blog post 4: party in the city, play in the town

City life in Wuhan and Beijing, and rural life by the Great Wall, driving through the countryside, and along the Yangtze River.

One thing about China that absolutely astounded me was the stark contrast between urban and rural life. On our trip, we hardly traveled outside the cities, but we did drive through the countryside on our way to the boat cruise and our Great Wall tour, and saw some country style living along the Yangtze River.

Construction of a bridge along the Yangtze.

The cities that we visited, Wuhan and Beijing, were hopping with life and construction, with a healthy dose of lights and nightlife. In Wuhan, it was readily apparent that economic growth and production was happening on every street and around every corner. Scaffolding, caution signs, and construction workers (and their temporary barracks) were everywhere. In Beijing, there was a little less construction, evidence of an area populated for longer, but the shops and markets showed a booming economy.

Additionally, in the cities, there was an almost overwhelming western influence. Whether in the style of the brand new high-rises in contrast with the hundred-plus year old buildings, the McDonald’s, Starbucks’, and KFCs’ around every corner, or the 5 American movies playing in the Wuhan cinema, Western influence was everywhere.

Paintings of views from our Yangtze River cruise.

Barely 30 minutes outside the cities, however, were farmhouses and rural Chinese villages. It was clear that the pace of life here was dramatically slower than life in the cities, especially in the areas around the Yangtze River and where we toured the Great Wall.

Wild Will at his farmhouse before our hike up to the Great Wall.

We were lucky enough to get a day long tour of the Great Wall courtesy of Wild Will, the second foreigner to ever hike it in its entirety. The 6.5 mile trek up to the Ox Bow, the highest point on the Wall, was one of the most incredible parts of the hike, during which we got to visit Will’s rural farmhouse and see some locals and their farm animals partaking in everyday activities of rural Chinese life.

Painting of the Great Wall.