Audiologist Volunteers Great Wall Hiking Tour

( for pictures of the daily activities, please visit Great Wall hiking tour webpage )

 

The Audiologist Volunteers Great Wall Hiking tour starts and ends in Beijing and lasts for two weeks. One night at the start of the tour and three nights at the end are in Beijing. Day hiking, as opposed to back packing, means that each day after breakfast a bus takes us to the beginning of each hike, transfers our luggage to the next hotel and picks us up at the end of the hike. A hot shower always awaits us at the next hotel. After two or three days of hiking we usually have one day of sightseeing. 

During the tour we will meet with the local professionals working with the hearing impaired children in China, a chance to provide Audiologist field work with the disabled children and we tour sections of the Great Wall from Beijing going east until it ends in the China Sea. The hikes are along the most historic and best-preserved parts of the Wall; Beijing’s protector BaDaLing and the Eagle’s Gap WuTian. We see the varied designs of watchtowers at JinShanLing, the bridge of JiuMenKou, the mountain of JiaShan, to ShanHaiGuan (where the Great Wall meets the sea) and finally return to Beijing.

Daily Itinerary:

 

May/17 : The main group will depart Vancouver or North America.

May/18 :  Arrive in Beijing - If you arrive Beijing airport about the same time as the main group from Vancouver, you are met at the airport and transferred to the hotel - one night in Beijing. Otherwise, you have to take a taxi on your own from Beijing airport to our hotel in Beijing. You will be given the name and address of our hotel in Beijing.


Group first dinner meeting

May/19: After breakfast, a bus ride of four hours will take us to ShiJiaZhuang, the capital of HeBei Province

In the afternoon ceremony we will have the first official meeting with the local professionals working with the disabled children in China. They will give a presentation of their work and the present status of helping hearing impaired children in China. This will be followed by discussion, analysis and exchange of past experience. In the evening there will be a welcome banquet and social function activities with the local professionals.


The Ceremony, meeting local professionals

May/20 : Each audiologist will have a chance to work with the disabled children.

Before your departure to China. You will have a case assignment of a hearing impaired child and your will be provided with the audiogram and a photo of the child. There will be a brief information about the personal data as well as family background of the child.

Showing local professionals how you do field work

May/21 : In the morning there will be visit in the city of ShiJiaZhuang.


Please show the local professionals your state-of-the-art technology.


There will be enough time for you to work on your own given case study.


In the afternoon, there will a meeting of all the local and foreign professionals to give a chance to summarize the two days field work activities. The foreign professional will have a chance to present their experience and the latest technology in field. The local professionals should benefit greatly from this final analysis.

May/22 : After breakfast we will depart ShiJiaZhuang by bus to ChengDe. Chengde is a city of particular charm in HeBei Province. It is situated on the northern fringes of the YanShan Mountains . The well-known BiShuShanZhuang (Mountain Manor for Escaping the Summer Heat) stands in the northern part of the city. Like a pearl inlaid at the centre of the Yan Shan Mountains, the city of historical and cultural renown boasts scenic hills and waters, grand ancient buildings, an imperial garden complex of the Qing Dynasty, unusual peaks and rocks and a pleasant climate. BiaShuShanZhuang – in 1703 Qing Dynasty Emperor Kang Xi initiated the building of the Mountain Manor for escaping Summer Heat. This occupies 5.6 million square metres. Emperors of Qing Dynasty lived almost half of each year at the mountain manor where they went hunting, handled court affairs and received envoys from other countries. The numerous ancient buildings here represent both the northern and southern school of ancient Chinese architecture and merge the architectural style of China’s ethnic groups. Around the mountain manor were 11 magnificent temples known as the Eight Outer Temples. They represent the Han, Manchu, Hui, Tibetan and Uygur architectural styles. As well as the palace we visit two majestic temples - PuTuoZongCheng Temple and PuNing Temple. The former was built in 1767 and covers 220,000 sq. metres and consists of nearly 40 impressive halls and other buildings. The main structure is the Great Red Terrace where stands the 35-metre-high, gilded and copper-tiled "Hall of All Beings Belonging to One". The PuNing (Universal Peace) Temple is a magnificent structure on the banks of the WuLie River. Built in 1755, it covers 33,000 square metres. The front is typical Han-style temple architecture and the rear is modeled after the Sam Ye Monastery in Tibet. The main building, the Hall of the Great Vehicle, symbolizes Sumeru, the mountain at the centre of the Buddhist world and it houses a giant statue of Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) with a thousand heads and a thousand eyes.

