2007-02-18T18:36:00.000-05:00

Chengyang, Guizhou Province, China

Monday, November 21, 2005

where we slept... and such things... while in china

BEIJING
Red Lantern House Hostel
Address : No.5 Zhengjue Hutong, Xinjie Kou,Xicheng District,China.
Phone Number : +86 13901125417/13801358094
Fax Number : +86 10 66169477, 66115771
Email Address : Lindyguo@hotmail.com

$23.oo a night for a double, not ensuite

The Red Lantern House was great. The rooms themselves weren't anything special, but the atmosphere and location more than compensated. Very helpful and sweet staff, a whole lot of interesting people staying there, nice indoor courtyard to hang out in. Located in one of the best preserved hutong districts --- just wandering around the neighbourhood was a perfect way to pass the day. Next door was a fun hotpot restaurant (25 yuan for all you could eat and all the beer you could drink) and down the way towards the main road, the kebab place on your left was one of the best meals I had in China. Oh, and there are great breakfast sandwiches to be found out on that main road, as well as handy buses to Tiananmen and the Summer Palace! And the road itself was a nice, busy, but not overwhelming shopping street. Took the hostel's Great Wall tour to Mutianyu... very nice, safe driver, not the most adventurous way to do it, but it suited us.

(Photo: Outside the Red Lantern House.)

(Photo: The indoor courtyard at the Red Lantern House.)

PINGYAO
De Ju Yuan Folk-Style Guesthouse
www.pydjy.net
Email: dejuyuan@yahoo.com.cn or dejuyuan@pydjy.com

188 yuan for atmospheric room en suite. Free train station pick-up and drop-off.

Pingyao --- despite the intense pollution --- might have been my favourite place in China. I would really love to go back to this historic small city, and explore further. Our guesthouse was lovely: in one of Pingyao's famous courtyard houses, great restaurant, old fashioned room with a big "kang" bed, and a wonderful, wonderful warm and helpful owner/manager. (She even handed us each a bottle of water when we left to catch our overnight train! Really knew how to care for guests. Made up for her slightly surly teenage staff.)

(Photo: Courtyard of the De Je Yuan Guesthouse)

That said, if I ever return, I will probably contact our guide, Mr. Liu, and see if he can book me into one of the many new courtyard hotels that are springing up everywhere. He showed us one that had just opened... off of the main tourist track, but even more authentic that De Ju Yuan... and I'm sure it was cheaper!

(Photo: Mr. Liu at the elementary school.)

Mr. Liu had come recommended and I'm glad we used his services. He is not a trained guide, and is a self-taught English speaker... but he knows what many foreign tourists want to see: something different. So he gives you a bit of a backstreet tour mixed in with the regular sites (a school, a small one family knitting factory/residence, etc), and gives you some insight into life in Pingyao's old city for ordinary citizens. We spent several hours with him on Saturday, and then on Sunday met him and his sister and lovely elderly mother at Mass --- they are Catholic, and there is a small church in Pingyao that was rebuilt in 1997. He also finagled us a discount on our entry tickets for the city (student price of 60 rather than 120) and gave us advice on how much to pay for things like bike rentals. We paid him 120 yuan for about a four hour tour. That's what he asked for to start with, so I'm sure we could have bargained us down. But since he had just saved us 120 yuan on our tickets, and has such a sweet face, we didn't feel like penny-pinching. Since that was the only guide we used in China, I have no idea what the price should have been. He wanted to take us to see an estate about 3 hours away the next day, but we chose to stay in town. This is a different one than the "Raise the Red Lantern" one, and I really wish we could have gone.

Mr. Liu can often be found trying to drum up clients in the main tourist streets of Pingyao. You can also ask around for him --- everyone seems to know him! Or contact him ahead of time at:

Liu Wei Zhang
138 Cheng Huang
Miao Street
Pingyao, Shanxi, China
Tel: 0354-5685116

While in Pingyao, I highly recommend renting bicycles and visiting Shuanglin Temple. The most impressive historical site I saw in China --- at least for me.

Oh, and a note about booking onward train tickets in Pingyao. Many travellers continue from Pingyao on to Xi'an. There are no sleeper tickets available from Pingyao to Xi'an --- you have to buy a ticket from Taiyuan (the big city nearby) to Xi'an. The easiest way to do this is to let your guesthouse charge you 30 - 50 yuan to book it for you. (We were charged 50 for soft sleeper.) They will let the conductor know you are boarding at Pingyao. You will get a fax of your ticket --- the conductor will have the actual ticket in her book when you board the train.

XI'AN
Bell Tower Hostel
Email: yha.xian.china@gmail.com

180 yuan (non-member price) for double room en suite

The Bell Tower Hostel has an unusual arrangement. It occupies 2 floors of a regular old Chinese businessman's hotel. Within its space --- the internet cafe hums, techno pounds, dumpling parties are held, and beers are drunk while gazing at its incredible view of the Bell Tower. If you reserve a double room, you don't have to worry about the techno pounding: your room is in the regular hotel, but you do all your business with the youth hostel. Best of both worlds, really --- especially if the vibe at the hostel proper made you feel definately 30-something.

(Photo: Bell Tower Hostel hotel room)

The location could not be beat. Right in the heart of things. The room was an adequate, standard hotel room: hot water, kettle and tea provided, TV, etc. And it had a view of the Bell Tower if you craned your neck a bit --- and a beautiful view of the best billboard ever, which stated: "You can't along with eagle to fly, when you are as high as turkey together."

(Photo: Words to live by.)

YANGSHUO
Yangshuo Outside Inn
Website: www.yangshuo-outside.com

90 yuan double room en suite (if you stay more than one night)

(Photo: Room at the Outside Inn)

The Yangshuo Outside Inn was fantastic. Run by a Dutch man, it is in a village away from the bars and tourists of Yangshuo, in a little compound of converted farmhouses. Lovely room --- decorated with an artistic touch --- and a chicken coop right outside our window. (I'm sure they will all have been vaccinated soon...) A great place to chill out, talk walks, ride bikes, play pool...

(Photo: Our building at the Outside Inn.)

DA ZHAI, Guangxi
Terrace Inn
Tel: 0773-7585686 Mobile: 13114731346

20 yuan each, double room with shared bath
(Ticket for entry into Longti Rice Terrace area: 50 yuan)

(Photo: It was very, very cold our first night in Da Zhai. We slept with our hats and fleeces on!)

