Brickyard Retreat, Mutianyu Village, Monday Morning (March 5, 2018)

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Good morning, Fandom! It is...let's say "brisk" rather than "cold" this morning, but it's sunny and clear, perfect for walking along the Great Wall of China and then eating an absolute ton of steaming hot noodles and drinking tea.

Which, conveniently enough, is what's on tap for today!

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The Hotel

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The Brickyard, located in the center of Mutianyu, preserves an important part of China’s rural outposts while injecting modern comforts to create simple and luxurious boutique accommodation near the Great Wall of China.

Today, the Brickyard is no longer a smoke-belching tile factory but a resort striving to be a sustainable operation conscious of both our environment and our community.

Rooms [Monday morning]

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Students will find themselves in the Premium Twin (or Premium Queen if it's funnier) rooms, with views of the Great Wall from the window, and wifi so you can Instagram that shit. Teachers and their guests are sleeping in the Deluxe Queen rooms, slightly larger than what the students get, and with better, unobstructed views of the Wall.

[OOC: Room assignments are here. NSFW posts go into private journals, please!]

Re: Room 10

[always_someone]

Norman was regretting packing mostly shorts, today. Maybe five minutes of research probably could have avoided this, but could he really be blamed for assuming that the school with access to portals that could travel through space and time would pick a warmer time of the year to come to China for a trip?

He sighed, and then decided that he was going to keep his warm flannel pajama bottoms on today in an attempt to ration his clean pants. Maybe it would warm up this afternoon?

Re: Room 10

[refused2berescued]

All Uma had were warm pants, because the clothes-bearing tree on the roof of the dorms apparently grew seasonally-appropriate garments. And since she'd come with literally just the clothes on her back, she'd spent a fair bit of time harvesting it.

"You want something a little more...outdoorsy?" she asked. "Got some spares."

Not being nice, it should be noted. Paying him back for the flowers. That was all.

Room 22

[arboreal_priestess]

Upon arrival, Liam and Verity had discovered that the room had a single bed. Which had been a little awkward, since they hadn't really gotten all that far past 'kissing' yet, but nothing that they, as two grown adults, couldn't handle. They'd just ended up expecting to handle it in different ways. Verity had expected them to both crash in the bed; she'd shared beds with far weirder things than the guy she was dating.

Liam had decided to handle it by being a gentleman and sleeping on the couch. Which was adorable, but c'mon, completely unnecessary. So now Verity was waiting for him to wake up so she could point out how ridiculous this was.

Hmm, maybe she wouldn't compare him to the yeti she'd crashed with one summer. One second thought, that might not be complimentary.

Re: Room 22

[firstofitskind]

Really, Liam had been compared to worse. Probably. In any case, taking the couch had seemed the logical course of action: it was a school-sponsored trip, and he was tagging along at Verity’s invitation, after all.

At least the couch wasn’t uncomfortable, exactly. It was just that he wasn’t really the ideal height to manage fitting on there without contorting kind of weirdly.

Which is why he didn’t so much wake up slowly as wake up due to falling off the couch when he shifted slightly.

Breakfast [Monday morning]

[heroic_jawline]

The Brickyard offers both Western and Chinese options for breakfast this morning. Be sure to eat up, especially if you're hiking all the way to the Wall.

Re: Breakfast [Monday morning]

[always_someone]

If Norman, still clad in his flannel pajama bottoms, wasn't going to make a hike to the wall this morning, at the very least he could give an actual Chinese breakfast in China a try. So it was going to be the pickled vegetables - he enjoyed even the ones he couldn't quite identify - the rice congee, and a few tea eggs.

He was distracted for a while before even starting to eat because the tea eggs were way prettier than he had expected they would be. He needed to turn one over in his hands and just look at the cracked eggshell patterns all over them before popping one into his mouth.

Re: Breakfast [Monday morning]

[intotheout]

Tip had gone for some tea eggs, too, as well as some more western-style biscuits with plenty of jam, butter, and honey.

"Hey Norman," she greeted. "You look comfy."