The Throne... The court...
All the treasures in the past is still there.

In ChengDe, an exact duplcate of the Tibetan Temple Palace POTALA
or Putuozongcheng Temple was built for all reigns of Dala Lama in the past
when they came to pay respect to their Emperors of his time.
This photo is the temple complex today. You will visit this temple.

In ChengDe, if time permits, we will meet with some of the disabled children living in the surrounding farming communities of ChengDe city. Some of our Audiologists will have the opportunity to practice field work with these disabled children.

May/23 : JinShanLing hike. JunShanLing has 67 watchtowers along 11 kilometres of the Great Wall with each watchtower and example of a different architecture. It is 5 – 8 metres high, 6 meters across the base and 5 metres at the top. The walkway along the top is paved with square bricks providing a level surface wide enough to construct or erect batteries. Watchtower WangJingLou is 980 metres above sea level. It is said that one can catch sight of Beijing’s light at dawn in autumn. JunShanLing is the most spectacular sight of the entire Great Wall and is representative of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall.

JiaShan Great Wall...

.Great Wall stretched out as far as you can see....

May /24 : HuangYaGuan hike. HuangYaGuan was first built in 557 AD and rebuilt with bricks in the Ming Dynasty. The entire wall lies on a precipitous ridge of mountains. It has an eastern cliff as a screen against invasions and a western precipice as support. It had ancient defensive structures such as a fortress, high-wall, water pass, beacon tower and sheer precipice. Today we can see a museum, Beiji Temple and BaGua City (with a BaGua Labyrinth).

Great Wall on display

May/25 : QingDongLing visit. QingDongLing – (Eastern Qing Tomb – 1644 - 1911) is a large group of structures which hold the remains of 5 emperors, 14 empresses and 136 imperial concubines/princesses. The beauty of the landscape is enhanced by yellow-glazed tiles dotted among green pines and cypresses.

Royal cemetry of Quing Dynasty

In the afternoon LawWenYu  hike - this is the oldest part of the Great Wall (over 2000 years) and there is a a trail on the top.


Great Wall over 2000 years old

May/26 : PanJaiKou  Great Wall Hike. Part of this section of the wall has been submerged under a reservoir and can be seen by boat. After lunch we have a four hours bus ride to QinHuangDao city and stay for three nights in a four stars hotel.

The Great Wall is under water

May/27 : JuiMenKou hike. This is the only part of the Great Wall built in the shape of a bridge. This is one of the most important parts of the wall for defense and the site of many great battles against the invading Mongols.

...

In the afternoon we will visit MENG JIANG NU TEMPLE built in the Song Dynasty.

We will visit a disabled children school where we will have an opportunity to see how the local government is trying to help the disabled children. In China, many of the families of hearing impaired children cannot afford to buy the right hearing aid devices, these children are gathered together in a disabled children school and provided an education with hand sign language, When they grow up this way, most of them cannot communicate with the rest of our society, which is based on regular sound communication.

..The school for hearing disabled children..

For more information about this Disabled School, please click herre :

  http://china-hiking.com/A_Gift_of_Friendship.htm

please click here

May/28 : JaiShan to Dragon Head hike. ShanHaiGuan (literally "the pass there the first mountain meets the sea") is called the museum of the construction of the Great Wall because it features the following sections: OLD DRAGON’S HEAD (the only part of the Great Wall that meets the sea), NUMBER.ONE PASS UNDER HEAVEN (The first pass of the Great Wall), JIASHAN MOUNTAIN (the first mountain the Great Wall xtarts to climb), .

