China Blog #2

After getting a nice taste of Chengdu and Sichuan Province, I hopped on a very conveniently newly built express train from Chengdu to Chongqing City. Chongqing used to be a part of Sichuan until it was recently turned into a special municipality, governed directly by the central Chinese government, likely due to its important economic status in the southwest region of the country. Although it is described as another typical, glossy, modern Chinese city, I found it to be much more than that. Unlike most Chinese cities it was not built only according to Feng Shui aesthetics, which are surprisingly dull when it comes to urban planning. Chongqing was built on the comma-shaped, hilly peninsula that juts between where the Jialin and Yangtze Rivers merge. Thus, the physical environment made for a more ad-hoc planning process, creating many curvy, small streets and alleyways throughout the city, which are a delight to explore. Its very easy to get lost in the city, which can be a good thing sometimes. Every street is lined with tiny shops selling all sorts of snacks as well as throngs of people playing games like mahjong and Chinese chess and drinking tea. Despite the intensely modern character of the city, it still felt quite laid back to me.

I also enjoyed the city very much since I was able to meet with some locals who are friends of one of the Chinese girls I met in Seoul. They showed me another spicy hot pot, slightly different from the Sichuan variety, and took me all around the city at night. We actually ended up spending a couple of hours drinking tea in a teahouse and listening to a group play traditional Chinese music, which I just about fell in love with. The next day I intended to visit another Buddhist carving site (it seems I had become a bit addicted to these), which was a couple of hours outside the city. However, right from the get-go everything went wrong. First, I went to the wrong bus station and had to take a cab to the right one on the other city (although I’ll never really know if it was the right one). When I got there some guy approached me asking me where I was going. Usually, I ignore these people, but for some reason I told him I wanted to go to Dazu, the town where the carvings are located. Apparently my pronunciation wasn’t accurate enough for him, as he though he heard me say Dazhou (or at least didn’t care enough to find out exactly where it was I wanted to go). Dazhou, unfortunately, is not a beautiful town surrounded by mountains carved with Buddhist images. It is a huge industrial city in the complete opposite direction of Dazu, not even in Chongqing municipality. Quite unfortunately for me, I did not find this out until I got there. Essentially I spent the whole day (from 10am to 10pm) traveling to the wrong place and back. I guess these things have to happen sometime when traveling in a foreign country.

The next day I tried my best to put that all behind me by exploring the city, which included checking out the Three Gorges Museum with a Chinese woman also staying at the same hostel. The museum is somewhat of a tribute to all of the cultural and environmental loss incurred by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. However, it was a nice precursor to my 4 day, 3 night cruise down the Yangtze River through the Three Gorges that I embarked on that night. Probably the best part of the cruise was just hanging out on a boat for three days. The first night was especially nice as we got to see the city lit up night, looking quite a bit like Hong Kong with all of the tall, lit-up buildings set against big hills. Once the boat got going down the river I just sat out on the front deck, drinking tea and reflecting on my travels so far as well as what the rest of my trip will be like.

The room that I was staying in was shared by 5 other Chinese, all of whom were great and really made the trip. We got along real well from the start and as they spoke little to no English, my Chinese improved rapidly throughout the trip. For the most part, the actual Three Gorges were not too impressive, as the increased water levels from the dam took away from their previous splendor. However, the lesser three gorges have been preserved a bit more since they lie on a tributary further away from the main river, and to some degree made up for what the bigger version was lacking (despite the name). The Three Gorges Dam has now become one of the touted highlights of the tour, but despite being the largest dam in the world, I wouldn’t say it in any way makes up for what has been lost.

After arriving in Wuhan at the end of the tour I intended to stay there for night, but made another one of my increasingly common impulsive decisions to take the train to Changsha where I had left my sunglasses at Xu’s family’s house. I arrived around 11pm and for some reason couldn’t find the hostel I wanted to stay at. So I ended up staying at comparatively more expensive hotel (at least in China), but which was worth it for all of the amenities after being on a Chinese boat for 4 days. After retrieving my sunglasses from Xu’s house (and getting taken out to another delicious meal by his mom) I noticed that my back was really killing me, presumably from carrying my big bag everywhere, so I went searching for a place to get a massage. Near my hotel I saw a number of people getting foot massages and thought I’d see if they gave back massages. For 20 yuan (about $3) I got the full treatment which included a back massage, foot soak, foot massage, and something similar to a pedicure. Besides the part where the masseuse was painfully pounding on my back, it was very enjoyable, relaxing, and helpful for my back. Soon after, I had to catch my night train to Guilin and since I had been spending a lot of money taking cabs all day I thought I’d take the bus to the train station. This turned out to be a terrible idea. Firstly, the bus took a wildly illogical route through the city with the train station as one of the last stops, and on top of that during the worst traffic hours of the day. At first I was wondering if I would have enough time to get a bite to eat before getting on the train, but soon I was wondering if I’d get on the train at all. After getting off the bus I was literally sprinting towards the gate with bags and sandals flopping all over the place. I soon found out it was to no avail as I had missed my train. I had to go exchange my ticket for a later train which had completely sold out of sleeper beds and I thought I was doomed for another night of standing. However, after getting on the train I was pleased to find out I could upgrade to a sleeper bed, all in all costing double the price I paid for the original ticket. However, I could care less after narrowly avoiding the terrible no-seat ticket.

