Today was another early start in which we also had to repack our bags as we had a late night flight to Ningbo where we would be residing for 2 weeks at the University where we were teaching. Another delicious breakfast of rice and watermelon I was chowing down on Chinese versions of Pringles for energy for the ridiculously strenuous hike we were about to take along a section of the Great Wall.
Once we arrived at the Great Wall we set off through the shops and restaurants on the side, towards the entrance. To my surprise I saw a Subway and a KFC. After some fries I was ready to trek up this wall and with like an hour or so of time to see how far we could go before needing to turn back, Elise and I set out. The wall is incredibly steep in places and set in picturesque mountains although it is a shame that it is very smoggy with no chance of blue skies.
It was incredibly hot that day and I stupidly allowed my vain side to overcome any common sense and decided to wear a long sleeved top and a hat with my hair out. So fashion is pain and I was sweating like you wouldn’t believe. We would need breaks every 5 minutes and we got a little disheartened when we saw women in heels or adorable children overtaking us. Now come on I understand that Chinese women like to wear some sort of heel all the time, but lady please, you are walking the Great Wall. Come on.
Walking up we were once again stopped every so often to pose for photos with other tourists. Now my friend Elise was blonde so I understood her appeal, but as a brunette I was unsure of mine. Turns out that women in China desire to be pale and as I could possibly be the whitest person in the world they were quite taken with me. Lucky I did not do a home job of fake tanning before I left or I would have not met so many amusing people. We posed with women, children and even a few men who went for a sly grope. Each saying I was beautiful and being lovely as we awkwardly smiled and tried to communicate through the little Mandarin I knew and laughter.
We kept walking and walking and got to a section which I felt seemed to even out from its various peaks. Obviously the Great Wall goes for many Kilometers and it would take approximately 10 days to walk the length, so I felt I had done a significant chunk and felt accomplished. It was definitely one of the most awesome things I have done, as can you find an World icon as big as this? I purchased a plaque with my name on it and the date in which I walked it and headed back down with satisfaction of a job well done. We took a leisurely stroll down, mostly due to the fact that my legs could have given way and I would have fallen off the side never to be seen again, and to bask in the atmosphere.
Next we went to the Summer Palace. It was a former Emperor’s summer residence and by building this extravagant palace he apparently sent China into bankruptcy. It was a beautiful place with lots of willow trees, lotus flowers and had a massive 22 000 visitors that day. That just goes to show how big China is.
We went to dinner shortly after which was courtesy of one of our professor’s friends. Chinese people are very warm and hospitable and the meal was delicious as I was discovering Chinese beers were also.
There was no rest for the wicked after dinner, and we were straight back to Beijing airport to catch another plane to Ningbo.
We were not looking forward to the flight despite it being only 2 hours in length.
To my shock and horror when I boarded the plane and sat in my seat the stewardess starts yelling at me and shoving a piece of laminated cardboard in my face. Turns out I was assigned the emergency exit seat and had to memorize these instructions as it was my duty to save the plane and open the exit incase of emergency. Oh my god. I was just looking forward to a nice pleasant flight where I could sleep but no these extra responsibilities that came with the extra leg room had rendered me unable to sleep. I told one of the boys from our group who was also sitting in my row that incase of emergency they better be prepared to take charge as I would have a heart attack and die on the spot. From the diagrams on the instructional sheet I came to the conclusion that I would need to pull the emergency exit open, something I don’t even know if I would be capable of doing with these puny arms and assist with shuffling other people out. Pretty much sacrificing myself for the good of the other passengers. Yikes.
We managed to all chat about our background and things as a distraction, realizing we all grew up around the same place. However at the back of my mind the whole time was the fact that how ironic would it be if the time I sit at the emergency exit the plane actually does have an emergency.
Just as I was starting to feel comfortable as we made our decent, the light for the exit came on, just as a precaution like it always does but I nearly had a stroke. I think it took lie 10 minutes for me to get the feeling back in my legs. But hey I survived. And come to think of it the extra legroom was awesome.
We then got our luggage and boarded a coach to Ningbo University, where we were given our room keys and left to sleep. The rooms were quite modest, a little dirty but I knew it would be nice to be settled for a few weeks and not have to pack or catch a flight.
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