The Hotel Lisboa is one of Macau's most famous landmarks. It's a hotel/casino and was once considered the height of luxury, Macau style. Now, the Sands, the Venetian, and many other casinos are starting to outdo it, but it's still amazing. My standard room had a king-sized bed, sitting area, free minibar, and all of the perks of a good hotel. I'd forgotten that such things were possible. After going out and exploring the casinos, I jumped into my complimentary robe, used my complimentary toiletries and ordered room service while watching Notes from a Scandal on the free movie channel. Luxury.
That night and the next morning, I was lured by the Macau Tower which was clearly visible from my 17th floor room. I felt a strange urge to jump off of it. ;) AJ Hackett Adventure Co runs an entertainment center on the top of the tower. One has the option of climbing to the very tip of the tower, walking around the outside observation deck, bungy jumping, or doing the world's highest SkyJump. Bungy jumping doesn't really appeal to me because I'm nervous of the whiplash at the bottom, but the idea of jumping off a 61 story tower is quite appealing. So, I booked a SkyJump. This is a harnessed jump that is freefall for most of the 233 meters, but then is a controlled descent for the last 50 meters or so.
It was amazing! I was barely given a chance to feel terrified. Just as I was looking over the edge, wondering how this whole thing worked, the guy said, Jump! and I jumped. Wheeeeeeee!!! I screamed and then screamed with laughter all the way down. When I reached the bottom, I knew that I had to do it again. The 2nd time, you can jump backward! I highly recommend getting high in Macau (that's their ad campaign).
I'd brought my pack with me, and now headed over to Coloane Island for my 2nd night on Macau. I'd spent one night on the peninsula with the casinos. Now, I wanted to see the more downbeat Macau. We passed through Taipa Island, and I saw the new Venetian. It's bigger than the one in Vegas. Taipa is actually quite developed now, and construction in Macau is moving at an incredible rate. Coloane is the part of Macau that is still relatively undeveloped and naturally beautiful.
I checked into the Pousada de Coloane (remember, Macau was once Portuguese) and had a siesta from the heat before going down to Cheoc Van white sand beach for a swim. There, I met two women who'd been living in Macau with their families for 2 years each. We had a great talk about the expat community in Macau and I was convinced to really consider moving to Macau. Crazy! I sat on their blanket with them, watching their children playing, drinking white wine and eating chips while the sun was slowly going down. It was idyllic.
That evening, I took the bus into Macau peninsula to see the casinos one last time. The next morning, I went out to the black sand beach at Hac Sa and then into the village of Coloane for some egg tarts. Wonderful. After one last swim, it was time to get the ferry to Hong Kong and then get out to Lantau Island to catch my flight.
I met a fabulous woman on the ferry, who lives in Singapore with her husband. She convinced me that really, maybe Singapore is where I should be looking for a job. Did you know that a regular 2 bedroom apartment in Hong Kong costs between $8-10,000 US? Per month? Absolutely unreal. In Singapore, it's only $6-7000 US. Back in Kowloon, it was time to figure out how I was getting to Lantau Island and the airport. I wanted to see the Tsing Ma Bridge, the world's 6th largest suspension bridge and then stop off at the world's largest outdoor brass Buddha before getting to the airport. I had momentum. I just needed to figure out whether to take a bus or a ferry and from where. Then, I stalled. I just kept thinking of the oh-so-convenient Airport express train. From the ferry building, there was a free shuttle that would take me to Kowloon Station. There, I could check my baggage for the flight before boarding the train to the airport. Oh, the temptation to be free of my backpack. I gave in to temptation and got on the airport train. It was fabulous. So fast, so air conditioned. Unfortunately, this meant that by the time I got to the airport it was a quarter to 5 - where did the day go? The Monastery with the Buddha stopped letting people in at 5:30 and it takes 45 minutes to get there from the airport. It wasn't going to work. I was crushed. I had failed at the last. I didn't get to see the brass Buddha. :(
I did get to see the Hong Kong Airport. It's like a whole town under one roof. There are shops, and restaurants, and beauty salons, and vehicles to rent to drive you around. It's pretty impressive. Finally, at 8:05pm, I boarded my flight to...San Francisco! Yup, that's right. I'd been on the road for 6 weeks and it was time to go home. I felt as if I'd just left San Francisco a couple of days before, but I can look back over my blog and my pictures and see how much I've done and everywhere I've been.
I had a short layover in Taipei, Taiwan, and then a direct flight from there to SFO. I actually arrived at 7pm of the same day that I left, gaining an hour. Strange. That's what happens with a 15 hour time difference. I'm still adjusting to being awake when my internal clock is telling me that it's 2am and going to sleep when for me it's the middle of the day, but it's good to be home.
I hope that you enjoyed the stories of my travels and feel free to ask questions. There's so much that I learned and experienced that didn't make it into the blog. Thanks for reading!
To see the pictures, try http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/HongKongMacau
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Hong Kong
My time in Hong Kong got off to an exciting start. After I finally got on a plane in Sanya, I headed back to Guangzhou. I had just bought a return ticket to Guangzhou, planning to get a bus from there to Kowloon. I had no idea how that was going to work, I just knew that it could be done.
At the Guangzhou airport, I had a bit of a scare when all of the luggage had been spit out and my pack was nowhere to be seen. It turned out that my bag had got on an earlier flight from Sanya and had been awaiting my arrival in a corner of the baggage claim. Odd. After sorting that out, I went out to the airport shuttle area. There are actually a number of shuttles at the Guangzhou airport. I spoke with a lovely woman who told me that to get to Kowloon, I should take the #5 shuttle to the China Hotel and then catch a bus to Kowloon. OK. Step one. I should mention that at this point, the stress of figuring out how to get from point A to point B was starting to get to me and I had brief flashes of, "maybe I'll just live at this airport for the rest of my life."
At the China Hotel, I eventually discovered that the bus stop had been temporarily moved to the Convention Center across the street. I went over there and bought a ticket at the kiosk. Then, I settled in to wait. While waiting, I had a nice conversation about Chinese property values with a gentleman who was excited to see my Sanya tags, because he had just bought a condo there. The housing market in China is apparently booming.
I spent about an hour and a half on the bus before hitting the Chinese border with the Hong Kong Special Economic Zone. We all got off of the bus, went through Chinese Customs and Immigration, and got back on a new bus that took us 10 minutes to the HK Customs and Immigration station. After getting our visas (most people get a free 90 day tourist visa upon entry to HK), we got back on yet another bus to Hong Kong. This let me off at near the start of Nathan Road in Kowloon. Wow! Nathan Road is called the Golden Mile for a reason. I've never seen more neon in my life. While trying to get a good picture of it, I was nearly hit by a bus, so, sorry but there's no pic of my first sight of Kowloon. I took the metro to Tsim Sha Tsui 'cause it was too far to walk. Really good metro by the way.
All of this took about 6 hours. I didn't actually get to Chungking Mansions until 11:30pm, after being in transit since 1pm. Exhausting. Back in Chengdu, when I made all of my travel reservations, I ignored the advice of many people who had been to Hong Kong, including one who had lived there, and booked a single room in Li's Guesthouse, Block A, Chungking Mansions. I wanted to experience firsthand the overwhelming mass of humanity that is there. I knew that it was filthy, dangerous, stinking, and crowded and I wanted to immerse myself in it. It was only for one night after all.
When I made my online reservation, I had to specify a time of arrival. I had no idea, so I just plugged in 4pm. When I arrived at 11:30pm, I was told, by Li, that because I was late, he was going to charge me double the price. WHAT??? For 2/3 of the time using the room, I would need to pay double the price? x=y and 2/3x=2y. Does that make sense mathematically? What the hell is x? He hadn't lost any money by me having a hellish time getting to Hong Kong. Nor was he inconvenienced in any way. We argued for awhile and he seemed happy to tell me to shove off if I didn't want to pay the higher price. I couldn't understand his attitude since as far as I knew, the place was probably 1/2 empty and the building was full of other guesthouses that would be happy to take my money. I told him that this was "fucking unbelievable". That's when he lost it. Apparently, "fucking" is his trigger word. He screamed, "FUCK??? NO, FUCK YOU, Fuck YOU!!!!" Then he started advancing on me while still screaming FUCK YOU, Fuck YOU!!! I quickly retreated from the scary little man. I ran into a guy in the hallway who told me that Li is crazy and everyone in the building knows that he's crazy, and that I might want to make my escape. Wow.
Well, that was on the third floor of Block A. There were 14 more floors to this tower and 4 other towers. I had no doubt that I'd find another, better place to lay my head. I started up the stairs to floor 4. Full. There were 3 guesthouses there, with 25 beds apiece, and they were all full. How very odd. I continued up to floor 5. Full. 6. Full. Oh shit. I also started taking a look inside each guesthouse. Disgusting. The stairwell was bad enough with a big pile of garbage at each landing. The hotels were awful. The place was packed with immigrants from every part of the Southeastern part of the world, all come to Hong Kong to find work. If you are at all xenophobic, this is not the place for you. The smell was overwhelming. It was midnight and easily 90 degrees inside the building. The mattresses looked about 20 years old. By the time I reached the 12th floor, I was hoping to hear that each room was full. I was longing for an excuse to spend more money and sleep somewhere better. On the 15th floor, I finally found someone to tell me why all of these places were full. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival Eve! Crap. I'd been seeing the moon cakes for weeks and knew that it was coming up soon, but I'd had no idea when the holiday actually was. Everyone and his brother had come out to see the full moon over Victoria Harbor. There was not a bed to be had. I happily gave up on Chungking Mansions and headed back out to Nathan Road.
After a quick stop to check my Lonely Planet, I decided to try the YMCA. Score! For $250 HK, I got a bed in a carpeted, air conditioned, spotlessly clean dorm room in a gorgeous hotel, which I shared with one middle-aged Irish woman from Galway, who I didn't even run into until 3am. The lunatic at Chungking Mansions wanted me to pay $360 to sleep in his flophouse. After dumping my bag, I went out to explore the area and celebrate the holiday.
There were so many people out. It was one in the morning by the time I hit the Avenue of the Stars, yet entire families were wandering around or settled in on blankets watching the moon and eating snacks. It was amazing. The weather was perfect. Warm and balmy without being too hot. Everyone had some sort of glow stick or glow necklace. Hong Kong was right across the harbor and I had one of those moments. That WOW feeling when it's unbelievable that you are where and when you are. I was in Hong Kong for the Mid-Autumn Festival. So cool.
The next day, I took the ferry over to Hong Kong Central and rode the tram up to Victoria Peak. At the top, there was a nice, short hike up to the top of the peak. It felt great to get a little exercise and Hong Kong is amazing from the peak. It's a fabulous place to see, but I'm positive that it's an even better place to work, or at least to come on a business trip. I found the city to be even more impressive than Manhattan. It has all of the features of a giant Western-style metropolis, with the exotic flair of it being in China. Amazing.
After wandering around Kowloon for a bit, and getting another foot massage, I picked up my pack and took the ferry to Macau. My experience in Chungking Mansions was the last straw for me. I couldn't face one more filthy hostel. I checked myself into Hotel Lisboa on the Macau Peninsula to experience the casino district.
To see my photos, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/HongKongMacau?authkey=N_G8EMmBdJQ
At the Guangzhou airport, I had a bit of a scare when all of the luggage had been spit out and my pack was nowhere to be seen. It turned out that my bag had got on an earlier flight from Sanya and had been awaiting my arrival in a corner of the baggage claim. Odd. After sorting that out, I went out to the airport shuttle area. There are actually a number of shuttles at the Guangzhou airport. I spoke with a lovely woman who told me that to get to Kowloon, I should take the #5 shuttle to the China Hotel and then catch a bus to Kowloon. OK. Step one. I should mention that at this point, the stress of figuring out how to get from point A to point B was starting to get to me and I had brief flashes of, "maybe I'll just live at this airport for the rest of my life."
At the China Hotel, I eventually discovered that the bus stop had been temporarily moved to the Convention Center across the street. I went over there and bought a ticket at the kiosk. Then, I settled in to wait. While waiting, I had a nice conversation about Chinese property values with a gentleman who was excited to see my Sanya tags, because he had just bought a condo there. The housing market in China is apparently booming.
I spent about an hour and a half on the bus before hitting the Chinese border with the Hong Kong Special Economic Zone. We all got off of the bus, went through Chinese Customs and Immigration, and got back on a new bus that took us 10 minutes to the HK Customs and Immigration station. After getting our visas (most people get a free 90 day tourist visa upon entry to HK), we got back on yet another bus to Hong Kong. This let me off at near the start of Nathan Road in Kowloon. Wow! Nathan Road is called the Golden Mile for a reason. I've never seen more neon in my life. While trying to get a good picture of it, I was nearly hit by a bus, so, sorry but there's no pic of my first sight of Kowloon. I took the metro to Tsim Sha Tsui 'cause it was too far to walk. Really good metro by the way.
All of this took about 6 hours. I didn't actually get to Chungking Mansions until 11:30pm, after being in transit since 1pm. Exhausting. Back in Chengdu, when I made all of my travel reservations, I ignored the advice of many people who had been to Hong Kong, including one who had lived there, and booked a single room in Li's Guesthouse, Block A, Chungking Mansions. I wanted to experience firsthand the overwhelming mass of humanity that is there. I knew that it was filthy, dangerous, stinking, and crowded and I wanted to immerse myself in it. It was only for one night after all.
