Previous chronologically: 
China
Dates Traveled: July-October 2003
Various trips between March-November 2005
Various trips between March-October 2006
I guess the best way to start is with some generalities - which I normally hate, and cultural differences:
Hhhhhkkkkkk-ptew! Not sure how to spell that, but I certainly know the sound of somebody bringing up some phlegm, seemingly from the soles of their feet, and hocking it onto the ground. China has tried to address this problem, especially with the recent SARS outbreak, and I imagine it is performed much less frequently than in the past - especially in the cities. Still, not everybody received the memo. It wouldn’t be bad if people spit outside, but they seem content with dumping it right there on the floor of buses, public buildings, and anywhere else they please. Nice.
Table manners. Take everything you were taught by your parents as being impolite and throw it out the window, as here it’s not only socially acceptable but expected. Smacking your lips and chewing with your mouth open, bringing the bowl up to your mouth, shoveling directly from the bowl to your mouth, and dumping your bones and other refuse directly onto the table or floor. I’ve been made fun of because I leave the bowl on the table and try to eat the rice one chopstick-full at a time, rather than bringing the bowl to my mouth and using the chopsticks to flip the rice directly into my mouth. I try to go with the when-in-Rome principle, but it’s sometimes difficult to ignore 37 years of habit. The Chinese also have a word to describe the atmosphere in their restaurants - renao, which I’m told literally translates as ‘hot and noisy’. If it doesn’t translate as that, it should. You can also expect to be offered virtually everything to eat - especially in the south. They have a saying that people in the south will eat anything that flies except airplanes, and anything on the ground except cars. So far that has included pigs ears, snails, ducks, dog (let me head off the hate mail by stating that this time I didn’t order it, it was simply what the family was eating that night.), grasshoppers, chicken feet, rat, snake (which included mixing the blood into a drink and downing that), and who knows what else.
Public toilets. These are infamous in China - anyone that’s traveled to China has a toilet story. Again, with the push for modernization many of these have been cleaned up and aren’t the disgusting cesspools they once were, but, like the spitting, they still have a ways to go on the cleanliness scale. Also, they’re not for the shy, normally consisting of a small cubicle with no door and 3 1/2 foot walls on two sides. You simply squat there over the ‘trough’ while everybody else comes and goes and looks to see what you’re up to. Makes a person constipated just thinking about it.
Tourism. When I first arrived in China I concluded that it really wasn’t a country set up for tourists. I’ve since modified that to state that it isn’t set up for my type of travel - individual travel. That’s because the Chinese themselves do their travel as part of large groups. Trust me, having just suffered through the summer school holidays and therefore high Chinese travel season, I know a thing or two about this subject. They arrive in the bus, don their brightly colored baseball hat, organize outside around the man/woman with the colored flag and the megaphone, and then set off in one noisy pack to see the sites. It was especially frustrating in the scenic nature areas, as the places were packed with noisy groups and it was near impossible to find an out-of-the-way place to simply take in the surroundings. Since tour groups with guides are the norm, it can be difficult to find things by yourself - often there are no signs, or they’re only in Chinese; maps are in Chinese and inaccurate; there is often no ‘tourist office’ or if you can find one nobody speaks English. If you are lucky enough to find someone that has knowledge of an area and can speak a bit of English, they have a certain mind-set of what a tourist wants to see, or is capable of doing, and so they try to talk you out of doing anything outside the norm. I was in a region where there were scenic mountains dotted with temples and monasteries. I had my Chinese map and was telling a guy in town that spoke a bit of English what I intended to do the following day - I was going to hike to the top of a ridge, avoiding the funicular to the top and thus all the people. I’d then walk along that ridge to the base of another mountain and climb that, avoiding the cable car to the top and all the people. He grudgingly agreed that would be ok, but it was highly irregular - why not take the easy way like everybody else? I then pointed to a trail on the map that seemed to loop back a different way than the ascent route, and this got him going - you can’t go there because there are dangerous animals, dangerous people, you’ll be robbed, the trail is no good, it’s too long, you’ll be too tired, you’ll get lost, nobody takes that path…you get the picture. Of course I did exactly what I’d intended and it was great - because there were no people. The trail was your standard Chinese hiking trail - completely done in stones about 3 1/2 feet wide, but it was ‘bad’ because it wasn’t swept each day and so actually had some twigs and dirt. I thought he had the last laugh when, after 8 hours of hiking I approached the bridge to lead me back towards town, only to find that it could no longer be used. However, I was able to find a way across the water, back up the ridge and down to town. When I’d informed him that I’d done the hike I’d intended he simply looked at me as if I were crazy, but in my mind it was a great day!
Language. I’d probably say that language-wise China is the most difficult country I’ve traveled, as few people speak English. It’s a country that is embracing English and attempting to learn the language, but like most things new they start in the richer provinces and big cities. Therefore places like Shanghai and Hong Kong were easy, but in the other places I had to jump through more hoops. I also observed that they aren’t necessarily very good at the game of charades, and that even if you attempt to speak Chinese they aren’t expecting it from a foreigner (and to be fair I’m sure I seldom get the tones of my Chinese words correct. A word can take on four different meanings depending upon which of the four tones is used.), and so simply look at you with a blank stare. This was made more frustrating by the fact that for over two months I couldn’t find a good Chinese phrasebook in order to learn the language. In some of the big cities I popped into the Foreign Language Bookshop, only to be frustrated by books from other countries translated into Chinese, and many books to teach English to a Chinese speaker, but none to teach me Chinese. I now have my book and try to speak a bit of Mandarin with people, but my most common phrase is still, “Wo ting bu dong”…I hear, but I don’t understand. Having said all this the Chinese have been extremely nice and patient, and if there happens to be somebody around that speaks a bit of English while I’m struggling to do something they’ll usually step up and attempt to help, which is appreciated. This also leads to interesting ‘group’ discussions, where I’ll be standing within a circle of 10-20 people and talking to the person that speaks a bit of English. He’ll translate to the others, and then relay any questions they may have. Entertaining.
