Day 384 Zhuangdaokou Village and Great Wall hike

Miss J and I had big plans for the weekend, so I went home
to her hood in the hutong.  We pedaled to Pebbles for 2 for 1
margaritas and a king size plate of nachos- delish.
(And then I may have been a bit wobbly on the bike ride home)

We had our little slumber party, then got up early on Saturday
to meet a group of her friends to go hike the wall. While
we each took turns using a shopkeeper's potty in his own
home, (China normal, they are so helpful :), I walked
around the village snapping pics- it's what I do.

As we walked through Zhuangdaokou village,
before the ascent, I loved how this little community
makes their living in agriculture and forestry.
Some of these gourds were strapped to the arch
to keep them from falling- they were huge! 

This donkey was taking a break in the morning sun.
Generally it was his job to carry bundles of sticks or
bags of chestnuts on his back down the mountain.

The mountains were covered in chestnut orchards.  You
could see the trees moving in the distance; it was the
locals, shaking the trees and beating the branches with
sticks to knock down the chestnuts.  Our van driver
explained that they store them in the freezer to add
to soups and stews during the winter months.

The first short section as restored- after that,
the remainder of the hike was up, up, up-
on nothing more than a goat path covered
in bushes and brambles.

The day was absolutely gorgeous- low 80's, beautiful blue
sky and AQI in the low 20's. I couldn't get over the beautiful day :)

The mountain views were stunning.

Just two science nerds; chatting it up on the trail :)

We climbed All. Day. Long. Lord have mercy!

The higher we climbed, we got views above the tree line.

I loved the challenge. the clean air. the
beautiful sky. the wildflowers. the bricks.
I loved MOVING. Happiest girl in China :)

We stopped for a rest, before our final ascent. 

These Chinese ladies had ALL the gear on, too cute.

Living in China has awakened my senses. It's
difficult to explain really, but I catch myself
smiling at all that I see, sounds I hear,
scents I smell, even something like touching
bricks hundreds of years old, to pull myself up
a watchtower. There is beauty all around us.

I don't know what it says, but even the
Chinese graffiti looks beautiful to me.
(Fun fact: I just tried to use my waygo phone
app that reads and translates Chinese characters-
it said something about three white braised eggplants.
I kid you not!  Eh, it still LOOKS beautiful :)

From atop the final watchtower, we enjoyed our picnic lunch.
A group of foreign exchange college students came up behind
us with their camping gear to set up on the tower for the night.
I am so excited, as I have signed up for an overnight camping
trip on the Wall for next weekend. It's a bucket list item for me :)

This was our view, of Little West Lake.

I have been here once before, last year at about this
time. Everything about it is beautiful from up here.

It was a quick rough descent, after climbing for several hours.
We all took turns slipping and sliding our way down.  I
would rather climb and be winded, rather than fall on my
hind end grabbing at tree branches and rocks! As soon as
we hit the parking lot (almost literally) I turned back to
look up at where we had just come from.  And I took
a moment to savor a picture perfect day one more time.

I love that for all her complexities, China
does have some things going for her- like
an entire bank of electric charging stations
for cars.  It made me miss the 'green living'
of a sailboat....one day I'll get back there.
Part of living in China is replenishing the boat
fund, and planning for an early retirement.

Once I got back to town, Jeanette and I hurriedly got ready
 and attended a birthday gathering of BNDS friends on the

east side. It was all I could do to drag my sore sorry self

home by 10pm.  Another big day was planned for Sunday,

and I needed some serious rest!

G'nite, y'all!