CHINA TRIP Day 19: Hydraulic dance floor.

Saturday, June 5

Our last day in Beijing was of course, spent at the Great Wall. As one of the wonders from the ancient world I was really expecting to be impressed. And once we took the cable car up and our feet touched the stones on the Wall, I was definitely in awe that people could’ve built it by hand. It stretched in both directions as far as I could see and didn’t seem like much of a hike (since the Wall was supposed to prevent intruders from climbing over). However, we walked to the nearest guard station and I knew that I wasn’t going to hike all the way to the top. With the uneven stones and heat, I wasn’t even mentally prepared for the trek. A little more than half our group did continue on, and Jason, our student guide, asked the rest of us if we wanted to hike all the way to the top. I could tell that he didn’t really want to, and asked him. All he said was that if we wanted to go, he would go with us since he has to watch the group. I admired his dedication to his responsibilities.

There were enough of us who wanted to go down the other way slowly (because if we went all the way up we’d have to come back all the way and then some) and we took our time, taking lots of pictures along the way. The Wall really seemed to have no end. At one point we saw a couple taking wedding pictures. The only reason why I know it was a wedding was because the bride was wearing red and I remembered the scene outside our hotel in Taiyuan. The groom was Caucasian and he looked very uncomfortable in his suit whereas the bride looked flawless. I thought about their wedding photo session, especially since in Hawai’i pictures on the beach are considered romantic and beautiful. However, I’ve seen couples try to take pictures and it is more of a hassle than anything, especially in wedding attire. I wondered then, why this couple would choose the Great Wall; while the structure is amazing, the scenery is the same and they could easily find a beautiful natural landscape that didn’t require a hike in heels. I could only assume there was more of a symbolic and cultural reason to their choice and it wasn’t my place to judge anyway.

I was glad we ended up staying with Jason because otherwise we would’ve missed our opportunity to toboggan down the mountain. I was a little nervous at first but I felt completely safe and thoroughly enjoyed zooming down on my own. At the bottom, of course we walked up and down the path, browsing for souvenirs and bargaining along the way. I think most of us are a little hooked on bartering; we try to barter everywhere we go. Too bad it’s not something we can really bring back with us to the States. As tired, exhausted, and sweaty as we were, we headed to the Alumni Club dinner straight from the Great Wall. I wished that our agenda today had been split up or that we at least were given a chance to change; I felt a little embarrassed in my sweaty workout attire since we were meeting alumni and other students who undoubtedly would be nicely dressed.

Regardless of how we were dressed, the dinner was very nice and the atmosphere was relaxing. I remember attending the ND Club of Hawai’i events for incoming freshman, alumni, and current students and family members and so it was nice to be welcomed by the alumni club even though I was away from home. After dinner, most of us went to Yashow Clothing Market because we hadn’t been there before. It was similar to the Silk Market, though I think a little more expensive given it was in a fairly touristy area. After looking around a little, Laura, Mikaela, and I went to the Silk Market. They wanted to get more pearl jewelry and I needed to get my shoes fixed.

We got back a little later than planned, but got ready quickly and we were basically waiting on the boys to finish the massive amounts of beer and wine they bought at 7-11. It was getting late and we knew that if we didn't leave now we may not get to GT Banana in time. So four of us left and gave instructions to everyone else. We lucked out that when I was talking about the Scitech Hotel the club was near our cab driver picked up on that and asked me 'Scitara?' I just nodded and said 'Sure, Club Banana?' with my best Chinese accent. He ended up taking us to the right place. Everyone else didn't really make it because they got to the Silk Market and then walked around for an hour looking for the place. I felt bad because even with the 50yuan cover it was worth it and I stayed until 3am. Everyone else arrived at 1am and didn't want to pay the cover to get in, unfortunately. The hydraulic dance floor was amazing. I still think it was one of the best clubs we visited on the entire trip.