cells and walls
ok so once i realised that beccoming a kung fu king probably takes more that a couple of days, i dispatched the idea of hanging around and getting beaten up by 5 year olds. instead left it to the pros to swing swords around, break sticks and iron bars across their heads, thrust their necks onto spear tips etc etc. Saw a demonstration of the monks doing all this and more before marching up the holy mountain that provides the backdrop to the monestry at Shaolin Si. The Monestry is beautiful, and although largely restored, still has a fantastic atmosphere with ancient trees growing up in its courtyards and monks shadow boxing in front of temples.Once in Beijing, courtasy of a muderous night in a hard seat train carriage, and safetly installed in a dorm, our welcoming party was probably the most eccentric character i've yet encountered on my trip. A long frizzy haired,shaggey bearded, gangling looking guy, wandering about in long johns and a Tshirt addressed us with a sly grin,'Where you from?' - a fairly normal opening i grant, to which i reply and enquire after his own origin.'guess!' followed by a brief fit of giggles 'hahaha!' i couldn't 'Iran!'delighted at my mild suprise 'haha!'ok so i ask what he is doing in china'eating and sleeping!' he staccatoes out in his rather squeaky tone 'hahaha!''and how long, pray tell, have you been here?''Guess!haha!' grinning, and utterly self satisfied at the inginuity on his comeback 'one year' his bed is surrounded by a sea of boxes and newspapers. 'haha!'His artful conversation, combined with a penchant for several hour long showers a day, the daylight hours spent hiding under the covers of his bed and then his nightly surjourns to 'embassy' suggested that perhaps i'd stumbled across one of those nortorious al queda sleeper cells (apologies)..... perhaps not.Have spent the last few days in Beijing exploring the forbidden city (you've seen the pictures, like that but with a maelstrome of tourists and pennant waving tour guides), temple of heaven (nice park, beautifully cloured temples) and summer palace (really beautiful park studded with temples and palaces - highly reccomended) before heading out of the city yesterday to clamber over the wall. Took a taxi out to an enrestored section where i suspect they don't really let tourists go and were led by a smiling guide who gabbled on in chinese to us, (presumably) about the wall, clearly oblivious to the fact we didn't have a clue what he was on about. This section was orginional but still in amazingly good repair, although overgrown with saplings. In fact the only places where it wasn't more or less in tact was where the local farmers had pillaged it to build retaining walls for there neat terraces of chestnut and strawberry guava trees. We scambled up and down several steeps sections running along the top of a gorge, through the trees and balancing on the wall's edges. at each crest the watch towers still stood, almost in perfect repair, and from the top of these a fantastic view showed the wall snaking off over hill tops and over the horizen in both directions. And not a tourist in sight - perfect.AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! just spent several hours trying to get some photos online but unfortuneatly computer crash has wiped everythiing so giving up. soz. need to go break some crockery now
posted by justplainnigel @ 1:59 PM
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