Chinglish. I suppose this should naturally follow the language section - the Chinese version of English one often encounters on signs. Often things are misspelled, but more entertaining is the syntax and choice of words. For example, on the back of my hotel door I was told how to act in case of fire:
1. Please don’t worry if a fire is occurring. We hotel have owned succor scattering facilities to sure you transmitted safely.
2. Please follow the direction route to the information corridor and there safeguards will take you out to the security belts.
3. Point profess your excellency seat.
Point number 1 isn’t perfect, but you get some idea of what they’re trying to say. Point 2 is fine. Point 3 - what the hell is that all about?
Or information on my check-in card at another hotel:
Please keep your valuables at the general service counter for safety. The hotel is not responsible for the loss of you in the room or other public place.
Luckily I had some breadcrumbs and could make a trail between the bed and bathroom so I didn’t get lost in my room.
Children. The one-child policy is creating some monsters! The older children seem well behaved, but the kids under 10 are extremely spoiled - kicking, screaming, and whining until they get their way. I’ve heard that parents try to threaten kids by stating they’ll have another child and won’t be able to spend as much money/attention on the existing hellion, but it obviously doesn’t always work.
Driving. It’s not nearly as chaotic as other places, but the bus drivers do have an annoying habit that I’ve also witnessed in other countries. Evidently their driving manual reads:
1. Speed up and then put the bus into neutral, coasting to save gas.
2. Put bus back into gear.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 as necessary.
4. Coast down all hills, no matter how small.
It makes for an inconsistent, vomit-inducing ride. I suppose the small money they save in gas can go to replacing the engine from the excessive wear.
Dentistry. If there’s an orthodontist out there looking to become the next Bill Gates, I think I know where you can find several million patients.
Travelers. I know that China doesn’t get the number of travelers the surrounding SE Asian countries receive every year, but I believe there are even fewer this year due to the problem with SARS. In my first 2 months here I spoke to only 5 other foreigners, which made me the central circus freak in towns and on buses/trains, and so the object of much curiosity and many stares. It was nice in that encounters I had with locals were more genuine, and weren’t about trying to extract as much money from me as possible. I actually enjoy being the only foreigner in places.
Games. Walk any quiet street or along any river and you’ll find people playing some game - usually for money…mah jongg, Chinese chess, dominoes, and cards being the most popular.
Development. I’ve never seen a place that has so much large-scale construction going on at one time. East Berlin after the wall came down was nothing compared to most cities in China. In one city I saw a large billboard proclaiming, “Development is the irrefutable truth.” Many roads are being improved/expanded, and new buildings are going up everywhere. The Chinese have a saying, “Jiude buqu, xinde bulai”…If the old doesn’t go, the new won’t come. This causes the displacement and relocation of thousands of poor people living in the decrepit buildings, but right now nothing is allowed to stand in the way of progress. I keep saying that the Cultural Revolution continues today, but now they call it progress and modernization. I have no idea where all the money is coming from, though I imagine a large percentage is from foreign investment. China is a country with a cheap labor force and a lot of opportunity, and so countries and business are scrambling to get a foot in the door. Unfortunately there seems to be a cookie-cutter mentality about producing these ‘new’ cities, and everything is geared towards business. The Chinese are trying to make every city into a Hong Kong or Singapore, but the cities here seem to lack any character or soul. It’s as if the city has a facade of nice parks, beautiful buildings, and efficient infrastructure, but if one digs to find the ‘true’ city they’re left scratching their head. One is also reminded of the scale of China and the huge population when they visit a ’small’ city, only to later read that it contains 5 million people. At times I think some of the building boom is a means of keeping portions of the large population employed, and so wonder what will happen when the construction slows. However, in just the short amount of time I’ve been here one thing has become obvious - China will tackle any problems thrown its way and will accomplish anything it sets out to achieve. If there is backing by the government than nothing is impossible - from the huge engineering feats of the Three Gorges Dam and the railway to Tibet, to becoming a major player in the international marketplace. The Chinese government sets goals and a means to achieve those results, and then has the power to steer 1.2 billion people along that path. Watch out.
Nanning
As for the actual places visited, I entered Guangxi province from Vietnam and immediately took a train 4 hours north to the city of Nanning. I was impressed that I had to have my temperature checked before I boarded the train, and we were also scanned for excessive heat upon departure. They really were serious about SARS…good to know. My first impressions of China were that traffic rules actually seemed to be obeyed for the most part…driving isn’t nearly as chaotic as some of the adjacent countries, and in the cities there are often separate lanes for bicycles and pedestrians. Also refreshing that the horn isn’t used constantly! There’s a great diversity in the people - short, taller; short hair, long hair; varying facial features; and different skin colors. You also see the gamut of lifestyles - yuppies, punks, etc. It’s refreshing to see people choosing to be a bit individualistic after being in so many countries where everybody looks the same. Nanning itself really didn’t have much to offer, though I did enjoy the museum - especially the traditional buildings and bridge built out back.
Guilin
From Nanning it was a very comfortable 6 hour train trip to Guilin, which is a favored destination for Chinese tourists due to the impressive scenery and nearby caves. There are some nice hills in town near the river which one can climb for the panoramic views.
Yangshuo
A short mini-van ride from Guilin took me to Yangshuo and more into the heart of that scenery. Yangshuo is extremely popular with Chinese tourists, and is also earning a name as a backpacker’s hangout with the requisite western food (muesli, pizza, and banana pancakes), bars, and availability of English speakers. It’s touristy, but the souvenir shops don’t go for the high-pressure sales tactics, so it’s still enjoyable. It’s a small place that is easily negotiated on foot, and it has a river on the edge of town. An easy place to relax for several days. On a couple of days I rented a bicycle and rode through the rice fields and karst scenery, along rivers, through small villages, and hiked up mountains for the impressive views. I also had the opportunity to talk to several people about their life - learning a bit about the one-child policy, and also about working conditions. Some of the waitresses here work 11 hours a day, every day, for around US$40/month. They get free food and lodging, though the room was shared with 4 other waitresses, and the bed with one other. Even some of the successful businessmen I’ve talked to only make around US$200/month. Makes one more appreciative of their own situation.
