Going Off Trail In China: Or How I Became a Hunted Ninja in the Chinese Wilderness

I have the pleasure of living and working in a semi-rural area of Northeast China. Our school is nestled between ridges of metamorphed sedimentary rocks and wind-bent pine trees only about 15 minutes from an impressive coastline of rocky beaches and twisted boulders. Magpies and chickadees scatter and wild pheasants explode from the brush as one takes short walks near the school. This topography is perfect for me as I love to hike and I love to explore. The many walking trails, rural roads, and walkable coastline offer a varied topography of homes, working people, and beautiful vistas to explore.

            Several months ago I had been curious of what had appeared to be an overgrown footpath along the cliffs about an hour from our house. I decided one day this past week that I should wander up that way and check out this trail. I could see the trail starting from an isolated beach just visible from the road that circled around the mountain near our home. This particular beach appeared to have been adjacent to a small fishing village that had been cut off from the road by new construction. Most of the few houses below appeared to be abandoned and in disrepair.

            This inviting mystery trail was about an hour walk, up past the hot spring resort. In China there are many hot spring resorts. Most of which do not have natural heated spring water. That is to say, they may have natural spring water, which they heat to various temperatures in a variety of man-made hot pools. Our particular hot spring resort is quite expensive, and sorry to say, I have not had the opportunity to soak there myself. 


             Further along the road is an odd pine log structure that frames the road. The structure looks like the gates to some kind of prison camp from one of those early Rambo movies. Lookout towers on both sides the roads with a catwalk over the road rising out of the fog made my initial explorations of this part of the country slightly eerie in the misty morning just before sunrise. Since then I have become quite comfortable with this rickety structure and the quiet country road that winds up the valley, over the mountain, and then down and around to the beach.

            Up past the hot spring resort and the pine log watchtowers is the Hunt Club. This is a shooting club that judging from the sounds, hosts at least one shooting range. The club also hosts wilderness paintball wars. Some days there will be several tour buses full of Chinese businessmen dressed in full camouflage and military goggles ready to kick some corporate booty. On previous walks I have spotted bevies of totally camouflaged Chinese schoolgirls armed and dressed to kill. I was only able to briefly identify and spot them by their giggles as they crept through the brush on trails near the road; their long black hair tied back in buns with bone hair holders and their faces totally camo-painted in black, green and brown.

            Past the Hunt Club, the road winds up through the trees for more than a mile.  At the top, the road splits; one branch going off to a small fishing and the other winding down above the coast eventually joining the Jinshitan beach road near the Golf club beach resort. The mile or so walk up the hill from the hunt club is especially picturesque. Oak trees near the road cover the slopes to the point where they give way to meadows and pine forests. There are very few side roads and little traffic. Silence is only broken by an occasional car or more often the call of a magpie or the flutter of chickadees, sparrows, and other small birds.

            On this particular day as I walk up the road, I notice another trail that I had not spotted on earlier walks. This new path takes off up the mountains to my right as I near the top of mountain. In late January the weather is very cold here with highs reaching about 20 degrees F. Although it snows occasionally, it is usually quite dry. The wind is very persistent this time of year discouraging most people from hiking. At the same time, the dry cool temperatures create a new landscape that often reveals trails and features that are missed in the wild foliage of the spring and summer months.

            I studied the trail carefully. Growing up on a ranch in Nebraska I am very respectful of other people’s fences. But here in China, I have not come across that many fences. On a few short forays off the road, I have not encountered that many Uncomfortable or dangerous situations. Usually I turn back because I either came up against an angry dog or an especially high concentration of human feces. When wandering off trail in China you will usually find at a short distance piles of smelly, gag-inducing human feces. Naturally in a country as populated as China, any spot on a trail that is far enough removed from pedestrian traffic quickly becomes a bathroom stop. If you can get past this then the next encounter will be with an angry dog protecting some one’s garden or home. Beyond these barriers usually lies a great adventure.

            I studied this new wilderness trial. It appeared to wind up the mountain and disappear into the pine trees. Further up the mountain, in the forest stripped of its leaves there appeared to be a possible dirt road or trail winding just below the ridgeline, snaking its way across the mountain disappearing about a mile later over the peak to what would probably be the coast and a small fishing village.  The trail likely was a footpath shortcut to the village across the mountain. It appeared to offer about a good hour of off-road walking through the trees and the mountain meadows between where I was and where I would like to go.

            Although the first half-mile or so of the trail was mainly conjecture as it disappeared over a short ridge only to possibly appear at some distance up the slope. The trail appeared as a rare path leading through an area uninhabited and undeveloped; something very rare in China and definitely worth exploring. I decided to give the path a try, reasoning that I could always turn back if it looked like I was trespassing.

            The first 200 meters of the trail were even better than I thought. After crossing a small ridge the foot trail merged with what appeared to be an old dirt road. There were no vehicle tracks so I assumed that like many old roads it had been cut off from the paved road when they upgraded the roadway below. The road appeared well worn and that it was probably used occasionally for foot traffic and as a short cut as I had conjectured earlier.

            Strangely enough after about a quarter of a mile, the road almost completely disappeared when it entered the pine forest. An old stone foundation of an ancient home, some farm terraces marked the end of the road. From here I used my best woodcraft to find a small trail winding up through the pine forest, which I promptly followed. Nearing the top of another ridge I now had a great view of a new valley which at some distance contained at the bottom a picturesque lake and the afore mentioned hunt club.

            As I savored the mountain scenery, I became aware of a black spot on the grassy slope parallel to where I stood. At first I thought I was looking at a black garbage bag or some sort of black plastic stuck in the grass and undulating in the wind.  On closer inspection I discovered I was watching a black ninja creep through the grass. This ninja-looking character had a black stocking cap that completely covered his face; He was wearing black gloves, black jacket, black pants and black boots. Completely in black, he stood out in obvious relief against the light brown dried grass background. Not exactly the best camouflage for the environment. I wondered what he was stalking and if he was hunting something, possibly pheasants.

 

            This was very interesting until I came to the realization that we were basically dressed alike. I was wearing a merino wool baklava that covered my face except a slit for my eyes. My black earmuffs matched and kept my ears warm. My three-in-one Northface jacket was jet black as was my hiking boots. I was wearing faded blue jeans that probably were not visible as I was standing in the pine forest. To his enemies, I probably looked exactly like the ninja creeping across the mountain to my left. The fact that I was in the same valley as the hunt club now became an important piece of information. If this mountain ninja was hunting pheasants, did he have any similarly armed compatriots sneaking around the forest where I stood? Or more disconcerting was he the scout of a paint gun team looking for his possibly better camouflaged enemies and if so had his enemies possibly spotted me? A likely confused and dedicated group of Chinese businessmen in full camouflage, well armed, and full of bloodlust, were probably at that moment stalking me or even worse laying an ambush to completely destroy me at the next bend in the trail.  What was I to do? Which way should I go?

To be continued....