We left Xian, and there has been absolutely no time to miss the hostel. We caught a train at 9:00 AM and arrived in Yichang, on the Yangtze, at about 10:45 PM. Yes, it was a full day on the train. We originally had hard sleepers, which we were familiar with from our night journey, but we found it too noisy/smokey/cramped and opted to upgrade to the soft sleepers. Despite the name, the soft sleepers are not much softer than the hard ones. They are, however, much more private, with four bunks in a private room rather than six in an open room with no door. Most of the time we shared it with one other man who just slept. The ride was not as bad as we thought. With much sleep, hanging out in the dining hall, and a little bit of chess as well, the time passed fairly quickly.
Ever since arriving in Yangtze, we have had so much help from Pan-Pan's family that I feel like a VIP rather than a student backpacker. PP's aunt had someone pick us up at the train station in Yichang, and he took us to a very nice hotel. In the morning, some activities were already set up for us. We had a private driver, in a black car with "VIP" on it, take us to a beautiful site on the river, with old temples and great views. Then he took us to a hot pot restaurant, which was delicious, and not unbearably spicy when washed down with Tsingtao beer. All of this, of course, was paid for by him.
In the afternoon, another man picked us up from the hotel and drove us to the boat we took down the Yangtze. He is a friend of PP's aunt, and quite powerful, apparently. Everyone was surprised that he was taking us there himself. He also got us free tickets on the cruise, because he is friends with the owner of the boat. We were so surprised when he showed us to our berth and it was a nice private room with a TV, air conditioning and a bathroom! Although the TV and airconditioner didn't work, and the bathroom smelled simply awful, it was still one of the best rooms on the boat. It was quite an interesting cruise down the beautiful Yangtze, through the locks by the big dam and then through the Three Gorges. We arrived in the morning and were picked up by PP's aunt Hong.
Since then, we've been living in luxury. PP's aunt and her uncle have been unbelievably gracious hosts to us, as is the Chinese way. The food they prepare for breakfast and lunch is delicious. The last three nights we have gone out to fancy restaurants with large parties of friends and assorted dignitaries (I've met a bunch of top city officials around the table--and at one restaurant the owner came and joined us for a while). The feasts are massive and I feel bad about all the food that is wasted. I've tried some exotic things like pigs tongue (they taste like pork and are pretty tasted--I had a few of them), chicken intenstine, shark fin soup (actually quite good), and fish stomach. These meals have been a wild experience. Everyone is drinking and smoking and "cheers'ing" and we are, of course, considered VIPs. I have made a couple awkward attempts at toasting by standing up and saying in Chinese "Thank you everyone very much for this delicious meal--I like China very much" which always elicits much laughter and applause. The food is lavish and delicious but me and PP actually miss our simpler meals at the greasy hole-in-the-wall joints in Beijing and elsewhere.
The first two mornings here, I played basketball with PP's uncle at the community courts (waking up at 6:00 so we could play before he goes to work at the government). The courts are full of people shooting baskets, playing badminton or doing group calesthenics like Tai Chi--you'd never see this in North America. It's a lot of fun. Apparently I am getting known around town as the foreigner of Fengjie. It's a very different experience for me.
A couple nights ago, on Monday night, we went to the big market square--the Jiangs and I--they made me dance a waltz with Pan-Pan in the square with a bunch of other people to a band. It was something, with the moon overhead and the traditional Chinese music being played. Then Pan-Pan's feet hurt so I danced with her aunt. When the music ended, the MC said something like "... and welcome to our foreign friend" and the audience (hundreds of people) applauded. There was a huge crowd around us as we played carnival games--PP won a couple ceramic toys from a ring toss game!
