that big wall that everyone goes on and on about…

like eating a taco without cheese or watching an almodovar film without subtitles, something would be sorely missing if you tripped to beijing without visiting "the great wall of china".

this incredible structure is known in chinese as 萬里長城, meaning ‘the long wall of 10,000 li’ (li is a chinese unit of measurement equaling about 500 meters). the fortification was built between the 5th century bc and the beginning of the 17th century. the idea that they’d let thousands and thousands of tourists anywhere near it, much less use it as a jungle gym, seems insane. but this isn’t some relic able to be stored on the shelves of an aging museum; the wall is 6,352 km (3,948 miles) long. it was originally constructed “in order to protect the various dynasties from raids by Hunnic, Mongol, Turkic, and other nomadic tribes coming from areas in modern-day Mongolia and Manchuria.” [wikipedia] but it now serves an arguably better purpose as a teacher of history, a taker of breaths and an inspiration for the imagination.
we’d read a lot about the tourist cattle herds led to the well-known and fully-restored sections of the wall and we vowed to avoid those spots. we’d toyed with the idea of hiring a taxi for the day to take us out of town where the wall remains in a more natural state, unrestored, and is less of a tourist trap. seeing as how we couldn’t manage to catch a cab to take us down the street because of the may day holiday, we knew that just wasn’t feasible. we were talking to a fellow at the hostel [he apparently worked there, although what he did other than hang out with the tourists and practice english is fairly unclear] about our dilemma. he said the hostel offers tours to some of the main parts of the wall, which we immediately but politely declined. then he whipped out some pictures and begin to pitch the ‘secret wall’ tour they’d just started. we laughed aloud at the assertion that such a large, well-documented structure could be a secret. he went on to explain it was a section of the wall the owner had recently come across that runs through an out of the way village. he'd done some exploring and realized that with just a bit of hiking you could reach a part of the wall that no tourists, other than those on this special tour deal, knew about. we’d already taken a liking to this fellow and decided to heed his advice, which meant waking at the crack of dawn the next day. we cobbled together a breakfast of dumplings and fresh bread from the vendors hawking at 6 am before piling into a few vans. there were about 20 of us total. we traveled around an hour and a half outta beijing, tracing the path of the wall along the way. we passed numerous mobbed watchtowers, smoothly restored walls and stairs peppered with primary colored flags and hawkers.

it was about this time that the number 3 biggest travelers’ nightmare happened to me…ranking right after getting murdered/assaulted and getting your wallet/moulah stolen…my camera broke. why, of all the moments to crap out, would it have happened en route to such a picturesque and quintessential travel experience? that means that every photo used in this post is either carrie’s or liz’s. thanks ladies. so our vans turned off the main road, traveled a bit more and parked in this desolate village. the fella from the hostel went in and returned with a guy wielding 2 huge machetes. i was starting to wonder what the hell we'd gotten ourselves into. we trailed behind them up to the edge of a dry forest.

he used the knives to bushwhack a lengthy path up to the wall.

when we climbed on to the crumbling ruins it was nothing but vast land, beautiful silence and the ancient structure snaking for as far as you could see with no other people in sight.


well, except these guys [note the 3 tiny ant-like spots] who were wearing official looking armbands. their job was obviously something other than stopping random tourists from scrambling onto the wall.


in some places it was big and majestic…



and in some places it was almost completely eroded…


it was amazing...in every direction, the wall spread out, snaking and winding and dipping and rising and turning back on itself.


we were able to go slow, enjoying the view, the air, and each other’s company.


it was nearly impossible not to be overwhelmed by imagining how the wall had been constructed; all the rocks, earth, mud, sweat, blood, time and energy that had been poured into this unfathomable dream, that had been molded into this unreal structure.


we hiked about 10 km along the wall. perhaps most toursits don't make it out here because it really was a bit challenging. often steep, with loose rocks and crumbling footholds, occasionally requiring all four limbs. unfortunately, eventually we had to dismount and make our way back to the village.

