My first real Chinese breakfast. The big bowls contain soy milk (left) and corn meal (right). Fried eggs in the middle, with dough bread and cabbage salad to the front. Tofu is left of the eggs, and another cabbage salad is in between the large bowls. Directly behind the soy milk is the offending red tofu - that stuff was so salty and pungent, it could raise the dead out of their graves - no wonder the Chinese serve it at breakfast. Thus properly fortified (with a fair chance that a bathroom break may be in order during the hike) we were ready to hit our day's destination - Gushanzhai park.
Gushanzhai park is another staple Shidu scenic spot. The park is laid out around a mountain complete with make-shift fortress, Buddhist temple, and interesting rock formations such as a "Shot in the Sky" - a narrow, half-a-meter wide passage through a cliff with the sky above. A rocky river snakes below with cool, fresh water from the mountains.
The park is truly majestic with its peaks, valleys, and rocky river flowing in between the mountains. Buildings in the valley are restaurants, they line the river for a short distance, at which point paths into the mountains begin cropping up.
Chris is an American from Connecticut, he's spent quite some time in China spread over different trips - his Mandarin is pretty good.
And old Buddhist temple. Note the statuette on the rocks above the shrine. On our way back down the valley, we heard singing coming from this spot.
This break in the rocks is called the "Shot in the Sky" and runs for about 25 meters at half-meter width. You could theoretically climb to the top, but I was under the impression that the tourists around me would frown upon the idea of me dropping on their necks if I slipped. Point of note: there were virtually no Westerners in the entire park. I ran into a couple of Americans on my way up the first time, but our group aside, everyone else was positively Chinese.
These little waterfalls feed the mountain river.
Just in case you were planning to slip any other way, this helpful sign will direct you as to the precise manner in which you should act when falling off the rocks. The main path wraps around the river and turns up onto the mountain, going to the top and then back down again. The path is supposed to take 1-2 hours to complete. While the Hutongers meandered somewhere behind me, I walked it in about 30 mins each of the first two times, running the last one in something like 10 minutes. Let me tell you - there was clamor up and down the line as I ran around the rocks, hopping on and off to get around the other visitors (there was an almost unbroken line of people walking the trail at this point in the day). More than once, I was reminded that I should be "Careful, slipping" by my fellow (supposedly English speaking?) Chinese hikers, with enough angry glares to propel me to new levels of speed. I love your continued support of my athletic pursuits, Chinese people.
The fun (not to mention fresh air) had to end eventually. That realization hit especially hard on the drive back into town. My catnap was rudely interrupted by the deep rumble and smell of diesel exhaust. To my dismay, it wasn't one, or two, or even three trucks - but 20 or 30 of them, and I'm not using the term big loosely here. 18-wheelers? Try 24+ wheels under heavy load. Each of these things was easily 3 to 4 times the length of our bus and moved painfully slow. What were they hauling? Mostly gravel - for building foundations, roads, and all the endless construction we see around town. As diesel exhaust particles are one of the most harmful substances to human lungs, large diesel trucks are not allowed to enter Beijing during daylight hours - in fact, if you see a construction site at night, chances are it will be clogged with heavy machinery moving in and out - the only time they are allowed to do so. We just happened to be lucky enough to run into a convoy that was staging to enter city proper, and had to crawl along breathing exhaust for over a half-hour while our driver tried (and tried, and tried...) to get past them. Let's say this again, together: welcome to China...
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