Run the Wall

Rebecca Hattaway

July 07, 2008 10:30 am

—
Claremore attorney Larry Rahmeier recently completed his 10th marathon.
His first international race took him along The Great Wall of China, across the mountainous countryside, and even through tiny villages where children lined the streets to cheer on the runners.
“It all started as an excuse to run a marathon on The Great Wall of China,” he said, “but you have to see all the sights while you’re there, so it was a 15-night tour of China, from May 9-25. We really covered a lot of the country.”
The tour included stops in the cities of Beijing, Xian, Guilin, Kunming and Shanghai.
Most of their time was spent in Beijing.
“I was amazed at the amount of construction going on in the city,” he said. “Someone commented that the tower crane was the national bird of China.”
While there, they visited the Forbidden City, which sits in the center of Beijing, to the north of Tiananmen Square.
The Forbidden City — now known as the Palace Museum — was the imperial palace for five centuries during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
“It was where the emperors lived for years,” he said. “It was all being refurbished and repainted. It was impressive to see all the stuff that had been reconstructed.”
The world’s largest palace complex, it contains 9,999 buildings. Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, 14 emperors of the Ming dynasty and 10 emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned there.
The tour group had plenty of opportunities to experience Chinese culture, including sampling the local cuisine.
“We always ate Chinese food, however, I never was brave enough to try the ‘critters on a stick,’ as we called them — grasshoppers, slugs, even seahorses of all things,” Rahmeier said.
While in Beijing, a group from the tour, including Rahmeier, ate a meal in the home of a Chinese family.
“She cooked for 12 of us on one wok — and it was a multi-course meal,” he said. “The husband and wife were both retired and we got to talk with them about their life.”
They also got to haggle with street vendors and shop owners for merchandise.
“Prices are cheap and everything is negotiable — even in the stores,” he said. “We got off the bus at one of the sites and it was raining. We weren’t prepared and didn’t have our umbrellas with us. Five street vendors were selling umbrellas. They started at 40 or 50 RMB, but the final price was 10 RMB — the equivalent of $1.30. Even in stores, you could ask what an item cost and often get it for one-third the price.”
Also interesting were the various methods of transportation, Rahmeier said.
“I saw a lot of bicycles, scooters and motorcycles. Once, there was a mom, dad and two kids crowded on a motorscooter, just tooling down the road. ”
In Xian, the group visited the Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses.
“They were built to protect China’s first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, in the afterlife — as part of his funeral complex,” Rahmeier said. “He was trying to take it with him.”
Part of the Qin Dynasty (211-206 B.C.), there are three sections featuring life-size terra-cotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations.
Altogether more than 7,000 pottery soldiers, horses, chariots, and even weapons have been unearthed. Most of them have been restored to their former grandeur.
“Before the trip, I tried to study up on where we were going, to have an idea of the basic history, but it so vast,” Rahmeier said.
In Guilin, they toured Reed Flute Cave, named for the verdant reeds growing outside it used for making flutes.
Inside the 240-meter cave is another world of rock formations, stone pillars and various stalactites, all illuminated by colored lighting.
At the Stone Forest near Kunming, Rahmeier toured the dramatic limestone rock formations known since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.) as the “First Wonder of the World.” The forest covers 96,000 acres and includes both large and small stone forests.
“The Wall was definitely the biggest highlight,” Rahmeier said. “It was pretty incredible.”
Before the race on May 17, an “Inspection Day” was held to allow the runners to familiarize themselves with the wall portion of the route — about 3 kilometers of rocky terrain and steps.
Forty-seven countries were represented at The Great Wall Marathon.
There were approximately 700 runners in the marathon, 700 in the half marathon and 150 in the 10K.
While Rahmeier doesn’t have any future trips planned just yet, he admits, “Africa sounds fun.”

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.