The Great Wall of Bargaining

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Great Wall of Bargaining

(Before, I start, I know I’m way behind in these Mainland China posts, but I really do want to go in depth with each experience so bare with me that the entries are not timely whatsoever!)

We spent a few days before our trip to the Great Wall lectured by various professors, left to roam an urban art district, visited the Olympic Village where the 2008 games were played and shopped in a tourist market. None of these particular events were that exciting because they were either not very interesting or we weren’t given enough time to appreciate anything. Also, I do not enjoy getting left out in the cold, so imagine my feelings that after wanting to sit in a hot bath from the freezing wind, we were dropped off at a street to walk mindlessly for an hour. I love art and museums, but that’s a total summer thing.

With that, I’m skipping to the main event.

Before the great wall, I knew I needed real shoes after sliding and falling on the Xi’an city wall with my cheap, vintage $10 shoes. But when in Beijing, there were no place better to shop than where the locals did. Using my one semester of Mandarin 101, three of my lady friends and I ventured to a mall where I fell in love with a pair of zipper boots. The shopkeeper asked for 450 yuan ($65.22 USD) and I immediately rejected and walked away. Our strategy was to keep walking back to see how much lower she’d offer, then we pretended to be interested with shoes at the stores surrounding her shop. It was a bit mean but I was on a budget, so as soon as I yelled “100 yuans ($14.49 USD)” to her and she finally gave in after the fifth walkby, I bolted in the store and tried the boots on. Size 37. SOLD. She asked us where we were from, and when she learned we were mostly Americans, she complimented with “You guys are good.”

I don’t have asthma, but it sure felt like I did as I began to walk up the Great Wall of China. At the beginning we were given the choice of paying for a cable car ride up to the top, but my grandmother insisted before I came to China that if she can make it, there is no reason I should not go up by foot. Although I am sure she took her sweet, sweet time in a nice, warm weather and we were given a few hours in deep freeze.

It started with a large group who decided to also walk up, but minutes later I found myself slowing down to catch my breath. Luckily, I was with three other girls who were willing to take their time with me as I fought through my sore throat which became a burning hole in the neck the more I gasped for air. Also, I was not alone; another groupmate was also suffering throat issues perhaps in a worse condition than mine. Though the closer I saw the top of the walls, the more encouraging it was.

I say this with the least exaggeration possible, but never in my life was I ever so proud of myself. Here I was on top of the manmade great wall after riding around the Xi’an wall just a week ago. I might be a skinny little girl, but inside I am an unfit, fat person. Nothing was more physically accomplishing than standing up there, knowing I’d finally made it.

At the very top, I caught up with a group of friends who decided to take photos. Wanting to make it into one of them, I ran into the photo but slipped and fell flat on my ass in the process. Needless to say, the boots did not help me whatsoever. Face in the sky, I laughed, but my tailbone hurt for weeks. How’s that for making grandma proud?

(Photo by Shirley Wong)

The wall felt endless. Being on this wall is definitely an experience of a lifetime. I do hope to revisit and perhaps strike a similar pose in another decade.

For the return trip, I paid for a toboggan ride down which was not only fun but gave me another great view of the mountains. Though I could not feel my fingers or my thighs by the end of the ride, it was totally worth the 45 yuan ($6.52 USD). We ended the great wall trip with a Chinese version of hackysack, where the beanie is replaced by a feathered weight. I never got good at the game, but it was a nice way to start putting sensations back in my toes after “skidding” down the great wall.