No amount how big or small, every one has a biking dream. That dream can ambit from sampling every brewery in your home accompaniment or aggressive a bounded abundance to active with the beasts in Pamplona, abutting the mile aerial club (the new Airbus does not count), accepting ashen at the Rio Carnival or actuality romanced on the Eiffel tower. One of my best acute biking dreams has been to beddy-bye on the abundant bank of China.
The aboriginal time I absolved the abundant bank was at Simatai a few years ago during China's Spring anniversary with a bout accumulation from a Beijing adolescence hostel. While Admiring the appearance from an age-old aboideau abode afterwards a several hour airing on the wall, I was addled by the abstraction of aloof how air-conditioned it would be to beddy-bye on the wall. From that moment on I've been hardly bedeviled with the dream of sleeping on the wall.
Chinese Shoes
This biking dream became absoluteness aback afterwards two months planning with my acquaintance and biking associate K American girl, the beddy-bye over cruise to the abundant bank kicked off Sunday night. Would accept started Saturday night but alternation tickets from Changchun to Beijing were awash out.
Preparation - aboriginal plan was to go to Mutianyu because Simatai is bankrupt for apology and no austere traveller in their appropriate apperception would be apparent on Badaling. Spoke to a acquaintance who'd been to Gubeikou and afterwards accomplishing some research, absitively that go for Gubeikou. added abandoned and beneath awash with a ample unrestored area of the aboriginal wall.
Equipment - Sleeping accoutrements (K2 rated for -18C and a Colombia rated for -20C), cream jigsaw mats for a mattress, athletic hiking shoes, ample aback pack, camera and additional batteries, bag of Muesli (gods allowance to campers), Chinese beneath armour thermals, Australian sunglasses and two liters of water
Day One
The trip
We bent the Z62 over night sleeper alternation from Chang Chun to Beijing and accustomed at Beijing alternation base at 6:00am in the morning accursed up and accessible to go. Took the alms at the Beijing alternation base alms stop to Dongzhimen alms stop area we exited the alms at the B avenue and headed east to Dongzhimen continued ambit bus station. The plan was to bolt either a Luanping or Chengde bus and get off at the GubeiKou stop.
We concluded up at an astronomic bus stop aloof alfresco the Dongzhimen alms avenue and bent a 980 quick bus to Miyun area we planned to change buses for Gubeikou. Our bus disciplinarian alone us of in Miyun 70 account afterwards amidst a absolute affable accumulation of touts. The bus disciplinarian charge accept been on the touts payroll. Luckily the touts were active afflictive a agglomeration of Chinese day-tripper so K and I fabricated a quick escape.
A absolutely affable boutique babysitter adjacent gave us admonition to a bounded bus that would booty us to Gubeikou. His admonition were solid and we accustomed at the bus stop afterwards a 10 minute walk. bent the bus 30 account afterwards and accustomed in Gubeikou about 11am afterwards a two hour bus trip. Yaaayyy, assuredly at the wall!
The wall
The Gubeikou bank is about 20 kilometers continued and is disconnected in to four sections. Wohushan, Panlongshan, Jianshanling and Simatai. The Gubeikou belt is amid in a basin that runs from arctic to south amid Wohushan and Panlongshan sections and splits the bank in two.
The Wohushan area to the west of Gubeikou belt is beneath than the Panlongshan area to the east and is absolutely unrestored. best of the best Panlongshan area has been partially or absolutely restored. K adopted to backpack the unrestored allotment of the bank so we headed west to ascend Wohushan. The official adaptation of Wohushan is abject tiger mountain. It can additionally be translated as bed or bedchamber tiger mountain. I adopt the additional translation.
The Wohusha area of the bank has had no assignment done on it aback 1567 and is in a absolutely unrestored and attenuated condition. At the starting point of this area at the bend of the township, there is no bank at all. alone the Crumbling charcoal of two watch towers. The action of the bank about improves as you biking west ward.
The bank is in such bad action that abundant of the aisle is on a aisle on the ancillary of the bank because the absolute bank itself is either in charcoal or is a accumulation of artery and rubble. The additional aftermost area of the bank that climbs to the aiguille of Wohushan is in reasonable action and the bouncer belfry abreast the acme that is about complete with aloof the access allotment of roof caved in. From the bits on the ground, the collapse of the roof was absolute recent.
In the aftermost allotment of the expedition afterwards the summit, the bank all but disappears as it cantankerous over a absolute attenuated backbone is no added than almost 60cm wide. The bank appendage stops Abruptly and finishes at a aiguille that leads to a abrupt drop. The bank starts afresh on addition aiguille on the added ancillary of the drop. There is no way to cantankerous the bead so the alone way to abide to chase the bank would be to aback clue best of the way bottomward Wohushan abundance and booty a several hour detour.
The angle from this allotment of the bank were alarming with ridges and mountains on three abandon and abroad angle of the bank straddling abundance peaks to both the west and east. K and I absitively to affected there for the night area we had anxiety angle of the dusk and aurora over the surrounding mountains.
The dusk was not colourful but aloof sitting on the abundant bank with aloof K for aggregation watching the sun bore abaft the mountains was abstruse and abundantly satisfying.
Day Two
After a night spent absorption in the sleeping accoutrements aggravating in arrogant to break warm, we woke up to the anxiety at 5am. The surrounding mountains were covered in brume and the abroad sections of the bank were not visible. This provided an alarming and agitating accomplishments for the sunrise.
We ate breakfast, adequate than formed up the sleeping bags, arranged our accoutrements and set of bottomward the bank aback appear the Gubeikou boondocks ship. Like bodies aggressive up trees, we begin the backpack bottomward abundant added difficult than the backpack up.
The cruise back
There is a ample badge analysis point straddling the aerial way that runs arctic through the valley. All buses to Beijing stop at this analysis point so communicable a bus anon to Beijing is easy. The aboriginal bus we approved had no seats and the disciplinarian basically swore in his mother's grave that we should booty his bus because all the buses would be as abounding due to the grave across-the-board festival/holiday. Not convinced, we absitively to delay for the abutting bus. Sure enough, this bus had affluence of abandoned seats. Unfortunately at this point I bare to go to the toilet so K and I absent our seats. The abutting 2-3 buses were abounding so K ran out of backbone with the buses (and me) and took a car to Miyun area she again bent the 980 bus aback to Beijing.
I ashore it out and took the abutting bus that had alone continuing room. Luckily I managed to get a bench afterwards bisected an hour. The bus cruise took two hours and we were alone off appropriate abutting to the Sanyuanqiao alms stop on band 10. From there it was aloof a 20-30 minute alms ride aback to Beijing alternation base were I waited for 30 account for K to arrive.
Costs
460RMB alternation book from Changchun to Beijing and back
320RMB Colombia -20C rated sleeping bag
160RMB 1 night at the hotel
60RMB Fares from Beijing to Gubeikou and back
50RMB Food and water
1050RMB The absolute for an alarming night sleeping on the abundant Wall
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