Shame on me, the usually disciplined blogger. However, I've been busy, as I'm sure these stories will tell you. Rather then throwing in two weeks or so of long, boring Canada World Youth adventures, I shall write them in small chunks. Chunk number one!
We had a CAD one day at the Natural History Museum. I found many of the exhibits were half finished, broken, or even innacurate. However, the museum had not actually been open yet, and we were granted special access. I laughed at seeing a display showing so few bears in BC, yet plenty in Quebec, along with cougars (heh, cougars). That afternoon, we went to the Temple Of Heaven to chill. We had extra time to spare, so many of us relaxed in the warm cloudless day; some read, others explored, or even slept. I found myself not particulary restless and hacky sacked. After, we had a small volunteer job to do. We helped clean the game room for kids of a building that I believe was a center for children. Details were very vague and little information was given to us. We cleaned the dusty area, from toys to fooseball tables to a small science lab. Had it been opened, and the place actually informed of volunteers in need, we may have ended up there. Zao gao.
Just when I thought there was nothing better to do in China. Boy, was I wrong. Going to the Great Wall a third time keeps things interesting. Especially this particular trip. Gary and I had just finished our Environment EAD, where we discussed the environmental problems and solutions of China. Some of those being desertification, the obvious air pollution, and sanitation. However, before I met our group at Maximes, I had a date. Yes, Devon Flynn works his magic around the world. It was Natalie, the Russian girl I, ahem, got to know. I met her at the subway station and ran into four of my friends before we made it to the coffee shop. We sat and talked, from living in Beijing, to travelling, work, food, etc. It was a short, but good date. I met up with the group after some frustrating confusion with train and subway/metro. Naturally, it was me who made the blunder, but I don't want to take all the blame. We boarded our sleeper train which we would be housed in until 3:30am. Some people chatted for awhile, others slept right away in our tiny yet cozy bunkbeds. We arrived at a train station debating whether to walk to the beach or take taxis. Advice: at 4am, walking should never be an option. Don't be cheap. This, however, is not a live and learn situation for which I am prone for. We coughed up the 15 yuan for a ride to the beach in two taxis. There, smack dab in the dark, in a far off province of China, at 4 in the morning, on a cold wintry beach, were 10 Canadians and 1 Chinese participant. But don't things like that make the best memories? We walked a bit, and then retired for the morning in the front of a cement building. We all chatted for awhile and then slept. Not all of us brought our sleeping bags or blankets, which would resort to some rather close sleeping. Spooning=heat. And it was pretty cold. Morning came, and we enjoyed our own packed lunches, waking up with some "Foreign Girl" wine, the butt of some jokes there. We revelled at the rising sun, a bit late as we thought we couldn't see it through the pollution, which apparently even haunts the eastern shores. However it soon rose, jaded in smog, with a tanker on the water and a fisherman on a tube, bouncing on the water. We carried on, eager to see the beginning of the Great Wall. The very beginning is called the Dragons Head; however, due to rising waters, it can no longer be seen. In fact, we never did find where the wall meets sea. We were side tracked, and it was too difficult. With some peddlars pushing post cards on us a town away, we showed interest in the location shown on the cards. We had a woman drive 8 of us to this wall, quite a ways away. It was located at the bridge of a damn, far away from anything. So secluded, miles from anything it seemed. We paid our tickets and found out the attraction was more then just a section of the Great Wall. It was actually a bird sanctuary and history exhibit in cave tunnels. Both were unfinished, as we were in the off tourist season. We did see a few pretty birds in a large netted area, and wandered through some cavernous halls, seeing the occasional exhibition room or bronze statue. We climbed the wall after. It was different then the rest, as it ran directly into the mountain side. Upon reach the top, it went nowhere. It just merely stopped. However, the journey up was amazing. It was an unrepaired section of the Great Wall, lending to its authenticity and making the danger factor multiply the adventure. Parts of the wall were missing, destroyed by history. Yet it was stable enough to go to the top. I contemplated the idea that it was an earnest thing to be enjoyed, not bought, climbing the Great Wall. It's not something you can buy a ticket, ride a gondola and say "I climbed the Great Wall!" Those people are phonies and should be shot! You have to sweat, in the heat and dust to experience it. Third times a charm! We returned to town, grabbed dinner and boarded another train. It was quite crowded, but we found salvation in the dining car, where we paid extra for seats and a small meal. We were exhausted, but some people mustered the energy to go party that night. I wasn't one of them.
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