Qinhuandao Part II - When No Plans Work Out.. There's Still An Adventure To Be Had

So… an interesting night in my hotel, bed was relatively comfortable, but because all of the rooms are ‘feel free to smoke’, there was a stale scent of cigarettes in the sheets and pillows, so no pillow snuggling for me!

I got up early, pulled open the curtains and was delighted to see a clear blue sky shining back at me. “You lucky duck!” I said to myself and jumped in the shower with its giant shower head for a quick morning treat.

I was so excited to get on the train and start my mountain adventure! I do, however, wish I’d have brought my warm and cosy hiking boots from home in Australia, instead I was wearing slip ons with no socks, to which many a person commented, pointed and guffawed given it was only 2 degrees. I decided to ignore the chill that was creeping into my bare ankles and carry on the journey with optimism. Give 
n it had started out so terribly, I was certain all would go swimmingly from here on in. 

A hop, skip and a jump on the train and I was in Shanhaiguan. My hours of Googling, planning and excelling, I’d been advised that there would be convenient busses waiting for me at the station.

Shanhaiguan is also known as the First Pass under Heaven, its also the beginning of the Great Wall from the east coast. This section of the Wall was built in the 1360’s, but to be perfectly honest I wasn’t here to see the Wall. I felt my hike up the Wall during orientation week ticked that box, so to speak. Again, during the Cultural Revolution a lot of the ancient part of the wall, particularly areas with greater potential for tourism, were rebuilt in the 1980’s, and for me… it kind of takes away from the historical draw. Kind of like… if they rebuilt the Colloseum, it just wouldn’t be the colloseum any more… itd me more akin to visiting a stadium and unless you’re a sports orientated individual, aint no one going to visit a stadium.

My intention was to visit Longevity Mountain. I envisioned myself spending a good two or three hours wandering around the mountain, taking in some of the Great Wall, but more importantly the Grottoes of Highly Skilled Doctors, the Xuanyng Ancient Cav (apparently a very rare granite cave) and maybe sampling some of the pineapple cake that was apparently on offer.

On coming out of the station you could almost hear a whistle from a 70’s Western film… an expanse of emptiness, practically not a person insight. As for the tourist buses, let alone normal public transport… I was at a loss.

I felt confused, but not shocked. I took a deep breath and pushed te rising tentacles of frustration down into my belly to either dissolve or grow depending on what happened next.

I don’t usually engage taxi drivers that chase after you with a wee booklet of sight-seeing pictures, but what were my options in this situation? The alternative was to get back on the train and head to Beh Hei He, and then if that was as empty as this, head back to Tangshan with my tail between my legs.

No! I said to myself, You are here you must make the most of it! Pull yourself together woman!

I asked the man, with the usual pointing, gesturing and Jim Carry-esque facial expressions, to take me to Longevity Mountain, he said it would be 50 Kwai and who was I to argue. Fortunately his taxi was quite clean and from the smell of it, he was also a non-smoker – thank goodness for small mercies.

We skidded out of the empty train station entrance, I glanced at the t or so dormant buses and considered how bustling this area must be during the summer. Clever me travelling in Winter… or was I?

The taxi driver was nicely non-communicato, he handed my a falling-apart pamphlet providing information about Longevity Mountain. He sporadically pointed at some squat and leafless trees saying, Arpool, which I eventually gathered was Apple – seems like this area is quite abundant in fruit crops during the relevant seasons.

The road was windy and I chose to focus on the barren and impeding mountains, one of which we were winding our way up, rather than the lack of barriers between us and a steep trip to base camp.

Finally we arrived… it didn’t look good. There was no another vehicle in sight and the gates to enter Longevity Mountain were closed. I did see a wee side gate that I thought might be ok to slip through.

The driver and I headed over to the ‘ticket office’ and low and behold there were about five men in there, looking as busy as a sloth in summer. My driver had what sounded like a heated discussion with the group (but I’ve noticed that’s almost the method of Chinese communication), a few of the men simply turned their back and turned away.