When we got off the bus in Longsheng, we were met by a quietly agressive young woman. She tried to tell us about her hotel, but I figured she wanted us to go to Pingan (where more tourists go) and we were headed for Da Zhai. So we brushed her off and went to try to get tickets for Da Zhai. But she followed us and eventually got our attention for long enough to let us know her hotel was in Da Zhai and if we would just follow her she would get us on the minibus there.

Her brother was also on the minibus, so he escorted us all the way to the guesthouse --- and that was a good thing since it was about a 35 minute hike uphill from the start of the main town and he very nicely carried some of our bags.

There are many guesthouses in Da Zhai now. Ours was nice enough --- run by the woman at the bus station and her younger sister (a very hip Yao chick, with her hair dyed red but still wearing the traditional Yao hot pink jacket.) They were very eager and sweet, but not very good cooks and a bit new at the whole guesthouse thing. But we did have a great view from our window, and a clean shared bathroom and shower (with lots of hot water). Their guesthouse is in Tian Tou Village, as opposed to Da village (Zhai means village) proper. I'd recommend staying further up the hill, away from Da Zhai, since it means better views and a better starting point for your walks. If I went back, I'd hike all the way to the top of Viewpoint One, where the spectacular Panorama Guesthouse is. Same price as ours, I believe... but more professional and an incredible view.

Da Zhai was an interesting experience in terms of "Wow, look at what tourism does." Guesthouses are going up everywhere, things are changing quickly, and not everyone in the villages seem pleased about it. Well, people seem pleased about making money. But there was also an understandable "Stop staring at our pink outfits and fancy hairstyles!" feeling at times. There was a lot of incredibly aggressive selling of embroidery and jewlery --- like, while we were in our guesthouse sitting at the table eating! I don't know how the Chinese tourists (who make up the vast majority of the tourists) feel about that, but it didn't go down well with us. But the scenary up there is incredible, and we did have some good exchanges with people.

CHENGYANG, Guangxi
Chengyang Drum-tower National Hotel
EMail: yang_705@hotmail.com
Tel: 0772-8582561 Mobile: 013807825705

40 yuan, shared bath
(30 yuan entry fee to Chengyang)

Yang is the proprietor of the Drum-tower National Hotel and he gets 2 thumbs up. We met him on the bus from Longsheng to Sanjiang, when he explained what was going on when the bus got a flat tire --- he speaks pretty fluent English. Even though we first spoke at the beginning of quite a long bus ride, he didn't identify himself as a guesthouse owner until we asked him what he did in Chengyang! When we got off the bus, we went with him in a share taxi to Chengyang, where he suggested: "If you like, you can look at my guesthouse. If you don't like it, you don't have to stay there. Don't worry." And I think he actually meant it! (He also seemed highly embarassed that we had to pay an entry fee to get into his village!)

Well, except for bathrooms in need of repair (they worked, but were a little wonky), there was nothing not to like. The location is stupendous: our room had a balcony looking right out at the famous wind and rain bridge, and downstairs there was a terrace with the same view, shielded by a grove of bamboo. The food was quite nice and his sister and mother were very friendly. He was a wealth of info about the Dong people, and even drew us a map of the surrounding area and made some calls to find out when and where the market days that week were.

Chengyang in general I found to be a bit of a mixed bag. The big bridge was beautiful, and the countryside lovely, but there was some sort of slightly wierd vibe in the air. Though there was that old man in one of the covered bridges who was overcome with joy at the sight of American tourists... but otherwise, there was a certain amount of an odd aura about the place. Which perhaps had nothing to do with tourism and just was the place itself...

ZHAOXING, Guizhou
Lulu's Homestay
Email: luxinfeng@china.com.cn
Website: www.zhaoxing-cn.com (in Chinese)
Tel: 0855-6130112
Mobile: 13885531585

50 yuan for a double, shared bath

We encountered other hotels before locating Lulu's, but we were glad we stuck it out. It had been recommended on the web, and it was a good recommendation. As at other places, location was key. There are other hostels in Zhaoxing (and as tourism booms, more will open --- there's a big fancy new one where the doubles are something like 180) but most of those are on the main road. Lulu's is off down a side street, in a real neighbourhood. It is run by a man named Lu Xin --- therefore nicknamed Lulu --- and his family. He doesn't speak English, but he is a really, really nice guy. Great food, clean rooms. You can sit outside in the evening on a bench, drinking a beer and looking at the neighbours going about their evening business, and if you are lucky like we were, there will be a tour group staying that has hired the neighbourhood folk music troupe to give a performance at the local drum tower. Dong folk music is incredibly beautiful and complex, and the performance we saw one evening was fantastic. Unlike some groups that are trotted out for the tourists (we also saw one in Chengyang for a group of Chinese tourists), this group was very good, very devoted to their art, and very pleased to be performing for their guests. The neighbourhood also came out and watched. It was great. Lulu's daughter or niece who works at the guesthouse (and who speaks some English) is a member, and a VCD of the group is available at Lulu's.

Zhaoxing was my other favourite place in China. I could have stayed there for a few more days and just gotten to know it better. Though there were plenty of pestering old ladies selling you stuff, they did it with a smile, and in general people were so very nice. Stop into the great antique store at the main intersection; the owner doesn't speak a lot of English but he knows a lot about local textiles and art (www.caaw.com.cn). The week we were there an airport opened in nearby Liping. There are now direct flights from Guiyang. Though everyone was excited, this will surely bring a lot more tourism and change the character of Zhaoxing (as it had already changed in the past few years).

BASHA, Guizhou
Nameless guesthouse in a building on the main road with a sign out front saying "National Gun Owners Association" or something like that

20 yuan each a night. He started at 30 and we could have gotten him lower than 20, but we just didn't bother. Down the main road towards Congjiang there is another guesthouse where the rooms were 10 a night, but were a little more basic.

(Photo: The dining room at our Basha guesthouse: no gun owners in sight.)

Our guesthouse in Basha was quite odd, but very likeable. It was run by a very sweet and smiling young Miao couple, who --- as in Da Zhai --- seemed a little new to this hotelier thing. In fact, I was never quite sure if it was actually a proper guesthouse, given the sign out front. We found it cause our taxi driver from Congjiang took us there.