Longshen Rice Terraces
A couple different buses had me in the area around Longshen, in what is known as the Dragon’s Backbone rice terraces. Really enjoyed my time there, as I was staying in the minority village of Ping An, having my meals and rice wine with the locals, hiking, and viewing the engineering/artistic masterpieces of the rice terracing. The area has a Himalayan feel to it - stone hiking paths through the hills, wooden hotels and restaurants perched on the hillsides, colorful people and customs, and the smell of wood smoke inside the buildings. When I checked in I asked (in these descriptions of China don’t read ‘asked’ and ‘told’ literally. It’s more like mimed and used single words) how many westerners were in town and was told, “one”, and she pointed to me. Cool.
The following day was what traveling is all about. I left the room early and set out hiking higher for the view down on the impressive terracing. I then set out towards another village, but along the path met a woman from the Yao tribe. She asked if I’d like to see her with her hair down. These women let their hair grow to extreme lengths - only cutting it when it reaches the ground, and then incorporating the cut hair into their hairdo. When this woman had undone the elaborate wrap/knot on her head, she revealed hair to her waist, but also two additional bundles. I followed her back to her place to meet her family and have lunch, which she prepared on the wood-fired stove in the middle of the floor. We had five different dishes, plus rice, and then she broke out the mijiu - rice wine. Don’t let that refined word ‘wine’ fool you. This stuff, made from rice or grain, is called something different in every country - rakshi, ara, arrack, etc., but the taste is basically the same - kerosene! The original rot-gut…firewater. Only she and I drank, but I think she was determined to drink me under the table - possibly so I’d by some souvenirs from her. There are two toasts in China - pambei, which means ‘cheers’ and a person sips the drink, and ganbei, which means ‘bottoms up’…she preferred the latter. We went through a large teapot of the stuff, and then she dipped more from a large vat in another room. I finally told her no more - after all, it was only 11 AM! After lunch they raised a few boards in the floor and threw the scraps to the eagerly awaiting pigs below - the original disposal unit. She, her husband, and I then headed out - they to work in the field and I to continue exploring. I was pleased to see her stumble from time to time, and every once in awhile she’d turn, shake her head, and say, “mijiu…ganbei”, and continue on. Score one for the big people, though I’ll admit to being in a bit of a fog the next 2 hours myself.
I next headed back to the main terrace viewing spots, through Ping An, and to a village of Zhuang people - another minority. A third minority in the area were the Miao people. In all I was out for about 10 hours that day - a great day. Dinner that night with my ‘family’ consisted, as is typical, of several dishes - one of which were snails. Let me simply say this: In light of what I wrote earlier about eating habits, suffice it to say that if a local woman gives you a big smile and thumbs up sign at your ability to suck the snail out of the shell, then you probably made about as much noise as is humanly possible.
Chengyang Covered Bridge
A bus to Longshen, another to Sanjiang, and a short trip on a third had me in Chengyang - a Dong minority village and site of an impressive covered bridge. It’s 78 meters in length, and was constructed over 12 years - without the use of nails. It’s one of several in the area, though definitely the most impressive. I spent some time wandering through the various villages and happened to stumble upon a procession of guests heading to a wedding. Gifts seemed to include a lot of rice, eggs, and chickens; some furniture; blankets; a generator; and a smoked pig cut in half length-wise. An interesting and colorful procession.
Zhaoxing
Five hours by bus through some rolling green hills, rice terraces, rivers, and streams had me crossing into Guizhou province and stopping in the Dong village of Zhaoxing. I spent a few days enjoying the small village, hiking to other villages, and hanging out with the family of my guesthouse drinking rice wine and eating the local cuisine. This included dog, though I’ll simply say it wasn’t nearly as good as in Indonesia - too chewy. One lunch also included grasshoppers. They seemed surprised that I kept diving into this dish until I stated that I’d eaten grasshoppers in other countries. They seemed pleased at this.
While walking through the village one day - across the covered bridges where people congregate to escape the sun, and through the narrow alleys, I was gestured to by an old woman eating noodles in her doorway. It takes a far better man than I not to stop when a topless woman asks him to - no matter what her age, so I complied. She headed into her house - I assumed to put on a shirt, and then I assumed she was inviting me to eat. Wrong on both accounts. When she came back, still topless, it was to try to sell me some embroidered scarves. It’s a pretty effective sales technique, and had she been 30 or 40 years younger I’d have probably bought her entire inventory, but this time I politely declined and continued on my way.
I’d already noticed that the Chinese don’t pack as many people on buses and minivans as other countries. There are obviously restrictions, and I can only assume that the fines are steep. Why? On the back roads to my next destination the driver caught wind of a road-check up ahead. He made five people without proper seats - including the conductor, get out of the van and walk. We didn’t wait for them on the other side, so I assume they caught a different bus/van. After 15 hours and a couple buses I was in Kaili, though didn’t like the place so only spent a night and then moved on to Anshun the following day.
Market at Anshun
I stayed in Anshun for a few days, but the highlight was definitely the weekly market. I set out early so was able to see the locals performing their morning tai chi exercises. I’d wanted to get an early start so as to see the market before it closed for the day. I needn’t have worried, as it covered much of the city and ran the entire day. There were various areas - some selling household goods for those living in the city, others selling goods for the minority villagers. I spent most of my day in the latter, so saw the collection of people - some in traditional outfits, buying/selling tobacco and pipes, bamboo baskets, chicks and other animals, fruits and vegetables, firewood, brooms, cooking utensils, rice wine, and so on. They were also taking the opportunity to see doctors for some traditional healing - glass bottles stuck to areas of the body, needles and syringes protruding like darts; dentists for tooth extraction (that’s how the dentists advertised - teeth on a table by the road); and getting their hair cut. I figured all morning I’d been taking pictures of the villagers and their lifestyle, so decided to give a bit of entertainment in return and have my head/face shaved. I plopped down in one of the chairs set along the muddy, busy road of pedestrians, stared ahead at the broken mirror on the whitewashed wall, and told the guy to go ahead. We attracted a large crowd of the curious, all of them laughing, smiling, and pointing. One old lady in particular kept getting right in my face and giving me a huge smile and the thumbs up sign. Certainly worth the US$0.48.
