We Had Was Nature

Down, down, turn and down out of the cloud covered mountain.  Today was back to work for the nation.  But we clutched at our Saturday and ignored the nation.  It was perfect as there was no one else around.  That’s one thing that’s always in short supply in China: that lonely desolate feeling, that nobody is anywhere near here.  We headed north toward Yangqi Lake where the APAC Summit took place.  That is a big, Tiantan-like construction beneath a towering craggy peak.  And the further we went beyond there, the less of anyone we saw.

One already knows of the massive urban build out to China in the last two decades and it is implicitly understood that there is a brand spanking new national highway system.  But what we saw today was remarkable.  Two different highways had been newly cut and dug and spanned up to a seemingly innocuous tourist site and over the mountain into a valley beyond.  Why has all this been built this way?  Clearly someone responsible has budget, gumption as well a mandate.  

The mountain itself was a lovely hike.  But first we had to overshoot the park by 25km because the we needed to find a gas station, as we didn’t become stuck up here.  By the time we arrived back at the entrance it was already 4:00PM.  The fall colors hadn’t only just begun to show.  We followed the trail to the ‘pool of perdition’ where everyone needed a photo.  Somehow I was struck by the fact that there wasn’t a temple we were walking towards, nor was there a must-see section of the wall.  We weren’t looking out for a place where Li Bai had penned something and we hadn’t yet seen any large red characters carved into the mountainside.  All we had was nature.  

And the shadows grew long on us quickly.  After about forty-five minutes we reached an enormous rock that afforded us an outstanding view down into the valley from where we had climbed.  My older daughter wanted to continue.  I would have if we were by ourselves.  But I was conscious of having to climb back down in the dark with a sore ankle. Going back down is always a bit harder.  Going in the dark is always a lot slower.  Now we’re riding home through Huairou on the highway that only yesterday, in the pouring rain was likely very crowded at this time.  But tonight it is only us observing the rites of weekend.