Blowing off some steam

After Thursday night's class (where the professor read from slides) I needed to unwind with some friends. We went out to a club around 11pm, and were out until LATE (or early, depending on how you look at it).

It's amazing to go out in Beijing now where, again, I see lots of changes to Chinese culture and continued modernization. When I was here in the summer of 1994, the ONLY good places to go out where in the Western hotels. (I remember the Lido Hotel once being a hot spot.) Back then, it was almost entirely all foreigners having fun, with a few Chinese locals in attendance - but most were merely observing how people moved to the beat, etc.

That is definitely NOT the case now! (Even in 1999, there were some improved "hot spots" - but nowhere near the caliber of bars/clubs of those today.) Chinese definitely outnumbered foreigners at the club, and have no problem doling out 35 yuan for a Heineken (about $4.50 USD).

Friday's class "Doing Business in China" was very solid. Taught by a serial entrepreneur from HK, it was energizing to have more of a practical approach to learning (rather than just purely academic).

Getting some fresh air
Yesterday I was on the fence about joining some friends on a day-long excursion, but at the last minute I talked myself out of not wanting to go. I needed a break from the city and from campus...and after all, it's not like the Great Wall is somewhere you go everyday!

We hired a "black cab" minivan from right outside the dorms for the 8 of us. We had a safe driver, who kept his van in immaculate condition. Why would safety matter? Oh, because on the windy roads near the Great Wall (Mu Tian Yu) we saw an overturned Lexus SUV that crashed into the side of the road...yeah, after that I told our driver to take as long as he needs to - we weren't in a rush!

FYI - there are at least 4 sections of the Great Wall that are open for visitors (near Beijing). Personally, my favorite is SiMaTai - because it is more run-down and not that crowded by tourists. However, it's a bit farther out of the city than some other parts, so we went to MuTianYu - and I hadn't been to that section of the Wall in a really long time...

Northeast of the city, the surrounding area is beautiful. Orchards of fruit are in full harvest and the air quality is vastly improved from the confines of the 6 ring roads of Beijing. We decided to walk up to the Wall, and take the SUPER shortcut back down...

The ascent was over 1,100 steps - and that was to reach the Wall itself. (What does that equal, like 50+ flights of stairs?) Believe it or not, there's a shortcut to the top...via chairlift...but remember, we opted for only the shortcut on the way down.

Fortunately, MuTianYu was not that crowded! We left the city around noon so we probably missed the early birds who visited the Wall before things warmed up in the afternoon... The views were spectacular it is was great to stretch the legs and also escape from the city.

So what about this SUPER shortcut down? Alpine slide, baby! I don't know about you, but I'd be hesitant to get on anything Chinese-made...good thing this was crafted with some good 'ol German engineering! (It's worth noting that we were required to pay 40 yuan for the slide, and 1 yuan for insurance!)

It was a really fun ride down the mountain, although we had to stop numerous times b/c of the crowds on the alpine slide. Actually, the Chinese guy who was behind the last person in our group FLIPPED his sled b/c he was going so fast and had to brake suddenly!! Oops! (Despite German precision, any moron can screw it up!) When we got to the end of the slide, that cool guy had some dark streaks on his arms - although his ego was probably more injured than anything else. :)

How does one "top" coming down from the Great Wall via alpine slide? Well, you can't. But we asked our driver if he could take us to the Ming Tombs - before returning to Beijing. (I don't think many of us had initially planned beyond just going to the Great Wall...but why not?)
Of the 13 tombs, only 3 are open to the public. The most impressive part is the underground chamber, and how the overall exterior layout was somewhat modeled after the Forbidden City.

It was definitely worth the visit, but I don't think I'd make the Ming Tombs a destination by itself...By the time we left the tombs, we were all tired. Getting out of the city was refreshing, as was having the opportunity to travel local roads and see farming communities (compared with the urban city life).

Now it's time to get some work done for classes this week.

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