The room was fine, and had a bathroom that was a bit dirty and had no running water. But young Mr. Smiles very happily brought us buckets of water --- both hot and cold. The room did have a big TV, which was a bit funny --- obviously, we don't have the same priority as the gun owners. There was also a big balcony running along the outside of the second floor, and I found it a lot nicer to sit there in the evening, rather than watch TV.

For our first meal, we went down to the kitchen and pointed at some vegetables and Mr. Smile's wife cooked us up some very yummy food. It was served to us in a cavernous room, on a little Miao/Dong style table. For dinner, they didn't bother asking us, but instead went ahead and cooked us two dishes, and then called us and told us our dinner was ready. Also pretty yummy, with vegetables we couldn't identify. No menu, no prices quoted ahead of time. My friend paid the bill so I don't remember how much it was, but they definately didn't undercharge! But like with so many people we encountered --- they were so nice and the product was so good, I wasn't about to say "Isn't 10 yuan a bit steep for that dish?" Especially since it would have taken a lot of effort and the phrasebook.

Basha is also going to be affected by the airport. The town already feels a bit like a petting zoo set up to view the Miao... paved walkways leading through the village, signs pointing things out. A little disconcerting. Zhaoxing did not have this feeling at all --- the village is almost 100% Dong and the Dong seemed to be in charge of the tourism. But in Basha it felt like a faceless tourism development corporation had come in and set things up so it would be easy to see the odd minority people in their picturesque costumes...

GUILIN, Guangxi
Lianfa Business Hotel
Across from the train station, in the same building as the CITS office

100 yuan for a double with all mod-cons, including a nice big bathtub

When we got to Guilin after an 11 hour series of bus rides, we went to the Guilin Flowers Youth Hostel that someone had given us a card for. It is down a dark alleyway and a double room with bath was 120. We asked to take a look. It was small, with bare, stained walls, smelled like mildew and the bathroom --- well, it was so tiny you would have to keep your toiletries outside! Having passed about 1,000 hotels just on the short trip from the bus station, I decided to take a look around. Down on the corner, I found the LianfaHotel. Rack rate for a double was 480, but first we were quoted 160 and then it magically went down to 100 without us even asking. The room was not brand new, but it was clean and comfortable, with lots of hot water, a TV, electric kettle and tea, etc. Our next-to-the-last hotel in China and I finally found out that what an experienced traveller had told me was true: if you are willing to forego the English menu and the Internet access that hostels provide, you can find rooms in Chinese business hotels for the same price or less... and get more for your money.

SHANGHAI
Shanghai Conservatory of Music Guesthouse
Tel: 021-64372577

300 yuan for a beautiful double en suite

Ellyse, a regular on the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree and a student at the Conservatory of Music, made reservations for us the Conservatory Guesthouse. It was wonderful --- a beautiful old-fashioned room, evocative of the "good old days" (if you weren't Chinese) before World War II. On the grounds of the Conservtory, quiet except for sounds of students practicing, very sweet staff, great location in the French Concession area. There used to be more rooms available in a another building, but the building was torn down, so now there are only 3 of the more expensive rooms (which was worth every penny and not all that expensive for Shanghai).

the label on a bottle of shampoo i bought in china

yuqian: 21 century individual tend catena
anion cleanlily remove bits shampooing

MUCH MORE REMOVE BITS TECHNOLOGY

Bran-new Yuquian anion cleanlily remove bits shampoo contain minus hydronium cutin squama ted film, ability ameliorate hair, use coarse outspread of cutin floor become slick, level off terra arrange be hair order hair upright nature, chips elasticity.
Savageness corn mint distillate, available esy scalp cell strain estate, cleanlily cool.
Often use order hair energy flow, brighess wingess.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

shanghai/japan/philly: i ate so much sushi

Well, I am home. Jet-lag is receding and I am slowly being overcome
with a desire for a cheesesteak. (Well, no, not really.) The journey
back was quite pleasant, especially on the Japan-Dallas leg, since I
was kept company by my dear friend Rich Hutchman, courtesy of my
seatback TV that was showing "The Island", in which he had a role. (Of
course, I didn't remember that he was in it, and was drifting off to
sleep when I heard his voice talking to Ewan MacGregor.)

The last 10 days of the trip were really, really hectic, as I
re-entered with full-force the urban "developed" world.

We flew to Shanghai from Guilin last Tuesday. In Shanghai, we stayed
in the beautiful, upmarket French Concession area --- a place filled
with curving streets, beautiful trees, bars, boutiques and great Thai
restaurants. Shanghai in general felt at times like New York (the
neon, the buzz), at times like London (the big stone buildings built
by the British, the Bund --- an Hindi-derived word), at times like
Rome (slightly decaying earth-toned old apartment buildings, little
shops selling beautiful goods) and quite a lot like a huge Chinatown
(lots of Chinese people, but lots of non-Chinese people as well; lots
of Chinese things, but lots of non-Chinese things as well; lots of
Chinese spoken, but you could get around all right with English).

Our guesthouse was on the grounds of the Shanghai Conservatory of
Music... lovely and quiet (except for the sound of practicing...
usually classical, but one night it was "Careless Whispers" on sax)...
a beautiful old building that was once the Jewish Music Club of
Shanghai. Our room was huge, filled with old furniture, very
atmospheric and redolent of old pre-WWII, pre-Revolution European
Shanghai. Even had a balcony, but it was rainy and grey most of the
time, so we didn't use it much.

Instead, we did quite a bit of shopping (including quite a few pirated
DVDs... sshhhh... don't tell... but I now have all of "The Office"...
only $5...) --- Shanghai sometimes seemed like one big neon shopping
mall after another. And walked along the Bund and did a boat tour
along the river. And got a massage at a spa. And went out for Thai
food. And ate a lot of these great lamb and nan sandwiches... I think
the Uigher (Western China, Muslim) food was my favourite while in
China.

Our last day, we went to the area of Shanghai that was the Jewish
ghetto during World War II. Not too much to see, but what was there
was very evocative. I won't go into the whole historical thing here...
take a look at sites such as
http://www.gluckman.com/ShanghaiJewsChina.html. Then, a final Chinese
dinner... and then I had to figure out how to get all the stuff I
bought packed!

