Thursday, October 20, 2005
i went recently to the Western Hills (Xishan) in a traditionally chinese journey-to-the-west kinda way, spending my saturday there hiking. i went with my neighbor phil and two other foreign friends, jasper and colleen. easy to get to, we took two buses and half an hour's time. upon arrival we ran into the requisite van drivers offering rides to the top. scoff scoff, said we, we don't need your portage. little did we know.
the word hill is a pretty feeble-sounding word in the english language, making one think of sloping hills, rolling hills, and (rarely) steep hills. these western hills may be a problem in language-to-language interpretation. the chinese character, shan, can be both hills and mountains in meaning. this is a pretty important distinction in my book (see Elliot's Book at your local library or bookstore) and that difference could make or break an expedition or foray into whatever part of the chinese countryside. it nearly broke ours.
slugging up the first "low" hills, we took a break at a nice little park with western-style manicured lawns and various types of bamboo. while eating colleen-provided bagels we discussed many topics that young people often banter back and forth, like the possibility of a species of grass monster that looks exactly like a blade of grass and blends in perfectly, bending slightly when you try to mow the lawn, sticking out from the rest interpidly, mocking our best efforts to manicure said lawns and always coming out blurry in lawn photos, for example.
we ate some oranges pensively and then continued on up, taking a side path that looked enticing but felt less than stellar. puff puff we climbed the endless stairs, stopping at this or that temple to rest and stare at the stairs to go. when we finally got to the top of our "adventurous" path, it was hard to speak through our panting breaths. this is the point in the mount everest expedition where the team reaches the 8th camp and sees clouds circling the peak, doubting that they will ever make it to that tenuous peak, considering the unquestionable fact that it is easier to go back than to go on (or at least that's what we tell ourselves at times like these.) half of my team went back to base camp. colleen and i trudged on into the great unknown, undaunted.
well, slightly daunted, but doggedly impervious to pain and fatigue.
the rest of the going was of the easy type, for a while at least. we just had to punch through the vendor hounds with three heads and snarling teeth, chirping endlessly at us with their toy bird nests and bird whistles. CRASH we bulled them out of the way and routed their pursuit with a well-felled conifer across the path. there was no returning at that point.
we paid charon his dues and crossed the last barrier standing between us and the fabled dragon gate. high up in the reaches of the dark foreboding mountain we trekked, scaling perilous stretches of sharp rock and leaping abyssal chasms of netherworldly depths. through tunnels gouged out of the unforgiving rock by ancestors long-forgotten we crawled, squirmed, fought for space to breathe, finally finding the light again and seeing what we had come to see. a place to be remembered, but never mentioned lightly. prehistoric creatures with wingspans of a 747 swirled up and around the stark cliffside, spewing fire all around, creating a cacophony of echoing dirges with their shrill cries of pain and ancient fury. the gate looked so small and insignificant and the distance between impassable. if we had been despondent before, that knew nothing of the despair we found ourselves drenched in at that moment. unable to move, we sobbed silently at both the prospects of having to go back the way we had come or continuing on unto certain death.
luckily there was a hang-glider chillin on the rock next to us, so we jumped on and spun off toward our salvation, dodging dragon fire and falling rocks, navigating the fierce winds at that altitude. needless to say, we made it to the ground safely and thanks to a helpful villager down below found our way back to civilization (bicycles and donuts.)
it was a good trip. deus ex machina and late-night choose-your-own-adventure-esqueness aside, i had a good time and am going back this saturday morning for a jog around the paths. i think i may have posted some pics on my flickr sight. checkmout.
the word hill is a pretty feeble-sounding word in the english language, making one think of sloping hills, rolling hills, and (rarely) steep hills. these western hills may be a problem in language-to-language interpretation. the chinese character, shan, can be both hills and mountains in meaning. this is a pretty important distinction in my book (see Elliot's Book at your local library or bookstore) and that difference could make or break an expedition or foray into whatever part of the chinese countryside. it nearly broke ours.
slugging up the first "low" hills, we took a break at a nice little park with western-style manicured lawns and various types of bamboo. while eating colleen-provided bagels we discussed many topics that young people often banter back and forth, like the possibility of a species of grass monster that looks exactly like a blade of grass and blends in perfectly, bending slightly when you try to mow the lawn, sticking out from the rest interpidly, mocking our best efforts to manicure said lawns and always coming out blurry in lawn photos, for example.
we ate some oranges pensively and then continued on up, taking a side path that looked enticing but felt less than stellar. puff puff we climbed the endless stairs, stopping at this or that temple to rest and stare at the stairs to go. when we finally got to the top of our "adventurous" path, it was hard to speak through our panting breaths. this is the point in the mount everest expedition where the team reaches the 8th camp and sees clouds circling the peak, doubting that they will ever make it to that tenuous peak, considering the unquestionable fact that it is easier to go back than to go on (or at least that's what we tell ourselves at times like these.) half of my team went back to base camp. colleen and i trudged on into the great unknown, undaunted.
well, slightly daunted, but doggedly impervious to pain and fatigue.
the rest of the going was of the easy type, for a while at least. we just had to punch through the vendor hounds with three heads and snarling teeth, chirping endlessly at us with their toy bird nests and bird whistles. CRASH we bulled them out of the way and routed their pursuit with a well-felled conifer across the path. there was no returning at that point.
we paid charon his dues and crossed the last barrier standing between us and the fabled dragon gate. high up in the reaches of the dark foreboding mountain we trekked, scaling perilous stretches of sharp rock and leaping abyssal chasms of netherworldly depths. through tunnels gouged out of the unforgiving rock by ancestors long-forgotten we crawled, squirmed, fought for space to breathe, finally finding the light again and seeing what we had come to see. a place to be remembered, but never mentioned lightly. prehistoric creatures with wingspans of a 747 swirled up and around the stark cliffside, spewing fire all around, creating a cacophony of echoing dirges with their shrill cries of pain and ancient fury. the gate looked so small and insignificant and the distance between impassable. if we had been despondent before, that knew nothing of the despair we found ourselves drenched in at that moment. unable to move, we sobbed silently at both the prospects of having to go back the way we had come or continuing on unto certain death.
luckily there was a hang-glider chillin on the rock next to us, so we jumped on and spun off toward our salvation, dodging dragon fire and falling rocks, navigating the fierce winds at that altitude. needless to say, we made it to the ground safely and thanks to a helpful villager down below found our way back to civilization (bicycles and donuts.)
it was a good trip. deus ex machina and late-night choose-your-own-adventure-esqueness aside, i had a good time and am going back this saturday morning for a jog around the paths. i think i may have posted some pics on my flickr sight. checkmout.