When I made my online reservation, I had to specify a time of arrival. I had no idea, so I just plugged in 4pm. When I arrived at 11:30pm, I was told, by Li, that because I was late, he was going to charge me double the price. WHAT??? For 2/3 of the time using the room, I would need to pay double the price? x=y and 2/3x=2y. Does that make sense mathematically? What the hell is x? He hadn't lost any money by me having a hellish time getting to Hong Kong. Nor was he inconvenienced in any way. We argued for awhile and he seemed happy to tell me to shove off if I didn't want to pay the higher price. I couldn't understand his attitude since as far as I knew, the place was probably 1/2 empty and the building was full of other guesthouses that would be happy to take my money. I told him that this was "fucking unbelievable". That's when he lost it. Apparently, "fucking" is his trigger word. He screamed, "FUCK??? NO, FUCK YOU, Fuck YOU!!!!" Then he started advancing on me while still screaming FUCK YOU, Fuck YOU!!! I quickly retreated from the scary little man. I ran into a guy in the hallway who told me that Li is crazy and everyone in the building knows that he's crazy, and that I might want to make my escape. Wow.
Well, that was on the third floor of Block A. There were 14 more floors to this tower and 4 other towers. I had no doubt that I'd find another, better place to lay my head. I started up the stairs to floor 4. Full. There were 3 guesthouses there, with 25 beds apiece, and they were all full. How very odd. I continued up to floor 5. Full. 6. Full. Oh shit. I also started taking a look inside each guesthouse. Disgusting. The stairwell was bad enough with a big pile of garbage at each landing. The hotels were awful. The place was packed with immigrants from every part of the Southeastern part of the world, all come to Hong Kong to find work. If you are at all xenophobic, this is not the place for you. The smell was overwhelming. It was midnight and easily 90 degrees inside the building. The mattresses looked about 20 years old. By the time I reached the 12th floor, I was hoping to hear that each room was full. I was longing for an excuse to spend more money and sleep somewhere better. On the 15th floor, I finally found someone to tell me why all of these places were full. It was the Mid-Autumn Festival Eve! Crap. I'd been seeing the moon cakes for weeks and knew that it was coming up soon, but I'd had no idea when the holiday actually was. Everyone and his brother had come out to see the full moon over Victoria Harbor. There was not a bed to be had. I happily gave up on Chungking Mansions and headed back out to Nathan Road.
After a quick stop to check my Lonely Planet, I decided to try the YMCA. Score! For $250 HK, I got a bed in a carpeted, air conditioned, spotlessly clean dorm room in a gorgeous hotel, which I shared with one middle-aged Irish woman from Galway, who I didn't even run into until 3am. The lunatic at Chungking Mansions wanted me to pay $360 to sleep in his flophouse. After dumping my bag, I went out to explore the area and celebrate the holiday.
There were so many people out. It was one in the morning by the time I hit the Avenue of the Stars, yet entire families were wandering around or settled in on blankets watching the moon and eating snacks. It was amazing. The weather was perfect. Warm and balmy without being too hot. Everyone had some sort of glow stick or glow necklace. Hong Kong was right across the harbor and I had one of those moments. That WOW feeling when it's unbelievable that you are where and when you are. I was in Hong Kong for the Mid-Autumn Festival. So cool.
The next day, I took the ferry over to Hong Kong Central and rode the tram up to Victoria Peak. At the top, there was a nice, short hike up to the top of the peak. It felt great to get a little exercise and Hong Kong is amazing from the peak. It's a fabulous place to see, but I'm positive that it's an even better place to work, or at least to come on a business trip. I found the city to be even more impressive than Manhattan. It has all of the features of a giant Western-style metropolis, with the exotic flair of it being in China. Amazing.
After wandering around Kowloon for a bit, and getting another foot massage, I picked up my pack and took the ferry to Macau. My experience in Chungking Mansions was the last straw for me. I couldn't face one more filthy hostel. I checked myself into Hotel Lisboa on the Macau Peninsula to experience the casino district.
To see my photos, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/HongKongMacau?authkey=N_G8EMmBdJQ
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The Hawaii of China
I was absolutely determined that at some point in my travels, I would wind up on a beautiful white sand beach. After reading Lonely Planet, and checking some travel forums, I settled on Hainan Island, and more specifically, on the beaches of Sanya, the resort destination of China.
I flew in on a Saturday morning from Guangzhou. I had reserved a room at Lama International hostel because they advertised free airport pickup. They had not responded to my email giving my flight details, but I was still hopeful that I'd be met at the airport. Nope. No one there for me. I took the shuttle into the Dadong Bay area of Sanya and managed with a little trial and error to find the hostel. Ick. It was a dump of a building in a residential neighborhood blocks from the beach, devoid of charm or other tourists. Not exactly what I was hoping for. I was tired from searching out the hostel, so I decided to stay one night, and find something better for the next two nights. I told the guy, who was completely unapologetic about failing to get me at the airport, that I'd like to only pay for one night. This is when he piled on the last straw. I had already paid a 30 yuan deposit on my room. He said that he would only apply 10 per night, so I would lose out on the other 20 if I didn't stay there for the entire reservation. That's when I told him to piss off and that I would be arranging other accommodations.
I set off with backpack in place in search of Blue Sky International Hostel, LP's number one pick for Sanya. I had wanted to avoid it, 'cause the #1 pick for LP is typically also the number one party spot in a town. I wanted to veg on the beach, not be up all night drinking. I found the hostel, a block from the beach, in another unappealing building, but right in the center of things with loads of other tourists in residence. I booked myself a single room with ensuite bathroom and a balcony and counted my blessings. My 30y deposit over at the other hostel was well lost. I have definitely learned my lesson about booking through hostelworld.com in China. Don't do it. Call and book your room over the phone. Every hostel gives free local calls, so calling is never a problem. If you go through hostel world, 1/2 the places will inflate their prices so that your deposit turns into a booking fee, and the other 1/2 are not places you would choose to stay in after getting a look at the facilities. Either way, the money from your deposit is a loss.
After doing a quick unpacking job, I threw on my bathing suit and raced off to the beach. Pure luxury. Floating peacefully on my back looking up at the sky, listening to the sound of happy people. It was heaven. All of the stress washed off into the ocean. I did get a jolt when a Russian lady ran into me when we were both floating on our backs. We screamed simultaneously, then I started laughing and apologized, though she ran into me. No response. I had a nice refresher course in Russian etiquette. By laughing and smiling, I revealed my imbecilic tendencies and social inferiority. I need to work back up to my blanket glare of disdain with which to greet strangers.
I swam in the lovely turquoise water and walked along the beach. Then, after a shower and dinner at the hostel, I went shopping. Pearls are incredibly cheap in Southeast Asia, and I felt an urge to buy some. Then, it was cat toys, then snacks at the Food Festival market, then ice cream made on the street from fresh fruit. Replete, I headed back to my room, flipped on the air conditioner and drifted off to sleep.
In the morning, before breakfast, I went down to the beach for a swim. That is the life. Being able to stumble out of bed, into a bathing suit, and into the water on a tropical beach - priceless. After breakfast, I had an early siesta with a book, then set out on my rented bicycle to explore a bit of the island. After riding for 3 minutes, I realized that the gears on the bike were not going to shift. The derailer or some other part of the bike was broken and so the gear was stuck on the smallest front sprocket, meaning that with me pedaling as fast as I could, I was going maybe two mph. Great. I went back to the hostel and one of the workers manually moved the chain up to a larger sprocket. OK. There are no real hills, so as long as I was in a good cruising gear, a one-speed bike was fine. Then, about 15 minutes away from the hostel, the chain slipped backed to the smaller sprocket. Argh! It took me 25 minutes to get back to the hostel, where I requested, and received a refund. Very annoying.
Luckily, something to assuage my irritation was coming up next. Scuba diving! Yes, I've told many people that I had no desire to dive, that my shark phobia was too intense and that I could live without diving. Well, there are shark nets up in Sanya. There were many other people out in the water at the same time, making the chances of me being chosen as a snack exceedingly slim. So, I decided, why not?
At the diving center, I found out that this would be an assisted dive. After I got into my wetsuit, I was told that: 1) OK sign means I'm fine; 2) thumb down means I want to go deeper; 3) thumb up means I want to go up; 4) pointing to my ear means that my ears hurt; and 5) pointing to my stomach means that my stomach hurts. That was it. I've seen beginner diving classes before, and they were much more intense, and boring than that. What the hell, it's China, and I had a basic idea of what I would need to do. The guy strapped my tanks on, led me into the water and then floated me out to a coral bed. Then, we dove.
We went down about 6 feet to start with. We swam around a bit, looking at coral and fish while I got my bearings and got used to breathing through my regulator. I also needed to learn how to equalize the pressure in my ears. Finally, I was comfortable, and we decended to a little over 10 feet under water. It was amazing. Looking up to see the surface so far away. The water was absolutely clear and I was able to see the color of the reef and the fish and the anemones and the sea bed. Unfortunately, the guy with me kept trying to guide my hand to touch the coral. Not good. In Sanya, they try to increase the demand for scuba diving by advertising that you are allowed to touch the coral. This kills the coral and is not something that divers are ever supposed to do. I finally got through to him that I did not want to touch the coral, but did agree to touch a sea anemone and was enthusiastic about trying to catch a fish. After 5 minutes or so, I was swimming around on my own, and swam right into a school of yellow and black zebra striped fish, each about 5" long and 4" high. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. I definitely want to do that again, as soon as I get over my shark fear.
Finally, my 45 minutes was up, and we headed back in. It was so cool, the guy actually towed me in to shore. However, I noticed that all of the Chinese women were brought to the lowest step, where all of their gear was removed. I was left to clamber up to the top of the stairs and actually had to call out to get my guy to come take my tanks. Of course, those same ladies spent their time in the water effectively snorkeling, rather than diving. They were on the surface the whole time. I'm not sure why they didn't just snorkel, but we all had fun doing what we felt comfortable with, so that's what matters.
I was so jazzed up after having finally dived for the first time that I decided to rent a scooter when I got back to the hostel and head out around the island. I should have known by the way that the bicycle had (not) been maintained that this was not the best idea. The hostel has two scooters. One was broken and not available, the second was brought out and the hostel guy took it on a little test drive to make sure that it was working OK. Well, there was a problem. A half an hour later, I was no longer waiting patiently. I asked if there was anywhere else that I could rent a motorbike or scooter. Nope! I sincerely doubt that this was true, but was so fed up that I decided to toss the plan and go to the hot springs instead.
Nantian Hot Springs is the must-do spot on Hainan. It's a huge complex of hot springs at a resort on the south side of the island. Tickets cost around 180 y and cover entrance to the springs, a locker, towels, and sandals. There are numerous pools of different temperature in different settings, as well as a children's play center, pools of various liquids (milk, coffee, etc.), an infinity pool with a basketball hoop and a fish therapy pond. The fish therapy pond is definitely the highlight. It is so so amazing. Tiny silvery fish come and eat your softened dead skin. It's a little disturbing when you see dozens flock to you, and it made me recommit to a better exfoliation program, but it's an amazing feeling to be nibbled alive. Mostly, it just tickles, and it's hard to stay still. The bigger fish though seem to actually have teeth, and they hurt a tiny bit, just like a very delicate pin prick. They are fairly easy to shoo away. I can see why they call it therapy. I found it to be extremely relaxing.
After the hot springs, I took a cab back to Dadonghai and splurged on the fancy Italian restaurant, Roma. What a fantastic decision that was. Roma's restaurant is in a rooftop rotunda with candlelight and fainting couches with silk pillows. I had a 3 course meal while lounging at my leisure. It was fantastic. The best food I'd had since the Wenshu monastery in Chengdu. I paid Western prices, but since it was as good as or better than Italian food that I can get in San Francisco, I considered it to be well worth the price.
That night, Typhoon Francisco hit Hainan. I woke up to pouring rain. So much for my plan of a morning on the beach and an afternoon on a motorbike. I hung around the hostel with the other housebound travelers until there was a break in the rain around 2. Then, I caught the double decker bus out to Yalong Bay to see how the other half live. Sanya is divided into three sections: the city, Dadong beach, and Yalong beach. Dadonghai, where I stayed is the more economical and had more tourist services at lower prices. It has supermarkets, shops, restaurants, vendors, etc. It also has filth, burning garbage, rabid rats (a guy at the hostel a month before I got there was bitten and needed rabies shots), bugs and lizards. Yalong Bay has the same gorgeous beach, but no shops or restaurants other than the ones provided inside the Hilton, Sheraton, etc., and it is spotlessly, beautifully clean. In the future, I'd go in the off season when they give deep discounts and I'd stay in Yalong Bay.
Walking along the beach in the wind from the typhoon was exhilarating. There is not much in the way of waves in Hainan, but this was as big as I'd seen them. The wind tugged my hair and blew in my eyes. There were very few other people, and those that were out looked just as happy as I felt. I had to turn back when I hit a restricted military zone, but kept walking in the other direction. Finally, I'd had enough and decided to catch the bus in the other direction and head up to Tianya-Haijiao Tourist Zone, also known as the end of the earth. This is a park complex that is the southernmost part of China. I was expecting a cliff, and instead found an extensive topiary park complex surrounding a nice stretch of beach, charging a 65 y admission price. It was nice, but not quite what I was hoping for. After walking around for a bit, the wind had really started to pick up. I headed back out to the carpark to catch a bus. This started one of my odder interactions during my trip.
