After losing twenty early Sunday mornings and gaining 4000 kuai, I've reached the day of my last tutoring session. During the last 5 minutes, my student told me several jokes (answers at the end of this post):

1. Why does news come from every part of the world?
2. What day of the week is the best for eating fried foods?
3. Heat is swifter than cold. Why?

Since all of the jokes were based on wordplay and I happened to be wearing my trusty Ithaca t-shirt, I reciprocated by explaining why Ithaca is Gorges.

The a-ha! moment when he understood gorges=gorgeous was priceless.

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Answers
1. N.E.W.S = North East West South
2. Friday
3. You can catch a cold.

hiking with Chris on top of the Gubeikou Great Wall

I currently have a particularly nasty cut on my left shin. It is small but very deep -- the result of a stumble during last weekend's hike to the Great Wall.

Our hike last fall started in Jinshanling and headed Simatai so this time we wanted to hike the 'other half' of the route. The trail from Gubeikou 古北口 to Jinshanling 金山岭 is so off-the beaten path that it's not even listed in the Lonely Planet and our driver had to stop and ask for directions to drop-off point at the start of the trail.

Another indication that this was an obscure trail? The complete absence of any hawkers selling water or postcards. The top of the wall was also run-down and overgrown with shrubs but we just happily picked out a path for an hour or so until we ran into a dead end:


Watchtower with a blocked entrance

To quote Craig: omg! wtf? A blocked entrance? We looked around and saw a trail leading off the wall and into the valley. It looked like it went alongside the wall so we decided to follow the route (it's not like we had a choice). At this point, I'd like to note that we wasted an hour because we hiked along until we saw this sign on the Wall...


What does that sign say?

By "Military Forbidden Zone," I think it really means "Forbidden. Military Zone."

...became intimidated, and turned back to the point where we left the Wall. We didn't want to risk a run-in with the PLA, even if we could claim ignorant foreigner status (The sign had flawed syntax! We thought it meant the area was off-limits to the military!) Anyway, back at the Wall we run into the first people we've seen the entire morning since we set foot on Gubeikou: a group of three Chinese hikers also heading towards Jinshanling. We pointed out the blocked watchtower ahead, mentioned that we came across the military area sign, and asked if they knew anything about the route to Jinshanling. One of the hikers told us that we were heading in the correct direction and that the sign was to discourage people from climbing/ crossing the Wall, not from hiking the trail. "If you head too far in the wrong direction" he said "someone armed with a machine gun will eventually stop you".

With that reassuring thought in mind, we head back down the trail and into the valley again. The trail goes from overgrown (this is when I trip on a rock and cut my shin) to neatly maintained when it runs by several corn fields - complete with scarecrow. We pass a cute abandoned hut too. Eventually the trail runs back uphill and along the base of the Wall. At this point, the path is very narrow, scattered with loose rubble, and has a steep drop on one side, so we were relieved to finally reach a watchtower opening that led us back onto the Great Wall.

The funny part was when we crossed into the (highly restored) Jinshanling section and saw this placard, where the final sentence refers to the direction we came from:


So much for "please stop"...

Talk about surprises. Who knew hiking the Great Wall would involve spending 2 hours off the Wall dodging military facilities?


A view of the section we could not walk on. It nearly disappears into the hillside.

Lots more photos are after the jump.

We've been hearing loud shouts and screams from outside for the past few evenings. They last from 8 to 10pm-ish, erupt every 20 minutes or so, and are too loud to be muffled by closed windows. It sounds like something you'd hear when a group of people start an impromptu water fight - but this is unlikely because a) I looked out window and saw no one in the courtyard, and b) even if there were people, the sound would have to travel 23 stories up to reach our apartment.

We eventually figure out that we're hearing the collective cheers of everyone the apartment complex who's watching the World Cup.

on the grounds of the Mountain Resort

Changed the site template slightly so I can display larger photos. Like the ones from the weekend trip to Chengde aka "the other Summer Palace". This one is about a 4 hour train ride outside of Beijing... or you could follow our lead and take a bus for the same duration and price.

