China

I had been in Mongolia on a horseback riding camping trip and thought while over in Asia I should poke around China a bit. I had to bribe the train authorities to get a seat on the Trans-Mongolian to Beijing and somehow I got a super deluxe! There were only two beds, a fan and even a shower of sorts in the sink. It was quite nice and very different from my usual experience of traveling with an over flow of bags, kids and animals. Thirty hours later I arrived in Beijing to the most amazing sea of humanity.

I, strangely, liked this crazy city. It is pulsing with life and activity, a powerful combination of the ancient and the insanely modern (talking taxis for example). It is loud and hectic, with bikes, cars, busses, trams, rik-shaws all zooming about in reasonable order. The people were neither particularly friendly or rude, but rather, had a welcomed indifference to all of us tourists.

I was having a bit of trouble finding out any information on how to get around since I was protesting the use of the infamous "Lonely Planet Guide". Everyone has it so you end up in all the same places. My book was torn in half and from 1989; probably more useful as toilet paper. So, I was winging it which was not such a good idea, considering I could neither read nor speak the language. One must have their destination written in the Chinese characters or one is, shall we say, up the creek without a chopstick.

I managed to find a brand new hostel and was paying an exhorbitant $20 per night!! But it had a hot shower, a TV (only in Chinese and the one English station was only about business) and it was really clean and comfy with AC; a necessity as it was ridicuously hot in July.

The Forbidden City was being renovated and was too hot and crowded. It would have been better to visit the surrounding buildings as they have more interesting stories and things to see. Tiananmen square seemed like just a big cement slab to me. But the Great Wall, now that is truly something! I had signed up spur of the moment so really didn't know what I was getting into. We drove way out of town, which given the size of Beijing, takes two to three hours! I discovered we would be hiking the friggin' wall for 10 kilometers! (from Jinshanling to Simatai). I'm not quite sure how far that is in miles, but let me say, it is entirely too far to be slogging around in a heat wave! But it does let you appreciate how immense and rather mad an undertaking building this wall really was. The bricks follow the curves of the land and some parts are seriously steep! There are people following you all the time trying to sell you water which turns out to be fairly lucrative, considering. At the end, we took a zip wire down the mountain to a river then boated back to our bus. All in all it was a grand day and I was pooped. I decided to eat at the hostel and some of the choices were, "deep fried tongue", "goose liver", "edible fungus", "snakehead eggs" and "pig intestine". I opted for the dumplings and rice.

I decided to fly south to Guilen rather than take the train as I had limited time. I made it to the Beijing airport quite early, but turned out it didn't matter, they changed the gate about 4 times and we left late anyway. Of course us "ferners" hadn't a clue what was happening so just kept following the crowds up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs, etc. We did finally get on and they served breakfast. They offered a Chinese or western meal. Interestingly, the Chinese passengers chose the western, the westerners chose the Chinese. Well, guess who were the smarter of the two? They got eggs, sausage, hash browns, fruit and we got some black runny goo with lima beans! I arrived in Guilen and began my annoying interrogation of fellow travelers to give me some clue what the guidebook says on where to go. The guidebook is often wrong is the problem, in this case the youth hostel was closed. I ended up getting a run down place on the edge of town, then wandered around looking at all the mountains and caves from the outside since the admission prices seemed too expensive to me. Eventually I got lost, which I tend to do, and lo! little "Tang" saved me. Tang was 27 and a calligraphy teacher who lived in a dorm at the school. He took me through the walking mall and helped me find a decent toilet. I can feel very indebted to one who can find a decent toilet let me tell you. He also showed me the gallery where he displayed his art work and I felt indebted (again) to purchase one. Then he took me to an underground mall with a tea shop. It was dark and small and smelled exotic. Way in the back I was involved with these two guys in the elaborate art of the tea making. Rinsing the tea 20 times, pouring here, pouring there, tipping this, slurping that... tap tap tapping on the table, sniffing, nodding, grunting... I got caught up in it all and had a brief fleeting thought that maybe this was not a good idea, maybe something was in this tea... I had a cold starting, my head felt clogged and I was literally drenched in sweat with the recent downpour of rain. And then it happened... I bought a tiny container of tea for $15 US dollars... "oh my God, what have I done?!" The real sad part is I didn't even realize it till much later. I even went on to take my scammy con artist artist friend out for dinner! I really am too much. However, I must say the restaurant was an experience. Evidently we were in snake season, so there were cages of the critters everywhere, not to mention the rest of the menagerie available. Tang walked me home and we had to cross the river holding our shoes in our hands. The people can take a bamboo raft across but it seems most choose to wade. On the other side a man practiced his flute and it was all so lovely. It wasn't until I was lying in bed thinking about the day that I realized I had just been completely skint by these boys. I have since seen this very tea for sale at one third the price! But then, I did get a story.

