The Appropriately Titled "Great Wall" (Part 1)

Starting out early it wasn't until our now ritual breakfast stop for high-calorie bakery goods that we nailed down which of the few options we would take for our day in Beijing. Larissa suggested we get on that Great Wall before the temperature took a further nosedive (and she would be right) so I naturally chose the most obscure place to mount the wall possible and directed us there. The subway in Beijing is extensive, cheap, crowded but not insanely so and basically pretty awesome so the first leg of the trip was a breeze. At the long-distance bus station we ignored the advice of a Chinese lady to go to another more 'restored' section of the wall and walked up to the express bus we wanted just as it was pulling up. Pleased with the way things were going we grabbed some comfy seats and stripped down as the driver was blasting the heat to combat the freezing temperatures outside (the direct sunlight beaming through the window added a few degrees to our mobile oven too). Despite Chinglish announcements about the upcoming stop I was nervous that I wouldn't recognize the Chinese name for the stop where we needed to transfer to a minibus, and that we'd miss it entirely. That anxiousness coupled with the heat temporarily skewed my judgement so when a man came up to us and hurriedly told us we were at the transfer stop for the Great Wall I believed him and followed him off the bus.
 
Instant regret.
 
As our bus pulled away this man was more than ready to offer us an expensive taxi ride to the Great Wall - different 'tourist' sections that we weren't particularly interested in. However he also informed us that our desired spot was under construction and inaccessible to tourists, which worried us some more as it was backed up by a few more individuals nearby (also cab drivers). Indecision between Larissa and I as we stood roadside. Not wanting to waste our time but also not wanting to get ripped off I attempted negotiations which went no where so my sister and I boldly charged off in the direction of town, hoping to rectify the situation. It was a decent hike, during which we turned down a handful more expensive rides and soldiered on to the center of town. Still wondering how to get there I went to a busy bus stop and attempted to find a connection that would take us to a town that I quickly learned the Chinese pronunciation for (as I had to repeat it 168 times).
 
The first few Chinese bus stoppers I approached would hardly look at me, but just before despair set in a local man said something to us in Mandarin - an offer to help? - so I showed him the Chinese characters for our desired town and he nodded. I took this nod as an indication that he could assist us by pointing out the bus, though after 10 minutes I was losing fate. At least it was sunny on this side of the street keeping us warm. Nearly twenty buses and even more vans and minibuses had passed us by before the man waved us alongside him to an approaching auto. As we boarded I double checked with the ticket attendant but she viciously shook her head and directed us back to the sidewalk completely deflated as our last hope boarded the bus and drove away.
 
Exhausted with the process I was on the verge of giving up (and Larissa was probably well past that point but had realized its sometimes best to give me my space at times like these), however as I stood by the bus contemplating our next move a friendly older lady shot me a smile and a curious look at my Lonely Planet tucked under my arm. Worth a shot. I opened to the page and pointed at "Huang Hua." Her reaction was enthusiastic and gave me hope. So much hope that I would wait, and wait and wait some more while she continued to look up the street at buses that never seemed to be the right ones. Over half an hour passed and no bus for us - when I approached buses to check with the driver where they were going this lady would get angry with me for not believing her that it wasn't the one for us.
 
Perhaps 40 minutes later a taxi driver approached us offering a ride. Glancing at my watch I knew that we had to get a move on so I began friendly negotiations with him. These didn't please the lady one bit and according to Larissa this lady kept making sour faces towards her regarding the taxi driver. His price continued to be ridiculous so I prayed that this lady was gonna come through. And then I thought she did as she stepped towards a bus, but when I followed she indicated it wasn't for us!
 
Exasperated I cried out (in English) "We've waited all this time and have no idea which bus is coming for us!" She must have caught my understanding despite the words and let her bus leave the platform as she returned to our side. Turning back to the taxi a few minutes later I tried again, but by now we were a spectacle as all the people at the bus stop (and there were a bunch of them) were onlooking on our plight, and the back and forth with the taxi driver. Nearly succombing to his inordinate demands I looked up and saw a smile on our lady's face. Our bus was coming!
 
She didn't need to tell me since the entire crowd started waving and motioning to the bus, many saying "Huang Hua" and smiling at us. Verifying with the driver, we were relieved that it was indeed going our way, and so we crammed into the aisle (as the seats were all full) and snuck a smile to the disappointed taxi driver standing on the sidewalk as we pulled away.
 
It had been nearly 2 hours since we'd been hauled off the bus early but we were finally on our way. Only two stops later I noticed our helpful old Chinese lady disembarking, and told Larissa. We truly hoped that we hadn't disrupted her whole plan and tried to express our deepest thanks while the bus pulled away with sincere smiles and waves of thanks through the window. Managing to catch her eye, her return smile showed us that she was more than happy to have helped.
 
For the not so dramatic, but much more beautiful ending to this saga please stay tuned. When we return to Shanghai on the 19th I plan on completing the story. Until then...