get thirsty. So be prepared. If you can go, go.
1.
1.