Emerging from the market area I walked into a major construction zone - every building was under construction or recently completed. There were tiled high-rise apartment buildings, and billboards showing upcoming ‘communities’. I’d already noticed that Guizhou province seemed poor, with a lot of minorities. I’d seen some pretty filthy trash collectors on the street - they were obviously homeless. I later read that 1/5 of the population lives below the national poverty line, so wondered if the new buildings would be occupied by people native to Guizhou or by those in richer provinces willing to relocate. If the latter, what will that do to the 35% of the population belonging to one of the 80 ethnic minorities? China seems to do much to ’stimulate’ regions that it believes to be lacking, hence excessive construction in Guizhou; the Three Gorges dam project in Hubei province to make the interior provinces as wealthy as those on the east coast; and a railway to Tibet. However, the minorities seem to bear the brunt of this modernization. Interestingly, I’d read the English version of Mao’s Little Red Book, and what China is today is what he despised in other countries - a capitalistic, business-minded society that ignores the common people.
Huangguoshu Waterfall
The following day I took a rainy trip out to the impressive Huangguoshu waterfall. At 81 meters wide and with a 74-meter drop it produced quite a roar in the valley. It was also possible to walk through a small cave behind the falls, with a few places that looked out through the watery curtain. Pretty good. Later that day I went to teach a bit of English. On my arrival in Anshun a young kid with limited English had befriended me, and I’d agreed to come to his place to teach/speak English with his niece. It was a bit frustrating to speak to her, only to have my ‘friend’ continually interrupt and put words into her mouth, but an interesting afternoon nevertheless. They insisted I stay for dinner, at which point they popped in a VCD and talked about the ‘Hollywood’ movie. That’s a danger we have - how do you explain B-grade movies, terrible actors, and the fact that nobody in the States actually watches such junk…that such movies are not indicative of America? The same can be said about some of the awful t.v. programs we export. I think we often project the wrong image of the States, all for a bit of cash. It was also interesting to learn that in the States Michael Jackson is very popular, as is break dancing. I don’t think it registered when I said that was about 20 years ago!
Guiyang
From Anshun it was 2 hours to Guiyang. A village woman happened to sit next to me on the bus and she, like many in these countries, was intrigued by the hairy ‘laowai’ (foreigner) - pulling at the hair on my arms and legs, and laughing at the hair on my chest. I always make jokes and indicate that yes, I have hair on my arms, but none on my head. She kept laughing at my attempts at Chinese, and obviously didn’t think I stood a chance of getting from the bus station to the train station in Guiyang, so she went out of her way and took me on the correct city buses. As payment I ’said’ I’d buy her lunch - what a fiasco. We attracted a large crowd of people at our table, and they wanted me to pick the dishes - from a Chinese menu. I joked by covering my eyes, circling my finger in the air and then letting it fall on a menu item, but they weren’t getting it. After a long game of charades she finally understood that she should order, and so we ate. Near the end of the meal another local - this one actually now a Singaporean citizen and speaking perfect English, befriended me, so I said goodbye to the villager and followed the other into town to see some sights and kill time until my train left that evening. To say the least it was an entertaining day, but rewarding to know that people will go out of their way to help others.
Chongqing
The train was a 10 hour overnight trip. I’d opted for ‘hard sleeper’, which is the cheap option in this category, but it was five-star compared to India - it was clean; orderly; people didn’t bring their worldly possessions; there was not the constant chant of ‘chai’; there was a/c, sheets, blanket, pillowcase, and towel. Easy travel. So far everything has been better than I’ve been lead to expect, so I keep waiting for the shoe to drop.
Anyway, I was now in a new province - Chongqing, and the city of the same name. I spent a day wandering around and organizing a boat trip, and another day getting out to Baoding Shan, an area with religious carvings - some with their original coloring, into the stone cliffs. Nice.
Three Gorges Boat Trip
The real reason I was in Chongqing was to take the boat trip on the Yangtze River and through the Three Gorges region. I’d opted for the lowest class of travel - 4th class, which was a room with 8 beds. Naturally ours had 10 people. It was pretty hot and cramped for the 55-hour trip. The boat had a couple nasty communal bathrooms and washrooms, and a shop where one could buy instant noodles for meals. However, it did have the requisite karaoke bar, so all was right with the world. I was the only foreigner onboard, which was fun, and spent most of the days on the top deck watching the world float by and being the onboard entertainment. I’ve noticed that Chinese are reluctant/shy to try their English, as they don’t believe it’s good enough. However, I can normally tell from body language and whispers between people which one’s can speak a little, and so I try to initiate a conversation. This lead to some interesting scenes - me standing on the top deck surrounded by Chinese tourists and fielding questions on a range of topics.
The boat stopped at several sites, though they were normally more interesting for the Chinese and not something I wanted to see/pay for, and so I stayed onboard. I did opt for the optional boat trip up a clear tributary river where the walls were more impressive and sheer…more of what we’d actually consider ‘gorges’, than the Three Gorges on the muddy Yangtze. For those of you in Montana, or that have been, the small side-trip reminded me of the Gates of the Mountains trip. Near the end of my journey we entered a series of locks at the site of the controversial dam. When the dam is completed in 2009 the river will have risen about 175 meters. It has already risen 135 meters, so we had to endure the 3-hour process to get to a level of 46 meters before arriving in the town of Yichang and my departure. It’s possible to take the trip farther - all the way to Shanghai, but I covered the most interesting sections. The trip showed communist-style concrete block buildings of soul-less towns on the riverbanks, large bridges, coal, a filthy river, and average scenery. However, having said all that I’m glad I took the trip, as in the past it was a ‘classic’, and still an entertaining and relaxing way to get from point A to point B. One can do the same trip in a hydrofoil in about 11 hours, but I enjoyed the lazy pace.