Re: Breakfast [Monday morning]

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Hopefully the kitchen had made plenty for their guests, because Sidon was a big guy and it took an awful lot of tea eggs and smoked salmon to fill him up, and the fresh air and excitement has certainly whetted his appetite. He eat voraciously and eagerly, thrilled to see what the day ahead would hold for them.

Exploring the Grounds [Monday morning]

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The spa opens at 10am, and the gym opens at 6:30. Come back from your trip to the Wall and get a massage or start your day off with some weightlifting or a yoga class! Or relax in the 24-hour Jacuzzi again! Just let us know where you are in the header so we can join you.

Excursions

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The Great Wall of China [Monday]

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The Great Wall at Mutianyu is not nearly as crowded as nearby Badaling or Juyongguan sections, where large tour groups follow the beaten tourism path. In late afternoon, or in poor weather, you often might find yourself alone with only the sound of the wind to keep you company. The restored section of the wall here is 2.2 kilometers long and can be reached either by walking, taking a chair lift, or riding a cable car. There's also an option for a toboggan ride allllll the way back down to the bottom. Feel free to ride that a couple of times, its a lot of fun.

Re: The Great Wall of China [Monday]

[era_two_triangle]

Well. It was definitely a big wall. Peridot stared at it, hard, as if trying to will it into doing something interesting. Brick, composed of crushed granite, marble, limestone, and shale.

Yep. It was definitely a big wall.

Re: The Great Wall of China [Monday]

[giveherahand]

"Well," Mara said, squinting up at it. "It's a really big wall."

Re: The Great Wall of China [Monday]

[revengenotebook]

Paris was being Very Polite and Very Accommodating, and was not smacking the oblivious lady with the giant purse on the cable car even though she hadn't gotten hit with said purse six times already.

She was giving her a look that could fry lead, though.

Re: The Great Wall of China [Monday]

[intotheout]

"I'm impressed you're didn't elbow her in the head," Tip whispered, once they'd disembarked the car and the lady wouldn't overhear. "I totally would have elbowed her in the head."

Re: The Great Wall of China [Monday]

[thatwaslucky]

After looking at it last night, Rey was absolutely here today.

And looking up at the top of the wall, debating whether it looked climbable.

Re: The Great Wall of China [Monday]

[giveherahand]

"Think we could do it and not get caught?" Mara murmured.

Re: The Great Wall of China [Monday]

[onefootoutthedoor]

On the surface of it, going to one of the biggest tourist attractions on the planet might seem to go against the grain of Peebee’s “do things that no one’s done” philosophy. But this planet was over a century away from making contact with Citadel space, so really, in a way pretty much anything she did here was brand new.

Besides, she really wanted to see the wall. Which she would absolutely be tobogganing back down later, thank you very much.

“Wow. That’s . . .” She genuinely sounded awed. “Wow.”

Re: The Great Wall of China [Monday]

[livingartifact]

Jenkins was going to walk to and along the wall, thank you. It'd been quite some time since he'd last been here, and he was rather enjoying the juxtaposition of the ancient wall and the modern accommodations surrounding it.

He was absolutely taking the toboggan down, though.

Exploring Mutianyu Village [Monday]

[heroic_jawline]

The Brickyard is located in the center of the town, and there are bike paths and clearly marked hiking trails leading to the other nearby Chinese villages of Beigou, Xinying, and Tianxianyu. You can also hike all the way from the village up to the Wall. If you don't want to do that, maaaaybe steer clear of Steve Rogers this morning.

Re: Exploring Mutianyu Village [Monday]

[heroic_jawline]

Steve Rogers was absolutely hiking all the way to the Wall. He had his knit hat down over his ears, a comfortable pair of shoes on, a water bottle for hydration, and handy directions for how to get there. Anyone else want to come? It's only a hour and a half hike...plus the Wall. It'll be fun!

Mod Your Own Fun [Monday]

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Use the Google! Find something fun! Tell us about it in your header!

OOC

[heroic_jawline]

Tomorrow is a day trip to Beijing, so get to the Wall today!