Didn’t do a whole lot in Kunming. These lazy days seem to be more frequent lately, which is a bit of a shame considering we don’t have an infinite visas. But our time in Kunming was ultimately consisted of tying up a few loose ends and getting some planning done.
Our first day there (Friday), we turned on the lap top just to check the messages and touch base with home, only to be slapped in the face by the dreaded blue screen, which was followed by some odd beeps and clicks. For anyone who or has ever owned a computer, you’ve probably experienced this trauma before. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, these are signs of a dying hard drive. Now, my original intension upon coming to China was to buy a portable hard drive to store photos on, but Darren figured that would fit well enough on my computer so we opted to put it off until/unless it looked like the files were taking up too much space. I have been uploading a portion of the photos onto Picassa, so we did have some form of backup, but not a complete backup. That all being said, when I saw that blue screen my first and foremost concerns were for my photos. I made Darren take me to an electronic market immediately so I could buy a hard drive, and than stressfully wait to see if I could transfer the important things before it blue screened again (the important things of course being photos, music, and Photoshop). After a day and a half of frantically trying to back up photos and figuring out what our repair options were, we eventually figured out that the lap top was still under warranty; and, with the help and translation of the hostel reception, we were able to drop it off at an Asus repair shop. They put it in a new hard drive and transferred all our data free of charge—all that stressing for nothing! (Keep in mind that before leaving for China, I dropped my very large hard drive twice, in a matter of minutes, and it is the only source for all my photos, and have not repaired it yet; so, already scarred from my previous technical misfortunes, this was the second time my photographic life was the flash before my eyes.)
Technical difficulties aside, the only other thing we did in Kunming was walk around the city, buy a novel or two, and go to the Stone Forest.
I only watched BBC’s “Wild China” once, but it definitely left some strong impressions of China—and of the Stone Forest. I was particularly excited to see the Stone Forest, and while it is impressive, I was also a little disappointed. (Since coming to China, we have also learned/come to realize that in order for BBC to film “Wild China”, they first had to sign an agreement with the Chinese government, restricting what they were and were not allowed to document/show.) The parts of China that BBC doesn’t show are the tourists and ticket booths that are around every corner. The Stone Forest in the “Wild China” documentary is portrayed as a “wild” and petrified forest. It is petrified, but hardly wild, and it was also smaller than I expected. It is actually a small park, which was once wild, but has been exploited for a profit like every other natural beauty in this country. That being said, it was still pretty cool. The original forest was created some 200+ million years ago when the ocean receded from the area, leaving a large forest of limestone karsts. With the proceeding years of wind and rain, many of the karsts have been warped and moulded, leaving some smooth, some jagged, and most in strange and unusual shapes. Some of the rocks have even taken the shape of things such as elephants, birds, or a cat. It definitely adds a whole new level to that childhood past-time of finding shapes in clouds. I think one of the coolest things about the Stone Forest, despite the mowed grass and highly manicured walkways and rest areas, are the swallows that inhabit the trees and massive lime-stones. At least we think they’re swallows. I don’t think we actually saw any of the birds (something did swoosh by once, but so quickly we barely caught a glimpse), which makes the experience a little eerie but exciting at the same time. As you enter the forest, there is this overwhelmingly loud, buzzing-like noise that seems to be coming from everywhere. We couldn’t figure it out at first, but we realized that it must be birds. An area will be totally quiet, and the minute you step over the invisible threshold, it just explodes with rapid chirping. The quiet forest just suddenly comes alive with this chaotic noise, enough to rival the masses of Chinese tourists. Once you do escape the hoards, the forest can become fairly quiet and very peaceful. I’m not sure if it was the air quality/lack of oxygen or just the fatigue from travelling in general, but we were both exhausted and short of breath (it’s entirely likely we’re just out of shape), and just about fell asleep at this wonderful little spot called something to do with a swords tip or peak of a sword or something. We overheard one of the tour guides talking and I think it was supposed to be a holy place, and there we were lying on the rocks half asleep!
