July 13, 2007 - Great Wall and Hutong Lane Tours

Friday, July 13, 2007

We woke up and went downstairs to our first breakfast buffet (we always got an excellent breakfast buffet everywhere we went). They had too much variety to mention it all but I tended to keep my breakfasts American – eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, toast, potatoes, and orange juice – very good, and much better than we are accustomed to eating each day. One thing we did just about every day was exchange our traveler’s checks into Chinese currency – known as renminbi (RMB) or “yuan”. The typical exchange rate while we were in China was 7.55 yuan = $1 and we have found that it doesn’t deviate much from this rate. I typically exchanged between $100 - 200 at a time – sometimes this would last 1 day, and other times 2 or 3 days. Cheryl would do the same (though usually less). The currency exchanges we used were at the hotel desks.


Chinese Currency (renminbi) front side.


Chinese Currency (renminbi) back side.

So 100 yuan would = $13.25, 50 = $6.62, 20 = $2.65, 10 = $1.32, 5 = 66 cents, and 1 = 13 cents at this July 2007 current rate. The smaller 5 and 2 on the bottom right are less than one and are worth 7 cents, and 3 cents respectively. Shopkeepers don't like it when you try to lay these on them, and the same goes with the coins. They are worth so little that the shopkeepers will give them out as change, but they don't like to receive them as payment.


The Novotel Hotel - Beijing (middle of picture).

There are several differences between our trips to Korea and this trip to China. In Korea we were mostly on our own, but in China we almost always had a guide who took us around to everywhere we went. This was both good & bad. It was good because they knew about the places we went to and how to get there. They took care of the transportation, admissions & tips (paid by us up front). They all spoke good English and could do translations when necessary. It was bad because they were always in a hurry and we were always rushing from place to place when we were with them. We are the types who like to really check things out and we often felt like we were rushed (and we were). In Korea since we were on our own we felt like we could take as much time as we needed. Another difference is that in China we were with a group of 9 families who were all adopting special needs children. There were only seven families in the Beijing part of this trip and they are…

Note: It seems weird to remove these families last names (and home cities) from this story but they deserve their privacy.

Frank & Kelli from Nebraska who adopted a 2-year-old girl named Yu Jiao Jiao (McKenzie) from Jilin Province. She has spinal bifida and we considered adopting her ourselves at one time previously.

David & Karla from Oregon who adopted an 18-month-old son from Jiangsu Province. They also had a 3-year-old daughter (Alayna) with them whom they adopted previously from China.

Brandon & Linda from Washington who adopted a 7-year-old girl named Ellie from the Zhejiang Province. They had 2 children with them, Braylon and Lila.

Ladell & Michele from Iowa who adopted a young daughter (Mia) from the Shaanxi Province. They also brought their 16-year-old daughter Ashley along for the trip. Mia’s special need was a birthmark on her face.

John & Rebecca from Wisconsin who adopted a 13-month-old son (Cai) from the Yunnan Province. Cai was born with a VSD, or a hole in his heart.

Roger & Trish from Oregon who adopted a 2-year-old daughter (Zori, heart problem) from the Jiangxi Province. They also were joined by their 21-year-old daughter Cathay, who just finished service in Afghanistan.

We are the seventh family - Brett & Cheryl from near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Our 3-year-old daughter Xiao, Wen Xin (Jenna) is from the Hunan Province (Zhuzhou SWI). Jenna has a repaired cleft palate and a large birthmark on her neck and scalp.


Great Wall map near the parking lot at Mutianyu.

Getting back to Friday, July 13th - we all met Sherri in the lobby at 9 a.m. to load up the bus and head for the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This was about an hours drive north of Beijing.


The Great Wall (postcard).

The Great Wall (or Changcheng) was built starting at 500 B.C. (or roughly 2,540 years ago). At least 20 states and dynasties were involved in its construction over a period of 2,000 years. The wall was built by up to 1 million soldiers and it has 1,000 fortified passes and 10,000 beacon towers. Many of these soldiers died of exhaustion and malnutrition. It is 3,975 miles long, and it’s constructed of rammed earth, stone, and brick. The Wall was first built as barriers between states, but when China united under Qin in 221 B.C. the existing sections of the wall were linked together to protect the new China from the Mongol invaders from the north. It is a matter for debate as to whether the Wall was ever truly successful as a defense for China. Its main function was as a convenient conduit across difficult terrain and as a means for the passing of information. We arrived there at about 10:30 a.m. and Sherri told us we could go our own way, but we had to be back by noon or we would have to find a taxi back to Beijing (nice). So we walk through a gauntlet of a vendor village uphill while locals are trying to sell us crafts and t-shirts. One lady had a camel that you could get a picture with for $1.


A sign on the way to The Great Wall.


The Vendor Village.

Eventually we reached a cable car lift with orange cars that can seat up to six people. They take us up the steep hills leading to the wall. We rode a car up to the wall with Ladell, Michele, and Ashley until we reached an overlook to the wall. We took some pictures here of us with The Wall in the background, then we climbed the last few steps to The Wall. We could either go right or left and we chose left. Left was the direction that we could see the best from where we were and it looked pretty cool so we thought we would check it out. It was a hazy day (as usual around Beijing) but The Wall still looked awesome – it was just “majestic” – pictures can’t really do it justice. The view is cool every direction that you look. The wall winds up and down on the ridges of these hills. Looking over the wall on either side you are looking down into a valley. The walkway of the wall is wide – at least 12-14 feet across, and it is probably 20-25 feet up from the ground. The surface of the walkway is bumpy and often has uneven steps taking you up or down. The beacon towers are like small almost mazes and they often gave us relief with a cool breeze.