we caroused with a handful of locals for a bit.


and then we were lead into this newly built, strangely out of place brick patio area where we were treated to an incredible vegetarian lunch of wild mountain greens and plants cooked every which a way imaginable.

guess this is the village’s attempt at gaining their share of the tourist market. if only all organized tours could be so unobtrusive and genuine.
there were even coolers of moderately chilled beers waiting for us. we cracked the tall boys and toasted with strangers to this most amazing and indescribable adventure that we’d been lucky enough to experience together.

day tripping in obuse

i wrote about having a truly poignant moment at the edge of a pond in obuse town while watching some frogs. there was a little more to it than that. if you feel so inclined, you should read about it. here’s what else happened that day. my ex-coworker/friend, uchiyama sensei, and i made the hour drive early one saturday.


obuse is a mountain town in nagano prefecture with historical significance much larger than the place itself. the town has only a 2 kilometer radius.


the downtown is a quaint strip of old, but well maintained warehouses where crafts, sweets and snack stores are located. the streets are lined with chestnut trees which bare one of the town’s most famous crops. obuse has it’s own personal forest gump schpeel about the nuts…they are used to make a variety of products like “steam rice with red beans and whole chestnuts, mashed chestnuts, rice-flour cake with chestnut flavor, a fine sweet paste of chestnuts, sweet bean paste with chestnut flavor, mashed sweet potatoes with sweetened chestnuts.” on this day we were determined to try the chestnut rice. nearly every restaurant was packed. we finally found a table in a fashionable place that slathered a thick layer of swank atop the traditional feel, which was reflected in the prices.


we started at the japanese lamp museum, one of uchiyama sensei’s must-sees. there were thousands of paper lanterns, candle stands, lamps, and other lighting gadgets. some were incredibly old and warranted explanation to understand exactly how and why they’d been used. the largest part of the collection was the “963 lamp devices" from the Yedo period (1603 - 1867) through the Taisho period (1912 - 1926) in the Shin-etsu (present Nagano) region of japan. the most intriguing were candle holders affixed to the end of rudimentary, extendable poles. uchiyama translated the explanation on the plaque beneath the display…they were held by people who crouched down and ringed the edge of a stage during theatrical shows. they were to be held under the actors’ faces who were performing.

then we were off to the katsushika hokusai museum. hokusai is a world-reknowned ukiyo-e [japanese woodblock printing and painting] artist whose works include the well known ‘great wave of kanagawa’...


there was a display of the series of woodblocks used to create one of hokusai’s works. i was awed by the complexity of the carving on the blocks and the sheer number of woodblocks that were used to create a single print.


Ukiyo-e prints were made using the following procedure:
• The artist produced a master drawing in ink
• Craftsmen glued this drawing, face-down to a block of wood, cutting away the areas where the paper was white, thus leaving the drawing, in reverse, as a relief print on the block, but destroying the drawing.
• This block was inked and printed, making near-exact copies of the original drawing.
• These prints were in turn glued, face-down, to blocks and those areas of the design which were to be printed in a particular color were left in relief. Each of these blocks prints at least one color in the final design.
• The resulting set of woodblocks were inked in different colors and sequentially impressed onto paper. The final print bore the impressions of each of the blocks, some printed more than once to obtain just the right depth of color.

there were hanging scrolls, screens, frames and 2 festival floats which the artist had painted. the ceilings of the floats were amazing; one of a dragon and a phoenix, the other of raging waves, done in two styles to represent the female and male.

another of hokusai’s masterpieces on display in the town is at gansho-in temple.

he was commissioned to paint the ceiling there at the age of 89. he completed the 35 square meter Chinese phoenix in 1848, a year before he died. apparently the paint was mixed with some crushed jewels which has enabled the colors to remain vibrant.


i took ample time to lay on the tatami floor of the temple and gaze up at the incredible illustration.



beside the main temple is the small pond where kobayashi issa composed his famous haiku that so moved me.



before heading home we stopped at a tiny café for coffee and, my choice, fresh squeezed apple juice and some reflection on the day.



uchiyama and i do trips together well; we’re both talkative and analytical. plus, she likes to be back home by early evening which gives me time to freshen up and still make it to the parties downtown. perfect.