I checked a few buses and none were going to Dadonghai (hai means bay by the way). I stood around at a loss for a second until I noticed someone watching me. On the beach at Yalong, I'd exchanged grins with a fellow surf watcher who was clearly enjoying the typhoon as much as I was. Then I left to get the bus, and only vaguely noticed when he got on the bus, too. It seemed normal that he was also going to the end of the earth. After all, it is one of the few things to do in Sanya. However, I did notice that he didn't go inside when we arrived. I thought it was a little odd, but supposed that like me, he was disappointed by what it was, and unlike me, was too wise to waste his money on it. Then, he was waiting when I came out of the exit. Hmm. I started to wonder if it was possible that he'd followed me. Surely not. Then, it started to sprinkle. He brought me an umbrella. He didn't try to chat me up, just insisted that I use his umbrella and stood quietly about 3 feet from me, far enough to be outside of my personal space. Interesting. After a minute, he asked where I was going. I told him. After another minute, I asked where he was going. He laughed and after a pause, said that he also was going to Dadonghai. Then, he proceeded to find us a bus. He took care of all of the travel arrangements and still didn't try to interact with me. He seemed content to just be near me. Then we got to Dadonhai. I said thanks, and that this was my stop. He said that he was going further and goodbye. That was it. He didn't try to go for a drink or even ask my name. A very very strange incident.
That night, the typhoon really hit. The door to my balcony banged and whistled and whined all night. I slept with earplugs not to drown out the sounds of the storm. In the morning, it was still going strong. I was a little concerned for my flight. It was at 2pm, and I wasn't sure if I was nervous that it wouldn't take off and my plans would be delayed, or that it would take off and we would crash and die. Conundrum.
Either way, I packed up, checked out, and recovered my deposit, with difficulty. Keeping deposits seems to be a sideline for the hostel. A woman checking out after me not only didn't receive her deposit back, but was being charged an additional 100 yuan for a stained sheet. I'm not sure how much dry cleaning costs in Sanya, but I doubt that it is 150 yuan.
Well, I lucked out. The storm blew itself out by 11pm and my 2 o'clock flight was only slightly delayed. We actually left by 3:30, which was amazing considering the pandemonium at the airport. Some morning flights weren't rescheduled to leave for 7-8 hours and the airport was packed with angry, frustrated travellers. Not quite the end most people want for their vacation in paradise. Personally, I strapped in, declined my snack of dried shredded squid and settled back with my book for the flight back to Guangzhou. I had a lovely time in Sanya and would love to go back to stay at an actual hotel, with actual amenities. I was reaching the end of my hostelling limit. Read my next post to find out when and why I do get to the end of my tether regarding filth and discomfort.
To see the photos from this part of my trip, see: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/christine7world/Sanya
I flew in on a Saturday morning from Guangzhou. I had reserved a room at Lama International hostel because they advertised free airport pickup. They had not responded to my email giving my flight details, but I was still hopeful that I'd be met at the airport. Nope. No one there for me. I took the shuttle into the Dadong Bay area of Sanya and managed with a little trial and error to find the hostel. Ick. It was a dump of a building in a residential neighborhood blocks from the beach, devoid of charm or other tourists. Not exactly what I was hoping for. I was tired from searching out the hostel, so I decided to stay one night, and find something better for the next two nights. I told the guy, who was completely unapologetic about failing to get me at the airport, that I'd like to only pay for one night. This is when he piled on the last straw. I had already paid a 30 yuan deposit on my room. He said that he would only apply 10 per night, so I would lose out on the other 20 if I didn't stay there for the entire reservation. That's when I told him to piss off and that I would be arranging other accommodations.
I set off with backpack in place in search of Blue Sky International Hostel, LP's number one pick for Sanya. I had wanted to avoid it, 'cause the #1 pick for LP is typically also the number one party spot in a town. I wanted to veg on the beach, not be up all night drinking. I found the hostel, a block from the beach, in another unappealing building, but right in the center of things with loads of other tourists in residence. I booked myself a single room with ensuite bathroom and a balcony and counted my blessings. My 30y deposit over at the other hostel was well lost. I have definitely learned my lesson about booking through hostelworld.com in China. Don't do it. Call and book your room over the phone. Every hostel gives free local calls, so calling is never a problem. If you go through hostel world, 1/2 the places will inflate their prices so that your deposit turns into a booking fee, and the other 1/2 are not places you would choose to stay in after getting a look at the facilities. Either way, the money from your deposit is a loss.
After doing a quick unpacking job, I threw on my bathing suit and raced off to the beach. Pure luxury. Floating peacefully on my back looking up at the sky, listening to the sound of happy people. It was heaven. All of the stress washed off into the ocean. I did get a jolt when a Russian lady ran into me when we were both floating on our backs. We screamed simultaneously, then I started laughing and apologized, though she ran into me. No response. I had a nice refresher course in Russian etiquette. By laughing and smiling, I revealed my imbecilic tendencies and social inferiority. I need to work back up to my blanket glare of disdain with which to greet strangers.
I swam in the lovely turquoise water and walked along the beach. Then, after a shower and dinner at the hostel, I went shopping. Pearls are incredibly cheap in Southeast Asia, and I felt an urge to buy some. Then, it was cat toys, then snacks at the Food Festival market, then ice cream made on the street from fresh fruit. Replete, I headed back to my room, flipped on the air conditioner and drifted off to sleep.
In the morning, before breakfast, I went down to the beach for a swim. That is the life. Being able to stumble out of bed, into a bathing suit, and into the water on a tropical beach - priceless. After breakfast, I had an early siesta with a book, then set out on my rented bicycle to explore a bit of the island. After riding for 3 minutes, I realized that the gears on the bike were not going to shift. The derailer or some other part of the bike was broken and so the gear was stuck on the smallest front sprocket, meaning that with me pedaling as fast as I could, I was going maybe two mph. Great. I went back to the hostel and one of the workers manually moved the chain up to a larger sprocket. OK. There are no real hills, so as long as I was in a good cruising gear, a one-speed bike was fine. Then, about 15 minutes away from the hostel, the chain slipped backed to the smaller sprocket. Argh! It took me 25 minutes to get back to the hostel, where I requested, and received a refund. Very annoying.
Luckily, something to assuage my irritation was coming up next. Scuba diving! Yes, I've told many people that I had no desire to dive, that my shark phobia was too intense and that I could live without diving. Well, there are shark nets up in Sanya. There were many other people out in the water at the same time, making the chances of me being chosen as a snack exceedingly slim. So, I decided, why not?
At the diving center, I found out that this would be an assisted dive. After I got into my wetsuit, I was told that: 1) OK sign means I'm fine; 2) thumb down means I want to go deeper; 3) thumb up means I want to go up; 4) pointing to my ear means that my ears hurt; and 5) pointing to my stomach means that my stomach hurts. That was it. I've seen beginner diving classes before, and they were much more intense, and boring than that. What the hell, it's China, and I had a basic idea of what I would need to do. The guy strapped my tanks on, led me into the water and then floated me out to a coral bed. Then, we dove.
We went down about 6 feet to start with. We swam around a bit, looking at coral and fish while I got my bearings and got used to breathing through my regulator. I also needed to learn how to equalize the pressure in my ears. Finally, I was comfortable, and we decended to a little over 10 feet under water. It was amazing. Looking up to see the surface so far away. The water was absolutely clear and I was able to see the color of the reef and the fish and the anemones and the sea bed. Unfortunately, the guy with me kept trying to guide my hand to touch the coral. Not good. In Sanya, they try to increase the demand for scuba diving by advertising that you are allowed to touch the coral. This kills the coral and is not something that divers are ever supposed to do. I finally got through to him that I did not want to touch the coral, but did agree to touch a sea anemone and was enthusiastic about trying to catch a fish. After 5 minutes or so, I was swimming around on my own, and swam right into a school of yellow and black zebra striped fish, each about 5" long and 4" high. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. I definitely want to do that again, as soon as I get over my shark fear.
Finally, my 45 minutes was up, and we headed back in. It was so cool, the guy actually towed me in to shore. However, I noticed that all of the Chinese women were brought to the lowest step, where all of their gear was removed. I was left to clamber up to the top of the stairs and actually had to call out to get my guy to come take my tanks. Of course, those same ladies spent their time in the water effectively snorkeling, rather than diving. They were on the surface the whole time. I'm not sure why they didn't just snorkel, but we all had fun doing what we felt comfortable with, so that's what matters.
I was so jazzed up after having finally dived for the first time that I decided to rent a scooter when I got back to the hostel and head out around the island. I should have known by the way that the bicycle had (not) been maintained that this was not the best idea. The hostel has two scooters. One was broken and not available, the second was brought out and the hostel guy took it on a little test drive to make sure that it was working OK. Well, there was a problem. A half an hour later, I was no longer waiting patiently. I asked if there was anywhere else that I could rent a motorbike or scooter. Nope! I sincerely doubt that this was true, but was so fed up that I decided to toss the plan and go to the hot springs instead.
Nantian Hot Springs is the must-do spot on Hainan. It's a huge complex of hot springs at a resort on the south side of the island. Tickets cost around 180 y and cover entrance to the springs, a locker, towels, and sandals. There are numerous pools of different temperature in different settings, as well as a children's play center, pools of various liquids (milk, coffee, etc.), an infinity pool with a basketball hoop and a fish therapy pond. The fish therapy pond is definitely the highlight. It is so so amazing. Tiny silvery fish come and eat your softened dead skin. It's a little disturbing when you see dozens flock to you, and it made me recommit to a better exfoliation program, but it's an amazing feeling to be nibbled alive. Mostly, it just tickles, and it's hard to stay still. The bigger fish though seem to actually have teeth, and they hurt a tiny bit, just like a very delicate pin prick. They are fairly easy to shoo away. I can see why they call it therapy. I found it to be extremely relaxing.
After the hot springs, I took a cab back to Dadonghai and splurged on the fancy Italian restaurant, Roma. What a fantastic decision that was. Roma's restaurant is in a rooftop rotunda with candlelight and fainting couches with silk pillows. I had a 3 course meal while lounging at my leisure. It was fantastic. The best food I'd had since the Wenshu monastery in Chengdu. I paid Western prices, but since it was as good as or better than Italian food that I can get in San Francisco, I considered it to be well worth the price.
That night, Typhoon Francisco hit Hainan. I woke up to pouring rain. So much for my plan of a morning on the beach and an afternoon on a motorbike. I hung around the hostel with the other housebound travelers until there was a break in the rain around 2. Then, I caught the double decker bus out to Yalong Bay to see how the other half live. Sanya is divided into three sections: the city, Dadong beach, and Yalong beach. Dadonghai, where I stayed is the more economical and had more tourist services at lower prices. It has supermarkets, shops, restaurants, vendors, etc. It also has filth, burning garbage, rabid rats (a guy at the hostel a month before I got there was bitten and needed rabies shots), bugs and lizards. Yalong Bay has the same gorgeous beach, but no shops or restaurants other than the ones provided inside the Hilton, Sheraton, etc., and it is spotlessly, beautifully clean. In the future, I'd go in the off season when they give deep discounts and I'd stay in Yalong Bay.
Walking along the beach in the wind from the typhoon was exhilarating. There is not much in the way of waves in Hainan, but this was as big as I'd seen them. The wind tugged my hair and blew in my eyes. There were very few other people, and those that were out looked just as happy as I felt. I had to turn back when I hit a restricted military zone, but kept walking in the other direction. Finally, I'd had enough and decided to catch the bus in the other direction and head up to Tianya-Haijiao Tourist Zone, also known as the end of the earth. This is a park complex that is the southernmost part of China. I was expecting a cliff, and instead found an extensive topiary park complex surrounding a nice stretch of beach, charging a 65 y admission price. It was nice, but not quite what I was hoping for. After walking around for a bit, the wind had really started to pick up. I headed back out to the carpark to catch a bus. This started one of my odder interactions during my trip.
I checked a few buses and none were going to Dadonghai (hai means bay by the way). I stood around at a loss for a second until I noticed someone watching me. On the beach at Yalong, I'd exchanged grins with a fellow surf watcher who was clearly enjoying the typhoon as much as I was. Then I left to get the bus, and only vaguely noticed when he got on the bus, too. It seemed normal that he was also going to the end of the earth. After all, it is one of the few things to do in Sanya. However, I did notice that he didn't go inside when we arrived. I thought it was a little odd, but supposed that like me, he was disappointed by what it was, and unlike me, was too wise to waste his money on it. Then, he was waiting when I came out of the exit. Hmm. I started to wonder if it was possible that he'd followed me. Surely not. Then, it started to sprinkle. He brought me an umbrella. He didn't try to chat me up, just insisted that I use his umbrella and stood quietly about 3 feet from me, far enough to be outside of my personal space. Interesting. After a minute, he asked where I was going. I told him. After another minute, I asked where he was going. He laughed and after a pause, said that he also was going to Dadonghai. Then, he proceeded to find us a bus. He took care of all of the travel arrangements and still didn't try to interact with me. He seemed content to just be near me. Then we got to Dadonhai. I said thanks, and that this was my stop. He said that he was going further and goodbye. That was it. He didn't try to go for a drink or even ask my name. A very very strange incident.
That night, the typhoon really hit. The door to my balcony banged and whistled and whined all night. I slept with earplugs not to drown out the sounds of the storm. In the morning, it was still going strong. I was a little concerned for my flight. It was at 2pm, and I wasn't sure if I was nervous that it wouldn't take off and my plans would be delayed, or that it would take off and we would crash and die. Conundrum.