The next morning, Charlie and I said goodbye, and I flew to Kansai
airport outside of Osaka, where I visited my friend Yoshiko (known in
India by her last name, Wada). We met in Bhopal in 2002, when we were
both working with Habib Tanvir and the Naya Theatre. Now Wada is
working on the staff of a theatre called Taihen --- a Butoh-influenced
theatre whose company members are physically challenged.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any of their work, but I did see a
modern dance piece on Saturday night at Osaka's premiere (and only)
black box modern dance venue, Dance Box --- interesting, but I was
very tired and it was very dark, slow and silent, so I kept drifting
off. But the next day I attended a matinee at the National Bunraku
Theatre --- incredible. Absolutely incredible. I was really lucky to
get to see this --- performances usually only happen during November.
(Bunraku is classical Japanese puppetry, where large life-like puppets
are manipulated by three puppeteers in view of the audience as a
chanter on the side of the stage tells the story.)

After the Bunraku, I headed up to Kyoto --- about a half an hour from
Osaka --- and spent the rest of the day and the evening there. The
next day I went up to Kyoto as well, and then on Tuesday I went to
Nara, a smaller city with a beautiful park filled with temples,
shrines, and tame deer. On Wedesday, I stayed in Osaka and I went to a
small museum of antique woodblock prints of Kabuki performances, which
were astounding in their intricacy and vibrancy, and did some shopping
in some of Osaka's many shoppping arcades and departments stores...
and then out to the airport to catch my flight home.

Japan was amazing, but sort of a blur, since I packed so much into
less than 4 days. I would love to go back one day. It was both
intensely foreign and just like any other cosmopolitan city in the
"developed" world --- only better. Like a cosmopolitan city of the
future, in some ways.

Highlights included:

The vending machines. Yes, there are vending machines everywhere,
mostly selling drinks --- both hot and cold. Pocari Sweat energy drink
became one of my faves.

The trains. So clean, so sparkling, so on time and so orderly. (People
line up single file to get on.) I took the "bullet train" from Kyoto
back to Osaka one night (my mistake, actually)... it was quite
amazing. And very fast! 10 minutes unstead of a half an hour!

The plastic food in restaurant windows, making ordering a breeze.

The shopping. Everything you've heard is true: there are lots of cute
things to buy in Japan. And they wrap up your purchases so nicely.

The old lady I would see riding her bicycle through Wada's
neighbourhood, with one pug dog held under her arm, and another one in
a special door carrier fixed onto the back.

Mom and daughter hipster I saw the first day: young Mom with 6 inch
platform boots, died red hair, mini skirt and fishnet stockings. 8
yeard old daughter wearing a matching outfit, sans platforms. And, in
general, the incredible things people were wearing....

And on a less frivolous note:

Kyoto at night. The first night --- wandering around the Gion
district, with its contrast between dimly lit backstreets filled with
old restaurants and bars and brightly lit main streets filled with...
new restaurants and bars. The second night, when all the temples
stayed open late and were speciallly illuminated for the fall
colours.Brilliant red Japanese maples reflected perfectly in the still
water of a garden pond. Truly magical.

(Photo: With 2 geisha and a Chinese tourist at Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto)

(Photo: Eating yakitori with Wada and friends in Toyonaka, Osaka)

Monday, November 07, 2005

zhaoxing/basha/guilin: different types of buses

In the past three days, we've really experienced... well, a certain
breadth of China.

On Saturday morning, we left Zhaoxing (which we adored) to make our
way to the Miao (Hmong) village of Basha.

To get to Basha, we had to get a bus from Luoxing (sp?) to Congjiang
and then a taxi or bus to Basha. But to get to Luoxing, we had to take
a motorcycle/truck taxi from Zhaoxing.... a motorcycle with a little
open cab on the back, where we bumped and bumped over the bumpy 7 kms.
But the bus was waiting for us in Luoxing and it was a pretty easy
ride to Congjiang... and a pretty easy taxi ride on to Basha.

Basha was an odd place. The Miao people there are more traditional
than the Dong and Yao people we had previously seen --- men and
children (rather than just girls and women) wear the traditional
dress. The men and boys still wear long topsknots and tend to carry
knives and guns around on a regular basis.

But Basha has already been organized for tourism (and with a new
airport opening relatively nearby this past weekend, the Chinese
tourists will son be arriving in droves). Little paved walkways lead
you around the villages that make up Basha, and signs are posted
pointing out 'Grandmother Rock' and 'Wield the Knife Viewpoint'. There
are swings in scenic wooded areas for young lovers up from the city to
cuddle on... park benches to rest on... and then in the middle of it,
people going about their still pretty traditional lives.

We stayed at a basic guesthouse (TV but no running water) which had a
sign outside saying 'National Gun Groups'. No idea why. Lovely couple
running the place. We spent the rest of the day wandering around on the
stone walkways, feeling a little bit as if we were watching the native
people in zoo. However, when we got off the paths and actually went
and had exchanges with people... it was much better. I seemed to be
especially puzzling to the women (we kept encountering groups sitting
around doing amazing, very tiny and intricate embroidery)... we think
it was the freckles. At one point, an older woman who was sitting
alone, wearing reading glasses to do her needlepoint by, invited us to
sit down next to her. We did, and when I pulled out my sunglasses
(finally, we had a really sunny day), she wanted to try them on. A
younger woman joined us, and we all exchanged glasses (Charlie's were
added into the mix). Then I pulled out photos I had brought from
home... they were very, very intrigued and the woman particularly
liked the one of my friends walking down my street on New Year's Day.
They both were really into the parked cars... not sure why, since there
are cars passing along the main road. But she started making airplane
noises and seemd to be saying 'You came here on a plane! Take me back
with you so I can have a car!'

But perhaps she was saying nothing of the sort. She did, however, ask
is she could keep the photo and I said yes. So now there is a photo of
Janet, Mary, Rick, Jay, Lauren, Brie, Dan and Marilyn in her little
wood house. After we said goodbye, I looked back and she had propped
it up next to her, already on display.

(Photo: Miao woman embroidering in Basha)

A few meters up the hill, we sat down on a park bench, and were joined
by 4 darling little girls who took great interest in communicating
with us using our phrasebook. We sang 'This Land is Your Land' for
them, they also tried on our glasses, and I dabbed them each with a
little Clinque Happy perfume. Then it was back to the odd main road,
where there was a strong 'Native people on display' vibe. Though the
native people seemed fine off the main path, the ones on the road
seemed a bit over it all. But our lovely Gun Group couple cooked us a
yummy dinner of vegetables we couldn't identify and off to bed we
went. (After I sat out for a while, looking at people coming and going
in the dusk and then the darkness...)