中国the middle country, part two

i’m embarrassed to say that we faffed off and missed our plane to beijing. this was a disappointing cap to a lot of wrangling we’d been doing about in-country travel. our first plan was to overnight train around the eastern part of the country giving ourselves a chance to see the land, visit a few different spots and save some money. well, apparently china has this humongous holiday on the first of may that we didn’t know anything about. by the time we realized it would be impossible to procure train tickets, it was nearly too late to book a flight. we searched online and realized e-tickets can’t be used for domestic travel in china which meant express delivering them to japan, hoping they’d arrive before we departed. need i explain the stress that was relieved when i got my plane voucher thursday at noon before we jetted on friday.
so there we were scurrying around shanghai’s tiny domestic airport, heads spinning, looking for anyone to take pity on us. when we finally found an air china counter, they were unbelievably helpful and friendly and accommodating. [light years ahead of hong kong’s airport in customer service. read it was voted best airport of 2005. must be you get treated well when you’re researching candidates for the ‘best airport of the year’ crown. and my fledgling boycott of united airlines is still in effect. steer clear of those buzzards.] there was a flight to Beijing we could catch a few hours later, but to rework our tickets we had to bump up to first class. luckily in china that means dropping only 25 bucks. we drank enough beer and ate enough petite sandwiches in the first class lounge while waiting to break even on that deal.
after arriving in Beijing, we began the trek to our well situated hostel. so centrally located in fact, that during this holiday period, all the roads and nearby train stations were closed to prevent traffic jams and overcrowding. we rode the subway back and forth a few times, sure our stop was supposed to be somewhere in between before braving to ask an employee who explained in pretty darn good english. outside, we attempted to catch a taxi. of the dozens and dozens we saw, only a few would even crack their windows to here our pitch. we had the hostels name and address written in Chinese, but still couldn’t convince anyone to take us near it. [found out later it was due to all the re-routing of the roads for the holiday.] so we decided to walk. road names proved to be terribly difficult. we knew it was located off of a half circle behind tian'anmen square and were able to use that as our northern star.

the time was late and tempers were high when we finally made our way down this gritty, narrow alley that was bustling with food stalls, rickshaws and shops even at 10 pm. after that ‘adventure’ we were ready for a beer. in order to minimize further frazzling of the nerves, we utilized a tip we’d been given by someone else staying at the hostel. he’d been there quite a while and was familiar with the area. he suggested a restaurant right up the street with an english menu. we hurried on over and employed our newly acquired language skills to order 3 beers. the 12 year old [with a crazy rat tail] who was waiting on us walked over and grabbed 3 bottles out of a crate sitting just inside the door. our eyes all widened with disbelief when we clutched the beers and confirmed they were as hot as we’d expected. we called the kid over and i mimed sweating, hot, felt the beers, wiped my forehead, then i shivered like i was cold, pointed to the beer and smiled, pretended to gulp it, let out a refreshed sigh and began to bow a bit attempting to say please and urge him to swap out our beers. he shook his head and pointed at the warm ones on the table and walked away. the water’s not potable which meant ice was out of the question. we cracked our piss warm beers and had a good laugh at our failure and situation.


i regret we didn’t take more pics of this place. the staff really warmed to us, pulling up chairs and including us in the rounds a bottle of fire water was making. we managed to have decent conversation, discovering who was the owner, how long he’d been there, how old the kids were and what their lives were like. towards the end of the night, they urged us to come inside.