We spent one last day in Kunming (at the Hump hostel—not our favourite) and were off to Dali.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Bittersweet Jiuzhaigou
I'm not sure exactly where to start. This trip was "bittersweet", so do I start with the "bitter" or do I start with the "sweet"? For the sake of not leaving a bad taste in anyone's mouth, I think I should start with the bitter. That being said, our tour to Jiuzhaigou was pretty terrible.
Let me make clear that the scenery itself wasn't unpleasant, in fact, it was breath taking, but Darren and I have both agreed that we will never take another overnight tour again. This tour wasn't just overnight, it was over three nights, and the problems started on the bus on the way there.
The reason Darren and I join tour groups is strictly convenience. I haven't come across a tour price yet, that is cheaper than what it would cost for us to do it alone. We did the calculations, and for us to go to Jiuzhaigou on our own, would be less than a 100 RMB difference from the tour; but, with a tour we don't have to worry about the planning and arrangments. In this particular tour, the transportation, accomodation, entrance fees, a Tibetan event, and all meals but one were included. Anything not included in our tour price, was optional. We also opted for the "bus tour", which was cheaper than the "plane tour" by over 1000 RMB, but took 10 hours longer! It was a long 10 hours! Now, when we booked our tour (and by we, I mean Darren) we were very specific about the details. As you can see, we wanted to make sure we knew exactly what was included, and the nature of the tour itself (like the Panda tour, this one would drop you off at the sight and pick you up, but didn't accompany you and force you to follow a set schedule while at the park). So, when the tour guide (who didn't speak any English) finished his microphone speal on the bus, and started walking around and collecting money, we didn't really know what was going on. When he got to us, he said/gestured that we were to give him 600 RMB, 300 RMB each. We didn't know why and were not about to just hand over that much money blindely. We recited our well used phrase "Wo ting bu dong" (I don't understand), and he proceeded to solicit the translation of a girl from the back of the bus. As best she could, she explained to us that the 300 RMB each was for two events, two Tibetan cultural experiences/parties. We were aware of the events, and were also aware that they were optional and simply said that we didn't want to go. The guide did not take this well. As per her translation, the guide insisted that we attend these events, and that they were mandatory. The girl however, also informed us that the events weren't mandatory and that we had the choice of whether or not to go. The guide obviously had a different opinion and after brooding in silence for a few hours, asked us again to pay, during a pee break. We again said no, and the guide blew up. He started yelling at us in Mandarin with flaring hand gestures and we couldn't understand why he was so upset. It's funny how some things are quite clear despite the language barrier, because it was quite clear that he was threatening to kick us off the bus if we didn't pay. Sure enough, as our translator informed us, this was the case. The guide called someone who claimed to be his manager who also told us that if we didn't pay the 600 RMB they were going to kick us off the tour once we got to Jiuzhaigou. We were pissed off enough and not impressed at all, and didn't want to be on the bus anymore anyway. So Darren told the guy on the phone, that quitting the tour was fine with us, that we would pay 100 RMB a piece for the drive up and that they could refund us our remaining 1400+ RMB and we'd be on our way. We got disconnected (driving through the mountains) and when he called back, he explained that he had looked into our bookings, noticed that the one night's event was included in our package, that we were right, the other night was optional, and that if we wanted to go we could pay the 150 RMB but we didn't have to. With a bad taste in our mouth, we stayed on the bus, though in hindsight, we wish we had gotten off.
Though awkward, things seemed to have smoothed out. The other people on the bus were very empathetic and even embarrassed by the tour guides actions. They were extremely kind and went out of their way to make sure that we were comfortable. Needless to say, Darren and I didn't trust our guide at all from this point forward, and were weary of his every move. Before we left our hostel we inquired about student prices for entry into the parks. As it is with most places, they did have student discounts, but the hostel and the agency weren't sure if foreign students were applicable for the discount. After checking with the agency, our hostel told us to just bring our student cards and see if they'd be accepted; if they were, we'd be reimbursed the difference at the end of the tour. So when we got to Jiuzhaigou we asked one of the girls to check abou the student pricing for us, and sure enough we got the student discount (-50 RMB each). We were still a little ticked off about him trying to scam us for 600 RMB, but this was a small redeeming factor.
