zeppelin's China Megathread

Zeppelin · May 28, 2007, 11:37am

Let me preface this by saying that I am not some loony China apologist. I don’t think it’s the greatest place in the world, I don’t think that everybody should come here and do the same thing that I’m doing, and I don’t hate America. In fact, these days, with the seemingly never-ending tide of English teachers flocking to Asia, I’m more inclined to advise them to just forget about China and go to the far less strenuous paradises of South Korea or Japan. Only to the most masochistic of would-be expatriates would I recommend China to, though I must admit that to a certain kind of personality, China is good fun at least for a while. For one thing, I can survive by working on 8 to 10 hours a week if I really wanted. And that’s on a diet of western food like pizza and hamburgers. I have met people here who work 30 hour weeks for 3 months, then just goof off the other nine months. China is cheap. You can split a livable apartment (2 bedrooms, a toilet, and a TV) for about 250US combined, you can get 600mL bottles of beer for about 20 cents, and I won’t bother explaining how cheap rice and noodles are. Plus, you don’t have to learn how to count to 6 billion just to buy a bag of dumplings.

I do, however, think that China is vastly misunderstood by just about everyone in the world. I’ve been here almost two years and I certainly don’t pretend to understand it, but I do have a sort-of empirical sense that China is far from the hyper-controlled autocratic wonderland that I was initially led to believe. Much like walking down any given street in Chicago, a stroll down a street in Beijing will reveal any number of the following: long-haired hippies wearing hemp shirts, metal-kids wearing Metallica shirts, businessmen and women in sharp suits, bubbly college girls giggling at hello kitty-like shit, gay guys holding hands, dirty ass manual laborers, rebellious teenagers wearing FUCK BUSH shirts…the list goes on. Perhaps Beijing is not a good representative sample of the Chinese population at large, but I have of course been all over to other places, and the same principle generally applies. This is not an apology, I have seen first hand the utter brutality of the system at work, but I would hope one does not choose to come (or not come) to China because of some half-conceived political notions. It is ultimately the people, the history, the culture that have kept me here, and though I might have any number of strong disagreements with the way the whole shebang is run (refer to my previous thread “How I Got Kicked Out of China” for ample examples…), that doesn’t really matter.

Anyhow, the point of this thread isn’t for me to wax philosophical, though I do love to do so. I’m pretty sure I’ve come to the point now where I am ready to move on from Beijing quite soon, and probably from China altogether. As such, I thought I would post up some of my more interesting photo adventures throughout the week, for any of those curious as to what China actually looks like. I’ve got a lot of freedom, so I’ve been all over, from broke-ass village slums to ritzy 5 star hotels, and I’ve tried my best to document all of it. If any of you have any questions, I can try my best to answer (or one of the other old China hands like DT might be able to answer if they feel so inclined).

For today, I’ve chosen to upload a series of photos I took on a great wall hike. My roommate John, his Vietnamese girlfriend Ying Shui, and I went on a two and a half day, 25k hike across the great wall, from the crumbling 500 year old remains of 古北口 (gubeikou) to the redone tourist wonderland at 司马台 (simatai). To give you a bit of an idea what this hike entailed, you can see this map of the Beijing great wall section.

The section we hiked as from 5 to 3. The Beijing section of the Great Wall was one of the most important sections, since the Ming and Qing Dynasties chose to locate their capital in Beijing. The region is perfect for building a wall, with many steep mountains that the Chinese could gain the upper ground on. There are many rumors that the wall was used as a “highway” but it is obvious this was not true, at least not around here. The wall was often built at the steepest and highest sections of the mountains, and to even imagine a carriage traversing those steep cliffs is humorous to say the least.

We started our adventure in the early afternoon by bus. It would take about 2 and a half hours to reach the outer suburb of Miyun, and from there we would have to take a private taxi to gubeikou. Luckily for us, the road to Miyun is a nice, modern four-lane road. Driving in China can be a bit scary, but two-lane roads are the worst.