“Closed for Winter”, says my driver brokenly, and it did take a good few minutes to get to that understanding,

“Side gate? Can I still go in?” I waved 200 kwai in the hopes that my very first attempt at bribary would be successful.

The men laughed, my driver shook his head, he indicated that there was no one here, and I was not allowed to go in alone. I still cant see why not, it seemed more like a national park to me, and shouldn’t national parks be accessible to all at all times?

Those tentacles of frustration raised up, they flicked behind my eyes and tears stung, threatening to make their descent down my cheeks.

I stopped myself from stomping, shouting and possibly shaking a tree from its roots… WHY CHINA WHY?! And also, why did NONE of the websites I’d gone on while researching the trip indicate that the mountain was closed during Winter.

I headed back to the car with the driver, he pulled out the laminated board of pictures of popular tourist destinations.

Fine… I resigned myself to the fact there would be no mountain wanderings today, but atleast I could go to Yansai Lake, take a trip across the lake on a boat, enjoy this cold and delightful day, with the sun shining and not a cloud, nor bit of pollution, in sight.

I indicated this to my driver, he drove a few meters then stopped, pointing at a banner infront of us close to the “Welcome to Longevity Mountain” sign.

“closed!” he said, “All closed! No Lake”

“All closed?” I repeated

He thought I had not understood him, rather than simply expressing how flabbergasted I was at the entire trip thus far.

“Oh no!” I said, to intimate that I understood.

He pointed to some other pictures, “300… all day! Three places?”

I considered this, checked my wallet, confirmed that I could do this but would be broke til pay day, but by heavens I wanted to see SOMETHING over this time away!

“Ok!” I said

“OK” he said, noticeably more animated than previously, I think this would pay for his whole family to dine out for an entire week, so in the end, we were all getting something.

We headed back down the mountain then took a sharp right and up another mountain. 

Whenever you are turning a corner the driver has to beep, the roads are similar to English roads in that there’s not enough room for two cars, so I felt the driver was quite confident that there’d be no one else on the road given then speed he was going.

I took in the expansive mountains as we went, the leafless trees, rolling hills and general emptiness. You couldn’t help consider the people building the wall in these conditions, I could almost see hoards of Mongolians descending upon the land, soldiers from different sides notifying back to the barracks on one side, or the other of the wall.

After a good 20 minute through and up the winding roads we arrived at destination one. The location I called Jiumenkou Great Wall, it spans the Jiujiang River and heads up into the mountains. Apparently many battles occurred here, given its proximity to the ocean, to the riverand break at the mountains making the battle grounds narrowed which favoured the Chinese.

This part of the wall was frst constructed around 479, and, as with all of the wall, connected up with other parts of the wall during the Ming Dynasty (1300s). There are 12 watch towers and boasts a nine arch pass crossing the river which has been well maintained.

Again, this area is apparently pumping during Spring and Summer months with fruits ready for the picking. I, however, had decided to do some sneaky Winter travelling which was not conducive to growing plants, let alone, open shops or tourist destinations.

My driver indicated we were ‘here’, where ever here was. There were a few cars spotted about the primarily sparse parking lot. I took a deep breath. I tried to push the tentacles of frustration back down and enjoy the experience. I hoisted my backpack into place, stood quickly up to get out the car and…

‘HOLY MARY!’, I exclaimed. As I’d stood to get out of the car, at quite the speed indeed, the inside of the door was bent in somewhat and situated at the exact spot that my forehead would slide against… I ripped open my skin and the sudden hot and cold and throbbing, followed by a weak stream of blood and another moment of eye stinging upset… Again, I felt like stomping, of WHY CHINA, WHY? Of… For the love of all that is good and holy can nothing go right this trip!

And yet… another part of me was finding all the wrong happenings rather amusing, I was in the Chinese Travel version of Faulty Towers, all I needed now was a Manuel, and I had a sneaking suspicion I’d have been cast in that role.