Yesterday we visited Yan-Yan's family across the river. Very rural experience. We saw their fish farm which is this small structure built on the water and we took an ancient looking skiff to get there. This place was very rural--I imagine some people had never seen a white person before, judging by the way they stared at me. Her family there was also very nice, and we had a huge lunch including fresh fish. On the way back across the river, it started thunder storming very hard, and our boat actually got pushed against the rocky shore by the waves, and we had to achor against a rock because we couldn't get past the breakers! I must admit, it was a little unnerving. Finally the storm subsided enough that we could set out again across the river, but we had to wait for about 20 minutes.
This morning I went with PP and her aunt to the local hospital and tried out some traditional Chinese medicine techniques, since her aunt is friends with the town's best acupuncturist and I mentioned an interest in it. So I tried two things for my back (which is holding up but still weak, especially in the morning). First he put this electric pillow on my back that sent electric pulses to my back muscles, which felt like thousands of pins and needles poking me at various intensities and frequencies for half an hour. It felt very weird. PP tried it too but she didn't like it and cried a little so she stopped a few minutes into it. Then I had some apuncture, just a couple needles to try it out. It didn't hurt so much after they were in. I'm not sure it did any good. I probably needed more needles and more time. It was a really cool experience, anyhow.
We just had noodles at a place that is supposedly famous in Fengjie, and later today we are going to PP's grandparent's farm in the country. It will be another night of feasting, no doubt. Hopefully I can get a nap in before that. I had a bit of a cold yesterday but I feel better today.
All in all, I've had a wonderful time here so far. I'm learning more about the Chinese people, particularly about how important family is. We have literally not had to pay for one thing the last few days, despite our attempts. One of PP's aunts even bought me a new belt, because I needed one. It's really incredible. Family ties are considered very, very strong. I've also learned how useful connections are. We've gotten an awful lot from people just because of who PP is related to, and what strings they can pull for us. Her mom is apparently pretty famous around here.
It will be difficult getting used to being humble backpackers again after all this VIP treatment of feasts at five star restaurants and private drivers.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Xian
We found a terrific hostel in Xian, where we've spent two nights. The staff are helpful, there are tons of interesting people, and the place has so much character. There's an internet lounge, a DVD room, a cafe/bar, and several open courtyards. And the architecture and decor is traditional Chinese. Tonight we had a "dumping party"--you make the dumplings with the ingredients provided and you eat them for free! Earlier, we had a full day on a trip arranged by the hostel to a few different sites, like the "Xian Silk Research Center" and more importantly, the terracotta warriors. They were just alright. The whole excavation site is in a huge arena-like complex, so the atmosphere wasn't there like it has been for other sites.
Also in Xian is a rarity: one of China's few Muslim quarters. So we strolled through the bustling market-place and honed our haggling skills, getting some great souvenirs to boot.
We're leaving early tomorrow morning and taking a 14 hour train ride south to a place whose name I can't remember, from which we'll take the boat all the way to Fungje (sp?) to see Pan-Pan's family. I'm really looking forward to it. Well, not the 14 hour train ride, but we have sleepers so it shouldn't be so bad. I will spend the time learning some new Chinese expressions.
This might be my last post for a few days or a week or two or more, since we'll be in more rural areas for a while.
We're having a great adventure so far (can't believe it just started--1 week out of 11!) and we both send our best wishes to everyone at home in placid Canada.
Also in Xian is a rarity: one of China's few Muslim quarters. So we strolled through the bustling market-place and honed our haggling skills, getting some great souvenirs to boot.
We're leaving early tomorrow morning and taking a 14 hour train ride south to a place whose name I can't remember, from which we'll take the boat all the way to Fungje (sp?) to see Pan-Pan's family. I'm really looking forward to it. Well, not the 14 hour train ride, but we have sleepers so it shouldn't be so bad. I will spend the time learning some new Chinese expressions.
This might be my last post for a few days or a week or two or more, since we'll be in more rural areas for a while.
We're having a great adventure so far (can't believe it just started--1 week out of 11!) and we both send our best wishes to everyone at home in placid Canada.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The last four days...