(Photo: Miao girls reading our phrasebook)

So, the next morning it was raining. We had planned to leave around
noon, spend the night in Sanjiang and then press on to Guilin, but
that all changed when we met Truman and Lesley. Well, their real
English names were Ken and Paul, but before they asked if they could
take our picture we had already dubbed them Truman and Lesley. Truman
was sweet and slight, with a fashionable hair style and a gentle way
about him. Lesley also had a gentle way, but he was older, with
glasses and a very computer-programmer outfit on (complete with pen
in the pocket of his short-sleeved, tucked-in button-down shirt). They
told us that there was a market in Conjiang today, so we hopped in a
taxi with them and off we went. They helped us out tremendously and
were so very sweet --- draftsman from Hong Kong, Lesley quite the
traveller and very interested in the Miao, Truman move interested in
having his photo taken in front of everything.

The market was rainy, but interesting, and we got to see lots of
different Miao outfits... and interesting food for sale. (Including
dog. Yes, I saw the carcass of a skinned dog. I have a strong stomach,
but that kinda got to me.)

Then we decided to press on for Guilin that day, which was the same
plan Truman and Lesley had. And so began an 11 hour series of bus
journeys that took us from one extreme to the other.

The first bus was a dusty local bus doing the 4 hour or so trip to
Sanjiang. It got more and more crowded, as it skimmed and bumped down
out of the mountains to the river, and then along it. People were
going to one market, coming from another... first some chickens, then
some chicks, then they got off and a whole bunch of ducks got on. Then
more chicken... then more chicks... etc... We were covered in dust and
then covered some more, and as we stopped in places or drove slowly
through towns, people looked up in amazement to see me and Charlie
peering out tof the window. Bumping and bumping... we were lucky that
we didn't have too many stops for bulldozers and road work.

We got to Sanjiang... and walked from the local bus station across the
bridge to the long distance bus station... and thank god for Lesley,
'cause the buses to Guilin had finished for the day, but he was able to
maneuveur us through getting on a bus to Luzhou instead and then
changing onto a bus for Guilin.

So the bus to Luzhou was a definate step up from the pervious one. A
videobus, it broadcast very loud Hong Kong movies ---- a screwball
romance, followed by an action adventure, followed by a evil Japanese
World War II movie (very popular genre), followed by a sexy movie where a
kidnapped woman had to give the underwold boss a bubble bath at
gunpoint. At one point on the bus, a large jug of soy sauce overturned
and flooded the part in front of us and the conductors actually wiped
it up and then sprayed Lysol! The scenary was beautiful... moving down
out of the regular mountains and then back into the karst mountain
scenary we had seen in Yangshuo. Also interesting to pass through
small towns at night... and see how we really were out of the world of
villages of wood houses.

We reached Luzhou around 8 and got right on to super deluxe Guilin
bus. The ticket for the 2 hour ride on the highway cost more than the
two previous rides put together. We had assigned seats.
Airconditioning. The video was of a higher calibar of entertainment.
We were each given a bottle drinking water. And when we pulled on to
the super-smooth hghway, past big billboards talking about the 'New
China' and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the conducter made an
announcement and then circulated through the bus checking on us. Lesley
turned and said with a sweet ironic smile, 'She is saying fasten your
seatbelts, we are on the highway now.'

In Guilin, we checked into a 3 star hotel and showered all the dirt
off of us. We watched some TV, and then spent today shopping on
Guilin's pedestrian shopping district. The little lady I gave the
photo to feels very far away and Shanghai --- where we go tommorrow
--- feels very close.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

da zhai/chengyang/zhaoxing: chickens on the bus. no protective garb being worn.

Well, we arrived in Zhaoxing last night, after a seven hour bus ride
that really shouldn't have taken seven hours. But there were multiple
stops because of contruction. (At one point, we had to wait while a
bulldozer finished pounding down the rocks on the road). And a small
accident. (Our bus sideswiped a tractor and scratches occured. We sat
there waiting while the drivers talked ad infinitum, and we couldn't
figure out why we were waiting... we are up in the mountains, in the
middle of nowehere, no one is hurt, the vehicle aren't exactly in mint
condition to begin with... are they exchanging insurance information?
Waiting for the police? And yes, after a while, a man on a motorcycle
with an official looking hat appeared, wrote out a ticket and our
driver paid a fine. I guess the farmer with the tractor used his cell
phone to call the local station.)

There were also two occurances of live chickens on the bus with us.

But now we are here... and there is internet! And restaurants! And a
whole little lovely Dong tribal village waiting for more backpackers
to arrive. We have a lovely room in a friendly guesthouse (smells like
cedar... all the houses here are wood...) and though it is overcast,
it is wonderful.

(Photo: My two new best friends, in a village outside of Zhaoxing)

After leaving Yangshuo, we caught a long (but smooth and easy) series
of buses to get us to Da Zhai village, up in the mountains in Guangxi,
in an area called Longti --- amazing rice terraces, built about 700
years ago. They are truly astounding. We had arrived just after the
harvest, so they weren't as dramatic as is possible, but they were
still... both beautiful and rather funny... like giant felt layer
cakes... like walking on the back of the Snuffleupagus. The village
people are of the Yao tribe, and many of the women still wear
traditional dress... hot pink embroidered jackets, long hair wound
around their heads, in a bun above their foreheads, then wrapped in a
piece of fabric. And short pleated skirts with leggings.

They are also rapacious and agressive saleswomen and would stand next
to us while we were eating in our guesthoues trying to sell us
handicrafts.

Every other building in the village is a new guesthouse, waiting for
an onslaught of tourists who have yet to arrive. I'm glad I got there
when I did, since things will change once the tour buses start pulling
up, as they apparently have in Ping'an, the village closer to the main
town.

After a day walking on the giant Muppet, we moved on for another long,
long bus ride. Lots of road work. And a flat tire that delayed us for
an hour, since the bus' jack wasn't working and the conductor had to
hop a bus back to town to get another one. But finally we arrived in
Chengyang, a lovely grouping of Dong villages, full of covered bridges
and drum towers (the traditional village center of the Dong people)
and rice fields (these ones being harvested as we walked...). We
stayed at a very nice guesthouse with great balconies overlooking the
large "Wind and Rain Bridge" that Chengyang is famous for. Another day
spent walking around the fields and villages.... and then we embarked
on that 7 hour bus ride.

