Among the lofty mountains

Today marks our fifth and final day trekking on the wall and was a pretty emotional day for me. A chance to let go of all the things that have held me back in the past and throw them over the side on the highest part of our trek today.

We left our hotel in Huairou to drive to Huanghuacheng to begin our last day of trekking. Along the way we were treated to a few more stories from Jessie.

One in particular about the Ming dynasty emperors - of which there were 16 in total however only 13 were buried in the Qing tombs we visited on Tuesday. Of the 3 emperors not buried there, one is buried in the original capital at Nanjing, one disappeared in a fire after his uncle instigated a coup to take over the throne and the final one was removed from the tomb by his brother.

The background to the last was this - the emperor was convinced to go fight the Mongolians leading his army, after successfully chasing them away he later was caught and used to try and take over the city (by placing him on a horsecart the Chinese army would not retaliate for fear of injuring or killing their emperor). In order to defeat the Mongolians, Chinese ministers decreed that the emperors brother should become the new emperor.

The Chinese successfully defended Beijing from the Mongolians who left and took the former emperor with them. After a few years they let the former emperor go. On returning to Beijing, the emperor placed the former emperor under house arrest for 8 years as he did not want to give up his power. On the emperor's death, the former emperor instigated a coup to retake the throne and won. As a punishment for his brothers greed and bad behaviour he had his body removed from the family tomb.

Despite Huanghuacheng's proximity to Beijing, this section of the wall is relatively untouched by tourism. Here, the wall clings to two hillsides alongside a reservoir. Some sections were been partially restored, but much of the original brickwork and rubble remains, overgrown with grass and climbers.

We trekked along the high and wide ramparts, soaking up the scenery and serenity, mysticism and majesty of the Great Wall.

At the top we had a little cleansing ceremony where Jean read a poem Cathie's future daughter-in-law had given her before coming on the trip. First Jean read it in Maori then the English translation...

"Seek the treasures you have valued most dearly. If you bow your head let it be to the lofty mountain."

A number of the ladies then took turns to say a little something. There were a few tears, many hugs and think we all left the wall a little lighter than before.

After climbing down some fairly steep flat sections, we concluded our trek in Zhuangdaokou Village. After lunch in a local restaurant, we drove back to Beijing to check back in to the Royal Phoenix Hotel (with comfy beds!!)

A lovely 25°C today with some light winds at the high areas, we caught a little bit of sun.

On the way we made a detour to a tea house and had a private tea making session with Jessica, the tea expert. She explained the different types of tea to us and the level of fermentation.

We got to try a couple of teas:
- Ginseng Oolong tea which was really tasty (and should be made in a clay teapot)
- Jasmine Green tea which had a strong smell but not a very strong taste
- Rose Lycée Black Tea which was quite sweet
- Puer tea which was very earthy
- Fruit tea which wasn't actually tea, just many dried fruits which could be eaten afterwards it dried and reused. This included papaya, peach, hawthorn, pineapple, apricot and kiwifruit.

A few of us bought some tea to take home with us along with a free peepee boy - a clay boy used to test the temperature of water - if the water is hot enough when you pour it on his head, cold water spurts out of his penis!

After checking into the hotel and showering, we headed to the Donghuamen night food market, after eating in a nearby restaurant and enjoying a delicious meal to celebrate a successful trek.

The night markets were pretty interesting - all sorts of creatures to buy on sticks - octopus, lobster, spider, silk worm, crab, snakes, centipede and many more!