Either way, I packed up, checked out, and recovered my deposit, with difficulty. Keeping deposits seems to be a sideline for the hostel. A woman checking out after me not only didn't receive her deposit back, but was being charged an additional 100 yuan for a stained sheet. I'm not sure how much dry cleaning costs in Sanya, but I doubt that it is 150 yuan.
Well, I lucked out. The storm blew itself out by 11pm and my 2 o'clock flight was only slightly delayed. We actually left by 3:30, which was amazing considering the pandemonium at the airport. Some morning flights weren't rescheduled to leave for 7-8 hours and the airport was packed with angry, frustrated travellers. Not quite the end most people want for their vacation in paradise. Personally, I strapped in, declined my snack of dried shredded squid and settled back with my book for the flight back to Guangzhou. I had a lovely time in Sanya and would love to go back to stay at an actual hotel, with actual amenities. I was reaching the end of my hostelling limit. Read my next post to find out when and why I do get to the end of my tether regarding filth and discomfort.
To see the photos from this part of my trip, see: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/christine7world/Sanya
Monday, September 24, 2007
Guangzhou, or Canton that was
When I was still in Chengdu, I had a dilemma. I had reached the end of my definite itinerary. I knew that I wanted to go to Hainan (island in the South China Sea) at some point, but my time until then was unaccounted for. I wanted to do the horse trek to Songpan, but it was pouring rain and I'm not thrilled by the idea of riding a horse in the rain. Chafing. I thought about taking a 3 Gorges cruise. However, my experience on the train from Moscow to Beijing showed me that I am not temperamentally well suited to sitting in place for days on end watching beautiful scenery go past. Maybe it'd be fun with a friend, but by myself, I foresaw much boredom and gnashing of teeth. I could hop over to Shanghai for a few days, but it was all the way across the country, and thus not a very efficient route from Chengdu to Hainan.
I sat up poring over Lonely Planet, looking for anything that sounded interesting. That's when I read about Guangzhou; Canton, as it was called for hundreds of years of British domination. Founding site of a wonderful culinary tradition, and location of infamous market in puppies and kitties for the pot. It sounded perfect! Nice colonial background to provide some interesting architecture. Some good temples, and the infamous Qingping market. I decided to spend 3 nights there and was curious as to why no other backpackers seemed to be mentioning Guangzhou in their itineraries.
Let me tell you something about Lonely Planet. The number one backpacker complaint about LP is that they are enthusiastic about everything. They will never come out and say, "the place is a dud, skip it." The dustiest small town will be described with only a fraction less enthusiasm than the Great Wall of China. I fell victim to this phenomena despite being on the watch for it.
Guangzhou is a city. It's a fairly standard city with no major tourist sites. It does have Shamian Island, granted as a permanent foreigner enclave/trading post following the First Opium War. The island is full of beautiful European style buildings that are decaying in a visually appealing way. It is also the number one location for American couples adopting Chinese babies, due to the presence of a US Consulate specializing in adoption. That was not mentioned in LP.
When I arrived and found out just what Guangzhou has to offer, I was a little doubtful as to the wisdom of my choice of destination. However, after a little thought, I realized that I was all touristed out, and wouldn't mind some downtime. Also, I'm an urban dweller. I actually like cities. I like watching people in cities. I like to wander around and find out how things work. Guangzhou might be more of a transit hub than a tourist destination, but it worked for me.
I spent most of my time on Shamian Island. My hostel was on Baietan Bar Street right across the Pearl River from Shamian. There was a ferry practically right outside my door that for 50 mao (1/2 a yuan), would drop me off on the corner of the island. I went over in the morning for coffee and a muffin and would stay for a few hours or all day, depending on my whim. Shamian Island is also home to the world's only atmospheric Starbucks. Occupying a colonial building with a large courtyard garden, the interior has 2 large rooms, one with a fireplace, and huge windows. It is absolutely lovely. Amazing. I thought that it was a branding requirement that all Starbucks be ugly.
After coffee, I would use the free internet over at Blenz coffee house, and wander the streets watching the people and looking for photo ops. The entire island has 3 east-west streets and 4 north-south roads. It is tiny. It consists of large hotels with their population of American families, old buildings subdivided into numerous tiny studio apartments, and the odd restaurant, shops selling tourist crap geared to appeal to new parents eager to spend money, and number of people who've come to the island for photo shoots, whether professional fashion shoots or private wedding pictures. The bridal photo thing seems to have caught on here.
I really enjoyed watching the adoptive parents. They all seemed to be American. Most were older, and seemed a little unsure of how to handle their new child. I saw a lot of awkward moments that were very sweet. I also saw one lesbian couple with a new daughter. That was surprising because I was under the impression that China wouldn't allow gay couples to adopt. This preconception was probably formed by a Simpsons episode though.
I'm torn on the whole Chinese adoption subject. Of course, my opinion of the process is entirely beside the point and meaningless to any of the principals involved. It just seems horrific on the one hand that China is selling its daughters to Americans, yet it makes everyone involved so happy that it's hard to argue against the practice. Seeing those chortling little girls with new adoring parents, knowing that they will have good lives makes it difficult to think that it's an abhorrent policy. I can argue both sides, without being able to commit fully to either position. I did see one couple that had gotten a baby boy. This was astonishing until I learned that in addition to his visible cleft palate, he also had a number of other ailments that had kept him hospitalized for all of the previous year - he was 2. The new parents weren't told of his health issues until after the papers were signed. They said, and I believed them, that they would have taken him regardless, but it would've been nice to have been told in advance. Question: should there be lemon laws for adoption agencies?
There was so much to see and ponder on the island that I spent a day and a half there without feeling any urge to leave. Just the prevalence of old shade trees made it one of my favorite spots in China. For a people so obsessed with white skin, it hasn't seemed to occur to the Chinese that shade trees might be of assistance. I did get a massage on Day 2 at a Chinese medical health center. The foot massage was absolutely incredible. It included a shoulder massage and foot bath as well as a chiropractic spinal adjustment. Fabulous. I felt invigorated and ready for almost anything. Then, I got the body massage. OUCH. If you have a very high pain threshold, you might enjoy that massage. If you enjoy having someone stick his fingers in your ears and rub his sweaty hands all over your face, you will love it! I did not particularly enjoy it and will stick to foot massage from here on.
After a couple of days luxuriating in real coffee (I am truly sick of drinking Nescafe), and beauty, I did finally get a bite from the tourist bug and wandered over to see the Chen Family Ancestral Confucian Academy. It's being used as a folk art museum and it well worth a look. Gorgeous building and some nice art pieces on display. Then, I went over to the Five Celestials Shrine. This is a Taoist Shrine dedicated to the 5 "fairies" who rode down from heaven on goats with ears of rice in their mouths during the reign of King Yi of the Zhou Dynasty - I have no clue what that works out to on the Gregorian calendar. They gave rice to the local people who were in the midst of a rather severe famine, and blessed all of their future crops. The immortals then rose into the sky and their goats turned into statues. Guangzhou was founded on the spot of their landfall and was called Yangcheng (City of Goats) and Suicheng (City of Rice Ears). The shrine was a bit lacklustre as a site, but anecdotally is a must-do. They rode goats!!!
Just to hit Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist sites all in one day, I continued on to the Temple of the 6 Banyan Trees. This temple contains the Flowery Pagoda which has 17 levels, as well as quite a few trees and a few different shrines. The representations of the Buddha seemed slightly more influenced by India than others that I've seen in China. It was originally built in 537 and has had a variety of names during that time span. It finally settled into the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) when a visiting author was invited to rename it. He said that he had come to the temple suffering from depression, but while he was there, there were 6 particular banyan trees that had made him feel so happy to perceive that his depression had lifted. Thus, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees.
Honestly, the temple was nice, but what sticks out about my visit there is what happened outside of the temple. I had stepped aside out of the way of a monk leading a group of pilgrims, and was trying to decide if I had enough chutzpa to take a couple photos of them (I didn't), when I was surrounded by a group of beggers. They all were missing hands. I don't know how many there were. One second, I was looking at my camera, the next, my field of vision was filled with wrist stumps being waved in my face. There were between 4 and 6 of them, I think. A couple were double amputees, and the rest were only missing one hand each. They were all smiling broadly. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't give any of them any money. When they appeared, I just wanted to get away and so I entered the temple complex. While inside, I decided to give each person 20 yuan when I left. However, they were gone by the time that I exited the temple. The whole thing was unsettling. I asked a couple of people (hostel workers, locals on Shamian) if there was a reason why there were so many amputees around the temple, but the people I asked either didn't know or wouldn't say. I have since learned that Guangzhou is one of the locations where Falun Gong is most harshly suppressed. There is a "rehab center" in the city that serves as a reeducation center. I have no idea if their allegations of severe torture are true, but I can say from personal experience that there are a lot of people missing limbs in Guangzhou.
I also tried to visit the Qingping market, fully prepared to be horrified and sickened by the sight of dogs and cats being sold as meat. Foiled! I don't know where people go now to buy their nice haunch of golden retriever, but there was nary a puppy to be found at Qingping. I saw snakes, lizards, sea horses, beetles and roaches - all for human consumption. I didn't see any edible housepets. I felt a little cheated, and a little relieved. Only a little relieved because I doubt that Cantonese cuisine no longer serves fried cat, just the market location seems to have shifted.
I had a lovely, relaxing time in Guangzhou. The city was a relief after Yangshuo; the Pearl River was lovely, especially at night by boat - though the river meant mosquitos; Shamian Island is fantastic; and the number one best thing about Guangzhou is the emphasis on fitness. I love it. I got up early two days in a row to go out and watch the people exercising on the riverfront. It was amazing. My favorite was an old man who was a tai chi master. He was teaching a student and I watched them practice for almost half an hour. During the entire time, the master never lost his balance or focus. It was amazing. Not huge bursts of effort, rather a sustained intensity of small, slow movement.
My time in Guangzhou drew to a close. Next up was the island of Hainan and some lounging at the beach in Sanya. Yay!
You can see my pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/Guangzhou
I sat up poring over Lonely Planet, looking for anything that sounded interesting. That's when I read about Guangzhou; Canton, as it was called for hundreds of years of British domination. Founding site of a wonderful culinary tradition, and location of infamous market in puppies and kitties for the pot. It sounded perfect! Nice colonial background to provide some interesting architecture. Some good temples, and the infamous Qingping market. I decided to spend 3 nights there and was curious as to why no other backpackers seemed to be mentioning Guangzhou in their itineraries.
Let me tell you something about Lonely Planet. The number one backpacker complaint about LP is that they are enthusiastic about everything. They will never come out and say, "the place is a dud, skip it." The dustiest small town will be described with only a fraction less enthusiasm than the Great Wall of China. I fell victim to this phenomena despite being on the watch for it.
Guangzhou is a city. It's a fairly standard city with no major tourist sites. It does have Shamian Island, granted as a permanent foreigner enclave/trading post following the First Opium War. The island is full of beautiful European style buildings that are decaying in a visually appealing way. It is also the number one location for American couples adopting Chinese babies, due to the presence of a US Consulate specializing in adoption. That was not mentioned in LP.
When I arrived and found out just what Guangzhou has to offer, I was a little doubtful as to the wisdom of my choice of destination. However, after a little thought, I realized that I was all touristed out, and wouldn't mind some downtime. Also, I'm an urban dweller. I actually like cities. I like watching people in cities. I like to wander around and find out how things work. Guangzhou might be more of a transit hub than a tourist destination, but it worked for me.
I spent most of my time on Shamian Island. My hostel was on Baietan Bar Street right across the Pearl River from Shamian. There was a ferry practically right outside my door that for 50 mao (1/2 a yuan), would drop me off on the corner of the island. I went over in the morning for coffee and a muffin and would stay for a few hours or all day, depending on my whim. Shamian Island is also home to the world's only atmospheric Starbucks. Occupying a colonial building with a large courtyard garden, the interior has 2 large rooms, one with a fireplace, and huge windows. It is absolutely lovely. Amazing. I thought that it was a branding requirement that all Starbucks be ugly.
After coffee, I would use the free internet over at Blenz coffee house, and wander the streets watching the people and looking for photo ops. The entire island has 3 east-west streets and 4 north-south roads. It is tiny. It consists of large hotels with their population of American families, old buildings subdivided into numerous tiny studio apartments, and the odd restaurant, shops selling tourist crap geared to appeal to new parents eager to spend money, and number of people who've come to the island for photo shoots, whether professional fashion shoots or private wedding pictures. The bridal photo thing seems to have caught on here.
I really enjoyed watching the adoptive parents. They all seemed to be American. Most were older, and seemed a little unsure of how to handle their new child. I saw a lot of awkward moments that were very sweet. I also saw one lesbian couple with a new daughter. That was surprising because I was under the impression that China wouldn't allow gay couples to adopt. This preconception was probably formed by a Simpsons episode though.
I'm torn on the whole Chinese adoption subject. Of course, my opinion of the process is entirely beside the point and meaningless to any of the principals involved. It just seems horrific on the one hand that China is selling its daughters to Americans, yet it makes everyone involved so happy that it's hard to argue against the practice. Seeing those chortling little girls with new adoring parents, knowing that they will have good lives makes it difficult to think that it's an abhorrent policy. I can argue both sides, without being able to commit fully to either position. I did see one couple that had gotten a baby boy. This was astonishing until I learned that in addition to his visible cleft palate, he also had a number of other ailments that had kept him hospitalized for all of the previous year - he was 2. The new parents weren't told of his health issues until after the papers were signed. They said, and I believed them, that they would have taken him regardless, but it would've been nice to have been told in advance. Question: should there be lemon laws for adoption agencies?