Well, I've walked the Great Wall of China (a small segment of it) and it definitely lives up to all the hype. It's really an amazing experience. The views from the wall are incredible, of the surrounding landscape. The same day we also saw the Ming Tombs, and went to an amusement park called Nine Dragons or some-such. The bus ride there was... interesting. We're still getting used to the driving--Pan-Pan especially. The lanes are more suggested than official, it seems, with rick-shaws pulling everything from rags to babies swerving and veering in front of each other, in front of oncoming buses and trucks and bikes. Like I said in my last post, you definitely have to be sharp to be on the road. If you aren't sharp, you WILL get in an accident.
Beijing is a great city and I'm going to miss it. We spent a lot of our last day with Yan-Yan, Pan-Pan's cousin, and she showed us around the University of Beijing. We even had a meal in the cafeteria--it was really interesting. Yan-Yan was extremely helpful. She came to the train station with us at night, which is an utterly massive, baffling structure, and even went into the train with us to make sure we were settled ok. The crowds waiting for the trains were simply overwhelming. We arrived in Luoyang yesterday morning, at 7:40, after taking an overnight sleeping train from Beijing. The sleepers are comprised of rooms of six bunks each, with three bunks stacked on top of each other on either side. It was a very interesting experience, and worked out really well, because we didn't have to spend the 10 hour train trip awake.
Luoyang isn't the prettiest of cities, but it's still relatively green in some places. Actually, it's arguably just as attractive as Newmarket or a place like this--it's sprawling, with none of the central planning of Beijing (it seems), but there are still the wide boulevards with green space in the middle. And everything is vibrant as usual. The people are only marginally impressed by me, probably because this city is a fairly hot tourist spot (relatively speaking). Still, people stare, and seem to find me (and particularly me walking with Pan-Pan) interesting. We're both getting used to the spitting. People are always horking and spitting--it's just natural. Last night at the restaurant, somebody even spat on the floor right in front of us. Nobody cared or notice, except poor Pan-Pan who lost her appetite.
Luoyang has possibly had my favourite sights. The Longmen Caves, with the giant Buddhas carved into the rock cliff, were spectacular. We went to the first Buddhist temple in China, which is still active, with monks strolling around or tending the lush gardens. And yesterday we went to the Shaolin temple, famous for its martial arts. This was my favourite sight so far. We saw some martial arts performances and legions of youngsters training in giant fields. The martial arts performances were out of this world--I have some great video of it (my camera is working fantastic). And we were driving by some half-pickup truck, half-rickshaw thing to the foot of a small mountain, or hill, and climbed for about an hour (it seemed) to see Bodhidharma's Cave, who was said to have brought buddhism to China from India in 100 AD. He is said to have sat in the cave in meditation for nine years, and then he taught martial arts styles to the monks at the Shaolin temple. It was really significant for me because I have studied Bodhidharma (first patriarch of Zen) and of course knew the story about his cave, so to have seen the cave, to have been inside it and have lit incense at the foot of his bronze statue, with a couple monks strolling around outside, or reading texts, was an incredible experience for me. I never thought I'd see his cave, let alone be inside it, lighting incense.
Pan-Pan and I are having a great time and still loving the food. The dinners are amazing but we both have a soft spot for the cheap (a matter of cents), greasy things you get from little places in the alley ways.
Today (in half an hour) we're taking a five hour train to Xian and beginning the next leg of the journey. The pace of travel is very quick, it seems that as soon as we get familiar with a place we're leaving. But that's ok. I'm excited for Xian but more excited for the boat we'll be taking on the Yang-tse river, and for meeting PP's family in Chengdu. Then we'll be able to relax for a little while, eat some delicious food, do some reading, and do a wash!
Beijing is a great city and I'm going to miss it. We spent a lot of our last day with Yan-Yan, Pan-Pan's cousin, and she showed us around the University of Beijing. We even had a meal in the cafeteria--it was really interesting. Yan-Yan was extremely helpful. She came to the train station with us at night, which is an utterly massive, baffling structure, and even went into the train with us to make sure we were settled ok. The crowds waiting for the trains were simply overwhelming. We arrived in Luoyang yesterday morning, at 7:40, after taking an overnight sleeping train from Beijing. The sleepers are comprised of rooms of six bunks each, with three bunks stacked on top of each other on either side. It was a very interesting experience, and worked out really well, because we didn't have to spend the 10 hour train trip awake.
