Sneaky Me!

Several people have noted that my blog has been inactive since the penultimate moment, just as Driver and I were banging our way across the decimated pavement toward the Great Wall, for my first experience actually walking on that piece of history. This is not by my choice: the Chinese government blocked access to blogspot just before the one-year anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake and the 20th anniversary of Tian'anmen Square.

I waited them out for a while, but I finally decided to dig around and find (with the help of my friend Keenan) a back-door to blogspot. I'm not sure how well it will work, or for how long, but at least now I can resume blogging.

Driving to the Wall

After a quick lunch, I found Driver's glossy tourist brochure and pointed to a picture of the Great Wall climbing up a mountainside

We drove back through central Shanhaiguan, then drove down a rural road past run-down farmhouses. At a big crossroad, Driver stopped the car and ran out with a water bottle to fill the radiator. I hope that the amount of money he overcharged me as I left town was enough for a down-payment on a newer car.

The road out of town would have been rough and unforgiving under the best of circumstances, but for whatever reason it was drilled full of regularly-spaced potholes. These were clearly intentionally drilled, but don't ask me why. If you can imagine a tiny little car that's falling apart to begin with, threatening to stall out if Driver slows down too much, with an oversized American loading down the rear of the car... it's a wonder either of us survived. Driver swerved around, trying to avoid impact, but what's the point? It was like a Vietnamese mine field.

After just a few kilometers, we emerged into a huge and dusty parking lot, nearly filled with cars, with people bustling around everywhere. Also, there was a camel. In case you want to have your kids get their pictures taken on the back of a camel, I know where to send them. By the way, this was indeed a real-live camel.

Driver led me to another ticket window, where there ensued a discussion as to how much I should pay. There was something for 90 RMB, and another package for 150 or so, and Driver was clearly urging me toward the more expensive. I ended up with the cheaper ticket, but I never did learn exactly what I had bought admission to.

It was just a smidge after noon, and driver and I managed to communicate that I was supposed to be back two hours later. I slung my pack over my shoulders and started walking.

Crossing the rocks

Here's one more picture I can't resist showing you. Here is another guy trying to pick his way across the slimy rocks from the beach. There was really only room for one person to pass at a time, so I had to wait for him before I could attempt a passage. I was glad I chose to wear water-resistant boots that day, rather than tennis shoes!

Professor at sea

We parked near the public beach, and Driver led me down along the water. I could see the Dragon's Head off to the right — shrouded in mist in this photo. I wanted to walk there, but Driver steered me to the left, toward a small card table with an old woman selling something for 30 rmb. I resisted for a moment, because I hadn't a clue what I was paying for, and I didn't see anything I thought was worth paying five dollars for. But eventually I gave in and paid. My options seemed to be either that or nothing.

Driver motioned for me to take off my backpack and leave it with him. The woman selling tickets saw me hesitate, pondering whether I trusted him with everything I had brought with me. She laughed and made a little "don't do it!" hand gesture. Driver seemed nice, and I trusted him pretty far... but not THAT far.

A smiling man took me over toward a sort of algae peninsula, at the end of which was a rickety gangplank and a line of little powerboats. I finally realized that I had bought a ticket to walk out this:

To this: 

I handed my backpack to the guy in the waders, waited a moment to make sure he actually put it on the boat before I got six feet out over water on a thin, rickety bridge, then hobbled uncertainly down the plank to the boat. I think my awkwardness was a cause of some mirth among the workers and the other passengers, a young Chinese couple. I sat at the bow and took a good little while trying to wrestle myself into the Chinese life preserver which was designed for... well, let's just say a non-Western physique.

The day was grey and presaged rain, and the wind had blown the sea to a modest chop. The other passengers seemed a little nervous, but I loved it. Since I was a kid visiting my dad's friends in Florida, I've always loved high speed and sea air and, yes, a little chop to shake things up. Blame Joe Lettelleir. As the pilot brought the boat up to speed and we banged over the first wave, I let out a little "Whoop!" and a laugh.

I think the pilot took that as a challenge. He poured on extra power and cut hard into the waves. He adjusted course to hit them at different angles, making sure we got a workout from every direction. I banged around like a pinball, and I'm pretty sure the pilot was testing me. He didn't slam me around hard enough to kill me, but it definitely made me stronger. The girl in the seat behind me was squealing in fear and pain, while laughing at the crazy American on the bow.

Then suddenly we turned around and cut power, and there it was, Laolongtou: the Dragon's Head, where the Great Wall of China meets the Bohai Sea. We sat for several minutes looking at the impressive beast, taking pictures and thinking what it must have seemed like in its early days. I don't know much of the history, so I can only guess at what the area was like — fairly lawless, from what I've read — and the peace of mind it must have brought to the people of the area. 

I've read that the Wall's actual military function was very limited, even in its early days. But the symbol of Chinese military defense must have been priceless!

We banged our way back across the waves, crossed the little gangplank, and picked our way over the algae-covered rocks to land. Driver was there, smiling at me and waiting to take me to the next adventure.

Cows on the beach, cows in the road

We actually had to stop for a half-minute or so, while Driver laid on his horn and shouted for this cow to get out of the road. Meanwhile, to the right, I just missed getting a picture as four calves took off running playfully down the beach. It was surreal.

Driving to the Dragon's Head

The reason I chose Shanhaiguan as the place to first experience the Great Wall is that it is the location of Laolongtou, the "Dragon's Head" — where the Great Wall meets the sea. (It's sometimes described as the easternmost part of the Great Wall of China, but that's not precise. There are other walls, older, I think, that stretch as far as North Korea. But Laolongtou is the easternmost part of the Ming Dynasty wall that is our standard picture of the Great Wall of China.)

By pointing at the glossy tourist brochure, speaking pointlessly in English, and nodding my head emphatically, while  waving off other suggestions, I managed to communicate that I wanted to see Laolongtuo. It's about 20 minutes of rather harrowing driving from the First Pass, where I was staying. 

Shenhaiguan/Qinhuangdao is a beach resort area, and I could see the hotels and apartment buildings getting fancier and pricier the closer we got to the beach.

We drove past the beach and through a gate in the Wall, up a hill that was much too steep for Driver's little three-wheeled taxi. In the chaotic rush that is Chinese traffic, hand-drawn carts, motor scooters, bicycles, city buses, all rushed around each other and attempted to slither through tiny gaps and spaces in the traffic — with one undersized, underpowered cab lugging an oversized an American through it all. With that stolid resolution which is the unique province of the Chinese man, Driver laid on his horn and shoved aside lorries and bicyclists alike. When their resolution bested his and he was forced to slow or stop, the car always risked stalling.

Just on the other side of the wall, there was a gentle decline past a public beach. Improbably enough, a herd of cows was 

grazing in the thin strip of grass between the road and the beach.

Shanhaiguan Museum details

The museum was laid out in a number of courtyards, flanked by houses with ornate bedchambers. The modern museum seemed to preserve many of the internal details (and here, I suspect, the Western-style concept of authenticity was being at least somewhat observed). But related materials had been collected in certain of the houses, to show the metal-working of the day, or the wood-carving, or the pottery. It was beautiful.

Notice the inlaid ivory in this piece of woodwork, over one son's bed. I haven't a clue how you embed ivory in wood like that — and I'm sure that, however it was done hundreds of years ago, it's illegal now.

Here is some gorgeous woodwork, at first at something of a distance...

Then somewhat closer-up.