My camera is a bit old these days, and has traveled to over 12 different countries with me. I should really replace the battery, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. I knew I would not be able to charge the battery during the trip, so I had to conserve the juice until we got to the wall. I tried to snag a couple photos on the way though. Our plan was to get to the base of the gubeikou wall before sunset, spend the night at the base, then begin the hike in the morning of the second day. After arriving in Miyun, we found a private cab to take us to the wall. To make it cheaper, we split the ride with two other Chinese guys going to a different section of the wall past where we were going. So all 5 of us squeezed into a tiny little Chinese Xiali. John being the biggest took the passenger seat, but I at least got to put his girlfriend on my lap for the 100 minute trip out there. Worse things have happened. We got plenty of opportunities to brush up on our colloquial Chinese with the other guys in the car.

We spent the night in this little cottage for about 5 dollars. There was no running water or electricity, but that didn’t matter. We made a little fire outside and shot the breeze until we were sufficiently drunk on warm Qingdaos, then hit the sack.

The hike up to the actual wall was probably the most difficult part. The gubeikou section of the wall is completely unrestored, and it is not exactly an advertised section of the wall for tourists to go. There are some stone steps up to the top, but the people we spent the night with advised us to go the long way for better views. We were in no hurry, so we took about an hour to hike the 200m or so up to the top. I took this picture about halfway up when the wall first came into sigh.

We finally reached the topic, and John decided to celebrate by apparently molesting his girlfriend. At this point, the wall is little more than some crumbling stones at the top of the hill.

Zeppelin · May 28, 2007, 11:38am

In the distance, however, we could see a long stretch of more formidable wall stretching out

almost to eternity.

The first day’s wall hike turned out to be rather pleasant. This section of the great wall

is actually quite flat, and the slopes of the hills gently rolling. We moved at a pretty

quick pace, since we knew it would get harder towards the end. Most of the wall here has

long crumbled away, leaving only the base upon which to walk. But occasionally a few

remaining pieces will stick out.

Some parts of the wall could be rather treacherous. There are no rails of any sort to hang

onto, and much of the surface is quite slippery for layers of dust and soil have grown over

the stone. There is a good 15 or 20 foot drop on either side of the wall as well, and

though one could conceivably survive that fall without too much harm, it would be nearly

impossible to actually get back up onto the wall, so you must go slowly and steadily.

After hiking for a couple of hours, we reach a section of the wall that enters into a

Chinese military facility. At this point, we have to get off the wall and hike around it.

There is a prepared path for doing so, but it is quite steep and slippery. As you can see

here, a barbed wire wall is put in place to stop people from entering this section of the

wall.

After a half hour or so of slow descent, we look back at the wall, for this is the last time

we will see it for a few hours. The path then heads down into the forest, and into a small

village.

Heading down into the village, we see the first people we have seen in about 5 hours. It is

a small farming village, and many of them are out tending to the fields. Though we have not

seen anybody else on this trip, we know that other foreigners must do this regularly, as the

villagers barely even notice us. In most places in China, foreigners draw a large crowd of

excited people, but these farmers just continue about their work. There isn’t much to show

of this part of the hike, other than a couple hours of farms.

Zeppelin · May 28, 2007, 11:39am

In late afternoon, we reach the middle section of the wall called 金山岭 (jinshanling). It is

a restored section of the wall, and you can see a vast difference between this section and

the previous one. Here, John is standing on the Mongolian side of the wall (you can tell

because it is the side with arrow slots). There are a few other tourists at this section,

but not that many, being that it takes over 4 hours to get here from downtown Beijing. The

walking sections are far steeper here, and the day of hiking is starting to wear on us.

The restored section only goes about one kilometer, however, before rapidly falling into

decay again. The section is newer than the previous one, however, and much of the surface

is still stone covered rather than soil. The hiking here is much slower and more dangerous.

Though there are the remains of steps to use, they are unbelievably steep, and in some cases

more than 3 feet drop between steps. Going down is more treacherous than going up, and here

Ying Shui is carefully navigating her way down a steep section.