There was so much to see and ponder on the island that I spent a day and a half there without feeling any urge to leave. Just the prevalence of old shade trees made it one of my favorite spots in China. For a people so obsessed with white skin, it hasn't seemed to occur to the Chinese that shade trees might be of assistance. I did get a massage on Day 2 at a Chinese medical health center. The foot massage was absolutely incredible. It included a shoulder massage and foot bath as well as a chiropractic spinal adjustment. Fabulous. I felt invigorated and ready for almost anything. Then, I got the body massage. OUCH. If you have a very high pain threshold, you might enjoy that massage. If you enjoy having someone stick his fingers in your ears and rub his sweaty hands all over your face, you will love it! I did not particularly enjoy it and will stick to foot massage from here on.
After a couple of days luxuriating in real coffee (I am truly sick of drinking Nescafe), and beauty, I did finally get a bite from the tourist bug and wandered over to see the Chen Family Ancestral Confucian Academy. It's being used as a folk art museum and it well worth a look. Gorgeous building and some nice art pieces on display. Then, I went over to the Five Celestials Shrine. This is a Taoist Shrine dedicated to the 5 "fairies" who rode down from heaven on goats with ears of rice in their mouths during the reign of King Yi of the Zhou Dynasty - I have no clue what that works out to on the Gregorian calendar. They gave rice to the local people who were in the midst of a rather severe famine, and blessed all of their future crops. The immortals then rose into the sky and their goats turned into statues. Guangzhou was founded on the spot of their landfall and was called Yangcheng (City of Goats) and Suicheng (City of Rice Ears). The shrine was a bit lacklustre as a site, but anecdotally is a must-do. They rode goats!!!
Just to hit Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist sites all in one day, I continued on to the Temple of the 6 Banyan Trees. This temple contains the Flowery Pagoda which has 17 levels, as well as quite a few trees and a few different shrines. The representations of the Buddha seemed slightly more influenced by India than others that I've seen in China. It was originally built in 537 and has had a variety of names during that time span. It finally settled into the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE) when a visiting author was invited to rename it. He said that he had come to the temple suffering from depression, but while he was there, there were 6 particular banyan trees that had made him feel so happy to perceive that his depression had lifted. Thus, the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees.
Honestly, the temple was nice, but what sticks out about my visit there is what happened outside of the temple. I had stepped aside out of the way of a monk leading a group of pilgrims, and was trying to decide if I had enough chutzpa to take a couple photos of them (I didn't), when I was surrounded by a group of beggers. They all were missing hands. I don't know how many there were. One second, I was looking at my camera, the next, my field of vision was filled with wrist stumps being waved in my face. There were between 4 and 6 of them, I think. A couple were double amputees, and the rest were only missing one hand each. They were all smiling broadly. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't give any of them any money. When they appeared, I just wanted to get away and so I entered the temple complex. While inside, I decided to give each person 20 yuan when I left. However, they were gone by the time that I exited the temple. The whole thing was unsettling. I asked a couple of people (hostel workers, locals on Shamian) if there was a reason why there were so many amputees around the temple, but the people I asked either didn't know or wouldn't say. I have since learned that Guangzhou is one of the locations where Falun Gong is most harshly suppressed. There is a "rehab center" in the city that serves as a reeducation center. I have no idea if their allegations of severe torture are true, but I can say from personal experience that there are a lot of people missing limbs in Guangzhou.
I also tried to visit the Qingping market, fully prepared to be horrified and sickened by the sight of dogs and cats being sold as meat. Foiled! I don't know where people go now to buy their nice haunch of golden retriever, but there was nary a puppy to be found at Qingping. I saw snakes, lizards, sea horses, beetles and roaches - all for human consumption. I didn't see any edible housepets. I felt a little cheated, and a little relieved. Only a little relieved because I doubt that Cantonese cuisine no longer serves fried cat, just the market location seems to have shifted.
I had a lovely, relaxing time in Guangzhou. The city was a relief after Yangshuo; the Pearl River was lovely, especially at night by boat - though the river meant mosquitos; Shamian Island is fantastic; and the number one best thing about Guangzhou is the emphasis on fitness. I love it. I got up early two days in a row to go out and watch the people exercising on the riverfront. It was amazing. My favorite was an old man who was a tai chi master. He was teaching a student and I watched them practice for almost half an hour. During the entire time, the master never lost his balance or focus. It was amazing. Not huge bursts of effort, rather a sustained intensity of small, slow movement.
My time in Guangzhou drew to a close. Next up was the island of Hainan and some lounging at the beach in Sanya. Yay!
You can see my pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/Guangzhou
Friday, September 21, 2007
Yangshuo, the port of excretion
On my third day in Yangshuo, I rose early, thrilled to bits to be going kayaking. I love kayaking. Being on the water, going at my own pace and in the direction of my choice. It sounded heavenly. I was also looking forward to some good exercise.
I arrived at the tour office at 9am, as scheduled. There, I only had a short wait before my guide showed up. That's when the first blip occurred. Instead of a nice minibus to take us out to the launch site, there was a motorbike. OK, I was wearing my flipflops, but I'm an adventurous sort. I hopped on behind the driver and tried not to sit too close. Then, I noticed that there was only one motorbike. Odd. How was the guide getting around. Oh, I hadn't realized that three adults could all fit on one motorbike. OK.
We left town and headed out into what Lonely Planet raves about as "some traveler's best experience in China", the countryside around Yangshuo. We went through small villages and fields, seeing many an unspoiled vista and charismatic farmer. Lovely. Of course, it was a little hard to appreciate the scenery while racing past on the extremely rocky dirt road, sandwiched between two strange men. Quite an experience.
Finally, we arrived at another village where the guide stored his kayaks. There, the second blip came up. While I was occupied photographing a water pump, he pulled out...an inflatable canoe. Ah, no. I wanted a kayak. He explained to me that it was very very difficult to transport a kayak back from Puyi - that he would be forced to rent a tractor. He went on and on and on. Finally, I agreed to try it. We went down to the river. This is where I discovered that I'd be on my own on the river. No other tourists had been interested in kayacking and boyo would meet me in Yuli. After a pause, I realized that I actually would prefer a little time alone, so that was fine. Then, I asked how I would know that I had reached the meeting point. He said, "At Puyi," and looked at me as if I was crazy for needing to ask.
I said, "Yes, well, I've never been to Puyi. How will I know that I've arrived?" He responded that I shouldn't worry, he would take the responsibility of finding me, that it was very easy." I said OK. As I started paddling, he called out, as a last minute thought, "At the fork, go right, and at the island, go left!" Great, right then left. Or, was it the other way around?
After about 2 minutes of paddling, I realized that a) the inflatable canoe was extremely unsteady and eager to dump me in the river; b) sitting in the front of a 2-person boat meant that when I paddled, it was very hard to steer a straight course because vigorous paddling spun me from side to side; c) an inflatable canoe moves like a barge. Far from zipping hither and yon in my kayak, I was barely able to move faster than the current, and if I paddled too hard, I went wildly off course; d) the paddle that I'd been given was basically a child's toy, far to spindly to work well. This was not going to work. I managed to get to the bank, and climbed back up to demand the kayak that I had reserved. I had paid to go kayaking, not to float down the river in this ridiculous thing. The motorbike was gone. I banged on the door of the storage facility and got no response. This was it. I was stuck with the stupid raft. I was stranded with no way to get back to Yangshuo except going downriver and meeting the jerk who guilted me into this raft.
With anger in my heart, I climbed back in the floating hell. After 2 hours of paddling in less and less scenic environs, this anger had increased to hatred. I hated that tour company. I hated the guy who tricked me into accepting this ridiculous boat. I hated the motorbike driver for taking off so quickly. I hated the fishermen and bamboo cutters for staring at me as I floated past them in my ridiculous puffy blue boat. I loathed the tourists going past me in their air conditioned motor boats. I was streaming sweat, broiling in the sun despite my hat, and incredibly frustrated by trying to get that raft to move. I did discover that the Li river is a great place for primal yells and for singing at the top of your lungs. It was a way to pass the time. I discovered a hitherto unknown talent for songwriting. Oddly, all of the songs seemed to be quite insulting about the physical, mental and spiritual attributes of the jerk who put me in the instrument of torture.
Then, I reached Puyi. Of course, I didn't know it was Puyi. From the river, there are a couple of buildings and a big floating factory barge, emitting black smoke. I didn't see my guy. I paddled over to the left bank where I saw a woman with a baby. When I asked, "Puyi?" she pointed downriver. I thanked her and continued on. After about a 20 minutes, I had doubts and asked some fishermen where Puyi was. They pointed back the way that I'd come. Great. While floating downriver, the current had seemed negligible, barely helpful at all. When fighting against it, suddenly that current was a lot stronger. I ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｇｅｔ ｏｕｔ ａｎｄ ｗａｌｋ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｒｉｖｅｒ ｂａｎｋ ｆｏｒ ａｗｈｉｌｅ， ｐｕｌｌｉｎｇ ｍｙ ｃａｎｏｅ． Ｔｈｉｓ ａｌｌｏｗｅｄ ｍｅ ｔｏ ｂｅｃｏｍｅ ｓｏａｋｅｄ ｆｒｏｍ ｔｈｅ ｗａｉｓｔ ｄｏｗｎ ｉｎ ａｄｄｉｔｉｏｎ ｔｏ ｓｗｅａｔｙ， ｈｏｔ， ａｎｄ ｐｉｓｓｅｄ ｏｆｆ． Ｉ ｗａｌｋｅｄ ａｓ ｆａｒ ａｓ Ｉ ｃｏｕｌｄ， ｂｕｔ ｅｖｅｎｔｕａｌｌｙ ｈａｄ ｎｏ ｃｈｏｉｃｅ ｂｕｔ ｔｏ ｃｌａｍｂｅｒ ｂａｃｋ ｉｎ ａｎｄ ｐａｄｄｌｅ． Ｉwas on the wrong side of the river, you see. As soon as Iｓｔａｒｔｅｄ ａｃｒｏｓｓ ｔｈｅ ｒｉｖｅｒ， ｆｉｇｈｔｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ ｃｕｒｒｅｎｔ， ｍｙ ｔｒｕｓｔｙ ｇｕｉｄｅ ａｐｐｅａｒｅｄ， ｊｕｍｐｉｎｇ ｕｐ ａｎｄ ｄｏｗｎ ａｎｄ ｗａｖｉｎｇ ｈｉｓ ａｒｍｓ， ｗｅａｒｉｎｇ ａ ｂｒｉｇｈｔ ｏｒａｎｇｅ ｓｈｉｒｔ ｔｈａｔ ｗａｓ ｉｍｐｏｓｓｉｂｌｅ ｔｏ ｍｉｓｓ． Ｇｒｅａｔ． Ｉｆ ｏｎｌｙ ｈｅ＇ｄ ｂｅｅｎ ｔｈｅｒｅ ４５ ｍｉｎｕｔｅｓ ａｇｏ． He continued waving, apparently convinced that I was frantically paddling upstream in his direction by merest fluke and that without his assistance, I would...let's see, continue past? I flipped him off and kept paddling.
Finally, I reached the other bank and had the opportunity to tell the guy exactly what I thought of his "kayak trip". He said, "I don't understand. Many Chinese people have taken this canoe and are very happy. I knew that I had no chance of getting my money back, so I at least tried to make him feel like a jerk. It didn't do much good. Tour operators in Yangshuo have thick skins from dealing with a constant stream of angry, cheated customers.
We trudged into Puyi's one main street where I discovered that my mode of transit back to Yangshuo was the local bus. The bus that didn't leave for another 40 minutes. I got to sit around, in wet things for 40 minutes waiting to board the local bus. In Yangshuo, they'd actually tried to charge me 50 yuan extra for my transit back to Yangshuo. This was particularly funny when I saw what the transit was - a 1.50 rattletrap minibus. When I mentioned how poorly organized this entire thing was, I was told, "It's OK, you just didn't like the boat."
After all of that, I arrived back in Yangshuo in a pisser of a mood. I decided to have some down time and after a much needed shower, I set off on an epic quest for edible food. My quest was unsuccessful, but as a side bennie, I did try 3 new restaurants. Then, it was time to get changed and head over to the highlight of my trip, the performance of 'Impression of the 3rd Liu Sister' on the Li River. This is an entire theatrical event involving 600 performers, multiple costume and lighting changes, all on the Li river with the karst peaks as a backdrop. Absolutely brilliant! The directors are geniuses. Since they are the ones in charge of choreographing the
Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies, I might actually watch. It should be fabulous.
I arrived back at my guesthouse in a much improved state of mind, thinking that Yangshuo really was a wonderful place. I was tired, happy, and ready to go to bed. Then, I saw them. They were everywhere - baby cockroaches. My bedside table was absolutely covered in them. I saw at least 30. I am not well equipped to deal with cockroaches. I am lucky enough to not have extensive experience with them. They seemed especially excited by my box of nescafe packets, which was covered in them. I have no clue why cockroaches want to be caffeinated, but apparently they do.
