My trip to Datong did not start on a good note. I went with a group of 10 friends and our train left at 11:45 pm. We arrived at the station an hour early, and after getting through security we looked up at the board displaying all the train information. It took about 2 minutes for us to realize that our train wasn’t listed up there and after asking an attendant we soon found out that our train left from a different station. Considering that Beijing is home to 20 million people it isn’t exactly easy to navigate around the city. We sprinted out of the station and the race was on. We finally got two taxi drivers to take us to the station if we paid them a large sum, and we sped off to the other station. We arrived at the station within 20 minutes and made it to the station in time to wait for 30 minutes because our train was delayed. This provided us with some excitement to begin the trip and was only the beginning of our excitement for the weekend.
The train ride once again did not go well for me. My bed was the top bunk and conveniently located near the bathroom. Unfortunately someone on the train had problems with his or her stomach that night and spent the majority of the ride vomiting in that bathroom. A few of the other people in my tiny room on the train snored throughout the ride and one of them ground their teeth together all night.
We finally arrived in Datong and I was relieved to be anywhere but on that train. The problem was that Datong was freezing. It was 0 C (32F) and with the wind chill it was much colder. I was not prepared for the cold weather and didn’t bring enough warm clothes. When we arrived at the Hanging Monastery a lady offered to sell me a fake adidas hat and gloves and this was the happiest I have ever been when approached by someone selling things on the street. I asked for her biggest pair of gloves and hat and the pair she gave me appeared to be too small. I told her and naturally responded that they would fit perfectly. I think the gloves lasted about 4 hours before ripping because my hands were just too big for the gloves. The hat fared even worse, it lasted about 2 hours before it fell apart at the seams.
After the monastery the drivers stopped on the side of the rode in front of a bunch of small caves. We went to examine what was going on in the caves and were amazed to find that a very small man lived in them. He was about 4 feet tall, and he welcomed us into his home and was happy to take pictures with us. The man was extremely nice and we enjoyed the time we spent with him. I was shocked when I found out that the little man was 89 years old. The most humorous part of his humble abode was the satellite out front, allowing him to watch television inside his cave.
The little cave man's house.
We left the cave man and the drivers began driving on a dirt path that we literally in the middle of nowhere. We all agreed that this most likely was the place that they were going to kill us and dispose of the bodies. We finally arrived at the place, and I still have no idea what it was. From what we could understand the drivers told us the place was either Jesus park or some kind of area where they get minerals that go into computers. Both options really don’t make a lot of sense considering what I saw so I have absolutely no idea what we saw, but it was actually somewhat scenic.
While we were here I saw a mini tornado that was moving across the ground about 100 yards from where we were.
A picture from the unknown area.
We drove back to the city and went to see the nine-dragon screen. We took some pictures there and one of my friends thought it would be a good idea to invite some of the Chinese in the area to take a picture with us. I told him not to because I thought that all of them would, and it took less than 2 minutes before him and I were surrounded. The others had fled in time, but we literally got backed up against the screen and about 50 Chinese guys circled around us. They began asking us questions about everything and after about 20 minutes there was finally enough room for us to escape.
We went to dinner that evening and were put in a side room that contained two large tables. There were 10 Chinese people sitting at one of the tables in the room, all about 40 years old. They took pictures of us throughout dinner but appeared to be a nice group of people, so after we finished dinner a few of us decided to talk with them. After talking for a while and sharing some drinks with them they invited us to sing karaoke with them. This was always one of the things I wanted to do when I came to China. Not karaoke, because I have done that many times with my friends since arriving here. I’m talking about singing karaoke with random Chinese people. This was my chance and our entire group decided to join them. We went to the nicest karaoke place that I have ever been to, and spent about 3 hours singing and dancing with them. That was one of the most memorable things I have ever done, and I will remember that night for a very long time.
Day 2
During dinner one of my friends dropped his chopsticks on the ground. He ignored our pleas to get a new pair and continued to use them during dinner. This is the very same floor that is constantly spit on, and I would bet that the cleanest floor in China is still dirtier than every floor in the U.S. The next morning the very same guy had to stop the taxi to vomit and he had problems with his stomach all day. I am not attributing his sickness only to the chopstick incident because it could have been from uncooked food, but my advice is to never put anything in your mouth that has touched a floor in China.
Our trip to the Yungang caves led to more people taking pictures of us than the enormous statues that were all over the area. Although I am getting used to people taking pictures of me I still don’t understand why they would rather take pictures of me than some of the most famous sites in China.
While exploring the area we happened to find two camels that you could ride for a few dollars. Having never ridden a camel I obviously had to see what it was like. It was much more uncomfortable than I had imagined but the reason for that can be mainly attributed to the fact that I am a male. Other than that my first camel ride was fun and I am definitely considering getting one when I get home because they get such good gas mileage.
On our way to the section of the Great Wall near Datong we reached a point in the road where we could not go any further because the snow was melting and had created a stream right through the dirt road. After surveying the area for a while, one of the drivers decided that he could make it across. The car crept forward and the stream actually ended up being about a foot deep at the deepest point. The driver put the pedal to the floor and was able to make it across. The next car followed but the third driver didn’t think his car could make it across so he just sat on the other side of the water.
One of the cars successfully crossing the water.
When we arrived at the wall we noticed that although the old section of the wall was interesting, there were sections of the wall that were on high hills in the distance that would provide us with a great view of the area. We began the trek to the highest point and eventually reached it. It was well worth the trip and we were able to see a large portion of where the Great Wall used to stand. On our return trip to the taxis a man came out of the nearby factory and began yelling at us. (The area near the wall was home to many factories that were pumping black smoke into the air constantly. Datong is home to the second largest industrial area in all of China, so you can imagine how bad the air quality was there. It was disturbing to see smokestacks everywhere, especially out in the country near such a historic landmark.) The man said that we were on his property and that we had to go back where we came from. So we continued on our march back to the taxis but he continued to yell at us and eventually began to chase us down after we disobeyed his orders and proceeded on our way back to the taxis. We were in the middle of nowhere once again and had no idea how we were supposed to get back to the taxis other than the route we had taken on our way there.
I had to change my train ticket back to Beijing to a day earlier than it was originally scheduled for, but the beds on the train were totally sold out and the only seats available were hard seats. I figured that since I had difficulty sleeping in the beds that the hard seats couldn’t be much worse. Boy was I wrong. The seats were the most uncomfortable seats I had ever sat on and there were people everywhere. About every 5 seconds someone in the area coughed, spit, or passed gas. This combined to create one of the most difficult sleeping environments I have ever been in. I actually found it impossible to sleep and instead spent the train ride trying to control my anger as the area around me began a germ infested war zone. I finally arrived home at 5:30 am and I made it to class at 1pm. Although I was not able to get a lot of sleep the trip was one of the most memorable weekends during my time in China.
Beijing Shore 