A COMMUNIST PLAYGROUND: THE CITY AND THE WALL

MY VIDEO LOGS & JOURNAL

To put it lightly, China was a strange place to be. It was a bit more strange for myself as an Army Officer since current events have shown China's continued aggressive behaviors in the South China Sea and ongoing tumultuous economic relationship with the U.S. gave the trip a "behind enemy lines feel" and it was weird to exchange looks with so many Chinese Soldiers.

The primary reason for the visit was running the Great Wall marathon. I also had the opportunity to poke around Bejieng for about a week. Below, I have some key observations. I was in Beijing and a few remote country towns outside of the Great Wall. By no means am I claiming to be expert on such an vast country. These are anecdotes from individual personal experiences and interactions with local nations while I traveled through.

INFASTRUCTURE

SCORPIONS?

Beijing was a seemingly infinite expanse of metropolis with over 28 million residents. If your license plate beings or ends in a certain number you are only authorized to drive on a certain day! Talk about traffic; this city's infrastructure can't support its own population. If that wasn't crazy enough only about 50% of the city's population owns a car in the first place.

After taking to the side streets its easy to see why scooters are far superior to cars in such a congested environment (video below).

If you notice the scooters are faster than my taxi, although with the way they drive they are small death machines.

Mostly an attraction for tourists the Chinese have a affinity for grabbing some crazy critters and putting them on skewers....alive in this particular case. Since my Sannakji experience in Korea _and the Sea Urchin with a spoon in New Zealand I have become uncomfortably- 
​comfortable with eating gross things. Luckily they only sell them fried.

One you eat your 3rd scorpion you really get that "i don't give a shit" kind of look on your face lol

THE GREAT WALL

Being one of China's most iconic and recognizable features the Great Wall is one of the traditional wonders of the world and a truly incredible site to behold. From its numerous towers and stairs you can appreciate the landscape of patched valleys amongst a sea of mountains. The only thing obstructing this is the country's generally poor air quality which generates a significant haze. 

The Great Wall experience matched my initial expectations however there were some oddities to note. The most prominent of these was that the wall gets very narrow, even devolving into a goat trail at one point (pic right). Running a marathon on the wall was a daunting but rewarding experience. It allows you to really appreciate the scope and scale of the undertaking that was made so long ago to create it.

It also served to make the run more dynamic coupled with the 15 plus miles that are spent off the wall through the small rural towns surrounding it. This brings me to my next point of observation. There are significant "elevation" challenges off the wall. Many of these towns we isolated and on the top of the surrounding mountains. In fact the route prior to entering the wall had a 15-20% incline for over two miles weaving upward.

Though the original wall was built as early as 220 B.C. almost none of that structure remains. What you see today was a product of the Ming Dynasty nearly 750 years ago.

OTHER ODDITIES & ENDS

After visiting Japan and living in Korea for over a year it is safe to say I have a decent understanding of street vendors and local markets. Chinese vendors however, were the most aggressive and persistent. Even after arriving nearly 3hrs outside of the city to a remote location on the Great Wall there were rural vendors waiting outside ready to sell their goods.

Bartering is common and expected. It can be fun depending on how interactive you like your shopping experience but it can also be intense for some to go back and forth, especially while not knowing a lick of the language. 

While I was walking out of a shop in a small cultural district of Beijing I came across a wedding procession. Instead of cars they were on rickshaws (small three wheeled bicycles). Over half of the 28 million people who live in Beijing do not own cars.

It may seem odd from a western perspective but this probably isn't the only rickshaw wedding going on in Asia. In any case, it was a awesome glimpse into another culture.