Yesterday began very, very early. And like every day I have experienced for the past week, it was bursting with activity. Our last day in Beijing stated at 5:30AM, a time when no human being should be awake, we left for the Great Wall of China. Even though we have been here since Monday I still felt a bit jetlagged and waking up at this hour feels a little awful. However, my excitement overcomes me – I will be traversing one of the Seven Wonders of the World. And I'll be doing it with a group of truly incredible, genuine people.
I did not really know what to expect. I had gone on crazy hikes before but this one was a little different. Like yesterday, the weather was good to us; the sun was shining high in the sky and the rays on my back felt warm and inviting. We started out on what seemed to be a never-ending flight of stairs of all varying heights and widths. That was the warm up. When we finally got to the wall, there was an absolutely breathtaking view of the landscape. Because it was such a clear, beautiful day we could literally see where our hike would be leading us. The wall is a combination of areas with original stones and restored areas. Meaning that some parts of the hike were very rugged and somewhat perilous, while the renovated areas were touristy because of their accessibility. The ones that I personally enjoyed the most were the rugged parts. Not only because they were more physically challenging, but also because they told much more of what the wall has been through, the wall's story. It seemed that at every spot on the wall I could see the wall distinguishable from the landscape, almost like a white snake gliding along the mountains.
After finishing the rigorous hike, I felt absolutely reinvigorated. I didn't feel tired at all. I was disappointed when it ended – I would have hiked for another hour! But I knew that we were going to have lunch at a village in Gubeikou, which is a farming town near the Great Wall. Having read a bit about the rural areas of China through our course pack and Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler, I was interested to see what exactly a village in China looked like. When we got there, the conditions were far better than what I had expected. We got off of the bus, were led into what looked like someone's home, and my eyes widened to tables filled with delicious, home-cooked food. This was the best thing that could have ever happened after a long hike! We all feasted on various dishes containing pork, fish, potatoes, egg, veggies, and much more while Pekinese dogs waited patiently for food to drop on the floor. After we finished we washed up a little with the water pump outside in the garden. I knew that we wouldn't be able to take a shower before getting on a train to Nanjing so I doused myself in the cool water. Feeling the food coma kicking in, we walked into a building where we would be speaking with Ms. Shan, who is a very distinguishable leader in her community. She is the vice chair of the Women's Federation of Miyun County. I could see that she genuinely cares about her community and wants to advance the welfare of the people who live in the village. I can only imagine what the village must have been like ten years ago before many of the advancements were made. It made me think critically about how these people lived in this village having no natural resources. The families here live much more sustainably than many of the people I am surrounded by back home. Ms. Shan detailed that many of the families do not make enough money to survive, so the men have to go into the city to work while the women and children are left behind. She illustrated that they do community building work with the women and children, including arts and crafts. This made me very happy because I know that these women are the life's breath of the community. Ensuring that people support each other through their daily struggles is vital to the long-term survival of any community. I felt inspired knowing that there are so many people who truly care about one another and believe in the power of community building. I hope that the village continues to develop while still keeping its charm and roots intact.
Three hours later, after a wonderful food-coma induced nap, we went for more food. We had been to this restaurant earlier in the week but this time we had another guest speaker. Ms. Liang, one of Dong Loashi's old friends, came to talk with us about NGOs in China. Ms. Liang has three NGOs in China and is watched very carefully by the Chinese government. She illustrated her experiences after the Tiananmen movement in 1989. She provided valuable insight on the changing current of social media and what that has done for the Chinese people.
I felt very honored to have had so many empowering, insightful female speakers come share a little bit about their work with us students. I really did not expect this for some reason. It is definitely a misconception that Chinese culture is purely male dominated and that women barely have a voice within any sector. As evidenced by these women, China is making progress and from the view that I have gotten, much of it is being fueled by the passion of women.
At around 8:30PM, we take off for the train station. The trip there was a little stressful. Me, Ryan, Kevin got separated from the group and were walking the complete wrong direction. Thank god we had Kevin there to ask someone for directions. When we finally got inside the train station there were people sleeping/resting/eating on the floor. It definitely wasn't as bad as other train stations I've been to in other countries, but it was still a bit funny seeing that. I reminisced a little about my other travels and it made me realize how much I love traveling. And how much I missed being in countries that are so different from the U.S. and in many ways are much, much dirtier. We finally get on the night train and I'm on the top bunk. Everyone fits in comfortably, a bit dirty from the day's hike, and incredibly full from the lunch and dinner. At this point in the day everyone is so ready for bed that nobody cares about how dirty they are. I'm exhausted and can see that everyone else is too. This was probably the fullest day that we have had since being in China. It was also my favorite day thus far. Looking forward to having more days like this one!
- Megan I.
No comments:
Post a Comment