iv: who sleeps during the euro cup final of all things?
Mon 30 Jun 2008 at 1:16 am ♥ Filed under Beijing 2008
WEEKEND, SPARKNOTES STYLE: First off: I didn’t just climb the Great Wall on Saturday —- I freaking ziplined it. Can I just say, most awesome experience ever. I went to the Simatai part, which was pretty steep1. After climbing for so long, I went on the zipline2, which is a much cooler option than just walking down or taking the 20 minute cable car. Afterwards, I went with some friends to the restaurant near campus and then to a club3 owned by Columbia alums. Turns out that there was a Columbia alumni reception in town the next afternoon, so plans for Sunday were pretty much set! I had a great time at the reception4, and after that, we went to Purple Haze5, a really nice Thai restaurant. I then went back home and after writing a half-hearted attempt of an essay on Xing Ba Ke’s6 place in the Forbidden City, I then tried to stay up all night to watch the Euro Cup final (YAY SPAIN!) but fell asleep before I knew who won. Three hours later, I went to class not knowing any of the 70 new vocab words7, and now I’m posting this blog entry for everybody to read. The end.
SATURDAY, FLICKR STYLE:8
Yeah, I definitely ziplined across that.
That is not I, but rather some random guy that happened to be on the zipline. But you get the idea.
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footnotes:
1: No kidding. When they mean “climb” the Great Wall, they really / truly / honestly mean climb the Great Wall. There’d be tower after tower after tower … and the steps! The steps varied from giant to tiny to literally everything in between. Basically, if somebody missed a step and tripped and tumbled backwards, it would be the ultimate domino effect, considering how big our group was. And there would be these ramps, which weren’t a hassle to walk, but there weren’t any walls on the side in the chance that I happened to fall off. Considering how intimidating that wall was, that chance was pretty darn high. And it didn’t help that people nearby were talking about the daily death toll of Simatai. Haha, that was pretty comforting to hear when scaling the sans-side-support ramps.
2: The zipline is basically a trolley. Over the Great Wall. A trolley. Over the Great Wall. A TROLLEY OVER THE GREAT WALL (!!!). The wall overlooked this beautiful lake that literally looked like jade. I was harnessed onto a cable that ran above the lake, and I would glide along the cable. The view was amazing and totally worth the climb down and the 40 RMB.
3: Basically, we were looking in the Beijing guidebook, and when we saw a photo of a guy in a Columbia sweatshirt, we were pretty much compelled to go there. Funny how things work out that way.
4: I credit the amazing food (cucumber and tuna rolls, tiramisu-in-a-spoon, samosas in mango chutney, strawberry tartines, et al.), but in all honesty, I did meet some awesome people.
5: Yeah, I thought of Hendrix too.
6: Xing = Star. Star Ba Ke (when said aloud) sounds like a certain all-too-familiar coffee chain that starts with S and ends with tarbucks.
7: Oh, I kid you not. SEVENTY.
8: If I killed your feed / flist or just your browser in general with the dialup-unfriendly pictures, feel free to e-shout at me.
[...] admin wrote an interesting post today on iv: who sleeps during the euro cup final of all things?. Here’s a quick excerpt: [...]
Stunning pictures. The zipline looks like so much fun!
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admin, on July 1st, 2008 at 12:58 am, replied:
Thanks! The zipline was probably the best part of the wall.
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OMG. The pictures are simply breahtaking, Cindy.
I’m glad you had a blast ziplining the Great Wall. Sounds fabulous.
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admin, on July 1st, 2008 at 12:59 am, replied:
Thanks! The view up top is kind of dizzying, but it really is beautiful!
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Haha, oh man, I’d freak out if someone started talking about death tolls while I was climbing the Great Wall!
And I don’t think I ziplined (that’s when you’re on the line by yourself, right?) but we did go on a cable car thingy which was scary enough for me, but cool too.
Oh, the food sounds amazing! And lol to Star Ba Ke, hahaha.
Oh my goodness, those pictures are so beautiful. The third to last is my favorite. But whoa, ziplining looks really scary (I’m really scared of heights), but awesome too. I’m glad you got that experience.
Love you, glad to see you’re having fun.
And LOL my parents actually fell asleep towards the end of the Euro Cup final too. 
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admin, on July 1st, 2008 at 1:03 am, replied:
Ahhh, yeah, I went up the cable car to climb the wall last time I went! That was pretty cool, albeit slow. And yeah, zipline is just one person and no car/seat. Come to think of it, the people on the deck said that if I went on with another person, we’d go down the cable faster, inertia and all that. And to be honest, I’m — shall we say — not terribly fond of open heights, but I’m so glad that I actually did it!
Ahahahaha, did they schedule it at a terribly incovenient time for the US? We had it at 2:30-5-ish AM. D:
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ah, everything is so beautiful. The ziplining option seems much easier than the route we took (scaling the wall on foot). You got the best of both worlds!
glad you’re having fun!
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Cindy, on July 3rd, 2008 at 3:35 pm, replied:
At least you took the really hardcore route! Were you on Simatai too?
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AMAZING, AMAZING PICTURES!!!!! That view is just spectacular! I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to walk the Great Wall of China, but knowing that you can zipline??!?!?!?! That’s even more incentive to go and see the Wall. Well, of course, to see it for historical purposes, too. lol
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Cindy, on July 3rd, 2008 at 3:36 pm, replied:
The view on the Great Wall is awesome; I love it. Walking up is a complete bitch, because the steps will either be really high or really tiny. It’s totally unpredictable as you walk up, but ziplining makes it all worth it!!!
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