Sky might be clearing... we'll take a walk around the village... maybe
a walk into the fields... tomorrow there is a market in a nearby
village, so we plan on going to that. Then on to another village,
where Miao (Hmong) people live. Then back to the big city of Guilin,
where we'll catch a plan to the biggest city of them all... Shanghai.

But right now, Shanghai feels very, very far away.

Friday, October 28, 2005

xi'an/yangshuo: eating pizza in yangshuo

Well, we are down in the southern province of Guangxi now, in the
backpackers' mecca of Yangshuo. Just had a pizza and shopped for
souvenirs. Then we want to get away from all the bars and t-shirt
stores and go bike riding along the river, taking in the amazing
scenary. Yangshuo is surrounded by karst mountains.... giant limestone
rocks shooting up from the flat farmland.

We're staying outside of Yangshuo in a beautiful place run by a Dutch
man ---- the Yangshuo Outside Inn. So quiet
and peaceful... in a little village.. lovely room... lovely garden to
eat in and a hammock to lie in and look up at the karsts... So much
better than staying in Yangshuo. I couldn't deal with techno 10 years
ago and I certainly can't now.

Tomorrow we set off for 10 days village hopping in the minority areas
north of here, up in the mountains a bit. Might not have email.... but
then again, I'm probably thinking things are more isolated than they
are.

This part of China is definately different than where we were up
North. Ihe people look different --- much more Vietnamese... it is
warmer, less pollution, more rice paddies... a whole other part of the
country.

Had a wonderful time in Xi'an. The terracotta warriors are truly an
impressive sight, and we finished off a very fun sight-seeing day with
a delicious dumpling dinner in the company of some very interesting
fellow tourists we had met in Pingyao. Always nice how you meet
interesting people when you travel.

(Photo: The Bell Tower in Xi'an, viewed from our hostel)

The day before our terracotta warrior day, we wandered the Muslim
Quarter. Once you got past the touristy stuff, it was especially nice.
The mosque is incredible... looks like a Chinese temple... but isn't.
Couldn't go in the prayer hall, but could look in. (The prayer hall
did look like a prayer hall.) Was there during the 4:00 call to
prayer... very peaceful and beautiful, with the prayers being said and
men in white caps filtering in and out of the mosque.

Then went and wandered around the backstreets. Wonderful things being
cooked everywhere... including some yummy looking nan bread, fresh out
of the oven for dinner. I stopped at one stall, where a woman was just
completing her purchase. Wished her "salamm aleikum", and told the
shopkeeper I just wanted to buy one piece of bread. The woman who had
just bought her bread gave some of her change to the shopkeeper and
insisted on buying the bread for me! So very nice. And very delicious!

Then saw a man making noodles in a little open-front restaurant. He
had a lovely face and let me take his picture. Then I realized that
the stereo in the restaurnat was playing Bollywood music! I went
inside, where two men and a woman were hanging out. The men had
wonderful faces as well --- the not-quite-Chinese faces of many of the
Muslims in the area. They were delighted that I recognized the
Bollywood... I did a little dance with my hands and one of the men got
up and danced a bit and everyone broke into laughter.

Later that night, while wandering around with my friend Brie's
delightful brother Gabe, we passed by the restaurant again. The
noodlemaker was playing a stringed instrument -- I think it was Uigher
--- and the woman was singing while one of the men from before played
a drum. It was wonderful.... and then the woman insisted that I get up
and dance. So, I did. Very funny... at least I didn't draw too much of
a crowd... and I did some funny folk dance-y thing, waving my hands
about.

Then we went and ate kebabs....

Now, off to ride bikes!

Monday, October 24, 2005

pingyao: the people we meet

(Photo: Mr. Liu's mother, after Sunday Mass)

We arrived in Xi'an this morning at 6:30 am, on an overnight train from Pingyao. Pingyao was wonderful... a historic small city... whose Ming era city walls and buildings were somehow saved from the wrath of
the Cultural Revolution.

We've met some wonderful people so far, and just about every single Chinese person we have encountered has been exceptionally kind. Even the postal workers in Beijing went out of their way to help us! And
the taxi drivers in Beijing were postively astounding...

Some of the people we met this weekend...

Friday evening we got on our first overnight train. We are travelling soft sleeper, where you have four bunks in a little compartment (as opposed to hard sleeper, where there are 6 bunks in an open cabin). Sharing our compartment was a young man in the upper bunk
(we'll call him UB) and a middle aged woman in the lower bunk (we'll call her LB). UB spoke English, and was carrying a "Kazhkstan Duty Free" bag. Turns out he works there for an international oil company. Ironic, since Charlie had been there a few years ago with a friend who was working for an environmental NGO doing grass roots organizing to deal with the problems the oil companies were creating.

But UB was very nice... on his way to visit his pregnant wife, who was
staying with his parents in the small city that he is from. And it
didn't seem to right to bring up any environmental issues with him,
since he was obviously a successful young man who was proud of what he
had achieved....

Since he was there to translate, LB had the ride of her life. From her
appearance and manner, she seemed to be of rather humble background
(unlike most of the people in soft sleeper, who usually are
businessmen). But someone had certainly made some money, because her
digital camera was the same model as Charlie's --- only one step
above! Having us in the compartment was very exciting for her.... she
asked us questions, I showed her photos from home (including photos of
the Mummers Parade!), she gave us pomagranates to eat, and watched
attentively as we ate instant noodles. She then whipped out her camera
and took photos of us eating noodles... we are wondering if perhaps
her family made their money in the noodle business and soon our images
will be plastered all over China as advertisements! At least, we are
certain that the relatives she was on her way to visit were going to
be entertained by the photos!

China (by its own estimations, according the the Lonely Planet
guidebook) now has the largest gap between urban rich and rural poor
in the world. Being in Beijing certainly gave us some exposure to the
urban rich. And riding in the soft sleeper with LB and UB certainly
gave us a glimpse of the upwards mobility some Chinese are
experiencing. UB was very proud of the growth of his country... and of
his role in it.

We pulled into Pingyao in the morning. Our hotel was in a lovely old
traditional courtyard house. These courtyard hotels line the streets
of Pingyao... and new ones spring up every day. The city was declared
a World Heritage site in 1997 and ever since then has been rebuilding.
The main streets were filled with groups of Chinese tourists, seeing a
prettified version of what China used to look like and buying
souvenirs... but the back streets are still tourist free and were
fascinating to wander.

