Team Four:

Just after dawn, we woke up from our first group experience with local transportation in China onboard the overnight train from Suzhou to Beijing. At about 6 am we creatively began to freshen up in our 6 foot by 8 foot rooms with 4 bunks on 2 levels. Though cramped, this was the luxury accommodation for the Chinese train, and the close quarters were cozy as we all enjoyed eachother’s company mingling in the hall the night before.

Since our train arrived early in Beijing we were able to avoid the rush and the sea of humanity that typically exists in the train station on a weekday morning. After a brisk 2 block walk, we loaded up on our new bus and headed for our hotel. Thankfully, we had a couple hours to relax before we headed out for the drive to the Great Wall of China.

Leaving the city, the landsape became more rural as we drove on the highway to Mutianyu that Professor Carr prefers to call a time machine. We pulled up to the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu at noon and immediately took a group photo on the rooftop with the Great Wall and the Sleeping Buddha in the background - with our Cal Poly shirts of course. From there, we walked up the road through the village and the gauntlet of vendors selling T-shirts, hats, art and water - anything you can think of - on the side of the trail, a common source of income for the villagers. For the next half hour (give or take) we conquered the endless stairs that eventually led us to the Great Wall. As tiring as our hike was, it couldn’t compare to the intense labor that must have been necessary to build the Wall in that location so long ago.

Once on the Wall, the views were even more grand than we had anticipated. The sky was blue with puffy white clouds that kept the midday sun from being too hot. You could see the entire village of Mutianyu below on one side, and mountains on the other as the wall disappeared over the mountaintops. We explored several towers along the wall and realized just how “great” the wall really was, and we understood why so many believe that the wall can be seen from space. As we explored several towers, we thought of the failure of the wall to keep out the Mongols as they bribed the guards on duty and were allowed to pass. The walk along the wall was peaceful and a welcome contrast to the cities we had been visiting that were full of skyscrapers, people, and traffic. One of the biggest highlights of the day was our toboggan ride down from the top of the wall that resembled a summertime version of the luge.

The next stop was the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu, where we were met with a delicious BBQ waiting for us on the patio. With burgers and grilled chicken as the main course, and salad, fruit, corn and potatoes prepared fresh from the garden, the chef had thoughtfully prepared a meal that he believed we would be missing at this point on our trip. After we filled up on burgers, we had the pleasure of listening to Jim Spear speak about his business experience in China and entertain us with his wit and knowledge. He and Liang Tang, his wife and business partner, treated us to the story of the founding of the Schoolhouse made possible by the support of the villagers.

The group then split into two groups and took tours of two village homes. One of the tours visited the home of the local Doctor who had been trained by the government in the 1960’s when there was a terrible shortage of medical help for villagers. She invited us into her home for tea and told us of some of her experiences as a Doctor and her life in Mutianyu. We then went out to the courtyard for a group picture and were given cucumbers just picked from her garden.

Mutianyu was so beautiful that we were sad to go, but it was time to load up the bus and return to Beijing for a night off. Most people went to the night market where the food was far from ordinary. Americans were scattered throughout the streets filming their attempts to eat scorpions on a stick, forced to choose between the live and squriming or fried varieties. We watched, but have heard rumors that several members of our group ate more than just scorpions at the night market.