everyone was gathered around the bar. we joined the group that encircled several clear, glass containers of liquid with an array of stuff submerged in them. the owner explained to us that one in particular was tiger penis alcohol. we leaned in close to inspect the brown stumpy root-like thing. he dipped out a scoopful, poured it in a cup on the counter. many of the young men put a hand out, they told us to do the same. they said a chant that we didn’t understand while bobbing their hand up and down before opening their fists to reveal an array of papers, rocks and scissors. delighted we got it, they started round 2 and we threw hand signals in quick succession until someone came up the loser. as one cupful vanished into a mouth on a face contorted in the pain associated with drinking liquor that tastes like turpentine, the owner would serve up another. all the girls got multiple chances to sample the local, sinus clearing treat. we were really, really drunk as we bid them a warm farewell and stumbled back down the dirty alley to the hostel.

the next day’s sunlight illuminated so many amazing things about Beijing. we were up at a decent time, intent on checking out tian'anmen square and the forbidden city. i was absolutely captivated by the tangle of streets in the neighborhood where we were staying. right outside our hostel…

there was a mix of homes and businesses, and each turn of a corner revealed more nooks and crannies to peek at and investigate.



with all the talk about the wealth gap from the city to the countryside in china, i can’t imagine the standard of living outside the population hubs. this was downtown beijing, minutes from arguably the country’s busiest tourist attraction, and it looked like what could be termed slums. people were chopping chickens outside on narrow dirt streets peppered with fierce potholes, women washed clothes in old buckets on washboards, childred played in the gutters. the atmosphere was very anachronistic.

there was nothing upsetting about the scene. on the contrary, i was charmed. it was simply so different from what i’d imagined and so far away from the reality in which i live. after experiencing all this, i can't believe the olympic committee went for beijing.


the bizarre feeling of tian’namen square is hard to put into words.

do you remember the extent of the tragedy that occurred there on june 4, 1989? [a date that sticks with me cause it’s also my mom’s birthday.] throughout china the pro-democracy cry was culminating in rallies in many cities, the largest of which was assembled on tian’namen square. “The protestors came from disparate groups, ranging from intellectuals who believed the Communist Party of China-led government was too corrupt and repressive, to urban workers who believed Chinese economic reform had gone too far and that the resulting rampant inflation and widespread unemployment was threatening their livelihoods”. after protestors refused to disperse, the government declared martial law and sent tanks and infantry in to “crush” the rebellion. “Estimates of civilian deaths vary: 23 (Communist Party of China), 400–800 (Central Intelligence Agency), 2600 (Chinese Red Cross).” although all media was strictly controlled, this famous photo emerged to symbolize the strength of the resolve of the protestors and the government’s heavy-handed, undiplomatic and insular response.


if you wanna further educate yourself, click here.

i learned from a foreigner teaching english in china that the tragic events are so well suppressed that people born after the massacre earnestly have no idea it ever happened. it was really eerie walking around the square, imagining the country’s past and the what the future holds for all the chinese people who had gathered there to marvel at the majestic display of the government’s power.


i bet nearly every visitor to the square has some variation of this picture. of course, minus me, with said visitor inserted in my spot.


reluctantly carrie, liz and i became one of the major draws in the square. people began positioning themselves so we’d be in the background of their pictures, then quickly running off giggling. finally someone got the nerve to ask us to pose with them. we obliged and then became inundated with requests by people who had been standing around eyeing us for quite sometime. at first we thought they had perhaps mistaken us for celebrities. they wanted us to hold their children, pose with their wives. it got dizzying, to the point we started forcefully refusing. later as we talked it through with someone who was chinese, he explained that during this major holiday time many countryside dwellers make their way to the capital with their families. perhaps they are isolated in their villages and have never seen or been so close to real foreigners before. it was a strange and unnerving experience, even after being part of the tiny minority in japan for 2 years.


then on to the forbidden city, a huge unesco world heritage sight that encompasses 800 buildings and more than 8,000 rooms. it was the Chinese imperial palace during the ming and qing dynasties.





there are imposing gates, magnificent architectural techniques, perfect gardens, vibrant colors, and most disappointingly, a starbucks. who knew that corporate giant had been around since the early 1400’s?