Night time is coming on fast, so we decide to set up camp. Note that it is technically

illegal to camp on the wall, but many people do it anyway. Regardless, once it gets dark,

its not like anyone will be able to navigate their way to find us without dying first. The

sun sets slowly in the mountains, and the twilight seems to last forever. Unfortunately,

our beer supplies were low, so we had to deal with the boredom of camping sober. We could

hear some music drifting up from a town somewhere. Out here, sound travels a long way.

Our camping setup. Surprisingly comfortable for sleeping on stone.

Beijing is known for its foggy weather, and this morning was no exception. Nevertheless,

from on top of the wall, you could still see a fair distance in the morning haze.

We set off at about 9AM on the last leg of the trip. Actually, we had covered 2/3 of the

ground the day before, but the last 1/3 is very slow going. The climbs and descents are

very steep, and even at a brisk pace could only cover maybe 2 or 2.5km in one hour.

Finally, about noon, we arrived at the simatai section, though it would take over an hour to

descend to the simatai pass. If one is so inclined, he could continue to travel up the

other side to the wangjing tower, but as you can see in this picture, that would be a

harrowing climb, and on the third day we were anxious to get back.

Zeppelin · May 28, 2007, 11:41am

Near the base, someone decided it would be a good idea to write Pink Floyd (in Pink!) on the

side of the wall. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

And finally, about 1:30, we came to the exit. A taxi and bus ride back, and we were

comfortably back home and able to shower and change our clothes. Most importantly, I was

able to check off “camp along the great wall” from my checklist of "must do"s. Did I become

a wiser or stronger man for having done so? I don’t think so. After a couple days of seeing

nothing but wall, you realize that though it is the world’s largest manmade structure, it

is,in the end, nothing but a wall built to keep foreigners out. And I guess there is

nothing left but the post-modern chuckle that now it is a favorite tourist sight for those

very foreigners to take a picture at.

Kero_Hazel · May 28, 2007, 1:19pm

Wow, kick ass pics, dude. I sorta skimmed them but I’ll give this thread some proper reading treatment, and probably ask some questions too, since I’m somewhat interested in visiting China. Later, after work. Yes, I’m working on Memorial Day.

Charlemagne · May 28, 2007, 3:01pm

Did you try any dog while you where there? If I had to, I’d eat a dog. But not Collie. I don’t like the taste of Collie.

Rigmarole · May 29, 2007, 6:40am

Minus its 1,3+bn citizens

[quote=] It is ultimately the people, the history, the culture that have kept me here, and though I might have any number of strong disagreements with the way the whole shebang is run (refer to my previous thread “How I Got Kicked Out of China” for ample examples…), that doesn’t really matter.
[/QUOTE]
So, any books in English which are published only in China? I ask because in India there were a couple editions like that. Though India, English, yes blah blah.

What’s the rest of your must-do list?

Cless_Alvein · May 29, 2007, 7:35am

did you see any fa lun gong protests while there?

Seifer · May 29, 2007, 1:04pm

Very interesting Zep, thanks for sharing.

Ever since China implemented a “one child per family” rule, there is a certain demographic imbalance - 120 boys for each 100 girls, according to some statistics. Were you able to observe this phenomenon in your day-to-day activities? Was it noticeable in your classes?

Charlemagne · May 29, 2007, 3:26pm

That is no longer legal, you cannot get an abortion in china anymore, or even find out the gender before hand. Because people wanted a boy more than they wanted a girl. Or somthing like that. Thats just what I heard anyway.

Zeppelin · May 29, 2007, 10:11pm

There are some books, but most of them are just travel books or information guides about cities and the like. There is an English-language newspaper published in China called the China Daily, but its mostly just propaganda and 2-day old AP reprints.

Must-do list in China? Well, I guess pretty much the only things I haven’t done that I wanted to do when I came is to take a boat down the Yangtze and go to Tibet. But I’ll be going to Tibet in the summer, but I probably won’t have time to do a Yangtze cruise. The full cruise takes over a week.