Guilin and the Yangshuo area turned out to be as incredible as I had always heard. I had always wanted to go to Guilin for the weekend while studying abroad in Hong Kong since it’s only about 12 hours away, but for some reason I never made it. The area looks similar to Halong Bay in Vietnam and Vang Vieng in Laos, but much more dense and spectacular. Everywhere you look there are huge karst peaks jutting out of the ground, looking both strange and beautiful at the same time. I planned on taking a bus from Guilin to Yangshuo and then to Xingping, just outside of Yangshuo where my hostel was located and which is much quieter and relaxed than Yangshuo. However, as I was getting on the bus I got offered a good deal on a boat trip down the river about an hour upstream from Xingping. I hopped on the deal and was soon sitting on a bamboo raft (of course powered by a motor) with my big bag and everything, glasses on, and teeth still not brushed as it was not too long ago I had gotten off the train. I took off my shirt to get my first tan of the trip, leaned back on the boat (which I had all to myself), put my feet into the water and entered paradise as I watched the towering peaks pass me by. It was most definitely one of the highlights of the whole trip. Staying in Xingping was also quite nice. I met some great people at the hostel who I went around the area with, hiking and biking. There was a great little hike right next to the hostel which gave an incredible view of the town, the river, and the many hilly peaks. At sunset it was pure bliss. I also met some Chinese travelers in my hostel room who I went out to dinner with. Many restaurants in China have their fish outside in tanks or buckets allowing you to choose your dinner, but this was the first I had seen that also let you choose the chicken you wanted, which my new friends did without any hesitation. Thus I was able to see my dinner both alive and clucking as well as on my plate.

On the second day, I was biking with an English couple during the morning, but around midday the heat really got to them so they decided to head back while I wanted to continue on. A bit further down the road I stopped at a small shop on the side to buy some water. Right away the two women there (who I soon found out to be sisters) wanted to get to know me and invited me into their family’s house for lunch. I got to meet the whole family and had a delicious lunch with them. After lunch I went with one of the women on her motorbike around the area to see Yangshuo (as I still had not seen this area where most of the tourists stay) as well as some of the other beautiful scenery, like on of the peaks that looks remarkably like a woman praying. Then we went to the market to buy some food to cook for dinner and I made sure that I paid for it to try to give back in some way. That night we ate another wonderful meal and since it was already dark out, the father and the sister drove behind me while I biked home so that I could have some light from the motorbike to see where I was going and not get into an accidently. That day was definitely another highlight.

The next day I was sad to leave the area but had already bought my train ticket in advance and knew that my journey was coming to an end and that I had to be in Laos soon. In Kunming, which is the capital of Yunnan province just north of Laos, I was lucky to have a friend to stay with who I had met in Beijing. I didn’t do much touring of the city and area as I had little time and wanted to rest before the long journey to Vientiane, Laos. After a few days I boarded a 38 hour sleeper bus from Kunming to Vientiane, which surprisingly wasn’t too bad. Having a bed to sleep in definitely made it an improvement from some of the overnight buses I took in Laos last summer. It was definitely a bit strange returning to Laos after spending a month in China. I actually experienced a bit of a culture shock due to the vast difference in cultural attitudes between the two societies as well as the huge gap in development. However, after a few days in Vientiane I began to get used to Laos again, and even started to remember some of the language I had learned last summer.

Now I have been in Vientiane for about two weeks and have gotten quite settled in. I moved into a small apartment last week near the university. The location is for the most part ideal since I am near the university, a great market, temples, as well as my friends from last summer. The only disadvantage is that to get to the center of the city is about a 25 minute motorbike ride, but all in all that’s not a high price to pay for all of the other benefits. Also since I’m living outside the city a bit I live right next to a bunch of gardens and agricultural fields as well as a nice pond. I am in a small apartment building (only one story) surrounded by students so I always have company. I also bought a motorbike last week which has been very convenient for getting around quickly. I am still in the process of getting some sort of routine. Since my project is independent and therefore I have no set things to do every day, this can be a bit difficult at times. However, I am beginning to discipline myself to work hard on my research and Lao language during the day, relax at night, and do something fun on the weekends. I’ve already met a lot of great people and always have something fun to do on my free time. So far everything has been great and hopefully will continue to be.

Please do write to me at miles.kenney@gmail.com. I would love to hear from everyone.

Sincerely,
Miles