The Old Dragon Head

The last rock of Great Wall before enterring into China Sea photo by Bud Marschner

May/29 : Return to Beijing - sightseeing in Beijing. We tour the  city and Tiananmen Square. As the capital of China Beijing is one of the world's truly imposing cities. Rich in history the city has been the capital for more than seven centuries. China's imperial past and political present meet at Tiananmen Square (The Gate of Heavenly Peace), where the Forbidden City palace of the emperors gives way to the Great Hall of the People congress building and the mausoleum of Chairman Mao. At Tienanmen Square we find the Museum of Chinese History and the Chinese Revolution. 

We go shopping in the Friendship Store. 

A visit to TinAnMen Square

May/30 : Forbidden City and Summer Palace.  The Imperial Palace complex of 24 Ming and Qing dynasty emperors was in imperial times called the Purple Forbidden City from the association of the emperors with the colour of the Pole Star. Surrounded by 10 metre high walls and a wide moat, it was inaccessible to ordinary people but well populated by imperial family members, their servants, staff, officials and guards. The major ceremonial buildings are aligned on a north-south axis towards the Temple of Heaven complex and the Yongding Gate. The main entrance to the palace complex is via the Meridian Gate from which the New Year was announced each year by the emperor, proclamations were read and the fate of prisoners decided. Past five white marble bridges and the Gate of Supreme Harmony a great courtyard could accommodate several thousand people for state occasions such as imperial weddings. The ceremonial buildings are accessed by ramps carved with ornate dragons over which the emperor was carried in a palanquin. The three main halls and associated side buildings formed the outer courtyard of the Forbidden City and were devoted to official functions. The inner chambers included private living and sleeping quarters of the imperial family. This was divided into three palaces and twelve courtyards. 
The Forbidden City Museum

The tour takes most of the day and is fascinating.

The Summer Palace in Beijing

In the evening we go to enjoy the famous Peking Roast Duck Banquet as Farewell Dinner.

May/31 : Transfer to Beijing Airport.

 

Photos from hikers in the past
(click for photos)

 

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About The Great Wall of China

Over 6,000 kilometres long, the Great Wall is the symbol of the Chinese nation. One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Great Wall may even be seen from the moon.

For over two thousand years the Great Wall of China separated two cultures. The nomads in the north were a primitive people selling livestock to the agricultural society in the southern region. There were frequent military conflicts as the nomads raided the relatively more advanced technology of the south. A visit to the Great Wall is a review of over two thousand years of history.

Construction of the wall began in the 7th century BC. The separatist ducal states in the north built walls around their territories to ward off invasions from the neighboring states. In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang unified China and linked these walls, laying the foundation for the present Great Wall. In later dynasties, the Wall was repaired and strengthened. The present Great Wall was mainly built in the Ming Dynasty over 600 years ago.

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COST: US$1,999 per person (land only)

*** Single Room Supplement is US$400 ***

Included in the cost of the tour:

Not included:

 

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CHINA CHILDREN HEARING AID FOUNDATION began by providence in 1995 with a group of North Americans on a CHINA HIKING ADVENTURE .

RANDONNÉE PÉDESTRE EN CHINE

La FONDATION POUR JEUNES CHINOIS MALENTENDANTS a été créée providentiellement en 1995, lors d’un voyage en Chine effectué par un groupe de randonneurs nord-américains.

In September 1995 for three weeks 15 members of the Toronto Bruce Trail Club toured the Yellow Mountain region of southern China. We took home gorgeous photos and vivid impressions, but, just by chance, we left something far more precious behind. It happened this way.

En septembre 1995, 15 membres du club Bruce Trail de Toronto sont allés faire de la randonnée pédestre pendant trois semaines dans la région du sud-est de la Chine. Nous avons ramené dans nos bagages de magnifiques photos et des souvenirs inoubliables. Mais surtout, nous avons laissé derrière nous un trésor beaucoup plus précieux. Voici l’histoire de cette aventure extraordinaire.

 

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"This trip may only last for fifteen days, but the experience of cultural shock and the memory of beautiful mountain scenery will last for a lifetime."  

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HuangShan Trip * Great Wall of China Trip
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