Yichang
In Yichang, Hubei province, I dealt with some visa issues, but the incident that gives an indication of the help I’ve received in China involved an internet cafe. I walked by a window and saw three people at computers. Assuming the place to be an internet cafe I popped my head inside the door and ‘asked’ if they had internet. Yep, and one lady offered me the computer on which she’d been working. I objected, indicating I didn’t want to kick somebody off, but they insisted. I asked the price and was told it would be free. I knew something was strange, but set about reading my e-mails and soon discovered the true story - the lady approached and indicated that they’d be closing soon…it wasn’t actually an internet cafe, but an office. They were simply being nice in letting me log on. Amazing generosity.
Zhangjiajie
Next stop, the province of Hunan, the nature area of Zhangjiajie, and my personal hell. The area has many rock pinnacles and interesting formations - which of course all have descriptive names…this is China. However, being the summer holidays it was loaded with large, noisy groups. I simply hiked for 11 1/2 hours that first day, trying to find a bit of peace and quiet and to be ‘one’ with nature…didn’t happen. I’d be trying to take a picture, but the ‘red-hats’ would be in the way. They’d leave, but I’d have to shoot quickly before the ‘yellow-hats’ appeared on the scene. Picture taken, I’d turn and be bombarded by the ‘white-hats’. And so it went. The day was akin to hiking up and down stone stairs on a July or August day in Houston…hot and humid. Many of the locals were taking the available buses or trams, while some opted to be carried up hills in ’sedan’ chairs - a chair mounted on two bamboo poles, carried by two porters. However, to be fair there were many that hiked up the mountains as well. Luckily they had the proper gear - dress pants and dress shoes for the men, dresses and heals for the women. I got a bit frustrated at the ‘viewpoints’, as they invariably had a tree growing up right in the way. Now I’m one for conserving nature, and if I were to ask I’m sure that would be the reply - it’s a nature area so they can’t cut trees. However, if they’ve cleared thousands of trees for a lane in which to lie their quarried stones for the path, what is one more tree? Didn’t make sense. Second day was more of the same. I wasn’t overly impressed with my time in the area, though I think some of it was due to the wrong time of year. I imagine the place would be nice in the winter with fewer people.
Changsha
From Zhangjiajie I made my way to Changsha and it’s museum - the highlight being the contents of a Han Dynasty tomb found just outside the city. There were the mummified remains of a woman, her series of four caskets - each inside the other, and various funerary articles. Interesting, and well presented.
Wuhan
I popped back to Hubei province to visit another museum, this one in the town of Wuhan. This museum concentrated on the articles found with a high-ranking official buried around 433 BC. There were the standard bronze bowls and urns, lacquer products, weapons and armor for both man and horse, and musical instruments. The most amazing object was a 64 bell set that stands about 10 feet tall and has intricately carved supports and bells. Impressive, and evidently showed that a musical scale existed in ancient China. And now you know.
Lushan
Another province - Jiangxi, another town - Lushan, and another mass-tourist nightmare. First of all, the road up the mountain (’shan’ means mountain in Chinese) passed typical billboards - huge pictures of the local scenery/attraction, with the president and/or high-ranking officials superimposed. Saluting military personnel in full uniform is another favorite. Anyway, Lushan. First fight was trying to find a cheap room during the high season. It’s funny how your mentality changes when you travel…”What do you mean you don’t have any crappy rooms! You don’t have any without a/c, t.v., phone, and bathroom?” All rooms in China are pretty good, though the farther east you move the more you pay. Lushan is your typical tourist destination - thousands of people; tacky shops selling cheap, useless junk; garish lights; karaoke bars; prostitutes; and numerous taxis. The following day I spent about 7 hours walking around, though the scenery wasn’t that spectacular, and I wasn’t overly interested in the fact that Mao Tse Tung had a house here, or that many important communist party meetings had been held here in the past.
Jingdezhen
Staying in Jiangxi province I visited the town of Jingdezhen, which produces much of the porcelain for which China is known. I visited some factories that showed the ancient technique for making the wares, and was bombarded by everything porcelain - chopsticks, bowls, plates, cups, vases, and even the trash cans.
Tunxi, Shexian, & Huang Shan
Moving north I headed into Anhui province and the town of Tunxi. I got stuck there for a night, so simply wandered down along the ‘old street’, which, as is typical of ‘tourist’ areas, had old buildings renovated to look new, and new buildings built to resemble the old. Each of the buildings housed a shop selling souvenirs, calligraphy, paintings, tea, antiques, and other curios for the masses. The following morning I made a short side trip to Shexian to stroll along another ‘ancient’ street. Same, same but different - there is an area of ‘old’ buildings with intricately carved wooden panels, but the area has been ‘polished’ and Disney-ized for tourism. Back in Tunxi I caught a bus for the town of Tankou, which sits at the base of one of China’s most famous scenic areas - Huang Shan, and therefore consists of hotels, restaurants, and souvenir stalls.
The weather was socked in and rainy, so I opted for exploring a few of the lower valleys. Maybe I’m overly critical, but again it seemed like average scenery - you build a stone path/steps around a place, throw up a ticket booth, and voila - tourist attraction. And, true to the Hollywood ‘Field of Dreams’…”If you build it, they will come”, the formula seems to work. At times I feel there is a country-wide brainwashing taking place with some of these destinations. Anyway, I spent a few days in the area waiting for the weather to clear - to no avail. Didn’t make much sense to climb a mountain for the ’spectacular’ scenery if you couldn’t see it, and it was more than I wanted to spend to see the valley where some of the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was shot, so I moved on.