I raced back downstairs and announced my problem. A girl came back upstairs with me, carrying a rag. Together, we threw out nearly everything on that table. I didn't care that these were things I'd carried around for a month. They'd been contaminated and needed to be removed. For example, my dental floss had cockroaches on it. Would you use cockroach floss? Neither would I. At my insistence, she wiped down the area with bleach before leaving. OK. In this room, I had already dealt with 2 black jumping spiders, now cockroaches. That was it. My opinion of Yangshuo calcified. The place is a pit. Stay in Guilin, visit Yangshuo. Unless you enjoy living in filth while being hounded and ripped off at every opportunity - it takes all kinds.
The next day was my last in Yangshuo. I needed to be on a bus to Guilin by 4pm, to catch my 6:40 train to Guanzhou. I spent the morning repacking my bag, trying very hard to ensure that I would not be the unwitting transporter of sightseeing cockroaches. Then, I had a (bad) lunch and hung out in an internet cafe until it was time to catch my bus.
Once I'd boarded the bus, I felt much better. I think that Yangshuo, like Xi'an was just unlucky for me. I should have worn more red (red is considered a lucky color in China). I'm sure that over the years to come, I will forget about the cockroaches and pushy vendors, and remember the beautiful scenery and placid water buffalo. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to go, and boy, was I glad to get away!
In Guilin, I was actually dropped off at the train station. I had plenty of time to shop for snacks before boarding the train. Once the train had arrived and we had all shoved our way aboard, I happily settled in to my soft sleeper compartment. Well worth the extra money. I had a lovely bed in a four bunk room. I was sharing with an elderly man who was traveling with his two daughters. The daughters were actually in the next compartment, but they kept running over every few minutes to make sure that Baba was OK and didn't need anything. It was so sweet. The 'girls' must have been in their 50s and they were devoted to their father. Every time he would settle down for a rest, one or both of them would come in to make sure that he had tea, slippers, food, a pillow, etc. Finally, they decided to switch, so that one of the daughters could watch him. So, I ended up sharing with the younger daughter while Baba went next door with his elder daughter.
That was it. My time in Guangxi province was at an end, and I was on to new environs. Did my luck improve in Guangzhou? That would be telling! ;)
I arrived at the tour office at 9am, as scheduled. There, I only had a short wait before my guide showed up. That's when the first blip occurred. Instead of a nice minibus to take us out to the launch site, there was a motorbike. OK, I was wearing my flipflops, but I'm an adventurous sort. I hopped on behind the driver and tried not to sit too close. Then, I noticed that there was only one motorbike. Odd. How was the guide getting around. Oh, I hadn't realized that three adults could all fit on one motorbike. OK.
We left town and headed out into what Lonely Planet raves about as "some traveler's best experience in China", the countryside around Yangshuo. We went through small villages and fields, seeing many an unspoiled vista and charismatic farmer. Lovely. Of course, it was a little hard to appreciate the scenery while racing past on the extremely rocky dirt road, sandwiched between two strange men. Quite an experience.
Finally, we arrived at another village where the guide stored his kayaks. There, the second blip came up. While I was occupied photographing a water pump, he pulled out...an inflatable canoe. Ah, no. I wanted a kayak. He explained to me that it was very very difficult to transport a kayak back from Puyi - that he would be forced to rent a tractor. He went on and on and on. Finally, I agreed to try it. We went down to the river. This is where I discovered that I'd be on my own on the river. No other tourists had been interested in kayacking and boyo would meet me in Yuli. After a pause, I realized that I actually would prefer a little time alone, so that was fine. Then, I asked how I would know that I had reached the meeting point. He said, "At Puyi," and looked at me as if I was crazy for needing to ask.
I said, "Yes, well, I've never been to Puyi. How will I know that I've arrived?" He responded that I shouldn't worry, he would take the responsibility of finding me, that it was very easy." I said OK. As I started paddling, he called out, as a last minute thought, "At the fork, go right, and at the island, go left!" Great, right then left. Or, was it the other way around?
After about 2 minutes of paddling, I realized that a) the inflatable canoe was extremely unsteady and eager to dump me in the river; b) sitting in the front of a 2-person boat meant that when I paddled, it was very hard to steer a straight course because vigorous paddling spun me from side to side; c) an inflatable canoe moves like a barge. Far from zipping hither and yon in my kayak, I was barely able to move faster than the current, and if I paddled too hard, I went wildly off course; d) the paddle that I'd been given was basically a child's toy, far to spindly to work well. This was not going to work. I managed to get to the bank, and climbed back up to demand the kayak that I had reserved. I had paid to go kayaking, not to float down the river in this ridiculous thing. The motorbike was gone. I banged on the door of the storage facility and got no response. This was it. I was stuck with the stupid raft. I was stranded with no way to get back to Yangshuo except going downriver and meeting the jerk who guilted me into this raft.
With anger in my heart, I climbed back in the floating hell. After 2 hours of paddling in less and less scenic environs, this anger had increased to hatred. I hated that tour company. I hated the guy who tricked me into accepting this ridiculous boat. I hated the motorbike driver for taking off so quickly. I hated the fishermen and bamboo cutters for staring at me as I floated past them in my ridiculous puffy blue boat. I loathed the tourists going past me in their air conditioned motor boats. I was streaming sweat, broiling in the sun despite my hat, and incredibly frustrated by trying to get that raft to move. I did discover that the Li river is a great place for primal yells and for singing at the top of your lungs. It was a way to pass the time. I discovered a hitherto unknown talent for songwriting. Oddly, all of the songs seemed to be quite insulting about the physical, mental and spiritual attributes of the jerk who put me in the instrument of torture.
Then, I reached Puyi. Of course, I didn't know it was Puyi. From the river, there are a couple of buildings and a big floating factory barge, emitting black smoke. I didn't see my guy. I paddled over to the left bank where I saw a woman with a baby. When I asked, "Puyi?" she pointed downriver. I thanked her and continued on. After about a 20 minutes, I had doubts and asked some fishermen where Puyi was. They pointed back the way that I'd come. Great. While floating downriver, the current had seemed negligible, barely helpful at all. When fighting against it, suddenly that current was a lot stronger. I ｄｅｃｉｄｅｄ ｔｏ ｇｅｔ ｏｕｔ ａｎｄ ｗａｌｋ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｒｉｖｅｒ ｂａｎｋ ｆｏｒ ａｗｈｉｌｅ， ｐｕｌｌｉｎｇ ｍｙ ｃａｎｏｅ． Ｔｈｉｓ ａｌｌｏｗｅｄ ｍｅ ｔｏ ｂｅｃｏｍｅ ｓｏａｋｅｄ ｆｒｏｍ ｔｈｅ ｗａｉｓｔ ｄｏｗｎ ｉｎ ａｄｄｉｔｉｏｎ ｔｏ ｓｗｅａｔｙ， ｈｏｔ， ａｎｄ ｐｉｓｓｅｄ ｏｆｆ． Ｉ ｗａｌｋｅｄ ａｓ ｆａｒ ａｓ Ｉ ｃｏｕｌｄ， ｂｕｔ ｅｖｅｎｔｕａｌｌｙ ｈａｄ ｎｏ ｃｈｏｉｃｅ ｂｕｔ ｔｏ ｃｌａｍｂｅｒ ｂａｃｋ ｉｎ ａｎｄ ｐａｄｄｌｅ． Ｉwas on the wrong side of the river, you see. As soon as Iｓｔａｒｔｅｄ ａｃｒｏｓｓ ｔｈｅ ｒｉｖｅｒ， ｆｉｇｈｔｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ ｃｕｒｒｅｎｔ， ｍｙ ｔｒｕｓｔｙ ｇｕｉｄｅ ａｐｐｅａｒｅｄ， ｊｕｍｐｉｎｇ ｕｐ ａｎｄ ｄｏｗｎ ａｎｄ ｗａｖｉｎｇ ｈｉｓ ａｒｍｓ， ｗｅａｒｉｎｇ ａ ｂｒｉｇｈｔ ｏｒａｎｇｅ ｓｈｉｒｔ ｔｈａｔ ｗａｓ ｉｍｐｏｓｓｉｂｌｅ ｔｏ ｍｉｓｓ． Ｇｒｅａｔ． Ｉｆ ｏｎｌｙ ｈｅ＇ｄ ｂｅｅｎ ｔｈｅｒｅ ４５ ｍｉｎｕｔｅｓ ａｇｏ． He continued waving, apparently convinced that I was frantically paddling upstream in his direction by merest fluke and that without his assistance, I would...let's see, continue past? I flipped him off and kept paddling.
Finally, I reached the other bank and had the opportunity to tell the guy exactly what I thought of his "kayak trip". He said, "I don't understand. Many Chinese people have taken this canoe and are very happy. I knew that I had no chance of getting my money back, so I at least tried to make him feel like a jerk. It didn't do much good. Tour operators in Yangshuo have thick skins from dealing with a constant stream of angry, cheated customers.
We trudged into Puyi's one main street where I discovered that my mode of transit back to Yangshuo was the local bus. The bus that didn't leave for another 40 minutes. I got to sit around, in wet things for 40 minutes waiting to board the local bus. In Yangshuo, they'd actually tried to charge me 50 yuan extra for my transit back to Yangshuo. This was particularly funny when I saw what the transit was - a 1.50 rattletrap minibus. When I mentioned how poorly organized this entire thing was, I was told, "It's OK, you just didn't like the boat."
After all of that, I arrived back in Yangshuo in a pisser of a mood. I decided to have some down time and after a much needed shower, I set off on an epic quest for edible food. My quest was unsuccessful, but as a side bennie, I did try 3 new restaurants. Then, it was time to get changed and head over to the highlight of my trip, the performance of 'Impression of the 3rd Liu Sister' on the Li River. This is an entire theatrical event involving 600 performers, multiple costume and lighting changes, all on the Li river with the karst peaks as a backdrop. Absolutely brilliant! The directors are geniuses. Since they are the ones in charge of choreographing the
Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies, I might actually watch. It should be fabulous.
I arrived back at my guesthouse in a much improved state of mind, thinking that Yangshuo really was a wonderful place. I was tired, happy, and ready to go to bed. Then, I saw them. They were everywhere - baby cockroaches. My bedside table was absolutely covered in them. I saw at least 30. I am not well equipped to deal with cockroaches. I am lucky enough to not have extensive experience with them. They seemed especially excited by my box of nescafe packets, which was covered in them. I have no clue why cockroaches want to be caffeinated, but apparently they do.
I raced back downstairs and announced my problem. A girl came back upstairs with me, carrying a rag. Together, we threw out nearly everything on that table. I didn't care that these were things I'd carried around for a month. They'd been contaminated and needed to be removed. For example, my dental floss had cockroaches on it. Would you use cockroach floss? Neither would I. At my insistence, she wiped down the area with bleach before leaving. OK. In this room, I had already dealt with 2 black jumping spiders, now cockroaches. That was it. My opinion of Yangshuo calcified. The place is a pit. Stay in Guilin, visit Yangshuo. Unless you enjoy living in filth while being hounded and ripped off at every opportunity - it takes all kinds.
The next day was my last in Yangshuo. I needed to be on a bus to Guilin by 4pm, to catch my 6:40 train to Guanzhou. I spent the morning repacking my bag, trying very hard to ensure that I would not be the unwitting transporter of sightseeing cockroaches. Then, I had a (bad) lunch and hung out in an internet cafe until it was time to catch my bus.
Once I'd boarded the bus, I felt much better. I think that Yangshuo, like Xi'an was just unlucky for me. I should have worn more red (red is considered a lucky color in China). I'm sure that over the years to come, I will forget about the cockroaches and pushy vendors, and remember the beautiful scenery and placid water buffalo. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to go, and boy, was I glad to get away!
In Guilin, I was actually dropped off at the train station. I had plenty of time to shop for snacks before boarding the train. Once the train had arrived and we had all shoved our way aboard, I happily settled in to my soft sleeper compartment. Well worth the extra money. I had a lovely bed in a four bunk room. I was sharing with an elderly man who was traveling with his two daughters. The daughters were actually in the next compartment, but they kept running over every few minutes to make sure that Baba was OK and didn't need anything. It was so sweet. The 'girls' must have been in their 50s and they were devoted to their father. Every time he would settle down for a rest, one or both of them would come in to make sure that he had tea, slippers, food, a pillow, etc. Finally, they decided to switch, so that one of the daughters could watch him. So, I ended up sharing with the younger daughter while Baba went next door with his elder daughter.
That was it. My time in Guangxi province was at an end, and I was on to new environs. Did my luck improve in Guangzhou? That would be telling! ;)
Update: I've just met a Dutch couple who stayed at a place called The Giggling Tree. It is 5 km outside of Yangshuo, on the river, fabulous food, a lovely courtyard and private rooms for 100 yuan, all spotlessly clean. It provided bikes, motorbikes, tours and tickets. They had a wonderful time and were incredulous when I told them of the cockroaches. Just an fyi, in case anyone is planning on going there.
For pictures, please see http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/GuilinYangshuo
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Yangshuo the Magnificent
The karst topography around Yangshuo and Guilin make it the number one scenic destination in Guangxi province, and debatably in all of China. The distinctive sharp peaks, caves, natural bridges and streams were all formed by groundwater working on limestone over the course of a few thousand years. While stunning, this area is fragile and easily damaged by the everpresent pollution. I had my first look at the region in Guilin, and loved it. Then, I took the obligatory Li River cruise. This was 4 hours on a cruise ship floating down the river past peak after peak after spectacular peak - all the way downriver to Yangshuo town. Most of the peaks have a Chinese name that was settled on it hundreds of years ago. These are names suggested by the shape of the hill. Think of laying in the grass looking for shapes in the clouds. Instead, people laid on bamboo rafts and looked for shapes in the hills. We have elephant trunk hill, demon hill, weeping woman hill, etc. etc. Most require a great deal of imagination to see, and honestly it's a lot more fun to discover your own shapes in the hills. Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.
