Light the Fuse and Run

After a couple of hours at the wall we made our way through a winding mountain pass, heading for the Ming Tombs. Along the way we experienced a wide range of road conditions – from sleep inducing to bone jarring – as well as some spectacular scenery.

We passed through many villages, most of which had fireworks stalls set up on the sides of the road. Peter (our driver) said that he wanted to stop and get some for his daughter because they would much cheaper in the villages than they would be in the city. I was all for this as it would give me an opportunity to buy some as well, under Peter’s expert supervision. When we pulled up Peter got out, and I then opened my door, causing Peter to block my exit while he explained that he should go alone first to sus out the prices – obviously if they saw me, the prices would increase quite significantly. Once he had sorted out the prices (and possibly a kick back for himself) he came back and said that it was OK for me to get out now – Jenene and the kids stayed in the car. I bought a good range of fireworks all for the princely sum of $4!

Officially, fireworks have been banned in China since the mid 90’s. The reality though, is that we did not have one waking moment from Friday to Tuesday when our ears weren’t objected to the obnoxious exploding sounds of these things being set off. In fact, quite a few of our sleeping moments were rudely interrupted by the same sounds, only during the night the fireworks were being set off so close to our apartment that we could smell the powder fumes.

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. So we did. We let off the red ones which basically made a lot of noise and did little else. We lit up our sparklers which sparkled and occasionally let off a little pop of exploding light. The best ones were the box of 16 that you set on the ground and they actually shoot up into the air and explode into different colours, just like the real ones. Being novices at this though, we found that once they got up in the air they tended to shoot off in different directions, hence quite a few of ours shot out sideways straight into the building and windows near our launch sight. Harper thought this was great and we had both had a good belly chuckle as we watched. We certainly didn’t hang around for too long after the last one had fizzled out though.

What's so great about the wall?

Well we made it back safe and sound from our Beijing sojourn, and I now feel like a real man in accordance with Chairman Mao’s words, “A man is not a real man until he has been to the Great Wall.” It was a wonderful experience and a truly great family holiday. The kids had a great time and they were fantastic in the way that they traveled and saw the sights. The best way to recount our adventures is to post a number of different installments, that way my fingers don’t get too sore, and you don’t give up reading half way through. There are many topics I could choose for our first installment, but I cannot help myself, I have to start with the Great Wall.

A little while before Christmas I spoke with a Kiwi guy, Joe, and mentioned to him that we were going to Beijing for spring break. This prompted him to share his experiences of Beijing with me, and he also gave me the number of the guy they used to get out to the wall. It seems that you can get to the wall a number of different ways, but from what we had read it sounded like having your own driver for the day was the way to go. So when we arrived on Friday my first job was to call this guy (who from this point will be known as Peter) to arrange our trip. After his initial shocked reaction, and my poor attempts to explain to him where to pick us up from, the trip was arranged for 8am Saturday morning.

Before concluding our phone call we needed to negotiate the price for this little escapade. I explained to him that we wanted to go to the Mutianya section of the wall (about a 30 minute drive further out than the more touristy Badaling section). And after that we wanted to go to the Ming Tombs and the Sacred Way. He explained that this would take all day and that it would cost 400 Chinese Yuan Renminbi which sounded very reasonable, so the deal was done. Now keep in mind that Peter picked us up in his car (see photo), paid for the fuel and all tolls, and waited at our stops while we went and explored, all for 400 Yuan! How much is this in Australian dollars? $65.50! Is it any wonder that no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t spend the money that we had budgeted for the whole trip?

I have been reading a book called “Planet of Slums” by Mike Davis which takes an in depth look into the world’s increasing urban slums, so it was with increased interest that I looked at the many shanty towns we passed through on our way to the wall. It was also with increased respect and admiration that I looked at the people standing around in these villages for their amazing resourcefulness and ingenuity. This hour and a half journey to the wall was an adventure in itself.

When we finally arrived at the wall we were in total shock, partly due to the magnitude of the wall, but moreso due to the fact that we were the only tourists there. We were actually the first ones there and they had to start up the chairlift to get us to the wall. We struck it at a very good time as we only saw 10 or so other people during the whole 2 hours that we were on the wall. This was like Christmas for us because we thought we were going to be shuffling and pushing our way around, but this was not the case. This was a truly mind blowing experience, and we were totally amazed not only by the wall’s size, but also by the precarious mountain peaks on which it was built. The kids loved running up and down the steps and hiding in the watch towers, while Jenene and I spent long moments just staring, trying to take it all in and pondering what was.

After walking back along the wall to our starting point, we jumped on a toboggan and rode the metal luge back down to the carpark. This is obviously very touristy, but it was a good way to entice the kids to walk as far as they did, knowing that there was a toboggan ride at the end. All in all this was by far one of the most amazing experiences that we have had, one that is very difficult to capture in words and pictures. Definitely something that we will remember always, and the fact that we cold share it with our kids made it even more special.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

If you are lucky to spend time regularly with kids, then you know that they often come out with some real verbal crackers. On our way to the airport yesterday we shared the bus ride with friends of ours from school, Cath and Jeff (from Melbourne) who are around the same age as Jenene and I. Harper was asking why they don't have any kids, and Jenene was explaining that they just haven't decided to have any kids yet. Harper then replied, "But are they married?" Jenene explained that they were married, causing Harper to go into deep thought for a few moments before asking, "So how do they keep the babies in?" I can see that the father - son birds and bees talk may be just around the corner, prompting questions like, "But the bee is so small, and the bird is so big, so how does the ........" I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

It's Been A While

I know that the blog has been in somewhat of a hiatus over the past few weeks, but c’mon, life gets busy you know. We have finished our first semester and things got a little hectic towards the end there with all the marking and report writing. It’s a very strange feeling this year, finishing one semester on Friday, and then beginning the new semester on Monday. I’m glad it’s only for this year; I don’t know how most people function only having 4 weeks holiday each year. I have been very busy over the past 3 days as I have been training for my Lifeguard qualification. Before any of you go there, there is absolutely no chance of me in a speedo (thankfully) – a thong maybe – but a speedo? No way! The experience has meant 3 days off school, and another 3 next week as well. It has also allowed me to go to one of the oldest, and most reputable, international schools in South Korea – Seoul Foreign School. Yesterday while we were standing beside the pool (indoor) I looked out the windows and noticed that it was snowing. This is the first time in my life that I have been swimming inside while it was snowing outside. Anyway, we are off to Beijing tomorrow, so keep an eye on the blog for an update of the Coopers’ Chinese Cavalcade.