Jiuhua Shan
Jiuhua Shan is another mountainous area - this one famous for the good scenery and the various temples and monasteries. I enjoyed it because, as Lonely Planet states, it actually feels spiritual - unlike many other areas. The buildings actually felt genuine and in use, as opposed to the put-on-a-shelf-to-look-at-but-we-don’t-touch variety I’d seen so often. In many places the monasteries and other religious buildings seem to be more for the sake of tourism. To be fair the ‘new’ look to many of them is real, since so much was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution between ‘66 and ‘76 and had to be rebuilt. I spent a good day hiking around the region, but I’ve already detailed that in the ‘Tourism’ paragraph earlier.
Nanjing
I left Anhui province and headed to Jiangsu province - Nanjing. My main reason for stopping was to see the memorial to those Chinese massacred by the Japanese in 1937. There were plaques and mass graves, but most sobering were the pictures illustrating the rapes, live burials, beheadings, bayonet practice on live humans, mass machine-gunnings, and other atrocities. In all over 300,000 were killed, though to this day the Japanese deny that this tragic period in history even occurred, even though it was documented by Germans and Americans in the city at the time, and many of the pictures were actually taken from the cameras of captured Japanese soldiers. Luckily while in Thailand I had read a book - The Rape of Nanking, so was somewhat familiar with the events. The fact that the Japanese have denied responsibility does not sit well with the average Chinese - I’ve asked many during casual conversations what they think of the Japanese, and all use the word ‘hate’. When I ask why, knowing what the answer will be, they indicate the atrocities in Nanjing.
While in Nanjing I also saw a well-preserved gate from the ancient wall surrounding the city - one of the original 13 Ming city gates. A 33 km city wall had been built during the Ming Dynasty between 1366 and 1386 - the longest city wall ever built in the world. It averaged 12 meters high and 7 meters wide at the top. The existing gate was impressive. I also headed out to see the museum and mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yatsen - acknowledged to be the father of modern China by both the communist party and the opposition. It was an enjoyable day walking around the surrounding wooded parkland.
Suzhou
I next made a stop in the peaceful town of Suzhou - known for it’s amazing gardens. These are sprawling areas where every square inch seems in use - rocks, water, and old-style buildings with period furniture set in a maze of courtyards and walls were the norm. A nice little oases to escape from the city. I visited a gate in the old city wall, which also had some nice buildings and landscaping. Pagodas and the interesting silk museum (Suzhou was China’s leading silk producer in the 14th century) rounded out the Suzhou itinerary. Suzhou was a pleasant town in which to bicycle around for a few days.
Zhouzhuang
A short bus ride from Suzhou dumped me in the water town of Zhouzhuang, where I wandered around for a few hours before continuing on to Shanghai. Zhouzhuang is a city of canals and the bridges that span them. There are also old homes with period furnishings, temples, pagodas, a museum, as well as the requisite souvenir shops. It’s touristy, but serene at the same time - a nice place to wander.
Shanghai
The first thing I noticed when I got to Shanghai? People seemed bigger/taller. Is that diet in a richer community? I spent a few days wandering around Shanghai, which is basically just a big city - not much else to see/do. It is steamrolling forward and the wealth compared to other cities is readily apparent. As an example, the Pudong area across the river was boggy farmland until the ’90’s, but now is an area larger than Shanghai itself teeming with skyscrapers - though most of them are slowly sinking back into the poor soil. On the Shanghai-side of the river the walk along the historic Bund was interesting, evoking memories of the past and the early foreigners that inhabited the area. The former Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building was beautiful inside, and Sassoon’s old office/hotel - the Cathay (now the Peace Hotel) was still majestic. I also made the requisite stop in the Yu Garden bazaar. The gardens were originally set up in the Ming Dynasty in the 1500’s, but were destroyed on a few occasions by bombs or rebels. Nowadays the new buildings are made to look old architecturally, while the old buildings are renovated to look new. Disneyland has Main Street, USA, but here it’s Ming Dynasty, China, where they forego the rides and opt instead for souvenir shops. While in Shanghai I also took in a circus. It isn’t of the animal variety, but more like an amateur version of Cirque de Soleil (which I’m sure I spelled wrong) - acrobats, juggling, and contortionists. Entertaining.
Putuoshan
From Shanghai I took to the sea, catching a bus and then ferry out to the island of Putuoshan, in Zhejiang province. It was a peaceful few days of temples, monasteries, and hiking. However, I also encountered the annoying habit of paying a large entrance fee to an area, only to have it not include the admission price to many sites within. I’ve also noticed that admission prices have risen dramatically since my guidebook was written a year ago - the 60-yuan soaring to 110. Maybe foreign investment isn’t paying for all the construction.
Hangzhou and West Lake
Back on dry land I made my way to Hangzhou. The Chinese have a famous proverb, “In heaven there is paradise, on earth Suzhou and Hangzhou.” That must have been before the construction boom. First of all I had a major hassle trying to find a place to stay - cab driver…no common language. I had a place picked out that I wanted to try, but it didn’t happen. Long story short - after driving around for over an hour I believe I learned (one can never be too sure) that, not only did the hotel where I wanted to stay fall to the wrecking ball, but the entire lane is now gone. While wandering the city the following day I saw a sign in front of a beautiful old-style building that pretty much summed up a lot of China. It said something to the effect that the original building had been built in the 900’s, but that the building you see today was completed in the 1980’s. It goes on to say that many people go to the top deck for the amazing views of West Lake - Hangzhou’s most famous site. Following that advice I ascended the steps to reveal…trees and sheet metal around a construction site, with lake hidden from view. Had to laugh. Again, I’m not quite sure how some of these scenic spots get their hype - West Lake is considered one of China’s premier attractions. To be fair it was nice, but in my mind certainly wouldn’t be worth a special trip - it was pretty average lake scenery, with some good museums. And for something completely different and on the ‘things that make you go, “Hmmmm” front - in a country where many people utilize bicycles as their main means of transport, why are most of the bikes old rusty one-speed monstrosities? Is it to deter thieves?