So, I spent my 4 hours on the boat, watching the hills slowly pass, and comparing the sight to the documentaries on China that I've seen in the past. It was a little anticlimactic. I always thought that it would be so amazing to go down the Li River surrounded by that dramatic scenery. It was nice, but I think that I'd reached saturation point. One can only be stunned and awed so many times before becoming a little blase. I really needed to rest and build up a new store of globetrotterism. I would certainly recommend the trip, but think it'd be better if you don't expect too much.
Lunch began my food purgatory for the next 4 days. The vegetarian option was soup of celery and potato, a dish of fried celery, a dish of fried cucumber, rice (mine had bugs in it), and sweet tofu skin which was pretty much pure fat rather than protein. I was to become extremely tired of cucumber and celery. There must have been a bumper crop of it just recently, 'cause all "mixed vegetable" dishes are cucumber, celery, and a couple slivers of carrot. I really don't like cooked cucumber.
We docked in Yangshuo at around 1:30. I declined the opportunity to take the supplementary tour that would give me, for 200 yuan, a set of watered down, accessible experiences that I could have on my own for 65 yuan and much more personal satisfaction. I found my hostel, the Waterbuffalo Guesthouse inside the Buffalo Bar right off of West Street (the main pedestrian street in Yangshuo). I was disturbed to realize that this was definitely not a hostel, it was a few nice rooms above a bar. There would be no meeting of other travellers in a common room. As a trade off, I got a private sitting room, bathroom, and bedroom with air conditioning and a television. Hmmm. I was won over by the private bathroom, a by now unthought of luxury.
That first afternoon, I mostly spent searching for edible food and exploring my environs and my options. The available activities were: cormorant fishing, hot air ballooning, full day tour to the dragon back rice terraces, the Impressions show on the river, cycling, the water cave, rock climbing, white water rafting, kayaking, bamboo rafting, hiking, etc. etc. This place was fully kitted out with a myriad of tourism options as well as a large expat community that mostly consisted of American and British 22 year olds who didn't want to teach English, but didn't want to go home either. They worked in restaurants, led tour groups, and mostly just got drunk every night, adding to the atmosphere of Yangshuo.
On the food front, the town was covered with pizza and ice cream. The pizza was uniformly awful. The ice cream was quite yummy. I also tried 3 versions of a veggie burger. The best was just a slice of firm tofu in a bun with tomato, lettuce, and cucumber. Simple and tasty. The worst was the breaded, deep fried soft tofu. I came to a decision that I would no longer force myself to eat the disgusting food I was served. I would still pay for it, but if it was inedible, I would no longer fool myself that the few bites I managed to choke down was a meal. Instead, I'd go to a different restaurant and try again. This wasted a lot of money, but succeeded in stopping my weight loss. I don't know if I've regained any weight, but at least I am no longer wasting away. My personal favorite on the inedible food front is the 'vegetarian burrito'. I was quite excited to see that on a menu. Until, that is, I inquired as to the ingredients, "Oh, it is very good. It is full of bamboo shoots, celery..." at this point, I thanked the girl and continued walking. Yangshuo is definitely an adventurous place for the vegetarian diner.
The main tourist area confined by the river, New West Street, West Street and Diecui Street was filled with hotels, hostels, bars, restaurants, bike rental shops, kitch t-shirt shops, shops selling all of the accoutrements of the international backpacking set (i.e. headscarves, flowing cotton skirts, cheap jewelry and indian print tank tops), old ladies selling postcards (quite enthusiastically), old ladies collecting recyclables (often before you've finished your water/coke/etc.), one annoying old man with his wood flute, on which he knows only one song - haunting the first time you hear it, but extremely annoying the 50th time, tour agents, bank machines, ice cream stands, etc. etc. The approximately 6 blocks of tourist area is absolutely crammed full of every possible thing that the residents could come up with as a mode of separating foreign devils from their currency.
As a tourist, I can not be so hypocritical as to deride the commercialization of this small town, considering that I contributed to the problem. I bought silk scarves, ice cream, tours, and bad food along with everyone else. However, I believe that I was one of the few Westerners not charmed by the veneer of Western sybarism over the rural beauty spot. After you've been to a few backpacker hotspots, watching 20 year olds get wildly drunk in the streets to the blaring of outdated Western music loses a bit of its charm.
On Day 2, I took the requisite bike ride into the rice paddies. I rode out to Moon Hill, and the Water Cave (but did not actually go in for a mud bath), then past them on a side road. What I got was an intense sunburn, a lungful of fertilizer and air pollution, and the sight of poor farmers performing the same functions that poor farmers do throughout the entire world. The crop might be rice instead of beans, but the basic premise is the same. A great deal of hard labor under intense sun, interspersed with periods of extreme boredom. The small village settlements were quagmires of stagnant humanity. The rural Chinese are not allowed by the government to move to the city. They are condemned to continue living the same lifestyle enjoyed by their great grandparents. Yes, it's quaint to watch an old man hand till a field with the aid of a water buffalo, but would you want to do it? It's charming that children are running around half naked in the dirt, but is that what you'd want for your own children? Sorry, but while actually riding my bike in the countryside, the heat, bugs and odors made me feel intensely sorry for the people who are fated to live this way. It was a shocking reminder that being born in the United States (or, even better, in Scandinavia) is equivalent to being a SuperLotto winner every day.
Then, I went up above the stink and the filth, and took a hot air balloon ride. Wow! The whole thing takes on another perspective from the air. Suddenly, the backbreaking labor takes on the appearance of manicured waves of green fields. The odor is gone. The bugs can't touch us. Everywhere I look is beauty. The fields, the river, the people so far below performing their miniature tasks. I watched a woman spray her fields with insecticide and found it marvelous. I spied on bamboo rafts floating down the river and was filled with wonder. From above, Yangshuo was a place of mystical beauty. The karst peaks are reaching for the sky and casting long shadows on the toy villages beneath.
I loved it. I was up for an hour, and I wanted to go on forever. Actually, I only paid for a half an hour, because when the tour guide tried to tell me that there was only a trip for an hour, costing 600 yuan, that there wasn't a 480 quai 1/2 hour trip that day, I said, "Fine. Never mind then." The tour purveyors invariably try to pull fast ones on you. I wasn't buying that there was no 1/2 hour trip, and felt vindicated when suddenly, a 1/2 hour trip was available. Funny. It turned out that there really was only an hour trip available. The girl who picked me up asked me to please tell the other two tourists that I paid 750 yuan for one hour, just in case they happened to ask. Yes, I felt a little bad that those two had been ripped off, but mostly, I was happy to have actually gotten a good deal in Yangshuo.
After the hot air balloon ride, I raced over to another tour outfit to go cormorant fishing. I'll admit, I mostly wanted to go on this trip because I saw Anthony Bourdain do it on his "No Reservations" show and it looked fun. It was amazing! I enjoyed it much more than he seemed to. How it worked was, it was night, very dark. About 20 tourists were loaded onto a long barge with a put-put motor. We put-putted along the Li River until we saw a light. We drew closer and came upon a bamboo raft, poled by the fisherman, with a lamp overhanging the water in front to illuminate the actions of a crew of eight cormorants. We drew alongside and that's when I realized that I had the absolute best seat in the boat. I was in front, behind the driver, next to an open window, on the same side that the raft was on. Other people were crowded in trying to see bits and pieces while I had the best view in the house.
The birds entertained us by racing along before the raft, occasionally diving and swimming underwater. For a good 10 minutes, that was the whole show. Then, we hit fish. Suddenly, every 30 seconds, a bird was emerging from the water with a struggling fish in its mouth. The cormorant would tilt back its head and swallow the prize whole. However, the fisherman had a string tied around each bird's neck. This string constricted the bird's throat so that the fish did not go all the way to the digestive tract. Instead, the fish(es) would stay put in the man-made crop until the fisherman pulled the birds in one by one by the string and forced them to regurgitate the fish. The birds were not damaged by this operation and didn't even seem too bothered by it. They all appeared healthy and happy and well fed. Each bird costs $100 US, so the fisherman has incentive to keep them in good health.
After watching the fishing for another 20 minutes or so, we pulled onto a sandbar and were able to take turns holding one of the birds. They have green eyes - green with a hint of blue. They are heavy with webbed feet and a strong grip. The cormorants also entertained us by sneaking up to the basket containing the evening's catch and trying to steal back a fish or two. While the fisherman was forcing one bird to cough up (literally) its illicit gains, another bird would sneak around to nab a fish. Very amusing. I absolutely loved it.
That concludes Days 1 and 2 in Yangshuo. The next entry will cover kayaking, the Impressions light show, and the small incident of the baby cockroaches in the night.
For pics, please see http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/GuilinYangshuo
So, I spent my 4 hours on the boat, watching the hills slowly pass, and comparing the sight to the documentaries on China that I've seen in the past. It was a little anticlimactic. I always thought that it would be so amazing to go down the Li River surrounded by that dramatic scenery. It was nice, but I think that I'd reached saturation point. One can only be stunned and awed so many times before becoming a little blase. I really needed to rest and build up a new store of globetrotterism. I would certainly recommend the trip, but think it'd be better if you don't expect too much.
Lunch began my food purgatory for the next 4 days. The vegetarian option was soup of celery and potato, a dish of fried celery, a dish of fried cucumber, rice (mine had bugs in it), and sweet tofu skin which was pretty much pure fat rather than protein. I was to become extremely tired of cucumber and celery. There must have been a bumper crop of it just recently, 'cause all "mixed vegetable" dishes are cucumber, celery, and a couple slivers of carrot. I really don't like cooked cucumber.
We docked in Yangshuo at around 1:30. I declined the opportunity to take the supplementary tour that would give me, for 200 yuan, a set of watered down, accessible experiences that I could have on my own for 65 yuan and much more personal satisfaction. I found my hostel, the Waterbuffalo Guesthouse inside the Buffalo Bar right off of West Street (the main pedestrian street in Yangshuo). I was disturbed to realize that this was definitely not a hostel, it was a few nice rooms above a bar. There would be no meeting of other travellers in a common room. As a trade off, I got a private sitting room, bathroom, and bedroom with air conditioning and a television. Hmmm. I was won over by the private bathroom, a by now unthought of luxury.
That first afternoon, I mostly spent searching for edible food and exploring my environs and my options. The available activities were: cormorant fishing, hot air ballooning, full day tour to the dragon back rice terraces, the Impressions show on the river, cycling, the water cave, rock climbing, white water rafting, kayaking, bamboo rafting, hiking, etc. etc. This place was fully kitted out with a myriad of tourism options as well as a large expat community that mostly consisted of American and British 22 year olds who didn't want to teach English, but didn't want to go home either. They worked in restaurants, led tour groups, and mostly just got drunk every night, adding to the atmosphere of Yangshuo.
On the food front, the town was covered with pizza and ice cream. The pizza was uniformly awful. The ice cream was quite yummy. I also tried 3 versions of a veggie burger. The best was just a slice of firm tofu in a bun with tomato, lettuce, and cucumber. Simple and tasty. The worst was the breaded, deep fried soft tofu. I came to a decision that I would no longer force myself to eat the disgusting food I was served. I would still pay for it, but if it was inedible, I would no longer fool myself that the few bites I managed to choke down was a meal. Instead, I'd go to a different restaurant and try again. This wasted a lot of money, but succeeded in stopping my weight loss. I don't know if I've regained any weight, but at least I am no longer wasting away. My personal favorite on the inedible food front is the 'vegetarian burrito'. I was quite excited to see that on a menu. Until, that is, I inquired as to the ingredients, "Oh, it is very good. It is full of bamboo shoots, celery..." at this point, I thanked the girl and continued walking. Yangshuo is definitely an adventurous place for the vegetarian diner.
The main tourist area confined by the river, New West Street, West Street and Diecui Street was filled with hotels, hostels, bars, restaurants, bike rental shops, kitch t-shirt shops, shops selling all of the accoutrements of the international backpacking set (i.e. headscarves, flowing cotton skirts, cheap jewelry and indian print tank tops), old ladies selling postcards (quite enthusiastically), old ladies collecting recyclables (often before you've finished your water/coke/etc.), one annoying old man with his wood flute, on which he knows only one song - haunting the first time you hear it, but extremely annoying the 50th time, tour agents, bank machines, ice cream stands, etc. etc. The approximately 6 blocks of tourist area is absolutely crammed full of every possible thing that the residents could come up with as a mode of separating foreign devils from their currency.
As a tourist, I can not be so hypocritical as to deride the commercialization of this small town, considering that I contributed to the problem. I bought silk scarves, ice cream, tours, and bad food along with everyone else. However, I believe that I was one of the few Westerners not charmed by the veneer of Western sybarism over the rural beauty spot. After you've been to a few backpacker hotspots, watching 20 year olds get wildly drunk in the streets to the blaring of outdated Western music loses a bit of its charm.
