Conquer the Wall...One Step at a Time

Yesterday I again set out with some friends to "Conquer the Wall," as the organizers of the Great Wall Marathon call it. It was a fantastic day. The sky was blue, the Wall was crooked, and the steps were many!

Last year--when I ran it for the first time--I was a bit in shell shock for running my first half-marathon, but this year I knew what was coming and was more mellow about the whole heavy-climbing and running experience. One of the best parts is seeing so many people from all over the world come to China for the marathon.

The team in pink was a group of senior citizens from Japan. The black number shows they are doing the marathon--a grueling experience that takes you twice up and down the Wall. I guess their elderly home decided to step up the exercise routine!
 

 
This is where we (half-marathon runners) will come down the Wall after the first 7 or so kilometers (and where the marathon runners come down and later...go up!)
 

Before take off...


During the run...
 

  
Great views all around.


...and at the end! It was a great feeling to "just be done with it" ;)


Partners in crime.
 

 
At the finish line, one guy (not someone I know) proposed to his girlfriend after 6 hours of running in the marathon. I guess he realized she was up for any challenge that day...
 

 

  
More happy faces afterwards...
 

 
Incredible blue sky.

 
The results. I had to take a picture because--excuse the bragging--I made it onto page 1 of the results for females. hahaha--that's pretty good I thought! Glad they didn't use tiny notecards for the results.

In het Nederlands: Gisteren was het weer tijd voor de halve marathon op de Chinese Muur. Nu.nl heeft er ook een filmje over. Nu ik hem voor de tweede keer rende had ik er nog meer lol in dan vorig jaar, ook al (of misschien juist omdat) ik nu wist wat me te wachten stond.  Het is soms moeilijk te genieten van het prachtige uitzicht als je vermoeide benen nog weer een trap op moeten, maar toch is het --vooral als het allemaal voorbij is-- een super marathon. ;)  

 

 

 

 

Orange in Beijing

Today the Netherlands celebrates its Kingsday, or Koningsdag, a celebration of the birthday of King Willem-Alexander. In Beijing, we already celebrated his majesty's birthday with a big cake and games last Saturday.

 
Mini version of the "free market" (which is kind of a flea market where, in the Netherlands on Kingsday, everyone is allowed to sell goods without permit or paying taxes). Our flea market had a lot of used toys. (Usually, as a parent you are so happy to finally get rid of some old junk...only to realize that your kids just used all the money to buy more crap at the same market.)

 
Water games. OK, I should have walked closer for this picture, but I was busy being a referee at the famous "aardappelrace" (kind of an egg-and-spoon race, but then with potatoes, to stay true to the Dutch heritage.)
 

 

Time to relax...

 

Confucius pondering about the inner virtues of the flea market.
 

 
Same expression...across the ages?

 

 
In the end, this is what it is all about. (Dutch bitterballen, a rare treat in the Jing.)
 

 
Simon discovered that the Dutch national colors are also perfect for highlighting his favorite team: the Washington DC Capitals Ice Hockey Team. Thomas proudly wears his new T-shirt marking the 10th anniversary of "The Red Lion," the Dutch language school in Beijing.

 

More Thomas, in case you can't get enough of the crazy hair.

 

In het Nederlands: Veel plezier met Koningsdag allemaal! In Beijing hebben we het zaterdag al gevierd met wat activiteiten georganizeerd door de Nederlandse school.

Follow the Way of Mao!

Yesterday a friend and I "followed the way of Mao Zedong"** all the way up the Chinese Wall at Mutianyu. In a lapse of sanity, we decided it was a good idea to train for our half Great Wall Marathon (coming up in three weeks) by running (read: walking) all the way up the steps to the Wall, then on the Wall for another two kilometers or so, and back.

 

(And friends in Holland or America or anywhere else relatively flat, if you think: "That's easy, I can run five kilometers," I invite you to come to Beijing and run five kilometers on the Wall with me. The whole thing--maybe six or so kilometers; my phone said 8.01km but the GPS gets confused on the steps--ended up taking us 1 hour and 50 minutes (including some time spent negotiating with the guy who wanted to sell us his 3 Yuan bottle of water for five times that price).

 

Here is a stellar picture of me, at the ticket window. It's hard to see, but the text above the window says "Slide the ticket," meaning you could perhaps "Slide your ticket" or buy "Tickets for the slide" that brings you back down from the Wall. I am not sure.

