The Great Wall at Simitai

A Fantastic day out

We caught the bus to Simitai from the Dongzhimen bus station in Beijing and was that a ride and a half!! A 19 seater bus that stopped every two minutes on the way out of Beijing to pick up or coerce passengers on to it. When all the seats were taken they brought out little fold up wooden stools and the people continued to pile on to the bus- 38 in all plus the driver and what a rde!!
Off the bus at the Simitai stop and in to a "taxi"- a van with few seats- a couple of bits of foam on the floor for us and we were off again. The landscape was mountainous and the towers of the wall could be seen peeping over the hill tops. Haviong dreamt about the wall since being a child- I was thrilled to be so close to it. On arriving at the bus stop we were told when to be back in the car park- no later- you miss bus! The hillsides loomed over us and we headed up the steep incline to the wall itself. Simitai is very much the original wall as it has not been renovated like those closer to Beijing. Some of the inclines are at 70 degree angles and the scenery is absolutely stunning. What I noticed most was the total silence. As this part of the wall is quite remote there are not as many visitors and we did not hear a single bird. The day was fantastic, the climb was steep and hot and challenging but oh so rewarding- I am going back for sure! How on earth they managed to get a freezer half way up the wall with icecreams and water for sale at enormously inflated prices I will never know! Take lots of water it's hot and steep and thirsty work.

Staying in the hutong

Beijing is a wonderful wonderful city- we stayed in one of the original hutong areas for a very reasonable price and being out of our time zone - woke early. Heading out in to the streets at 5.30 in the morning we were able to see the street life coming alive and to watch and photograph all the amazing scenes so early in the morning. Push bike traffic jams as they all rushed to work, tai-chi in the park, chinese chess on the footpath, bikes piled high with goods for the markets, the cacophony of noise in the early morning markets, and so much more. The temples are superb, the Forbidden City architecture brilliant but the street life is fascinating, amusing and wonderful!! We were able to say thank you and that was about it but we were able to est and live in Beijing for 6 days without too much trouble!!! Returning in the evening to the small hutong room that we had was superb, it was so quiet and peaceful, a nice cool shower and we headed back out to sample the night life ont he streets. You feel so safe and everyone is out taking their evening stroll in the Pyjamas!!

Hawkers at Tiananmen Square

Little did we know but hawking is not allowed in the streets of Beijing and the Police frown on it. Around the edge of Tiananmen Square were dozens of hawkers with their wares pouring out of black plastic rubbish bags. Ice blocks, key rings and Mao memorabilia for miles. We sat and watched as they tried to catch nearly every passerby and convince them - in Chinese- of their absolute need to have a Mao badge. On the edge of these people were others who had no bags and did not talk to the passers by but their heads swivelled from left to right incessantly. We were amused to say the least as to what thier antics meant.
A loud call from one of them and every hawker on the street threw their precious souvenirs into their black bags and within seconds they all legged it in every direction possible. By this point we were highly amused by the rapid response to the call we did not understand!! Until the Policeman walked around the corner to be confronted with an empty street and two strange white faced people with verybemused looks on their faces perched on the brick wall of the lawn!! We had our explanation as to the rapid departure of the incessant hawkers!! We saw this many times and we were as amused by each incident as we were the first time!!

Queueing in China

The Lonely Planet Guide explained quite clearly that queueing was not a thing that the Chinese were good at and that you had to be prepared to push your way to the ticket office if you actually wanted a ticket. I read this and thought OK I can do that but I was not prepared for the actual event!! Arriving at the Summer Palace just out of Beijing I was confronted with an enormous throng of locals at the ticket office. So in I went with the words of the LP Guide in my mind. but no matter how I tried I did not seem to get any closer to the ticket box! My husband stood by watching and smiling at my vain attempts. In fact I seemed to be getting further away rather than closer as the locals pushed in from the sides and forced those of us behind further back. While desperately trying to rectify this situation I noticed a very well dressed lady standing near the ticket office holding an umbrella and obviously standing on something as she stood higher than everyone else. She spotted me in the crowd, not hard to do as I was the only European, and pulled out her umbrella and started to yell loudly at those in front of me - they didn't move so she began belting them on the head with her umbrella and with this the crowds parted and I was pushed forward to the ticket office and purchased my ticket with ease! If it had not been for this vociferous lady and her skill with a brolly I think I would still be trying to get in to the Summer Palace!!