Changcheng

When we last left off, I was about to leave for Shanhaiguan with vague plans and little preparation. It had the potential to be a huge disaster. Well, it was fantastic.

Things didn’t look good when we woke up on Friday to pouring rain. Brian and I met Niall and his friend Kristi, who teaches English in Korea, at the train station and eventually found our gate. We found ourselves sitting next to probably the only other foreigners on the train, two guys who were also headed to Shanhaiguan with plans to camp on the Great Wall. There wasn’t much to see on the way there since it was so rainy and gray. The train moved slowly and stopped frequently, and it was a long six hours. (By the way, try using a squat toilet on a moving train.)

Shanhaiguan is about 200 miles/315 km from Beijing and, like everything else in China, has a long history. The area has had a human presence since the Neolithic Age, and Shanhaiguan itself (the name means “between the mountains and the sea”) was built in 1381. Throughout history the town has been a strategic military pass. Most recently, it experienced Japanese occupation from 1933 to 1945. In October 1945, weeks after the Japanese surrender, Shanhaiguan witnessed a clash between Nationalist and Communist forces.

Once we arrived in Shanhaiguan the first thing we did was buy return tickets, because in China you can only buy tickets one way. We had planned to stay one night and take the train back the next day, but there were no seats available until Sunday. If we had known this would happen, I think we all would have packed differently and perhaps thought to bring some key items (socks, underwear, hairbrush, toothbrush, etc.). Combined with the fact that our hostel had no shower, this would later make for a smelly trip back.

From the train station we went into town by taxi, whose driver insisted on taking us to a particular hotel outside our price range. When we explained that we wanted to look around and find another hotel, he first told us it was too dark and then, when we politely declined again and walked away, proceeded to follow us down the street in his car before finally giving up. After eating, walking around for awhile and having halting conversations with a few other drivers, we found a great place – four beds in a room for 35 RMB (less than US$5) per person per night.

Shanhaiguan is more popular with Chinese tourists than foreigners, and we were quite a spectacle. At lunch on Saturday a little girl came up with a notebook and asked me to write out my name (my autograph?). In the afternoon we visited the Great Wall Museum, then took a taxi to Jiumenkou, where a 100-m section of the Great Wall crosses a river. Fortunately the rain stopped not long after we got there. The place was practically deserted. We wandered through an impressive aviary and down a Great Wall tunnel before getting on the Wall itself.

Mao Zedong reportedly had a saying: “Bú dào Chángchéng fēi hǎo hàn” (“A man who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a real man”). In our case it was more like, “A man who has not taken 100 photos on the Great Wall is not a real tourist.” The clouds and mist gave the experience a reverent, eerie feel. (Photos here.)

The weather cleared up on Sunday, perfect timing for our visit to Laolongtou (Old Dragon’s Head). This is where the Great Wall meets the Bohai Sea, stretching more than 22 meters into the water. There were more people here, and we were disappointed to spot other foreigners for the first time all weekend. But I can hardly blame them. Built in 1579, Laolongtou rises over a flawless beach with minimal disruptions, save for enterprising businessmen taking tourists (including us) out for a spin on their motorboats. (Photos here.)

After lunch we returned to the train station, where we didn’t have to wait long before our train arrived. Actually getting on the train was a different story. When it pulled into the station we all lined up at our respective cars, but no one could get on because so many people were squeezing their way through the standing-room-only crowd – luggage in hand and on head – to disembark. The train was already late, and it was taking so long to board everyone that staff started waving us down to other cars where the lines were shorter. The door we passed through was several feet off the ground with no steps, so train attendants pulled us up from above and hoisted us up from below, then shoved us in. We had seats in the next car, but there was no going anywhere. We were standing next to a man with a snack cart, and the idea of him pushing it anywhere was laughable.

Crowds never stop Chinese people, however. Soon someone came pushing through in our direction, so we decided to let him clear a path for us. Picture a pile of writhing earthworms – it was like moving through that. Finally we arrived at our seats and apologetically dislodged the people sitting there. This time the trip was shorter, only about four and a half hours, and we were able to see more of the countryside. We arrived in Beijing around 7:30 p.m., parted ways with Niall and Kristi and got on the subway to Tongzhou, ready to start another week.

China Fun Fact: All the Great Wall sections built over 2,000 years add up to more than 50,000 kilometers in length.