Travel Adventures

Armed with 5 guidebooks and a road atlas I headed out to the hills north of Beijing to find myself some adventure in the area near Huanghuacheng or "Yellow Flower Wall".

There were no yellow flowers on this day, just clear blue skies, patches of snow and a broken down wall that stretched across the peaks. Perfect for a solo adventure!

Hurriedly, I parked the car on the side of the road and didn’t even blink when a little old lady ambushed me with a 5 Yuan fee for parking. I was too excited by the prospect of exploring the looming wall to consider how ludicrous it was to be paying a parking fee on the side of a deserted road, and in too much of a hurry to feel the ancient bricks beneath my feet to think about how long the little old lady had been lying in ambush.

Running across the dam wall, I was halted by an old guy sunning himself beneath an enormous peasant hat. He demanded a 2 Yuan “entrance fee”. I grudgingly paid and ran up the steep incline looking for a suitable point to access the wall – which eventually came in the shape of a rusty old ladder thoughtfully placed against the wall.

Climbing in through a window in one of the towers, I was met by an awe-inspiring sight. Rugged ranges still tinged with snow and crowned with long snaking sections of un-restored wall greeted me. My adrenalin was pumping and I ran from one vantage point to another, giggling to myself and taking “selfies”.

Noticing the sun going down fast and exhausted by hours of exploring this isolated wall, I ran all the way back down again.
Upon descending I noticed another path going off the other side of the wall. This path proceeded through the local cornfields, so I took a gamble and set off. Half way down I was ambushed again when an ancient lady armed with a sharply honed pruning stick and hunched with years of hard work jumped onto the path and demanded 2 Yuan to let me pass. I told her I had paid the other guy. She didn’t care, that was the other path.

I smiled my best smile and tried using my fledgling Mandarin:
“Bu shi ni de Changcheng” – which roughly translates as “It is not your Great Wall!”

Impressing myself and trying not to burst out laughing, I was absolutely surprised that she not only understood my stupid Mandarin, but also retorted with a terse mandarin version of:
“Yes, but it’s my land!”

Now, old ladies in dusty cornfields are even swindling me. I took a look at her big stick and then took a long look back up the hill again…

She got her 2 Yuan.