(Photo: Alley in Pingyao)

I had gotten the name of a guide named Mr. Liu, an man in his 50s with
a gentle face, who spoke basic English and would give foreigners an
"alternative" tour of Pingyao. He took us to some of the many, many
museums, temples and courtyard houses.... but also took us to an
elementary school (unforuntately it was Saturday and the kids were not
there), a one family knitting factory/residence in two rooms of a
courtyard house (the rest of the house was in the process of being
rebuilt and made into a hotel... the factory would have to move the
following year...) and a few other spots we never would have found
otherwise. But most interesting was listening to what he had to say.
Mr. Liu is a Catholic --- there is a church in Pingyao that was torn
down during the Cultural Revolution and rebuilt in 1997 --- and a very
smart man who taught himself English by listening to the radio. He
also comes from a humble background and so seemed to have conflicting
feelings about the past, present and future. On the one hand, he would
point out what had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and
what had been rebuilt after 1997, and mentioned how so many people in
Pingyao died during the Cultural Revolution. But he also mentioned how
people missed the time of Mao, since everyone was equal then, and now
money is so much more important. But, he said in so many words "What's
the point of that... you can't take it with you." However, at the same
time, he's happy that tourism is bringing money to Pingyao, and was
happy that Deng Xiaoping brought the country forward. In one year, he
said, Deng did was Mao didn't do in however many years he was in
power. In one year, he said, things moved forward dramatically. He
also said that Mao had trusted Deng and on his deathbed handed the
reins of power over... which I don't believe was quite the way it
really happened...

Basically, like the statistics show, the rich are getting richer and
the poor poorer. And Mr. Liu is getting a little richer because of the
tourists... but he seemed overall disturbed by what is going on in
China.

The next morning, we went to 10 am Mass at the little church. About
50-60 people there. A very sweet little church and interesting and
touching to be there. After Mass we met Mr. Liu and his mother and
sister. His ancient little mother was so delighted to meet us and his
sister just radiated good vibes. A very wonderful experience. I wish
we could have stayed in Pingyao longer and gotten to know them and the
city better. (If anyone is going to Pingyao, I can put you in touch
with Mr. Liu. He can also arrange a palce for you to stay... he took
us to some amazing hotels that were off the main street so got no
business, but were much more authentic than where we stayed. He also
wanted to take us to a huge courtyard house a few hours away, but we
didn't have time. He is an honest man, and got us half-price tickets
to the museums... well, not so honest since he lied to the ticket
people and said we were students! But he is honest in terms of
protecting the tourists from spending too much money!)

After Mass, we rented bikes and rode out of town to an incredible
Buddhist temple complex filled with astounding statues. One of the most
gorgeous places I have ever been. The ride was interesting... urban
sprawl is encroaching upon the countryside rapidly... the pollution in
Pingyao was intense, partly because everyone burns coal... riding
bikes in China is so much fun and very safe... except when I changed
directions, caught Charlie off guard, and she crashed into me!!!

That evening... a dinner in a little roadside place with a sweet woman
making lamb dumplings and noodle soup. At first, she was pointing at
the dumplings and making little ears on her head and a meow sound...
and we thought for a horrified moment that they were cat dumplings.
But no, we finally figured out that in China, sheep make meow noises
and they were yummy lamb.

Then the second and last train ride. The man in the lower berth was
rather solemn and didn't speak English. The man in the upper berth was
asleep when we got on, but woke up and in the evening and the next
morning we had some very interesting conversations. He also had taught
himself English from the radio. In his early 20s, he was a furniture
salesman based in Chengdu who travelled a lot for work. His last name
was Chen... never got his first name... and was a member of the Hakka
minority group from a small village in Guangdong (Canton). He very
clearly articulated that rich/poor gap... he grew up poor in a village
and his parents sacrificed and struggled to put him through school. 10
years ago, his village didn't have electricity... and now people have
TVs. It's amazing to him that this has happened, and he just kept
saying "It happened so fast." He's proud of how quickly China is
advancing, but came right out and said that the rich are getting
richer and the poor poorer... and that the middle class is too small.
His village has TV now, but the people are still very poor. We tried
to make him feel better by pointing out that the gap between rich and
poor is also growing larger in the States... but still we are mostly a
country of the middle class (even if the middle class is getting
squeezed...). I got the feeling from Mr. Chen that he wasn't quite
sure what was going to happen in the future for China... he was sure
it would continue to grow, but there was doubt in his voice as to
whether things would get better for his village. He did, say, however,
that now the government was taxing the rich more, which hadn't been
happening before.

So.... we should get out and see what Xi'an has to offer. There's a
big mall across the street from the hostel, as well as a KFC and 2 Mc
Donald's. But perhaps a stroll around the old Muslim quarter
instead... meeting my friend Brie's brother for dinner this evening...
and then out to see the famous terracotta warriors tommorrow.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

beijing: the great wall could not contain the invading mongolian hotpot

(Photo: Charlie doing yoga at the Summer Palace)

It is late morning on our last day in Beijing, and we are finally
slowing down and not rushing from sight to sight. So much to see in
this city... it is impressive and overwhelming.

On Tuesday --- spent the day at the Summer Palace. Very big, very
beautiful. Very many tourists, but still possible to find peaceful
parts.

(Photo: The cable car at Mutianyu)

On Wednesday --- spent the day going to, walking on and coming back
from the Great Wall at Mutianyu. Very big, very beautiful. Very many
tourists, but still possible to find peaceful parts.

Driving through never-ending Beijing... the insane amounts of
contrstuction... gated communities of luxury Tudor style villas and
hightech high rises named htings like "Sherwood Forest" and "Vancouver
Mansions"... it was incredible. From one great feat of modern construction to another great feat of ancient construction. Mutianyu
was touristy --- a more touristy part of the Great Wall than we had
originally planned on going to --- but just right for the amount of
hiking we wanted to do and the amount of time we wanted to spend. Took
a cable car up, walked for 3 hours. Spectacular views of the wall and
autumn foliage. Then took the tobaggon sled down, which was SO MUCH
FUN. Somehow, an appropriate experience, given the amount of tourist
kitsch that exists in China.