I’m not a very picky eater, and I’ve tried just about everything. Dog, cat, rabbit, goose neck, chicken’s hearts, pigs brains. It’s all really cheap, so why not? Dog meat is a bit dry and flavorless, by the way. Goose neck’s are really good with cold beer.

The government cracks down hardcore on this shit in Beijing. I don’t particularly believe all the claims about organ harvesting and crap, I think the government just tries to keep this stuff out of the big cities. You can see a lot of Falun Gong stuff out in the country in the West where it’s a bit more lawless. May 13th is the Falun Gong anniversary. In 2006, a friend of mine and I went to Tiananmen Square to see if we could catch a protest. We did see some Falun Gong, but I would hardly call it a protest. Basically, some Falun Gong sneak in with some Chinese tourist groups, and then at a certain time they will start doing their exercises. There are police all over the square watching for this, and within seconds they were forcefully carted away into vans never to be seen again. It happens so quickly that unless you’re really paying attention, you might not even notice it happening.

You see less of this in the cities. Some of my classes had more boys, some had more girls. Many city people can afford to pay the fine for having another kid (up until a few years ago it was only a couple thousand dollars, which many middle class families can afford in the cities), so you see many families with one boy and one girl in Beijing. I guess out in the countryside the ratio is outrageous though. I’ve seen pictures of public school classrooms with like 25 boys and 6 girls. It is a serious problem that is going to have massive repercussions somewhere down the line. My girlfriend jokes that her monetary value increases by the day in China, which in some ways is true. Unfortunately, logic rarely prevails in these situations and the old thoughts die hard. In China, a boy will stay in the family and be a producer of wealth, while a girl will just leave to another family. Of course, actual relationships in China have become more westernized, with both boys and girls leaving the family to pursue their own dreams. But like I said, old thoughts die hard.

As for abortions being illegal, I don’t know who the hell told you that. You can walk into any hospital and get one for a couple bucks, no counseling needed. While technically scanning to see the sex of the baby is illegal, a few bucks go a long way in China and you can pay off the doctor to perform the test anyway. Many families do this.

Tomorrow I’ll post up some of the pictures I’ve taken of slums and shanty towns around beijing.

Cless_Alvein · May 29, 2007, 11:25pm

I live next to the Chinese passport office in Toronto, so I bike past Fa Lun Gong protesters (they don’t so much as protest as stand there and do their thing with a sign that they put up) every morning. I was more wondering how the people get converts (I assume a lot of them are just paid slogan-shouting people?) and what their takes/the government’s takes are. But if you haven’t really talked to these people, then whatever, I guess.

Zeppelin · June 1, 2007, 10:32pm

Falun Gong really isn’t a political movement in the first place. It’s not really even that strong of a religious movement. Most of the members, at least in China, are pretty much old taiji practitioners looking for something different, maybe in their hopelessness believing that somehow these new techniques will bring them a new awareness or power over their own life. But it’s not really that political in China. As for how they recruit new members? I don’t know, probably the same way Christians or Muslims do, I suppose. If you want to know more, I’d recommend reading the books by Peter Hessler on China, he goes into it some more than I can, since he was a journalist here.

Also, my fucking laptop broke down Friday, and I won’t get it back for a week or so, so I guess I’ll post up the pictures and revive this thread as soon as I get it back.

Zeppelin · June 1, 2007, 10:42pm

Falun Gong really isn’t a political movement in the first place. It’s not really even that strong of a religious movement. Most of the members, at least in China, are pretty much old taiji practitioners looking for something different, maybe in their hopelessness believing that somehow these new techniques will bring them a new awareness or power over their own life. But it’s not really that political in China. As for how they recruit new members? I don’t know, probably the same way Christians or Muslims do, I suppose. If you want to know more, I’d recommend reading the books by Peter Hessler on China, he goes into it some more than I can, since he was a journalist here.

Also, my fucking laptop broke down Friday, and I won’t get it back for a week or so, so I guess I’ll post up the pictures and revive this thread as soon as I get it back.