As I write this blog it is clear to me that my time in Tianjin and in China will soon be coming to an end as I have my ticket booked for May 1, 2021. I titled this entry ‘the long and the short of it’ as I find the days are long however the weeks seem to by passing quickly. Since my last entry we have experienced a few more unique weather days, one of which we are experiencing today. The winds are blustery today and bringing in and tossing around a lot of dust so we have decided to remain in the apartment for most of the day and get some housekeeping done. I have one and a half bags packed, ready for my trip home, basically all my winter clothes that I will not wear again. Speaking of winter, we did have it pretty good this year with only a couple of snowfalls however one occurred exactly on March 1 so truly in ‘like a lion’ so of course this week we are hoping it goes ‘out like a lamb’. We have already had double digit days however it hasn’t been consistent for one total week yet.
Our big trip this month was a trip to the Great Wall. It was my third time and John’s fifth. We get wiser each time we go as this time we rented a driver from John’s school to take us so we didn’t have to figure out the subway, taxis or busses that would normally be a challenge in getting there. So our day trip started at 8 am and we arrived back home by around 4 pm. The road trip itself was pretty straight forward with travelling mostly on 4 lane highways and then as we got closer, say within 45 minutes, we travelled through some towns and villages up the mountainous area which felt to me like a trip on the Canadian Cabot trail. There was some steep embankments once we reached the Great Wall where we then entered a small bus with others to the top and walked a winding, hilly trail back to the other entrance to the wall. Trying to get out of a Chinese tourist site is always tricky with alleyways and gates and cubicles filled with trinkets. At this point my legs were not cooperating so I just wanted out!
The total trip by car took us about 2.5 hours and this section of the wall was called Huangyaguan Pass. One inscription read as follows: ‘The abutment built in the early Ming dynasty is the best integrated round one within the jurisdiction of Tianjin. It is built in rubbles. It is round and solid, diameter of 9.3 metres, 7.4 metres high. It is not only the war machine to defence, but also the smoke pier to give beacon alarm.”
We also felt this wall walk was similar to our last walk outside of Beijing. Lots of stairs and up and down hiking. It was certainly not as rugged as my first wall hike where the sides were crumbling away and there was no side walls for safety. (I was certainly a more nervous hiker then but at least my legs lasted) I think the stairs are leg burners but safer so it’s a ‘give and take’ situation when you hike different parts of the wall. This experience was very safe with railings and places to stop and sit for a bit. At one point there were even some village people that were offering horse rides around the wall. It was nice to see the horses on the trail in their colourful blankets but we didn’t venture to ride them. Our day was sunny after a night of rain so overall a very enjoyable trip except perhaps the last ten minutes when my leg muscles were done and I didn’t want to walk anymore. Nonetheless we finished and met our driver at an agreed upon location and headed home.
Another experience this month that I had the ‘pleasure’ of doing was a Chinese spa to get a massage. John had ventured into this place one time we were passing by to go to dinner. I got brave one afternoon and walked over and went for it. I was led to a room in the very back of the spa for my treatment. Having had more than a few massages back in Canada I was expecting the usual disrobing and massage table with lovely scented oils and a relaxing experience. With the help of my translate ap on my phone I told them I wanted a female masseuse and my visit went from there. They basically led me to a room with a hard double bed in it and a bathroom and gave me a bottle of water. I waited until the lady came in and she signaled for me to sit upright on the bed which I did, fully clothed. So through my clothes she kneaded and punched every part of my body with muscles and then asked me to lie down flat. When I did this she patted my belly and gently massaged my stomach and then asked me to roll over. Again she massaged every part of my body that had muscles and the whole process took about 50 minutes. I wouldn’t say I was comfortable the whole time but I believe now that the ‘after affects’ are better when given a Chinese massage rather than the immediate experience like a Canadian massage. There were times when it really burned as there was no lotions used just clothes on skin but I made it through. Total cost $30. That was an added bonus. In Canada we would pay probably $130 for this service.
About a week and a half later my Chinese friend, Yo Yo and I decided to go into the same Chinese spa for a foot massage. Yo Yo is the wife of John’s vice principal Matt Zavala who is from New Hampshire, US and we have all enjoyed each other’s company during our stay here. So Yo Yo can speak Chinese so we got settled into the room that clearly looked like we were going to get foot massages only but this again was not the case. At first the ladies massaged our shoulders then soaked our feet and cleaned them up and rubbed them down. I don’t think I have ever experienced such foot pain in my whole life. I fully hope to never have an arch issue the rest of my life given how much they poked and prodded and rubbed until my feet were burning. But we weren’t finished yet. They had us lie on our stomachs with the chairs made flat and massaged our backs and legs as well. And then as we turned over to sip our water and put our socks and shoes back on, I figured we were done but no! The lady at the end of my ottoman was lighting a suction cup on fire with a flamed torch. I have not had this experience before nor had I even seen it, I had heard about it but didn’t sign up for this! She heated the cups with the flame and adhered them to the bottom of each of my feet to ‘rid my body of toxins’ I believe. Yo Yo was laughing telling me to relax and that it was ‘Chinese magic’, to get rid of the white gases in my body. Needless to say I will not be a returning customer! A bit too much unexpected heat for me! I’m glad Yo Yo was with me to explain because when I saw the torch I envisioned walking across hot rocks or something next! Gosh. What a day!
So in the end, I am hoping my last month in Tianjin will be a memorable one but with less heat except for nice temperatures outside. We will probably do one last trip to Beijing and hope to see the Summer Palace again and the Botanical Gardens and then the long flight home to Toronto and to the Canadian Covid experience.