Cheryl before the big climb.


Looking toward our way back.


A small panoramic view.

It is a workout walking and climbing this wall - no doubt. We hiked until we got to a part where the wall was crumbling. There was a sign there that said “no tourist section, please do not pass.” It was a difficult climb to get to this spot – then we had to go back the same way. I took digital photos on the way there and digital video on the way back. The video is kind of funny because all you can hear is heavy breathing from myself, and every once in awhile I would bark at Cheryl telling her we have to step it up or we will have to take a taxi back. I must confess I have the distinction of barfing over the side of The Great Wall. On the way back I was starting to feel a little queasy, and at some point I stopped the video and barfed up my breakfast over the side of The Wall. Once I was done I was OK again. Maybe I should’ve handed Cheryl the camera. We made it back to the cable car lift at about 10 until noon. When we got back to the village an old lady practically tackled me to get me to buy a Great Wall t-shirt from her. We did buy some shirts (they were like $4 apiece). We made it back to the bus at the same time as some other families – so we worried needlessly.

On the way back we stopped at a Chinese restaurant. It was pretty good – different dishes placed on a large lazy-Susan type table and we just help ourselves. I remember the ceilings of the main room had plants covering the whole ceiling – I couldn’t tell if they were fake or real. If they were real how do they keep leaves from falling into the food?


The restaurant ceiling.

They had cold Cokes – I remember that because I drank one plus two extra. Before we left I was looking for the waitress to pay her for the 2 extra cokes I drank (the meal was prepaid for by each family) but I didn’t see her anywhere. When we left we visited a small cloisonné shop that was near the restaurant. We saw how these copper vases, figurines, and bowls were forged and painted. At some point while we were listening to a guide the waitress ran up to me to get the money I owed her for the extra cokes – it would’ve probably came out of her pay had she not found me. They cost 5 yuan (66 cents). Next we checked out this vast shop that had a lot of cool (and mostly expensive) cloisonné items.


Cloisonne Shop.

We bought some Chinese Zodiac figurines - one each to represent each member of our family according to the year we were born. We purchased a tiger for me, 2 dragons for Leah & Cheryl, a ram for Ben, a monkey for Jenna, and a horse for Alex. It wasn’t cheap at all I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit, but we didn’t come to China to be cheap. I remember the bill was 1,940 yuan ($257 – paid by Visa card)


Our Chinese Zodiac Figurines.

I can say we left China with no regrets – not once did we think “I wished we would’ve bought something” later. We bought whatever we wanted to buy that was within reason. If we ever return to China I’m sure we learned some lessons. Besides the salesman at this shop was a very nice personable young man with a good sense of humor so I think he deserved our business. Soon we were back on the bus heading to Hutong Lane back in Beijing.


Fangjia Hutong - Dongcheng District - Beijing (postcard).

Hutong Lane is old Beijing courtyard houses. They can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty when the Mongols built Dadu (Great Capital), which later became Beijing. Basically they are traditional residential compounds with houses around courtyards. There are 3 kinds of courtyard houses, large, medium, and small. All of them were built in accordance with a strict set of rules. There were two large buildings nearby that faced each other – The Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. The Bell Tower in Beijing, located at the north end of the central axis from south to north in the ancient capital city, was built in 1272, and was burnt down in a fire. The Bell Tower was rebuilt in 1420. Again it was destroyed by fire. Construction of the present tower began in 1745 and was completed in 1747. The Bell Tower stands 47.9 meters high (136 feet), and it is characterized by double layers of upturned eaves, covered with black glazed tiles and edged with green glazed tiles. The whole building was built of brick and stone. Being the time-keeping center for the capital of Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the Bell Tower has enjoyed over 700 years of history. It is a reddish-brown building with yellow designs, and other more intricate designs of green, blue, gray, black, white, and red.


The Bell Tower - Hutong Lane.


Cheryl and Brett

We toured Hutong Lane on the back of a rickshaw – a bike with a bench seat for 2 to the rear of this bike. At one point we stopped and toured an actual home. They are stone and brick houses that resemble shanties, but they are probably not as leaky. They are old and I am spoiled so it isn’t anywhere that I would want to live – but it was interesting to tour. I did notice that they had a problem with disposing of garbage in a cleanly manner.


Cruising Hutong Lane.

We visited a tea shop where we learned from a delightful young lady about different kinds of tea, and with her sense of humor she made an uninteresting subject (to me) worthwhile to listen to – I even took some video. At one point she poured tea into a Buddha -looking tea pot with a spout, and tea came out the spout and all the sudden the Buddha-like man was taking a pee. She called him “pee pee man”. Later we checked out the tea pot shop and a couple of the guys in our group were looking for pee pee men that they could buy. At some point during this tour Cheryl accidentally knocked our digital camera out of my hands with her bag and it crashed to the ground landing on one of its corners before coming to rest. It still works but the battery/SD card cover doesn’t close unless held closed by tape and/or rubber band. Back to the bus to return to the Novotel for the day, where we ate dinner and Cheryl had to get some copies made at the resource room before the orientation. It wasn’t long before I decided I wasn’t going to go this whole trip without ice. We had been warned to avoid drinking tap water or using the ice in China because it can be contaminated and make us sick. However I need my drinks cold or they will make me sick anyway so I always called housekeeping to get ice each day – sometimes twice a day. They probably always called me “the ice man” because I ordered ice so frequently – everywhere we went. I don’t think I ever got sick from using ice in my drinks in China (I’m blaming the barfing incident at the Great Wall on the orange juice I drank that morning for breakfast, and also on the fact that I’m not in good physical shape). So ends our first full day in China’s capital city. Tomorrow is a free day for us, and for most of the others it is orientation day.