Kookies in China

I just got back from spending 5 days in Beijing, China.

It was an organized group trip with around 300 people. They were all English teachers like myself, mostly Canadian. From Busan, it was only a two hour flight. Our hotel in Beijing was a super-grand, massive, 5-star ordeal. It had 5 restaurants, two pool halls, indoor tennis courts, a bowling alley with several lanes, etc., etc.

The hard part about this trip... I was sick.

During the entire trip (and even still) I suffered from a very sore throat accompanied by a crazy hacking cough. As well, I've lost my hearing. I tried to enjoy myself as best I could, but at night I would have amazing coughing fits. I guzzled copious amounts of water and trudged onwards.

Beijing itself was busy. Very busy.

It's population is 16 million people. Toronto is just a quaint village in the grand scheme of things. The roads in Beijing were not only littered with cars, but with many, many, many bicycles too. They had their own wide lane on every road. Every bicycle looked like a grey, rusted 1977 Raleigh. How the locals can tell their bike from others when they are locked up together amongst hundreds of other exact-looking bikes is an amazing feat.

Then there's the sites.

I saw Tiananmen square, the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. But the highlight was the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall consists mainly of stairs. Stairs, stairs, stairs. With just enough room for people to go up on the right side, and come down on the left side. There were four stations, each looking like a miniature castle with windows and turrets. The fourth station was at the very top. I would climb a long set of stairs wheezing because of my illness. Then, after reaching the station, I would go into an unstoppable coughing fit where everyone would look at me, thinking I would die. I thought I was going to die too. I would chug water and eventually the coughing would subside. Afterwards, I could climb the next long set of stairs.

But at the third station... it happened. I tossed my cookies off the Great Wall of China.

I couldn't help it. Being so high up, the air was thin. Shallow breaths and an uncontrollable coughing fit led me to desecrate one of the seven wonders of the world. I clutched the stone sides of a turret opening and heaved my breakfast from hundreds of feet up.

Afterwards, I felt much better.

I made it to the top successfully, still coughing all the way. I also purchased a shirt that said "I climbed the Great Wall of China". I want to take a marker, cross out "climbed" and write "puked off".

I think that would be more fitting.