Train to Guangzhou
I was unable to get a sleeper for the trip down to Guangzhou and so had to sit. I can only assume that I’m getting old, because the 22-hour trip turned out to be pretty uncomfortable. It probably wouldn’t have been bad but the train was overbooked. I was in a seat at the end of one car, which is where those without seats/berths chose to hang out. Some opted to literally sleep at my feet, leaving the guy with the longest legs and biggest feet on the train with zero legroom. All part of the joys of travel. I didn’t do anything in Guangzhou - it was simply a place to lie my head for the night before catching the bus over to Hong Kong the following day.
Hong Kong
As per my norm, I ended up with an extremely small, terrible room in one of the world’s most modern cities - it was basically a walk-in closet, with an entryway closet sized bathroom. I ended up spending 10 days in Hong Kong. It’s an expensive city, but not simply the concrete jungle I had envisioned. It consists of Kowloon and the northern part of Hong Kong Island across the harbor. If you’re like me, this is your idea of Hong Kong - skyscrapers and shopping. However, there is the southern part of Hong Kong Island, the outlying islands, and the New Territories that offer a quieter, more traditional way of life, as well as some good hiking opportunities through less developed areas. Even within the looming skyscrapers one finds some great local markets and streets of shops selling wares - dried fish, traditional medicines, goldfish, flowers, birds, jade, etc. It’s easy to get around - subways, buses, trains, and ferries can get you about anywhere, and English is widely spoken. I spent my time visiting some fantastic museums - hands on and educational, admiring the skyline at night, taking in the panorama from Mt. Victoria, walking some of the trails, enjoying the lazy tram journey through the north of Hong Kong Island, checking out various markets, and simply wandering aimlessly. Unfortunately I was there when a typhoon passed nearby, so had to deal with rain and gloomy skies on most days. I was there over a few weekends so witnessed the weekly displacement of the Filipina domestic helpers. They are ‘kicked out’ of their employers homes on the weekends, so they take to the streets, parks, and covered walkways. The chatter is incredible as you walk through this throng of women talking, eating, playing cards, or just relaxing. There was also a large queue outside something called PNB, which I can only assume stood for Philippines National Bank. Interesting. I didn’t know that many were employed in Hong Kong.
Most talk seemed to concentrate on the new policy that would allow mainlanders to visit Hong Kong on their own. Hong Kong was returned to China in ‘97, but if somebody from the mainland wants to see Hong Kong they have to be part of a large tour group. With the outbreak of SARS early in the year and the decline in tourists the Hong Kong economy is faltering, and so they’re relaxing their policies. An individual still has to get papers from the PSB (the police), their stay is limited, and this policy only applies to certain cities/provinces on the mainland, but at least they can start to go across. I was chiding one person, saying that it didn’t really sound like the one-China policy we hear so much about in the news - normally in reference to Taiwan. Why wasn’t there seamless travel between the mainland and China? What he said made sense - Hong Kong is a city of opportunities and success, but it’s also a small area. Many from the mainland would jump at the chance to live in Hong Kong and increase their lot in life, putting a strain on the economy. I suppose one sees that in the neighboring ’special economic zones’ of mainland China - cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai. They’ve become immensely successful overnight which has attracted all manner of people, leading to the inherent problems associated with rapid growth.
Macau
From Hong Kong it was a 1 hour ferry to Macau - the oldest European settlement in Asia until it was handed back to the mainland in December of ‘99. The Portuguese/European influence was very evident in the buildings, churches, cobblestone streets, and food. I visited during the week so it was relaxed and an enjoyable place to hang out for a few days - in Macau itself and also the ‘islands’ of Coloane and Taipa. During the weekend Macau becomes a playground for those from Hong Kong who come to gamble.
Yangshuo
From there it was a chaotic border crossing back to the mainland, a 2 hour bus trip to Guangzhou, killing time for 5 hours, a 14 hour overnight train to Guilin, and a 1 1/2 hour mini-van back to Yangshuo - site of some of the impressive scenery I’d visited early in my trip. There I hung out for a few weeks, worked on some things, and bought Christmas presents for family back home.
Kunming
I hooked up with 5 other Americans on the train, so spent a few days with them - hitting the sites and simply hanging out. Kunming had a nice market area, a few decent temples in town, and the nice Bamboo Temple outside of the city. Kunming also exhibited a colorful ethnic diversity, as Yunnan Province is home to 1/3 of China’s ethnic minorities. I even noticed several people still sporting the ‘Mao’ look - blue cap and blue button-down long-sleeved shirt.
One night we decided to simply do some ’street grazing’ for dinner - eating a bit from each of the numerous street vendors. We stumbled upon a singing ‘war’ - a man would sing a few ad-libbed verses, only to be countered by a woman doing the same. She seemed to be getting the better of him, as the onlookers would often laugh at her verses. Unfortunately, 6 white guys standing around proved more interesting to the crowd and the singing soon stopped. It was a shame, as it was quite entertaining.
One of the guys I was with knew he was extremely allergic to peanuts, and so another had been asking vendors (he’d taught English in China a few years back and spoke Mandarin) if any were present in the food. He’d been assured there were none. “Nnnnn - wrong answer. Thank you for playing!” It became obvious the guy was having a reaction - his face was beet red, it itched, and he was having difficulty breathing. He and the guy who spoke Chinese headed to the hospital where they were told by not one, but two doctors, that what he was telling them was impossible, “Nobody is allergic to peanuts.” After much frustration he simply stuck himself with an epi-pen he carried for such an emergency and they left.