The next day I left for the Li River cruise. I chose the Chinese boat rather than the tourist boat not so for the authentic experience so much as it was half the price. Of course I didn't understand a single word! And these people were all TALKING SO LOUD!!! Give a bullhorn to a Chinese and watch out! Quiet, demure giggling girls become Helgas of Hosseldorf! We were marched in, sat down and told what to do and what we'll see and what is pretty and what is not and what each rock is named, etc, etc. I just sat outside and was awestruck by some of the most unusual and mystical mountains I have ever seen. Even the rain added to the experience. There were water buffalo grazing and swimming, bamboo rafts slamming up to the boat to sell their wares (not that I would be buying another bloody thing here), delicate ceramic tile roofs, swaying bamboo shores... truly magical. Yangshuo began the maddness again; the shouting and crowds and language barrier. But overall, it was the oppressive humid Vietnam-movie-type heat that was truly staggering.

I got a little tram to my "Happy Hotel" (lovingly known as "Crappy Hotel"), with my new best friend DongWuk from Korea, who speaks English AND Chinese... Yes!, score!! We rented bikes and began looking for some of the famed trails and boy did we find some! I felt like I was riding in a postcard!! The huge pointy Karst mountains, the rice fields with the workers in the reed hats, the women carrying baskets on poles on their shoulders, again the buffalo wallowing in the mud, the little houses and irrigation canals, the people crowding around trying to sell flowers, knick knacks, boat rides, rafting trips, water SCREEEEECH!!!! oh, there went the perfect scene. You just can't escape capitalism.

I stayed on West Street, which as the name indicates is where all the westerners hang out. Of course so do the gazillions of Chinese tourists. I stayed for three dollars a night above one of the many cafes. The room had hot water and a western toilet. I was eating my usual gluttonous "American breakfast" out on the street front one morning and one of the many tiny ladies, slumped over from years in rice fields, with her ancient face gave me a near toothless grin and asked for my leftover toast. She hugged me when I gave it to her and then tried to sell me some trinkets from her little basket. I can almost cry again now thinking about it. I cannot imagine what she must be thinking with all these strange faces invading her land and her having to learn these meaningless words... "herro", "tank you", "you buy?" I want her to be home with her family, comfortable, safe and happy in these last years of her life. And then, for all I know she was really enjoying herself, but I didn't get that sense. The few Chinese I have been able to talk to say there isn't much in the way of social programs here for the sick or elderly and that they must rely on their families. But let me say, start learning your Mandarin because this will be the country of the future. These people are perfecting capitalism without a conscience. They are very hard workers, even building in shifts through the night. And yet they are so sweet and helpful and easy going, I, actually, think the language is pretty and melodic (as long as it's not coming out of a bullhorn). I, of course, butchered the language and thankfully met an Australian fellow, Jason, who had been teaching English here. He not only spoke a bit of Chinese but was an excellent barterer taboot. He got us a motorbike, which I don't believe non Chinese are allowed to rent, and we explored the spectacular countryside and villages. Then on the way back the bike stopped working. Jason just "shhhhed" someone over and gestured what had happened. The guy took out a rope and tied us to his bike and towed us into town. I thought Jason knew him, but no, this is normal here, just "shhhsh" someone and they seem more than happy to help. Of course you have to pay them a bit, but geez I can't see that happening most places back home.

I think I did everything you can do in Yangshuo; the caves with mud baths, bamboo rafts down the rivers, the villages by bike, and oh yes, a very cool light show out on the river. Of course I saw the cheap version, the show from far away on the roof of a little boat. It looked like it would be quite extravagant if you actually were in front of it in a seat. Literally hundreds of people in dugout boats with flames, and even lighted costumes, singing, and waving enormous flags, splashing water... at least that's what I imagined they were doing.

I left sweaty Yangshuo and flew to Kunming. I was supposed to meet someone I had met on the train but it turned out she was too busy with her family and had to cancel. I was none too happy as Kunming is just another huge, sprawling, modern, crowded, loud, neoned typical Chinese city. In addition, the hostel I came to had only dorm rooms left and I really am too old now to sleep with eight other stinky backpackers. I immediately booked a flight for the next day and settled down to try and figure out how to spend the evening. As fate would have it, I met "Helen", a Chinese girl studying law in England. She insisted on taking me out to dinner. Granted it is not so expensive, the typical hot noodle soup costs about .50 cents. However she also took me out for tea, and I found out that there really are expensive teas here and rethought my rip off experience. Anyway, it was great finally having a Chinese person to interrogate about politics. She says that Taiwan was always part of China and should remain so. The issue is that two leaders (or parties; the Nationalists and the Communists) want to be boss. As for Tibet, she thinks they can't be a sovereign nation and if not run by China would be run by India. She also thinks that most Chinese respect the Tibetan culture and its differences. The Chinese don't understand the "religion" there, she says, since they are all raised to rely on themselves without a thought for a "higher power". She feels this is a practical approach and that she herself has done quite well. Also, Tibet will surely be needed to feed the people, even with the one child per couple rule, the population is immense. Every possible spot is cultivated. Finally, she ended up inviting me to stay in her very nice room and I didn't have to sleep with the smelly backpackers or share one of those horrible bathrooms. Really, it is beyond me how they can handle these things, simply a ceramic hole in the ground, or worse, a ceramic trench, where you scoop up some water to rinse whatever down the pike. Rumor has it that many Chinese women have injured themselves falling off western toilets while trying to squat way up there and in fact I have seen shoe marks on the seat. (Next month, on to LiJiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge!)