On Day 2, I took the requisite bike ride into the rice paddies. I rode out to Moon Hill, and the Water Cave (but did not actually go in for a mud bath), then past them on a side road. What I got was an intense sunburn, a lungful of fertilizer and air pollution, and the sight of poor farmers performing the same functions that poor farmers do throughout the entire world. The crop might be rice instead of beans, but the basic premise is the same. A great deal of hard labor under intense sun, interspersed with periods of extreme boredom. The small village settlements were quagmires of stagnant humanity. The rural Chinese are not allowed by the government to move to the city. They are condemned to continue living the same lifestyle enjoyed by their great grandparents. Yes, it's quaint to watch an old man hand till a field with the aid of a water buffalo, but would you want to do it? It's charming that children are running around half naked in the dirt, but is that what you'd want for your own children? Sorry, but while actually riding my bike in the countryside, the heat, bugs and odors made me feel intensely sorry for the people who are fated to live this way. It was a shocking reminder that being born in the United States (or, even better, in Scandinavia) is equivalent to being a SuperLotto winner every day.
Then, I went up above the stink and the filth, and took a hot air balloon ride. Wow! The whole thing takes on another perspective from the air. Suddenly, the backbreaking labor takes on the appearance of manicured waves of green fields. The odor is gone. The bugs can't touch us. Everywhere I look is beauty. The fields, the river, the people so far below performing their miniature tasks. I watched a woman spray her fields with insecticide and found it marvelous. I spied on bamboo rafts floating down the river and was filled with wonder. From above, Yangshuo was a place of mystical beauty. The karst peaks are reaching for the sky and casting long shadows on the toy villages beneath.
I loved it. I was up for an hour, and I wanted to go on forever. Actually, I only paid for a half an hour, because when the tour guide tried to tell me that there was only a trip for an hour, costing 600 yuan, that there wasn't a 480 quai 1/2 hour trip that day, I said, "Fine. Never mind then." The tour purveyors invariably try to pull fast ones on you. I wasn't buying that there was no 1/2 hour trip, and felt vindicated when suddenly, a 1/2 hour trip was available. Funny. It turned out that there really was only an hour trip available. The girl who picked me up asked me to please tell the other two tourists that I paid 750 yuan for one hour, just in case they happened to ask. Yes, I felt a little bad that those two had been ripped off, but mostly, I was happy to have actually gotten a good deal in Yangshuo.
After the hot air balloon ride, I raced over to another tour outfit to go cormorant fishing. I'll admit, I mostly wanted to go on this trip because I saw Anthony Bourdain do it on his "No Reservations" show and it looked fun. It was amazing! I enjoyed it much more than he seemed to. How it worked was, it was night, very dark. About 20 tourists were loaded onto a long barge with a put-put motor. We put-putted along the Li River until we saw a light. We drew closer and came upon a bamboo raft, poled by the fisherman, with a lamp overhanging the water in front to illuminate the actions of a crew of eight cormorants. We drew alongside and that's when I realized that I had the absolute best seat in the boat. I was in front, behind the driver, next to an open window, on the same side that the raft was on. Other people were crowded in trying to see bits and pieces while I had the best view in the house.
The birds entertained us by racing along before the raft, occasionally diving and swimming underwater. For a good 10 minutes, that was the whole show. Then, we hit fish. Suddenly, every 30 seconds, a bird was emerging from the water with a struggling fish in its mouth. The cormorant would tilt back its head and swallow the prize whole. However, the fisherman had a string tied around each bird's neck. This string constricted the bird's throat so that the fish did not go all the way to the digestive tract. Instead, the fish(es) would stay put in the man-made crop until the fisherman pulled the birds in one by one by the string and forced them to regurgitate the fish. The birds were not damaged by this operation and didn't even seem too bothered by it. They all appeared healthy and happy and well fed. Each bird costs $100 US, so the fisherman has incentive to keep them in good health.
After watching the fishing for another 20 minutes or so, we pulled onto a sandbar and were able to take turns holding one of the birds. They have green eyes - green with a hint of blue. They are heavy with webbed feet and a strong grip. The cormorants also entertained us by sneaking up to the basket containing the evening's catch and trying to steal back a fish or two. While the fisherman was forcing one bird to cough up (literally) its illicit gains, another bird would sneak around to nab a fish. Very amusing. I absolutely loved it.
That concludes Days 1 and 2 in Yangshuo. The next entry will cover kayaking, the Impressions light show, and the small incident of the baby cockroaches in the night.
For pics, please see http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/GuilinYangshuo
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Guilin - the scorned and maligned
Lonely Planet China is quite scathing about Guilin. Their summary of the city is, 'get yourself to Yangshuo as quickly as possible, 'cause Guilin sucks'. This is of course my paraphrase, but it accurately sums up LP's description of the city on the Li River. It's interesting because Guilin and Yangshuo share the same beautiful karst topography. Guilin is actually closer to the famous Longsheng Rice Terraces (no, I didn't go see them - I'm covered with shame). They are both on the beautiful Li river. The difference is that Yangshuo is rural(ish), while Guilin is undeniably a city.
I arrived in Guilin with this preformed opinion, courtesy of the backpacker's Bible. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. First, the airport shuttle was a dream. It dropped us off near the train station, from whence I was easily able to catch a cab to my hostel. I only had to try 2 cabbies before getting one to go by the meter instead of trying to set an inflated price in advance, and he only took a couple of minor detours on the way there to boost the metered price, equaling maybe an extra quai. That's the best experience I've had with cabs in China.
At my hostel, I was checked in to a charming dorm room for my one night in Guilin. There, I discovered one of the interesting power saving ideas in China. All hostels that I've been to in the south issue a magnetic key card to get into your room. This key card must then be inserted into a slot by the door (inside the room) before the lights will activate. This effectively prevents people from leaving lights and air conditioners activated when they've gone out for the day. That, or they have to leave their key behind. Great idea.
I dumped my bag and then headed out to find sustenance. I was in search of Rosemary's Cafe, supplier of the city's finest Western food, according to LP. Well, the authors of LP might believe that the pinnacle of Western culinary art was reached with the invention of the frozen pizza, but I'd have to disagree. I finished my soggy mess of a "pizza" and then went wandering around a bit. There was a charming covered market area quite near to my hostel that was very entertaining, and then I stumbled on a massage storefront. I decided that I did have some time to spare for a quick 90 minute foot and shoulder massage.
Oh my. That was my first real foot massage and I am an addict. It was incredible. The shoulder massage was OK, but the foot massage!!! Wow. First, I had a foot bath with mineral salts. Then, each foot was in turn rubbed with warming lotion firmly (almost painfully) massaged, with special attention to the main pressure points that supposedly connect to my kidneys, etc. I could feel my arches perking up. After so much walking, quite often while carrying a 30 pound pack, it was heaven. Then, when I thought we were done, she applied a foot and calf mud mask! Crazy. I must admit that when it came off, my feet were very soft. :)
After my little interlude at the foot spa, I went down to the Li river. There, I watched people swimming, fishing, and bathing. It was so hot that I was quite tempted to grab my swim suit and join in. Then, I took a closer look at the film of scum and detritus floating on the water, and decided to vicariously enjoy the river. I crossed a bridge to the other bank and continued on to Qixing Gongyuan (Seven Star park), one of Guilin's nicest spots. The park is named after the seven peaks it contains which form a pattern resembling the big dipper. It is 297 acres of parkland containing streams, bridges, pagodas, caves, a zoo, and numerous scenic areas. I really really loved it. My favorite was the peak that looks like a dromedary camel from one side and a bactrian camel from the other. Amazing! Best of all, on the bactrian side, there's a huge plaque saying that Bill Clinton gave a speech at that site. As a loyal Clintonite, I got a big kick out of that.
After a lovely time wandering the paths, taking photos, and saying "hello, hello" to children who were prompted to talk to the nice foreign lady by parents and grandparents proud of their progeny's English skill, I decided to watch the sunset from one of the peaks. Logically, I chose to follow the sign that said scenic lookout pagoda. Sounds good. I huffed and puffed up the steep path, surprising a millipede around one turn - they are really disgusting in person by the way. I finally reached the top to find that the pagoda was surrounded by foliage. There was not a chance of seeing the sunset from there. Drat! I climbed back down and only then did I notice the perfect viewing platform at the top of the next peak. Nope. I decided that there would be other sunsets and that I could enjoy this one from the Flower Bridge instead.
I left the park and wandered out into a city seething with rush hour traffic. I will never get over the fact that in China, rush hour means bicycles. Huge hordes of bicycles backed up for city blocks. Amazing. There are plenty of cars and trucks as well, but most people get around on two wheeled devices - some motorized, some not. I fought my way back to the bridge over the Li River and spent a little time playing with a Hui baby and buying chestnut candy from her father. Interesting. Then, it was back to the market for dinner and an internet cafe, then to the hostel for sleep. I had to be up and ready to go at 8am for my Li River cruise, so it was early to bed for me.
I only had that one day and night in Guilin, but it was lovely. Maybe I just did all that there is to do in the city and thus would have been bored to tears by another day or two there, but honestly, I wouldn't have minded staying. There still seemed to be lots to do there, not least a trip to the rice terraces. Best of all, it was close to good food; there were no cockroaches; and people weren't constantly trying to cheat me. Oops, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Read my next entry to find my opinion of the great tourist Mecca of Yangshuo.
For the pics, see http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/GuilinYangshuo
I arrived in Guilin with this preformed opinion, courtesy of the backpacker's Bible. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. First, the airport shuttle was a dream. It dropped us off near the train station, from whence I was easily able to catch a cab to my hostel. I only had to try 2 cabbies before getting one to go by the meter instead of trying to set an inflated price in advance, and he only took a couple of minor detours on the way there to boost the metered price, equaling maybe an extra quai. That's the best experience I've had with cabs in China.
At my hostel, I was checked in to a charming dorm room for my one night in Guilin. There, I discovered one of the interesting power saving ideas in China. All hostels that I've been to in the south issue a magnetic key card to get into your room. This key card must then be inserted into a slot by the door (inside the room) before the lights will activate. This effectively prevents people from leaving lights and air conditioners activated when they've gone out for the day. That, or they have to leave their key behind. Great idea.
I dumped my bag and then headed out to find sustenance. I was in search of Rosemary's Cafe, supplier of the city's finest Western food, according to LP. Well, the authors of LP might believe that the pinnacle of Western culinary art was reached with the invention of the frozen pizza, but I'd have to disagree. I finished my soggy mess of a "pizza" and then went wandering around a bit. There was a charming covered market area quite near to my hostel that was very entertaining, and then I stumbled on a massage storefront. I decided that I did have some time to spare for a quick 90 minute foot and shoulder massage.
Oh my. That was my first real foot massage and I am an addict. It was incredible. The shoulder massage was OK, but the foot massage!!! Wow. First, I had a foot bath with mineral salts. Then, each foot was in turn rubbed with warming lotion firmly (almost painfully) massaged, with special attention to the main pressure points that supposedly connect to my kidneys, etc. I could feel my arches perking up. After so much walking, quite often while carrying a 30 pound pack, it was heaven. Then, when I thought we were done, she applied a foot and calf mud mask! Crazy. I must admit that when it came off, my feet were very soft. :)
After my little interlude at the foot spa, I went down to the Li river. There, I watched people swimming, fishing, and bathing. It was so hot that I was quite tempted to grab my swim suit and join in. Then, I took a closer look at the film of scum and detritus floating on the water, and decided to vicariously enjoy the river. I crossed a bridge to the other bank and continued on to Qixing Gongyuan (Seven Star park), one of Guilin's nicest spots. The park is named after the seven peaks it contains which form a pattern resembling the big dipper. It is 297 acres of parkland containing streams, bridges, pagodas, caves, a zoo, and numerous scenic areas. I really really loved it. My favorite was the peak that looks like a dromedary camel from one side and a bactrian camel from the other. Amazing! Best of all, on the bactrian side, there's a huge plaque saying that Bill Clinton gave a speech at that site. As a loyal Clintonite, I got a big kick out of that.
After a lovely time wandering the paths, taking photos, and saying "hello, hello" to children who were prompted to talk to the nice foreign lady by parents and grandparents proud of their progeny's English skill, I decided to watch the sunset from one of the peaks. Logically, I chose to follow the sign that said scenic lookout pagoda. Sounds good. I huffed and puffed up the steep path, surprising a millipede around one turn - they are really disgusting in person by the way. I finally reached the top to find that the pagoda was surrounded by foliage. There was not a chance of seeing the sunset from there. Drat! I climbed back down and only then did I notice the perfect viewing platform at the top of the next peak. Nope. I decided that there would be other sunsets and that I could enjoy this one from the Flower Bridge instead.
I left the park and wandered out into a city seething with rush hour traffic. I will never get over the fact that in China, rush hour means bicycles. Huge hordes of bicycles backed up for city blocks. Amazing. There are plenty of cars and trucks as well, but most people get around on two wheeled devices - some motorized, some not. I fought my way back to the bridge over the Li River and spent a little time playing with a Hui baby and buying chestnut candy from her father. Interesting. Then, it was back to the market for dinner and an internet cafe, then to the hostel for sleep. I had to be up and ready to go at 8am for my Li River cruise, so it was early to bed for me.
I only had that one day and night in Guilin, but it was lovely. Maybe I just did all that there is to do in the city and thus would have been bored to tears by another day or two there, but honestly, I wouldn't have minded staying. There still seemed to be lots to do there, not least a trip to the rice terraces. Best of all, it was close to good food; there were no cockroaches; and people weren't constantly trying to cheat me. Oops, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Read my next entry to find my opinion of the great tourist Mecca of Yangshuo.
For the pics, see http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/GuilinYangshuo
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