Dali
From Kunming it was an 8 1/2 hour overnight train trip and a short bus ride to Old Dali. It’s very touristy, with cobble-stoned streets lined with souvenir shops in buildings exhibiting the local Bai minority architecture. Like Yangshuo, it has many restaurants and bars which cater to travelers, but you could simply proceed one street off the main drag and find yourself immersed in a local market with many minorities in their colorful outfits. I strayed from my norm and actually took an organized day-trip. We visited a couple of local markets outside of the town - one predominantly for the Bai people and one for the Yi. Both were interesting, for some of the locals still dressed traditionally. We visited a whiskey factory, a very peaceful temple, and took a short hike through fields and small villages where we ran into some photogenic elderly locals. We’d been shown destruction caused by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution - destruction which one probably would have overlooked on their own. We learned about the red plaque with yellow stars hung on most rural doors. There were 10 questions - Do you have only one child, Do you get along with your neighbors, Do you embrace the modern, Do you have innovative ideas, Do you work for the community, etc. For each ‘correct’ answer you receive a gold star - ten stars makes you eligible for Party membership. In all we learned things that were not obvious, and we weren’t peppered with an overabundance of information (both standard problems on organized tours), so it was exactly what I’d hoped for in the trip.
Lijiang
A 3 hour bus ride north dumped me in Lijiang. The old city, though very touristy, was still picturesque with it’s narrow, cobble-stoned streets fanning out in all directions; it’s canals; and it’s central square filled with the local minorities, the Naxi. The women wore their tell-tale squat blue ‘railroad engineer’ caps; blue shirts; blue skirts; and white or blue straps crossed high across their chest. There were, of course, the requisite stalls selling tourist junk, which the hordes of Chinese in town for National Day were snapping up. Many had the standard “I’ve been on vacation” hat - straw, with a headband which read ‘Marlboro’. Others were sporting newly acquired hats, doo-rags, and couples could be seen in matching Naxi t-shirts - all of which are travel faux pas’ of the highest magnitude!
I spent a few days hanging out with a Swedish woman and a French couple - relaxing in outdoor cafes/bars; taking in a Naxi traditional music performance, where many of the musicians were in their 70’s or 80’s; and visiting Black Dragon Pool Park with it’s clear lake, pagodas, and beautiful views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the distance. I’d planned to do the two-day hike of Tiger Leaping Gorge with the others but didn’t feel well, so simply stayed in town, dodged the jostling Chinese tourists, and checked out some of the towns more obscure areas. I also witnessed the nightly garbage ritual. In most countries, when you hear a vehicle approaching playing a recorded tune it’s the ice cream or snow-cone person, but in Lijiang it’s the garbage truck. Locals would rush out with bags and buckets of garbage and put them in the back of the truck, where it was stamped down by a couple of workers. Poor locals would follow the procession and scavenge cardboard or anything else they thought would be of use.
After a week of not being able to catch my breath, a racing pulse, and pain in my arms and chest, I decided to visit a hospital. I must say, if you need to have a doctor’s consultation, chest x-rays, and an E.K.G., you could do a lot worse than the Lijiang Hospital. Total cost? About US$6 - just like back home…or not! They didn’t actually find anything wrong, but at least they asked intelligent questions and did relevant tests.
Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek
My mind a bit more at ease, I decided it was time to do the hike of Tiger Leaping Gorge. It was a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Daju, and then another short trip to the ferry crossing. A brief ferry ride across the Yangtse River and a short hike up the other side of the gorge had me to the ‘trail’ proper. Until about ‘98 it truly was a trail, then it was turned into a road, and about 8 months before I visited it was paved. Not exactly my idea of a true wilderness trek. Luckily there were no cars, and the view of the steep gorge wall across the river was decent. I followed the flat road for awhile and then thankfully climbed onto a true trail. I believe it’s Xeno’s paradox which states that, because you can always cut a distance in half, you never actually arrive at a destination. I spent the afternoon following the environmentally unfriendly, but effective, advertisement (paint on rocks) for the guesthouse where I wanted to spend the night - Halfway Guesthouse. However, it could get discouraging to see red paint on a rock stating, “Halfway”, and then seeing the same 15 minutes down the trail, and again 15 minutes later….
The second day followed a true trail (paralleling the road below), but the scenery wasn’t as nice. In all it only took about 9 hours of hiking over two days to walk the gorge from Daju to Qiaotou. Like most of the ‘must-see/do’ outdoor experiences in China I was pretty disappointed, though it was nice to get out and stretch the legs a bit.
Zhongdian
From the end of the trek I caught a bus back to Lijiang, spent two more nights there, and then took a 6 hour bus trip over rough roads to Zhongdian. After much ‘research’, the Chinese have decided Zhongdian (and/or Deqin, 168 kms. north), is the ‘Shangrila’ which James Hilton wrote about in Lost Horizon. “No, you’re just being cynical. It had nothing to do with trying to increase tourism in the area!” There is a nice old town, but the new town built to accommodate all those arriving to see ‘Shangrila’ is depressing - new buildings and wide streets that were deserted when I was there in October. I did enjoy seeing many locals in their traditional outfits, and walking out of town to visit Ganden Sumtseling Monastery. It was a fairly large compound, but the best part was that it was actually in use and not just for show. I bypassed most of the sites near Zhongdian as I was really only there for one purpose - it was my gateway into Tibet. Excuse me - Tibet Autonomous Region (T.A.R.) - a part of China.
Conclusion - of sorts
There is still much of this huge country I’m looking forward to exploring - the terra cotta warriors of Xian, Beijing, and the weekly market in Kashgar to name a few. However, those explorations will have to wait for another time.
A few strange observations: T.V. ads for various breast enhancements, lifts for shoes, and pills that will ’stretch’ bones and make one taller; the numerous beauty parlors and saunas as fronts for prostitution, and the late-night phone calls one often receives in cheap hotels; the military programming on t.v. of the look-how-our-troops-are-prepared-but-look-what-else-they-can-do variety; and Spanish bullfighting on Chinese t.v…huh?.
I feel I’m several years late for a truly interesting trip through some parts of China, as they are becoming too sanitized. However, those more remote provinces with a large percentage of minorities - Yunnan, Tibet, Xinjiang to name a few, still exhibit a more traditional way of life.
Leave a Comment