Waking up that morning, we are close to reaching Beijing. We
joke about our upgrading and laugh about the event that took place with the
people in the ex-cabin assignment. There is an announcement over the intercom
and I ask Pengfei to translate for me, for the millionth time it feels like. He
explains that it says we are reaching the stop.
After exiting the train terminal we are to find the tour group
we are traveling with. Pengfei directs us in the correct spot and I notice the
woman and daughter from the cabin we vacated were there. I begin to make the
connection that they are apart of the tour group.
The seven of us pile into a van and Pengfei and I take the
far backseat. It feels that I have entered a metal oven. I have no idea what
anyone is saying and my translator seems to be tired of translating, so I just
smile. That’s universal. Pengfei finally decides to tell me they were just
asking about the American and the connection he and I share.
After our time spent in the sauna the van stops at the hotel
that we are staying at. After arriving there is some dispute with Hotel
management about me staying there. The hotel has a policy that no international
guests are allowed to stay. Pengfei tells me that I may have to sleep in the
lobby. I am soon filled with concern, however; this soon subsides when Pengfei
tells me he was only joking.
Before heading to our rooms we caucus with the group to
decide what we will be doing in the morning. Pengfei and I were overruled and
will be waking up at 3:00am to make our way to see the Chinese flag rise and
visit the site of Chairman Mao’s body.
I don’t have much to document about the flag rising, other
than I was the only American in the vicinity, and I was given strange looks
when seeing Chair Mao’s body. Pengfei and I were exhausted.
The next day we visit the Great Wall of China. Once we
arrive Pengfei and I want to make as much distance between the tour group, and
us, so that is exactly what we do. Once reaching the entrance of the Wall, we
take off. We are only allotted a certain amount of time, so we begin running because
we need to make it the highest point.
I nearly faint twice because of the heat and elevation, but I
push forward. Upon reaching our destination, I am filled with a euphoric
feeling. All the blood that is rushing through my body and the amazing view
that I whiteness. I am in China, I keep thinking to myself. I am one in the sea
of many on this wall, and I am alive.
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