A Road Less Taken

While most Cincinnati Pops players were trundled into a bus and delivered to Badaling, about an hour from Beijing, to traipse along the Great Wall of China, a small intrepid group struck out on their own for the hike of a lifetime.

French hornist Robert Schauer organized a group of eight players to go to the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall, 86 miles north-east of Beijing. The portion for their 11K hike (6.8 miles) was built in 1368-89 during the Ming Dynasty, and has remained largely unrepaired since 1570.

"Where we were, you could see probably as many as eight or nine peaks that we were about to hike to, and feel a progression of the wall going from mountain to mountain," says flutist Kyril Magg. "In its small way, compared to the length of the whole thing, it gave a tremendous impression of how much of that 11K is up and down. Very little was flat."

Added flutist Susan Magg: "It was much more strenuous than any of us expected. It was truly an incredible experience."

The path on this section was treacherous, with lots of loose rocks, and more like a mountain path than the paved section with steps that most tourists see. All agreed if one looked at the spectacular scenery without stopping, it would be easy to take a bad fall.

Schauer, who had gotten the idea from a TV show and then researched it on the Internet, was elated with how successful the trip turned out. But he was not nearly so elated as he was on Friday, when, a few hours earlier, his third grandson, David Benjamin Schauer, was born in Portland, Oregon.

Americans abroad: Cincinnatians in the audience at Saturday night's concert in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, included: Chris, Jan and Norma Petersen, Lou and Myra Chabut and Rick and Vicky Reynolds.

Next: My 24-hour custom-made silk dress and the flight to Shanghai