The place was empty… I imagined I was on one of the West World sets after the machines had gone mental and killed everyone. But… fortunately I’m not one who minds a spot of humanlessness, so I stopped off at the Garden Centre… oh no, this was the loo… nice to get a bit of nature when relieving ones self. Not to mention there was a lovely heater in the loo and for a moment I did consider just saying there to read my book for a couple of hours and pretend I’d hit the Wall.

In actual fact it was quite picturesque. The river was hardly moving, atleast at top level, much of it had a sheer shimmering slice of ice settled on it. There were clearly some rafts and boats that would be used during the warmer months. The mountain shadowed the in the horizon against the blue expanse of sky.

Rather than going directly to the Wall itself (yes… I was avoiding climbing the dashed thing after my last experience which took a good couple of days for my thighs to recover!) I took a little left and wandered through a winding path which appeared to be lined with market stalls, again, during tourist months, but at this time was empty. There were a few vendors as I came to the top and end of the path and they did their best to offer me fruits, tiger feet and trinkets. One woman even saw me entering the path and dashed past me to get to her store before I arrived, she was puffing while waving a bag of nuts toward me… I couldn’t help but laugh and despite herself, she started giggling as well.

At the top of the walkway I couldn’t help but take a moment to enjoy the sun shining across the landscape. It’s not something I get to see often, so I felt the need to take it in and pocket it for use in later reminiscence.

There was suddenly the entrance to a cave before me… and I do like a nice sneaky cave! This is a tunnel that was dug during the Ming Dynasty and used as a station for troops during war times. It was an entirely functional fort and also enabled Chinese troops to sneak behind their enemies!

As I made my way through, listening to the dripping condensation and echo of footsteps it is one of the more humbling experiences of my time in China. There are bronze sculptures of soldiers performing their relevant duties in relevant rooms. For instance the room where enemies were brought to be tortured you would see the strained faces of the victims. There were rooms for eating, for sleeping, an area to store grain and retrieve water from a well. There were war council rooms and spaces for prayer.

I came out of the tunnel with a more physical understanding of what the soldiers of this time would have gone through during times of war. Also with an appreciation of the utter genius and ingenuity of warfare in China.

I headed back down the path and headed toward the dreaded steps of the Great Wall. I mean, when you think of the Great Wall you think, oh that will be nice to visit, what an emotional experience, how humbling… this is  all well and good.

However, if you are unfit and not accustomed to walking at a 90 degree angle up protruding stone bricks, the huffing, puffing, desire to pass out, not to mention your thighs advising that they will no longer obey your instruction… its less of a romantic experience.

Seeing the nine arches across the river though, was quite peaceful.

I made my way under the bridge and came to the entrance way of the Wall. A lady approached me, indicating ‘Welcome’ and I should come this way. She handed me a red ribbon and gestured that I should tie this to the giant Ivory frog sculpture and make a wish. I did so… it was then gestured that I should pay 5 kwai to say thank you to the frog… fair enough, frogs cant work for free.

Such a lovely lady, she moved me to another sculpture, this one like an ancient roulette table, she indicated that I should push the wheel. I carried on with the experience. I landed on 30 or 33… I cant quite remember because next thing I was ushered inside the wee building behind the giant frog sculpture and told that my number meant my father. I should now kneel, and holding three incense sticks bow three times, then light a few candles, give the sticks to the Buddha or Confuscious – unsure which person it was – and then pay 100 kwai then my Dad would be well.

100 Kwai? How was I feeling about Dad at this time?

I advised I didn’t have 100 kwai (which was true), he suggested 60… we agreed on 40… amazing how these kind of blessings can be so well negotiated. The hand and hand of religion and money, the same the whole world round.

Feeling happy I’d had the experience, accepting the fact I’d been taken on quite the ride and knowing they’d have a lovely dinner on me tonight, I headed up the initial stairs…

This looked ok… Relatively manageable.

