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Asian Adventures: China Part II

(10.26.03)

Greetings from the great nation of China. Things are a little better than last time.

27 Hours on a Train

Well, I survived my train trip to Beijing. My ticket ended up not being with Chantelle and Katie. At first I was worried but it was fine. I ended up in a compartment with a couple from Beijing who spoke excellent English. We talked about everything from sports to Chinese communism. It was a wonderful 27 hours. It turns out I was quite lucky. Chantelle and Katie were in a compartment with 4 Chinese men who had tons of stuff and insisted on their joining them for bottles of rice wine in the evenings. The men spoke no English.  

The Birthday Party

So Katie and I are in Nanning, minding our own business, eating our french fries when these three high school boys scare us half to death and start speaking English. We eagerly spoke back, since Katie and I were sick of talking only to each other for the past 3 days. It turns out they were having a birthday party for one of their friends and invited us to join them. Since we hadn't seen any foreigners in days and didn't have anything better to do on this lovely Saturday night in Nanning, we joined them. We spent the evening playing cheesy games that the McDonald's staff had organized like holding a cup in your teeth and passing a ping pong ball all the way down the line. We sang Happy Birthday in English and had a grand time at the 15-year-old's party. They invited us to go to karaoke with them but we declined and went back to our hotel.  

Beijing

China is starting to look better after Beijing. That is an awesome city. It is lots of neighborhoods that all come together to make a city. It feels small but in reality is HUGE. I finally found some good food. So long McDonald's, hello Schlotzsky's! My first bite of crispy toasted sourdough bread in over a year. The cheese was melted just so and the olives were juicy and wow, it was heaven incarnated into a sandwich. I found some other good food too: Hand-pulled beef noodles, grilled dumplings, sweet and sour pork and Beijing duck! Good thing I walked 8 miles every day or I would have gotten fat off all the yummy food.

The Forbidden City

Also known "The Forbidden Shitty" and now I know why. This is quite possibly the most overrated tourist attraction in all of the world. It costs a fortune to see and all you really end up seeing is tons of concrete and loads of the same exact yellow chair. You can't go inside any of the buildings. There is no grass, no trees, no flowers, nothing but concrete everywhere. No wonder it was forbidden. They didn't want anyone to see how ugly and miserable the place was. So if you ever go to Beijing, save the $20 and do something else.

The Summer Palace

This was where the imperial family went in the summer to escape the heat of the Forbidden City (could it be from all the concrete?) This place was gorgeous. Most of the grounds were taken up by a large lake. There were bridges over the lake, dozens of pagodas, gardens and pathways. It was gorgeous. We spent a great day walking around and enjoying the wonderful fall weather and colors in Beijing at the moment.

The Great Wall

Now this was another incredible day. We got up early and rode a bus to one section of the wall about 2.5 hours outside of Beijing. This is farther away from the city and so is a much less touristy section of the wall. There was a group of about 12 of us and we had arranged for our bus to pick us up at a different section of the wall. We hiked just over 4 hours from point A to point B. It was amazing. There were sections of the wall that were really intact and parts that were crumbling. We hoofed it up several 70 degree inclines. Some of the steps out of the lookout towers were no longer there so we had to jump out of the windows and land back on the wall several feet below. Luckily, there were two hysterical American guys in our group who were very eager to help out their fellow country women and even lent a hand to our South African gal from time to time. So we made it to point B with not one injury. I wasn't tired so I didn't think we had really worked all that hard until the next morning. My hamstrings were so tight and a little sore. But it was worth any discomfort. The wall was so beautiful and I took TONS of pictures. Too bad you can't see it from space. Darn that astronaut for ruining it for me just days before I got there. But then he was only in space for 21 hours. We've been there for more than 30 years now. Maybe he just didn't look close enough.

Entertainment

We had so much fun in the evenings! We went to the Beijing opera one night. If my mom thought my trumpet playing sounded like a dying animal she should hear the Chinese women sing. Thank goodness it was only an hour. There were actually three different operas in the one show and the last one had some acrobatics, no females and very little singing. Needless to say this was the nest one! We had a good time though.

We also went to the circus. This isn't the circus with animals but only with people. Contortionists and gymnasts. I can't believe people can move their bodies like that. It was amazing. In one of the acts they had 12 people riding on one bicycle! Katie and I were so impressed we went to see it again a couple of nights later.

Spit City

I now know why SARS spread like wild fire in China These people are not the most hygienic I have ever met. You'll be walking down the street and people—men and women-- are hocking up their phlegm and spitting it out onto the street. If they decide to do this on a train or in a restaurant it is perfectly acceptable they just step on it and rub it into the ground with their foot. It is the most disgusting thing. Even men in suits and ties do it. With spit flying like that all the time it is no wonder people caught SARS.

Pampers Anyone?

I don't think Pampers have made it to China. Cloth diapers haven't either. Children who are no potty trained just have split pants. Their skin and bums exposed to the world. Then when they have to go they just squat on the street or where ever they happen to be. No diapers to change.

Xian

We went to see the Terracotta Army. This was cool but slightly disappointing. I thought I would be able to walk among them but apparently only if you are a Clinton or Vladimir Putin are you allowed to walk among them. They were pretty cool though even from above. They each had different features and clothes. Some were made to look like metal armor and others to look like leather. Many of them are crumbling or are standing headless but it was pretty amazing to see them all standing there in rows. After seeing the army we lost Katie. She went to the bathroom and never came back. Chantelle and I waited at the entrance courtyard for more that two hours while taking turns checking to see if she got lost or fell in the toilet. She apparently thought we left her and so she got on the bus back to our hostel. The bus was more than an hour and a half back to the city and she just got on it! When we finally found her at the hostel almost 4 hours later we informed her of the f! irst rule of traveling: NEVER get on a bus without your friends. Especially one longer than 10 minutes! But we found her and she didn't get stuck in the toilet or captured by the terracotta army or the PLA so all was good.

Chengdu

Chengdu was just a sleepy town where we waited to get our permits for Tibet. It may actually have happening nightlife and shopping but we just rested and watched movies and such. There were three highlights though. 1: The pandas. We went to the giant panda preserve and breeding base at feeding time one morning. It was so fun. We got to see them eating their bamboo and rolling around on the ground playing. They were so cute!! Highlight 2: The Sichuan cooking class. Katie and I donned some aprons (unfortunately no hats) and learned how to cook some amazingly good (and oily) food. Maybe I'll cook when I get home! Highlight 3: The Canuks. We met a Canadian couple from Yukon and ended up hanging out and traveling with them for the next week. They accompanied us on our next adventure.

Next up? Tibet!

çAsian Adventures: China Part I