the place is constructed in an interesting manner, with an inner and outer court arranged to maximize feng shui. the buildings all have an odd number of rooms built symmetrically around the principal axis.

credit: carrie

i love this pic of carrie.


and these shots of liz’s…



it's quite a marvel. an interesting historical relic come well-preserved place of leisure.


of course we stuffed our faces every chance we got, and on beijing’s streets, the opportunities abound.

the food was fabulous; all sorts of cheap noodles, rice, dumplings cooked in rusty pans over fires. accented with sauces squeezed from old dirty soda bottles by men who hock loogies on your feet while stir frying.

luckily i've got a belly of steel. unfortunately lizzy wasn’t so lucky.



above, on the right, is my pick for best food eaten in china. it’s a thin pancake stuffed with a stir-fried veggie mix, all sorts of sprouts, fistfuls of fresh cilantro and green onions, a red chili sauce, and something citrus-y, maybe lime juice. unbelievably good. and the more often we stopped there to buy one, the cheaper they got.

and of course we dropped a bit of money on the famous peking duck [peking is what the capital is referred to as in asia.]


we had a few different courses, all centering on duck. then they rolled out a cart carrying our bird and chopped the head off and carved it up right there in front of us. it was intended to be eaten kinda like southern bbq, on a roll with a thick, sweet sauce and green onion sprigs. unfortunately the meat was a bit dry.

early in the evening we’d overheard the table next to us speaking japanese and at some point, we let on that we could speak it too. they worked for a pro-baseball team that was spring training near china’s capital. we ended up carousing and drinking with them a bit before heading on out in search of nightlife.

a stark contrast to dirty, cheap beijing was found around houhai lake. a man-made body of water ringed by kinda classy, kinda expensive and well decorated bars offering plenty of overstuffed couches outside on the banks of the water. we met these 3 korean fellows who were living in the city studying Chinese at a nearby university.

there really is something amazing about travelers who are internationally and open minded. although we didn’t have a common language [they had some basic high school english. carrie and i recalled all the korean we could from our trip there last year, which consisted of the terms for beer, cheers, hello and liar only.] we hung out with these guys all evening, moving from the lake district onto a dance club they recommended. there was a lot of gesturing and excitement at exchanging ideas, a lot of patience displayed and some real interesting banter on the dance floor [no, i don’t mean that in the dirty, booty dancing kinda way]. when they headed home we all traded hugs and genuine thank yous, knowing that we’d never meet again but non-verbally agreeing that we’d always remember that evening.


there was a chap from amsterdam that we kept running into around town. one afternoon we joined him and his chinese friend for beers while they dined on this…

check out the tribute to mao adorning the place next door.

i approached a lady that worked here. i used my best chinese language skills and ability interpreting gestures and grunts to discern where the nearest bathroom was and set off. it turns out whole neighborhoods share the same toilet facilities; apparently there’s a real lack of indoor plumbing. the bathrooms are literal holes in the ground in shacks nestled between patched-up houses. inside, there are flimsy 3 foot barriers between the holes, but no doors and no privacy. as we were foreign, the bit of respect given by not staring at someone relieving themselves was not offered to us. i found skirts were handy for creating a tent over your squatting figure which meant all your glory wasn't exposed to staring eyes. it was really strange to see people in the morning and evenings, waddling down the dirt streets, making the pilgrimage to the local toilets wearing their pajamas, while brushing their teeth and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. i ran across these thrown up on a wall near the bathrooms.


i really fell for beijing. even though the people appeared to be extremely poor, they were exceptionally good spirited and friendly. they sang aloud to themselves incessantly, even in public. this pleasant attitude also comes through in genuine smiles and a relaxed demeanor that is welcoming. while they acknowledged that we’re foreigners through inquisitive stares, they also gently encouraged our curiosity by remaining unobtrusive, which created a zone in which we are free to explore their amazing country.