Within twenty minutes I was literally dragging myself… DRAGGING myself up the wall making use of the handle for, I imagine, the elderly and infirm. I was huffing. I was puffing. I ave a dreadful habit of giving myself a goal to achieve and refuse to give up, even for my health, before said goal is reached. I set my eye on the second watch tower… it was a LONG WAY A WAY.

I stopped at  one of the intermittent look outs, caught my breath and took a draught of my ever disappearing water. Although some lovely photo opportunities, I imagine a marathon runner would have a more spiritual experience than I.

As I, almost slithered, my way up the 90 degree walkway to my final destination I came across some Chinese tourists coming down. I indicated I could not go further! I could not… I pantomimed and one of thei girls decided to join in, she pushed my behind to give me momentum to get up further. We all giggled and took some happy snaps and I think the endorphin's from the interaction gave me the final push and energy to make it to the tower.

PHEW!

To be honest… I think I’m good for Wall. I have read about the Wall. I have walked on the Wall. I have climbed stairs on the Wall and had my butt touched on the Wall. I appreciate the historical importance, as well as the cultural relevance… but I think I am now, officially, walled out.

Back down the Wall I found my driver finishing off a good clean of his car and having a chat to another fellow. I assumed this other person was a mate of said driver and thought nothing of it. The other fellow asked where I was from, I replied and he asked if he could come with us down the mountain…

Its quite normal for a taxi driver to take a friend or family member with them in their car if the destination of the client is in the same proximity. It’s also pretty common place for, while you are in the cab heading to your destination, for a cab drive to pick up another customer and drop them off on the way, increasing their income. So there was nothing unusual about this… as far as I could tell.

This other fellow had gone to college and could speak a bit of English, better at reading it, however. After some pleasantries I found out that this person did not, infact, know the cab driver… the cab driver had told him that he was driving me around for the day and this fellow decided to come along for the ride… as far as I knew… for free.

But when in Rome and I was far too tired of being frustrated, so I went with the flow and accepted I’d have a tag along for the rest of the afternoon.

I mentioned maybe getting some food when we got to Dragon Head (this is where the wall hits the ocean), imagining there would be some street vendors or restaurants in the vicinity. The cab driver and the new fellow had a long and dancing chat and I was advised that NO, there was no food near there but new fellow would shout me to some food on the way to destination number two.

I didn’t agree, but didn’t not. I wondered about death, sexual assault or just a quick snatch and grab, but he was wearing a rather dorky floppy sided pseudo army hat and slip-ons with socks, he didn’t seem like someone that’s even aware of a black market trade of Western women. I also believe I may not be the correct measurements to make the trade of any financial benefit to anyone.

We stopped and new fellow told the cab driver to wait, while we popped in to what looked like  chain Chinese restaurant. We got spicey chicken with rice and some sides, and good gracious, what a delicious meal! He was particularly impressed by my chopstick wielding abilities. There was an attempt as discussion, but in the end we both gave up and simply hoovered up the meal and then headed back to the cab.

Arriving at Dragon Head, I wasn’t overly excited. To my confusion new fellow came along with me, I thought to help me purchase the tickets, but then when I ordered the ticket, he indicated that I should buy him one as well (apparently “shouting’ food does not mean what it means at home), so by the looks of things I’d be spending my time wandering around Dragon Head with my new new fellow friend.

Laolongtou Great Wall, or Old Dragons Head, is where the Wall meets the sea It was built in 1380 and was an important line of defence against those coming from land or sea. It was also a fort and still presented as such, and there are parts of the original wall that have still been maintained.

Its pretty incredible when you see that the original builders of the wall worked out how to melt down some stone to ensure it could deal with the onslaught of the oceans. There are pagodas where people can go to worship the gods and the whole space, especially in the winter when at times you are the one and solitary visitor, whispers secrets of those who lived here, there is a silence and haunting ambience to the place.