Luoyang isn't the prettiest of cities, but it's still relatively green in some places. Actually, it's arguably just as attractive as Newmarket or a place like this--it's sprawling, with none of the central planning of Beijing (it seems), but there are still the wide boulevards with green space in the middle. And everything is vibrant as usual. The people are only marginally impressed by me, probably because this city is a fairly hot tourist spot (relatively speaking). Still, people stare, and seem to find me (and particularly me walking with Pan-Pan) interesting. We're both getting used to the spitting. People are always horking and spitting--it's just natural. Last night at the restaurant, somebody even spat on the floor right in front of us. Nobody cared or notice, except poor Pan-Pan who lost her appetite.
Luoyang has possibly had my favourite sights. The Longmen Caves, with the giant Buddhas carved into the rock cliff, were spectacular. We went to the first Buddhist temple in China, which is still active, with monks strolling around or tending the lush gardens. And yesterday we went to the Shaolin temple, famous for its martial arts. This was my favourite sight so far. We saw some martial arts performances and legions of youngsters training in giant fields. The martial arts performances were out of this world--I have some great video of it (my camera is working fantastic). And we were driving by some half-pickup truck, half-rickshaw thing to the foot of a small mountain, or hill, and climbed for about an hour (it seemed) to see Bodhidharma's Cave, who was said to have brought buddhism to China from India in 100 AD. He is said to have sat in the cave in meditation for nine years, and then he taught martial arts styles to the monks at the Shaolin temple. It was really significant for me because I have studied Bodhidharma (first patriarch of Zen) and of course knew the story about his cave, so to have seen the cave, to have been inside it and have lit incense at the foot of his bronze statue, with a couple monks strolling around outside, or reading texts, was an incredible experience for me. I never thought I'd see his cave, let alone be inside it, lighting incense.
Pan-Pan and I are having a great time and still loving the food. The dinners are amazing but we both have a soft spot for the cheap (a matter of cents), greasy things you get from little places in the alley ways.
Today (in half an hour) we're taking a five hour train to Xian and beginning the next leg of the journey. The pace of travel is very quick, it seems that as soon as we get familiar with a place we're leaving. But that's ok. I'm excited for Xian but more excited for the boat we'll be taking on the Yang-tse river, and for meeting PP's family in Chengdu. Then we'll be able to relax for a little while, eat some delicious food, do some reading, and do a wash!
Friday, May 18, 2007
The first three days
The last three days have been a crazy blur. The flight was long but made tolerable by wine and lots of catching up with Pan-Pan. The night we got to Beijing was a culture shock. Our hotel is on a great street that's sort of like Queen's St. West of Beijing (or so it seems to me). The city is a huge bustle, definitely a thriving metropolis. We walked down neon alleyways, past hole-in-the-wall food stands and all sorts of wild looking stores with names that I obviously couldn't read. It's interesting being a minority! I get a lot of looks, and it will be moreso in the countryside.
Yesterday we had a FULL day. Since we're so jet-lagged, we woke up at 5:30, had breakfast in the hotel, and then went to Tien anmen square. It was quite something standing there and looking at that giant Mao poster. Then we went to the Forbidden City. It's spectacular, even though a couple of the main buildings were being renovated. When we were leaving, a man hawked us a cycle rickshaw tour of the old Hutongs. That was really awesome, being cycled through all these really old neighborhoods and courtyards.
He dropped us off Hou Lake, which is North of the Forbidden City. It's a really scenic lake surrounded by cafes and restaurants. Very beautiful. And then we saw tandem bikes for rent and we got one and rode around the lake! It made Pan-Pan very happy. And I also had a lot of fun.
