A Very Green Great Wall

On my last trip to the great wall, it was covered in snow.  Yesterday was a bit overcast and I knew it would start raining at any time, but with a few new friends from the MTV crew in town for the MTV Push & CK ONE event this Wednesday, May 11 at Star Live (see here for details), today was their only chance to go to the wall.

I opted to take them to one of my choice picks – the Mutianyu section of the wall as it’s way less touristy and crowded compared to Badaling section and it’s not as far as Jingshanling and Simatai. But the real incentive is that I just can not get enough of the toboggan slide run down the wall!

A perfect route for the Mutianyu section of the wall is to take the cable car to the top and walk about 30-45 minutes down to the toboggan slide.

And the best part of it all? As we were walking back to the parking lot after a perfect day on the wall, it started to rain.  Couldn’t have asked for better timing!

*A nice suggestion for anyone who is making a trip out there, you should stop by The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu on the way there or back for a bite to eat and if you want a weekend getaway, this is a great option for you to spend a few days out of the city.

With a running theme of sustainability, The Schoolhouse uses existing buildings, they hire and train people from the area, support other village businesses, source ingredients locally, and make their food homemade from scratch. Schoolhouse Art Glass offers glass created in their own workshop and they showcase original works in their Art Room.

Unfortunately, we were unable to stop in for a hot cup of tea since they were not serving a la carte for Mother’s Day brunch.  So instead, I introduced them to local jianbing!

LumDimSum Snapshots of A Green Great Wall:

Last year around this time, the Great Wall was in full bloom with pink and white cherry blossom trees covering the landscape.  I was a bit bummed not to see any this year, did I already miss those precious few weeks?  Does anyone know exactly when the cherry blossom trees are in bloom?

If you’ve never seen this sight, it’s breath-taking.  Here’s a photo from a trek I did last year at the beginning of May (see below).

Great Wall Trek May 2, 2010

For more awesome photos of the Great Wall’s cherry blossom trees in bloom, click previous article here: Beauty in Bloom at the Great Wall.

Slow Food Saturday @ The Schoolhouse

With an organic bread station, homemade cheese station, homemade ice cream and sorghum dumpling stations, Slow Food Saturday will be showcasing culinary traditions and delicious foods while having fun in the countryside with family and friends.

Hosted by 组织者 The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu & Slow Food Beijing, visitors can take this opportunity to get outside of Beijing and enjoy walking, biking and hiking around the Schoolhouse’s four villages – Mutianyu, Beigou, Xinying and Tianxianyu. It’s also a great chance to check out local restaurants’ special dishes, local villagers’ locally grown foods, along with culinary demonstrations.

For more information, please visit: http://www.slowfoodsaturday.org

Event Details:

• Date: Saturday, September 4
• Time: 10:30am-onwards
• Location: Mutianyu, Beigou, Xinying and Tianxianyu Villages
• Transport: We encourage guests to come up by bus. Our leaving point will be the Trek Store just south of Chaoyang Park. Buses will be leaving at 09:00 sharp! Click here for map location and directions. Round-Trip bus tickets to and from Mutianyu cost RMB 80. To reserve your seat please email: bus@slowfoodsaturday.org When you reserve please leave your name, phone number and number of people.
• Contact Tel: 13810521254

*Thank you to Greening the Beige for sharing this event with LumDimSum.