Today was a day of many tourists. And we were the most tourist of all, overcoming our own exhaustion to persevere and hit every tourist spot typical of China before we run out of chances.
We started with the Great Wall of China, a section that is apparently quite popular as it is both picturesque and challenging.
Vendors sell medals or scrolls attesting that people are "Real Men" now that they have climbed the wall. Others sell a better reward - cold ice cream. The Glee Club (including our appendicitis-defeating champion) set out to climb the wall, covering several thousand steps and ascending several thousand feet. The pathway was steep, crowded, and occasionally quite narrow. It was also beautiful ascending the mountain ridge and watching the green world tumble down on either side. The tourists here were from every country imaginable, a more diverse group than we have seen at any other site. To each their own pace, and the clump quickly spread into a thin winding line up the mountain. Several of us arrived at the highest point (the local maximum) fairly quickly and enjoyed the breeze and views.
We had photos taken of us by Chinese tourists, we befriended three German business students visiting companies in China on a school trip, we took pictures with one of the Germans' Furbie. The rest of Glee trickled in and the singing commenced, as it inevitably does. And it was easy to forget the sweat, the greasy sunscreen, the stink, the obnoxious Chinese tourist stalker photography, the aching calves, and the impending sunburns. It's good to be with friends.
Our next tourist trap was our lunch restaurant, which was attached to a jade factory and store.
The jade was beautiful, but I found it more fun to look around at the magnificent big carvings than to scope out any small purchases. I found out later that Chinese lore says that a person should wear his or her jade every day and that as time goes on, it darkens as it absorbs a bit of one's soul (it's really the oil on one's skin). When the jade breaks or gets lost, its seen as the jade taking the hit for you as your representative, the jade keeps you from harm.
Tourist trap #3 was a tea store run by the Chinese government.
We were shepherded into rooms to observe tea ceremonies, learning about different teas, how to prepare them, the proper way to drink them, the temperature of the water. It was fun to try the different teas, even if it was an incredibly scripted performance. We tried jasmine tea, oolong tea, pu'er tea (which is aged and smells like a savory meal. You're also supposed to chew it), and fruit tea, among others. We saw color-changing dragon cups and peeing clay statue that apparently detect temperature. We saw Chinese travel mugs and beautiful tea sets with teensy tiny cups. It was fun, but we were tiring of the touristy-ness.
The final tourist area, which many people bailed on because they were tourists out, was the Summer Palace, but I still wanted to go. It was magnificent. So peaceful with the giant lake and the boats drifting across its length.
A giant building (the palace? A temple?) rose up the the right with levels from the treetops to the steel. The Long Corridor, the longest painted corridor in the world, stretched on endlessly. It seemed slightly strange to construct such a long open-air walkway, but it was certainly beautiful. This is definitely not a place to skip. It was the perfect end to the day, a way for us to clear our heads and recharge for the evening.
We had a free evening, one without group meals or lazy Susans (not that I'm not grateful for those). Chris and I tagged along with David to meet his family friend, a guy named Tom who looks like a backpacker but actually works for Teach for China, a program that he completed a few years ago. He alike fluent Chinese, which made things easy. We went to a restaurant specifically for the Peking duck, which was magnificent. Strips of skin, meat, or both arrived at the table in quick succession. A tall stack of thin pancakes sat waiting. Dishes of fillings - plum sauce, cucumber, onion, sprouts, and surprisingly cantaloupe and sugar - sat ready. Tom also ordered other dishes, including one with about ten types of mushrooms and another with bok choy in a vinegar sauce, which were equally delicious. We probably could have sat there forever. As it was, we left while they were shutting down the restaurant around us.
The next step was meeting up with the Glee Club at Club Mix for some dancing. We took the subway (so easy! So clean! So fast! So convenient!) and then decided to try one of the bike cabs. We convinced a man to take the three of us the mile or two to the club for 10 yuan (about $1.50). In order to fit, I laid across the laps of Chris and David with my feet poking out to one side as we whizzed along, laughing. When we pulled up to the club we got some weird looks from the bouncers, which only made us laugh harder.
Sadly, the club was 100 yuan per person, so nobody actually entered. Instead we dispersed into the night to find other options, most of which ended in people giving up and going home. But going out is always more about the company, and the company couldn't be beat.
Spotted: Red Bull. Originally a Thai drink, Red Bull looks different in China. I comes in squat yellow cans with two red bulls facing off on the front. It doesn't appear to be carbonated, and it looks exactly like urine when poured into a water bottle. But hey, people drink weird things when they go out. Though I closely observed the people who tried it, none of the appeared to feel much of an effect. And nobody grew wigs, luckily, since that wouldn't fit under our concert attire.
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