On Thursday - went to the Lama Temple --- a Tibetan Buddhist temple
that wierded me out, having travelled a lot in the Tibetan world. I
think the monks were fake. They certainly didn't look Tibetan. Then on
to the 798 District, an up and coming art gallery district in a huge
(of course) factory compound. Some great galleries, feels very hip and
cutting edge... sort of DUMBO-esque, but a few years back... with more
working factories! Couldn't find Chinese food, had a pizza at a trendy
cafe. Then we went to try and find authentic Chinese opera... the old
theatre I had wanted to see was being renovated, so went to another
old theatre which was more of a tourist one. But a beautiful building
and the performance was still interesting. Then we went to try and
find authentic Peking duck... but all the good restaurants had already
closed for the night. So we had mediocre Peking duck at a "we stay
open late for the backpackers place". We had been joined for the day
by a guy at our hostel who lives in NYC; he promises to take me to a
place on Mott Street that has much better duck once we all get back
home.

So... the best food experience so far has definately been the
Mongolian hotpot we had on Tuesday night at the place next to the
hostel. 22 yuan (under $3)... all you can eat and drink! All the
fixings of veggies, seafood, strange meat are lined up buffet style...
load up your plate, sit down at the table, and dump it into a boiling
pot that is placed on the table. The post is filled with stock, one
side spicy, one side mild. Yum.

Went back the following night to take photos. It was late and the
staff were all sitting down to eat. They got a big kick out of me, of
course, and one guy started taking photos of me taking photos --- but
he used his camera phone.

The people here have been just lovely. Really sweet and extremely
helpful. So far, so good...

Tonight we board an overnight train for the city of Pingyao. but
first, we are going to go wander around the back streets of our little
nieghbourhood here, and then head over to Beihai Park. No giant
monuments on the schedule for today!

(Photo: Tibetan tourist in Beihai Park)

Monday, October 17, 2005

beijing: exhausted woman writing from china

(Photo: Bikes, of course. It is Beijing, after all.)

Oh, my gate-of-heavenly-peace, I am tired.

It's almost 9pm on our first full day in China. After being in transit
for 24 hours over the weekend (including a few lovely hours at Tokyo's
airport, where everything was very clean, nicely packaged and polite),
I arrived in Beijing, where my friend Charlie, who had come in on an
earlier flight, met me. The nice folks from the Red Lantern House
Hostel met us as well, and drove us back to a very sweet guesthouse in
an old "hutong" (alley) neighbourhood.

When we woke up in the morning, I opened the window and --- boom:
there was an old man in a Mao suit parking a bicycle in front of a
building with a red pagoda-style roof. Yep, we're in China.

We got some info and directions from a nice Belgian couple, headed
down the alley outside the hostel to the main road --- lots of shops,
buses, bikes. There's a Dairy Queen on the corner! (Easy to remember
where the hostel is...) We could have caught the bus to Tiananmen
right away, but we were hungry, so we walked for a while. First we each had a fried dough
stick from a street vendor, then a delicious
egg-scallion-hot-sauce-pancake thing from a little stall. Then hopped
on the crowded bus, which took us to Tiananmen Square.

Beijing seems like a city full of the little side-streets like the one
our hostel is one... old style neighbourhoods that truly feel like
another world... and then huge avenues, with lots of neon, KFCs,
billboards for luxury condos, signs heralding the arrival of the
Olympics... Tiananmen was huge as well... couldn't miss that bus stop.

It took us a while to figure out how to get across the street (take
the undergound passages) but we finally made it. Maos' Mausoleum was
closing in less than half an hour, but a "nice" man took us in hand,
jogging us to the bag checkroom across the street, then to the long
line, where he had a deal so that we could skip ahead to the front. Of
course, quite a few yuan then moved from our hands to his after all
this... don't usually do things like that (we probably could have
figured it all out and still gotten in on our own), but well, first
day and jetlag...

The Mausoleum was totally worth it for the sheer freak value. He was
lying in state, under glass, his face visible and glowing strangely.
You filed past very quietly and quickly. Some people bought flowers
before going in to lay at the feet of his statue. A very strange
thing...

Then we walked along the square, looking at all the one child
families. There are going to be some really, really spoiled Chinese
people in the world's future. I'm a little worried... but it was
pretty funny... all these kids being so completely adored, sweetly
self-centered, dancing around while their parents took photos, each
the center of the universe. (Got a strange sense of deja vu while
watching them...)

Then on to the Forbidden City. It was huge. Huge. Huge. Lots of
Chinese tour groups, wearing matching baseball caps. We kept getting
swept up in the yellow cap group. The central part of the Forbidden
City was beautiful, but also a few too many similiar buildings... I
kept feeling like I had already seen what I was looking at. But when
we got off into the side buildgings, where there were smaller places,
art and museum exhibits, gardens... that was lovely and peaceful.

We found that part of the palace after I stopped for a latte at the
Forbidden City Starbucks. I'm sorry. I know globalization is evil but:
I really needed caffeine AND I really wanted the receipt that said
"Forbidden City Starbucks" for my scrapbook.

(Photo: The Forbidden City Starbucks)

We had dawdled too long at the less interesting beginning parts... and
got kicked out before we got to see some of the interesting exhibits.
But 4 hours or so of imperial splendour isn't bad. Oh --- some of the
complex is under scaffolding for the Olympic preparations, but not too
much. And portions have already been restored and they are surrealy
bright and sparkly and freshly painted. When it's all down, it will be
quite somethng. But as Charlie said, it would be best to see it in 20
years or so, after some of the sparkle has worn off.

After leaving the Forbidden City, we went to Jingshan Park, across the
street. A lovely park, with a huge hill with a temple on top, from
which you have an amazing view of the whole complex as well as other
parts of Beijing. The weather today was really lovely --- very clear
and sunny and blue skied --- and you could see all the way to the
hills in the distance.

Sun had set by the time we left the park. We were starving.... walked
quite a while further, following the directions in our trusty Lonely
Planet guide, until we found a recommended restaurant... very nice
place. We had stirfried tea-tree mushrooms, noodles in spicy sauce and
deep friend taro. Sichuan food... all spicy and delicious. A taxi back
to the hostel... now it is time for bed.

Tommorrow: the Summer Palace and the Lama Temple... maybe by the end
of tommorrow I will have figured out how to say the word for bathroom,
because whenever I try to say it now, people look confused.

Worthy Quest in China