Hike! 2009 East Hebei trek

[sophie]

I can't read chinese! What does it mean?

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by sophie

I can't read chinese! What does it mean?

Here's a rough English translation (you know, some Chinese expressions don't always translate exactly into other languages). 可能 means: Before it would be possible to give you an answer, Kim and I would have to consult with each other and with our wives, and I would also have to measure my tent to see if we could fit, and so, for now, the answer is maybe*.

(Have you seen the movie, or heard the expression, "Lost in Translation"? This is similar, but opposite. Could it be called "Gained in Translation"?)

* I am just joking with you. I noticed the wink in your question so I thought you must not be serious.

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by Kim

Maybe we should make a list of places, where I can do some recon if I have the time.

I also wonder how to get across the reservoir at Panjiakou. It would be a long walk around and I'm not keen on the idea of swimming. I have heard of small boats at the lake but I wonder how to summon one.

[Kim]

I also wonder how to get across the reservoir at Panjiakou. It would be a long walk around and I'm not keen on the idea of swimming.

At least that could save us a shower

I went to Panjiakou last year and we rented a small boat at the dam to take us the the wall. There is a small village at the foot (coming from east as we will) and I'm sure one of the locals can take us across.
A nice lady offered us to take us back to the boat by here boot, so we wouldn't have to walk all the way back. I'm sure we will see the same thing.

[Bryan]

Of course, taking a boat will make it impossible for us to claim that we walked the entire distance. I can live with that.

[Kim]

I think we need to take up scuba diving to climb that part

[Bryan]

Now that would be a first. Nobody has ever trekked on an underwater Great Wall!

How far is it across the reservoir? And how far is it to walk around? It would be nice to be able to go the whole distance under our own power.

[Kim]

It's about 4.3 kilometres across the reservoir but a long way to go around it.

The wall goes something like this - I'm not sure exactly how it continues to the west.



So we would have to cross the reservoir two places. It should be no problem to get a boat in the eastern end since there is a small village here but when we need to cross the reservoir to the west it might be very difficult since there is no village here - unless we make some agreement with one of the locals to pick us up there. Part of a watch tower is visible in the middle of the reservoir.

[Bryan]

I guess we will just have to do our best when we get there. It looks like the dam is just a few miles to the south, so if necessary we could walk there to cross.

By the way, this AMS China topo map will show you the approximate location of the Wall. The map was made before the dam was built and the reservoir was formed.

That image is scaled down to fit this forum. Click it to view the full size image.

You can see how useful the topographic maps are in showing elevation and elevation change.

[Kim]

The map doesn't seem to match the location of the Great Wall very well in this area. The wall goes a bit north just below the S-shaped river section but that is not seen on the map.

Actually it seem like the Great Wall is under water three places. So far I have not seen any good maps of this area and the map in Bradt is very bad and the scale is wrong.

To walk on all the wall (except under water) we would probably have to make a detour of at least 20 km, so I vote for taking a boot across the reservoir.