The Epic tale of Mum & Dads' Trip to China (Pt 2)

Photos

Back from Xi'An and still drunk the next morning from Mike's birthday celebrations, we had a gentle day for all involved as Mum's knee, Dad's ankle and my conscious state were all a little iffy. So we took a stroll down the famous LiuLiChang Art Street and I finally bought a painting from an artist that I really adore, having been there many times but never being about to choose.

And I am now officially a "hero" because I climbed the Great Wall. We went to two sections of the Great Wall (at Badaling AND Mutianyu). Since before I came to Beijing everyone told me "Don't go to the Badaling section of the Great Wall!" because it is so touristy and absolutely crammed with people at the best of times. So, instead I arranged to go to another more beautiful section of the Wall. Mum actually felt unwell that morning so Dad I went ourselves, but Mum didn't miss too much because our luck ran out with the weather and it turned pea-soup appalling. As beautiful as Mutianyu was, we couldn't see enough of it to appreciate it! But, we did climb the steep section of it and very proud of ourselves we were. It's a lot steeper in many parts than it looks in the photos I can tell you now. And I was so impressed by the oldies who managed to get around. They build 'em tough over here!

But that did leave Mum without the experience of having seen the Wall at all, so later in the week we went again. This time though, against my most stringent warnings, to Badaling. We went on another tour, but at least we also went to the Ming Tombs which I've always wanted to see. It is where 13 emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) were buried, and each tomb is located at the foot of a separate hill. We went to the Changling Tomb, home of the the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Yongle and his Empress. Built in 1413, the mausoleum extends over an area of 100,000 square metres. The Soul Tower, which tells people whose tomb it is, rests on a circular wall called the "city of treasures" which surrounds the burial mound. We were rushed through the tomb, told we couldn't see the real tomb anyway as it hadn't been excavated before shoved back on the bus to go to somewhere else where they could flog their wares at us.

But after lunch we went to the Great Wall at Badaling and luckily, it being Beijing, the weather had turned again overnight and we had a glorious day. All the better to see the other million people on the wall with us! Badaling is the most famous section of the wall, the closest part to Beijing, and was made famous by Mao who climbed it and declared that you are not a "real man" (which the tour guide artistically translated as "hero" instead) until you've climbed the Great Wall. So it seems that every man, woman and child in China pilgrimage to Badaling, and the Chinese phrase "People mountain, people sea" sprang to mind when we were there.

But when you reached a pinnacle of a section of the Wall you did have an awesome view and I can wholeheartedly say I did enjoy Badaling. I'm glad it wasn't my first experience of the Wall, as it really was the human version of Beijing CBD at rush hour on a Monday morning, but it was great to see the Wall snaking its way through the mountains just like you see it in all the photos. As a bonus, I even found my "Mao coat" there! For only Y50, bargain. It weights a tonne though, it's already broken one of my coat hangers. So it sits (well, practically stands up by itself) in the corner now.

Actually, I had another of those moments I'll always remember when while standing on the pinnacle of the Wall, I got a call from the editor of a local magazine, "That's Beijing". She got my number through a mutual friend and asked if I would mind being part of the cover feature for their next issue. As it's a Christmas issue, she explained, it's about people who work for causes or NGOs in Beijing and they are looking for 10 people to feature. I'm not to proud to admit I was really excited about it all! So, overall, Badaling left a pretty good impression on me.

The rest of Mum and Dads' visit consisted of visiting the beautiful Temple of Heaven, the trendy 'Nanluogu Xiang' street, and the enormous Summer Palace. On their final night, we went out to a special Pre-Birthday Dinner for Mum, as her birthday was the Friday after they left. We went to an amazing Shanghainese restaurant, and to my great amusement, we were ushered by a Chinese John Cleese (really! see the photos!). We had crab because it's Mum's traditional birthday food, and the most enormous but delicious Taiwanese shaved ice mountain of a dessert. Though the photos look like we had one each we actually only had one between us, but we just all needed to have a photo with it!

It was very sad to see them go, but I think they liked what they saw enough that a trip back to China in April might be on the cards. I'm holding thumbs.