I use the term "bus" loosely to describe, not a Greyhound-esque coach, but a large minibus with little legroom and not much suspension (makes for a sore bottom over bumpy roads). But you don't notice such things when the driver is maneuvering around traffic like a maniac, which is perfectly normal behavior when everyone else on the highway is a manic driver too.

So after four hours, one hour of which the bus, I kid you not, stopped on the shoulder in the middle of the highway to pick up more passengers - how did people know that's the bus stop?! - we arrive in the town of Chengde. This quaint little place thrives entirely on tourism, specifically 避暑山庄 the Mountain Resort where Qing emperors used to come to escape from Beijing's summer heat. We came to escape from Beijing's pollution. It is also apparently the world's largest existing imperial garden (thank you wikipedia).

It's a nice place to walk around; vast green spaces, a few lakes... and a lot of these:


Chris rummages for something to feed the hungry masses

Aren't they cute! They are definitely not wild but we're not sure where they come from or who breeds them.

Other major attractions are the Eight Outer Temples flanking the resort, a series of Buddhist temples, of which the most famous are the 普陀宗乘 Putuo Zongcheng (built to resemble the Potala Palace in Tibet):


the mini-me of Tibet's Potala Palace


a monk spinning prayer wheels

And the 普宁寺 Puning Temple which houses the worlds largest statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy. Actually, her full name is 千手千眼大悲观世音菩萨 or The Compassionate Boddhissatva with a Thousand Hands and Eyes, which is admittedly, a very long name, but only appropriate for something that is this size:


Guanyin in all her (slightly blurry) glory

There's something disconcerting about walking in a thunderstorm and realizing that you are being drenched in, what is very likely to be, acid rain.

Me: What is the greenhouse effect? Can you explain it to me using english?

My student: um... [long pause] Oh! The greenhouse effect is like in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow"

- I have absolutely no motivation for classes anymore. Can't remember the last time I had a week of perfect attendance for every class. I am ashamed (but only very slightly) to say that I am skipping class right now. It doesn't help that I can cover the material perfectly well at home (which in my defence, I do). Note to self: must break habit before starting grad school in the fall.

- Finals are three weeks away. Flight out of China is eight weeks away.

- Craig has arranged his return trip to the US via Toronto, specifically on my flight. Sweet! We just need to arrange the seat assignments we're sitting together. Here's to hoping for emergency evacuation seats - he's a tall guy and needs the legroom.

- The government has ratcheted up the firewall. Since Friday, Google is blocked more frequently than usual and for some inexplicable reason, Gmail is occasionally blocked too (although there is some discussion as to whether this is a network issue rather than a firewall issue). This block is worse than usual - my usual proxy can't get around it. Have redirected any mail sent to my Gmail address to my (new!) Carleton University email so I don't have to break the habit of compulsive email-checking. My mother wonders if it has something to do with this week being the anniversary of the iananmenTay assacreMay. Yes, I just used pig-Latin to avoid triggering the block to my own blog.

- An exchange about biking and fashion
Me: Do you think I can bike in this skirt?
Craig: That depends; do you want to bike or do you want to bike AND retain your modesty?
Me: I'm going to change into pants.

- I desperately want a digital SLR camera (possibilities are the Canon Digital Rebel line, Nikon D50 or D70, or the Pentax *istDL. I've craved one for, oh, three years now and seriously considered getting one last spring... until I realized I was saving for this year China. Will have to see what I have left from my travel funds by the end of this summer - and if I can suppress my Scrooge-ish nature for saving. Maybe this will be my treat to myself for securing enough funding (Teaching Assistantship and scholarship) to cover tuition for the entire duration of my Masters?

- Craig has hooked me on to Lost. I bought Season One DVDs (price: 10 USD) last weekend and we blew threw the entire season (18 hours) in one week! We watched five hours on Sunday alone. And I wonder why I don't achieve things like getting a book published!

- Going to Chengde tomorrow afternoon!