After a seriously deep two hour nap, we met Pan-Pan's cousin for the most delicious dinner ever! She took us to a nice hotel and we experienced the famous Peking Duck. You add onion to it and wrap it in a flour shell and it was delicious. We also had a chicken dish and string beans with pork. Fantastic. Then we went to this supermarket in the lower level of a shopping mall, and it was a really fascinating and strange experience. A lot of products have a superficial resemblance to their Western counterparts, but then, like in a dream, when you look at the text, you can't make sense of the script at all. So it's very dream-like, and indeed I felt like I was in some sort of surreal dream.
All in all it was a great day.
Today, the 19th, we went to the Temple of Heaven on the city bus. We had some more great food. Huge feasts for a couple of bucks--it's so amazingly cheap and delicious.
We're still really jet-lagged and tired so we probably will take it easy tonight, but we might see an acrobatic show. Tomorrow we're going to the Great Wall and we're leaving Beijing on Monday night, taking an overnight train.
Beijing is a really beautiful, verdant city. Amazingly clean, overall. The huge amount of pedestrian traffic (and bikes!) can be overwhelming until you get used to how things work. There are no needless rules protecting the weak--you learn to see opportunities and make your move--you need to be sharp. This goes for traffic as well as many other things, it seems. The people are very nice, always eager to make me feel good and generous and forgiving about my attempts at Chinese. They are very interesting though. I will write more when I have more time.
Yesterday we had a FULL day. Since we're so jet-lagged, we woke up at 5:30, had breakfast in the hotel, and then went to Tien anmen square. It was quite something standing there and looking at that giant Mao poster. Then we went to the Forbidden City. It's spectacular, even though a couple of the main buildings were being renovated. When we were leaving, a man hawked us a cycle rickshaw tour of the old Hutongs. That was really awesome, being cycled through all these really old neighborhoods and courtyards.
He dropped us off Hou Lake, which is North of the Forbidden City. It's a really scenic lake surrounded by cafes and restaurants. Very beautiful. And then we saw tandem bikes for rent and we got one and rode around the lake! It made Pan-Pan very happy. And I also had a lot of fun.
After a seriously deep two hour nap, we met Pan-Pan's cousin for the most delicious dinner ever! She took us to a nice hotel and we experienced the famous Peking Duck. You add onion to it and wrap it in a flour shell and it was delicious. We also had a chicken dish and string beans with pork. Fantastic. Then we went to this supermarket in the lower level of a shopping mall, and it was a really fascinating and strange experience. A lot of products have a superficial resemblance to their Western counterparts, but then, like in a dream, when you look at the text, you can't make sense of the script at all. So it's very dream-like, and indeed I felt like I was in some sort of surreal dream.
All in all it was a great day.
Today, the 19th, we went to the Temple of Heaven on the city bus. We had some more great food. Huge feasts for a couple of bucks--it's so amazingly cheap and delicious.
We're still really jet-lagged and tired so we probably will take it easy tonight, but we might see an acrobatic show. Tomorrow we're going to the Great Wall and we're leaving Beijing on Monday night, taking an overnight train.
Beijing is a really beautiful, verdant city. Amazingly clean, overall. The huge amount of pedestrian traffic (and bikes!) can be overwhelming until you get used to how things work. There are no needless rules protecting the weak--you learn to see opportunities and make your move--you need to be sharp. This goes for traffic as well as many other things, it seems. The people are very nice, always eager to make me feel good and generous and forgiving about my attempts at Chinese. They are very interesting though. I will write more when I have more time.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
May 16th, 2007--The Occident Begins
My 70 litre travelpack is full, I've learned how to work my camera, and my passport has been surgically attached to my spleen for safety--it's time to traaaavel!
I'm off to the airport in half an hour, and eighteen hours later I will be on the other side of the world. Crazy!
I'm off to the airport in half an hour, and eighteen hours later I will be on the other side of the world. Crazy!
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