New fellow and I wandered around, often in silence, though New Fellow would try and explain some of the sculptures to me. He’d never actually been here before, so was taking it in in a similar way to me, wide eyed and quiet with honour and respect.

I had a chill go down my spine, the concept that I could, infact, be in a relationship with a person experiencing this… I had a sudden desire to run very very quickly. From this, I have concluded that I’m not yet ready for another relationship strangely this doesn’t shock any one who knows me!

I was desperate to see the ocea. I could hear it… the sharp shifting of water on the rocks and sand. As we breached one of the strategic internal battle spaces the smell of salt drew me to the edge of the wall and there… there before me was the expanse of endless ocean dancing before me and sweeping to the ends of the earth.

I couldn’t help but giggle!

New fellow found this rather amusing.

I slipped through a hole in the wall and raced down to the sand. I slipped off my shoes and dashed into the freezing water.

There was a group of Chinese watching, gasping and pointing. What was this mad Western woman doing? Did she know the temperature? It’s too cold for swimming!

But I’ve always been a lover of the water, and its been a good many months since I’ve dipped my feet in the ocean. For the last three or so years I’d been living in Albany and most weekends in Summer were spent with Willow the dog, or Willow the dog and parents at the ocean with the cheese and the wine, but most importantly… the water.

I think, given all that occurred on this trip, it was all worth while for allowing my soul a wee bit of nature.

I would recommend Dragon Head, not only for the ocean (but kinda mostly for it!)but for the history, its well presented and you get a good idea of life for the soldiers in a fort like this. You can imagine ships descending from the West, the soldiers shouting and preparing, hear the whiz of arrows flying through the air and commands coming from each direction.

New Fellow and I headed out after a good couple of hours and back into the cab.

I asked to go to the station, I was FREEZING! My fingers had turned blue, it felt as though I’d left my feet somewhere else and my lips were no longer functional as a communicating device.

New Fellow wasn’t having a bar of it. He wanted to go to the popular tourist spot…

“Two minutes, one photo”, he said.

I imagined he wanted to get dropped off there and would maybe put in for the total cost of the taxi trip… I was mistaken.

We arrived at First Pass Under Heaven, again, this area was considerably rebuild in the 1980’s and wasn’t really something I wanted to spend time at, not that I could afford to go in had I wanted to. Nevertheless I jumped out of the cab, New Fellow asked to have a photo with me and to exchange email address. I did so, and then became distracted by the horse and camel sitting comfortably at the entrance.

A camel… well why not.

Back to the station… my cab driver decided it best not to take me to the door, so I passed over the 300, he seemed quite pleased with his day, and I traipsed through the busses, tuk tuks and cars toward the station.

I handed over my request in Chinese characters… BOOM! The server understood my writing. She said:

“Train today to Tangshan?”

“Yes”, I said, very pleased, she seemed quite excited to speak English as well

“Seventy seven point five zero kwai”

“Oh!” I said, and she looked at my beaming face, “Such good English!”, she blushed and said thank you and as she gathered change and printed my ticket her colleagues came up to her to chat and pat her on the back. Was so nice to see.

So… home again, home again.

It hadn’t been the trip I’d planned, but I did see and experience some wonderful things and I cannot regret being able to twiddle my toes in the ocean.

I will be back, Shanhaiguan… expect me to arrive in the Spring. I have every intention of ticking off each item on my itinerary. I will visit Longevity Mountain, I will pick a couple of strawberries and eat some pineapple cake… I’ll be hitting Yansai Lake and taking a cruise on a boat and Shanhaiguan and I will become friends who will part ways with respect for one another.

I do have to say, I love a spot of single travelling. The problem solving  itself is an adventure. Being solitary on a mountain, taking a moment for the soul, silence but for you in that moment.

I should start getting paid a decent wage in February and I look forward to some grand solitary adventures in the new year.

For now, I’m waiting for my head to repair itself, my toes to forgive me for the mid Winter water dip and appreciating the fact that I’m here… in China… and if a trip goes terribly wrong, I’m still here… in China!