Saving the best for last

Courtyard in a house in the hutongs
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On Friday the 23rd Anna skived off work to come sightseeing with us for the afternoon, plan was to do a much anticipated hutong tour.  Hutongs are the traditional form of housing in Beijing, consisting of brick houses formed around central courtyards making a square.  Rich families may have one whole courtyard to themselves, so all four sides of the square, while poorer families would share a courtyard.  The courtyards are joined by narrow alleyways, in many cases too small to fit a car through.  After some haggling with the touts offering tours we got in two rickshaws and were cycled through one of the three hutong areas in Beijing that are open to tourists.

Group at the start of our trek
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The drivers took us to 3 houses, 2 of which are still occupied, so we could see inside which was interesting.  The first house was built in 1622, with only the North side still original as this is the area for important members of the family and so was built stronger with better materials and craftsmanship and has withstood earthquakes the rest of the house didn't.  This house was simpler in design, compared to the next house which was newly renovated in a Western style while still retaining Chinese characteristics, it was very beautiful.  The owner told us about how his family has owned the house for 100 years, but in the cultural revolution they were forced to accept 5 other families into the house, and it has only just been renovated after the damage done to it during this time.  The next house belongs to a family who was related to the emperor, and so was much larger and grand.  No one lives there anymore, but the original family had just received it back after much fighting in the last two years after it was taken off them in the cultural revolution.  During this tour was the only time in China that people have mentioned the cultural revolution, apart from some signs mentioning the "supposed" cultural revolution in places where the historical artifacts were destroyed and then rebuilt.  Driving through the alleyways was just as interesting, catching glimpses into peoples courtyards through open doors.

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That night we stayed in the same area to have a few drinks, discovering that drinking cocktails is the most economical way to get drunk in China! We also went to a bar to try a water pipe, on Tammys request of course.

On Saturday, my last full day, we had planned our great wall excursion, a 10k trek from the Janshanling area in a neighbouring province to the Simatai area closer to Beijing.  The guide book said that while the length of the wall is only 10ks between the two points, it will take about 4 hours due to the steep and treacherous terrain.  Following Lonely Planets guidance we headed off to the bus station to get on a minibus early in the morning, and ended up agreeing to go with a tout as they will take us to one side then pick us up at the other side, guaranteeing a ride home when we needed it.  We also couldn't find the bus station at this stage.  Going with this man was an experience - getting to see how Chinese people drive between the cities, just as crazy as in them, but at 100k/h.  Roads that appear to only have 2 lanes actually have 5, as the centre line is used for passing on blind corners and when cars are coming towards you, as well as the shoulders of the roads.  Best not to watch, as what you don't know wont hurt you!

Alleyways in the Hutongs
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We got to Jinshanling in one piece, after a small stop to wait for police checking licences to go on their lunch break as our driver wasn't supposed to drive in the Hebei province, and started up the wall.  It was amazing. The wall close to the road had been renovated, but after about 6 watchtowers the wall became less refurbished, with watchtowers broken down, and the walking surface more rough and uneven.  This made the experience even better as we could clearly see the age of the wall, making it more impressive, rather than something that looks like it had been created for a tourist attraction where I had been with the tour group.   Some areas we had to scramble more than walk, the stairs were so steep we went up almost like climbing a ladder.  The views were wonderful, we had our first clear day since being back in Beijing, the hard work climbing it all contributing to a wonderful experience.   It did take us more than 4 hours to make it to Simatai, but mainly due to the many picture taking stops we made than our general unfitness.  We discovered that Tammy, the rock climbing, snow boarding Tammy, is actually nervous of heights, making the steep passages where the wall had broken down - giving a large drop off down the mountain - pretty difficult, but she was a trooper and made it through.

Tammy and Anna in the rickshaw - Anna is talking to her work on the phone, not quite completely skiving off!
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Overall it was an amazing day, a great farewell to Beijing.