Griddable » The Great Knot – A day with the Beijing Hikers

The Great Knot – A day with the Beijing Hikers

Monday, July 26th, 2010 in: News, Travel

I had heard of the Beijing Hikers shortly after arriving in the city, but didn’t know much about them until last week. As usual, I required a little push out the door to take that first step, and as usual, I was glad I did. Megan had been out with them once before and offered to bring me along for this weekend’s trip to the Great Wall, a section known as the Beijing Knot, where three sections of the wall come together.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERjHDFwy00M

The bus was filled with hiking enthusiasts from all over; some had been in Beijing for years, others for just a day or two. The hike was rated a 4+ on a scale of one to five, with sharp inclines and an uneven trail plowing through the overgrown greenery on the wall. Megan and I separated a little bit to give each other a chance to talk to our new hiking companions, a mixed bag of students and professionals, but all friendly folk.

The first section of the hike was a steep climb on a relatively wide and even path, leading up to the wall itself. The heat and humidity were oppressive, soaking our shirts through with ease. Mercifully, we stopped at a natural limestone cave to cool off. As soon as we stepped into the cave, we could see the steam rising off our backs as our sweat did its job. The guys I had been talking to asked if I could climb the sections separating the upper and lower chambers, and I made up a little V1 with a jump start. Unlike other sections of the wall I’ve been told about, this area was completely devoid of the trappings of tourism. Nature had been slowly overtaking the wall since it was abandoned 400 years ago. The guard tower offered us a sweeping view of the landscape, with just the slightest residual haze from the city smog.

The rest of the trail was actually on the wall, or what was left of it. Cutting through a thicket of lush greenery, progress was slow as the local plant life scraped at our shins. For the first time in the day, I was glad to be wearing pants. The hike was well organized, with a leader placing red ribbons strategically to mark the trail, and a tail-person bringing up the rear and cleaning up the ribbons.

In this mountainous region, I realized that this wall was a major feat of human engineering not just for its length, but for the fact that it was built over such difficult terrain. The wall hugged steep slopes and creeped along ridges. I couldn’t imagine any invaders trying to come through this area, with or without a wall in their way.

The peak of our hike was at the knot itself, with sections of wall crawling along the mountain ridges, hurdling past the horizon. A lone pine tree had been planted at the apex of the knot, giving us something to look forward to: the downclimb. One poor hiker wasn’t paying attention to where he was going and walked right into a branch, giving him a few nasty scratches on his face and head. Fortunately we had a few doctors in the crowd who were ready to administer first aid.

The hike back down into the valley only took about 45 minutes, over a well-established trail. We walked through terraced farms, explaining why the paths were so well worn. We piled back onto the bus and headed to our local guide’s guest house where his wife was preparing dinner for us. I was reminded of the Miao village I’d visited with Grandpa, Ben and Jim in Hunan. Local food made with fresh ingredients in a quaint country atmosphere. The air cooled and thunder in the distance grumbled menacingly, but we were all concentrating on the meal and beer laid before us. A shabby tabby with a gimp leg wandered around under the tables, loudly begging for scraps. I promptly caved and gave it most of my meat, which it hungrily snapped up before asking for more. After my food supply was exhausted, I took a chopstick and gave him a good scratching. As much as I like animals, the ones here are a little too scraggly for a proper snuggle.