 

About an hour after ticket purchase we reach our end point. The Wall turns into a big bush... no more running. (Phew!) (OK, there was no time to take pictures on the way up!)

 

Celebrating the good work! - You might notice that summer has arrived in the Jing!

 

If we had brought a red ribbon, we could have tied it to this tree to show success. The kids are all school children, identified by their blue and white uniforms. (They actually looked remarkably fresh considering they just made the same climb we did.)

 

Great view over the Mutianyu valley. Beijing is somewhere far in the distance.

 

What goes up ...

 

... must come down.

 

Coming down to a watch tower. Better not to be afraid of heights, stairs, or people.

 

**Why "the way of Mao Zedong" you wonder? Well...all the way running up, that was our goal: four gigantic Chinese characters painted on the side of a rock saying "follow the way of Mao"! So we did...except, when we got there, in our euphoric state, we forgot to take a picture! I'll leave that for next time...when you, my precious reader, are coming to Beijing to run this track with me!

 

In het Nederlands: Gegroet familie! Het was natuurlijk een lange radio (Internet) stilte, maar dan hier toch maar een keer weer een nieuw bericht. Gisteren heb ik met een vriendin een flink stuk gelopen- geklommen-gerend om onze arme benen voor te bereiden op de halve marathon over de Chinese muur die we over drie weken gaan rennen. Het is prachtig weer hier opeens. Je kan op de foto's zien dat de zomer is losgebarsten.

A New Color on the Spectrum: APEC Blue

Thank you, President Obama, for blue skies this week.

This week, President Obama and other world leaders are in town to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings and Beijing has added a new color to the color spectrum: APEC Blue.

Because of the meetings, the government has issued a long list of restrictions to reduce emissions and traffic in the hopes of keeping the skies clean and the streets empty. As a result, the boys' school and many offices are closed for the week, in effect creating an "APEC Holiday" for everyone. (The kids, presumably, are doing two days of virtual learning from home to make up for lost time.)

The government measures include a limit on traffic, with only half the number of cars driving on one day (based on the last number of your license plate), and the other half the next; a reduction in the number of spots to see a doctor, to reduce traffic but also ensure hospitals are empty and ready for possible sick dignitaries; and even a halt on the burning of incense to honor to your ancestors. (See this article for more.)

The measures are working, so the skies are "APEC Blue."

Of course, considering that smog and pollution are pretty constant around here, this pretty blue sky that's currently over the city is in fact raising some questions among residents, who are wondering why this blue sky--which apparently CAN be created--is not always here for them to enjoy.  (Read, The Sky is Really Blue But It Isn't for Us.)


 
Here is APEC Blue, yesterday at the boys' school. While Thomas played soccer...

 

...Simon totally photo-bombed my "APEC Blue" shots.

 

 
Here's the APEC Blue over the Great Wall. A friend was visiting and we went up to Huanghua Great Wall, or the Yellow Flowers segment of the Wall. On the way there, we had to pass a security checkpoint and show our IDs because the actual APEC meetings are happening in this general area.
 

 
APEC Blue & selfie
 

 
Some firewood ready for the winter. You probably wouldn't be allowed to burn it today because of all the restrictions.
 

 

A recent APEC sunrise above our house.

 

(The Halloween spider still survives in the bushes next to our house.)

 

 

Some family pictures, of Thomas and Simon enjoying the beginning of their "APEC holiday" and Thomas on Skype with a good friend in The Hague.

 

To see how the family is doing during the APEC holiday, the best way is actually to follow Thomas' super active blog, Thomas Awesome Blog, where he carefully documents his activities (as part of his homework) and even shares other goodies, such as math strategies. :-)

 

In 't Nederlands: Het is hier opeens vakantie! Een paar weken geleden hoorden we dat de school dicht moest vanwege de top van de Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation die deze week in Beijing plaatsvindt. Wereldleiders zoals President Obama zijn hier en omdat het toch echt niet de bedoeling is dat zij de stad in de vervuiling aantreffen (die wij elke dag zien) zijn er veel maatregelen genomen om de emissies te beperken en het verkeer te halveren.  Hier is een artikeltje op de NOS Website: Smogaanpak Peking: halve stad vrij. De school van Simon en Thomas is dus ook dicht en vandaag doen we aan "home learning", oftewel thuis schoolwerk maken. Op de foto's zie je iedereen genieten van de onverwachte vakantie en de "APEC blauwe" lucht die deze week boven de stad hangt.