The next morning, we boarded the bus at 7 am to head for Huanglong, expecting to get there around 10 am, and we didn't get there until after 2 pm. We had stopped at four different tourist/souvenir shops on the way to Huanglong. At each one of course, our tour guide got a commission off how much we purchased. Consquently, when a couple of the other tourists decided to take over an hour perusing and purchasing cystals, there was no rush. Everyone was sitting on the bus, waiting and preturbed as the amount of time we were wasting. Oh, and did I mention that up in the mountains it was freezing? We were all so cold and just wanted to get going. Darren and I made a small purchase, just snacks, at the last place and regretted doing so as we watched him collecting copies of receipts as we paid. (It was such a massive waste of time and everyone else on the bus seemed to think so as well, but it does seem to be par for the course with these tours.) Once we finally got to Huanglong, the guide went around collecting all the student cards/certificates before going to get our tickets, but came out and told us that the discount only applied to Chinese students, and then dashed off. Still untrusting, Darren went into the ticket office himself to check whether or not our student cards were applicable. Sure enough, they were, and the girl at the office told us that we'd have to take up the discount with our guide. Livid and raging, we stormed up the hillside, passing people with oxygen masks like it was no problem at all (a lot of people apparently struggle with the elevation). We were so mad that we barely took in anything we saw on the way up. Once we got to the top we sat down, had a bite to eat and talked over how we were going to deal with getting our money back (another 50 RMB a piece). On the way down it was like seeing everything for the first time since on the way up we just stormed passed it all. We made sure to get back down before the ticket office closed and went back to speak to the attendant. She called our guide (the tickets were registered under him) and found out that the tickets were booked online as full price tickets, and that once they were booked, you couldn't redeem them at the student price. Just to be sure, we had one of the girls who speaks English to double check for us. She came back fuming. (Keep in mind, this is the same girl who translated to Darren when the guide said that the student price was for Chinese students only). She said that the tickets were booked as full price adult tickets (which we couldn't understand since they knew we were students) but that all the guide had to do was cancel the tickets (at the expense of 4 RMB each) and then ask for student priced tickets. Well, she was so angry that she could hardly relay this information to us, and when the guide got back on the bus, she tore a piece out of him! Our hero (her name is Gloria by the way), she was fantastic! They got to arguing and even stormed off to the ticket office together to sort it out, but the office was closed. He apparently told her that it wasn't his responsibility to explain to the "English" people why they couldn't get the discount, and it wasn't his responsibility to get us the discount in the first place. Then, he threatened to kick her off the bus as well, told her she was a "bad student" and that she was an embarrassment to the Chinese for helping us. Again, we had the empathy of everyone else on the bus, but were really no better off.
The next morning (we left Huanglong at 5 am), another dissatisfied tour member got into an argument with the guide and he threatened to kick her off the bus as well. The guide was off his rocker! We've met a lot of tour guides or aspiring tour guides and none seem to be quite the prick this guy was. Thanks to our wonderful Gloria though, we were able to call our hostel, explain to them what had happened, and ask them to figure out how we were going to be reimbursed the 200 RMB (the total amount we saved with our student discounts). Our hostel spoke to our guide who apparently told them that we wouldn't be reimbursed for the student discount at Huanglong because we weren't applicable. Our hostel then called the tour agency who said we would be reimbursed the full 200 RMB, and then told us to wait until the end of the tour and that if we had any trouble to call him again. Sure enough, at the end of the tour, our guide proceeded to hand us each 50 RMB. Wonderful Gloria told him that we were each entitled to 100 RMB, which of course he argued, now claiming that we he was reimbursing us for Huanglong and not Jiuzhagou, and we called the hostel again. Meanwhile, he got on the phone with his boss, and was apparently arguing with his boss telling him that Darren and I were trying to cheat him. In the end, after the tour guide called Gloria our whore, we got our 200 RMB back. Gloria was fantastic, if not for her I don't think we would have been able to get our money back. She also came with us to our hostel to relay to them what had happened. The people at our hostel speak incredibly good English, and it wouldn't have been that they couldn't understand our explanation, but it's difficult relaying the faults of someone else through translation. At first, the hostel thought maybe it was just a case of miscommunication, but Gloria made sure they knew that the guide was definitely trying to take advantage of us. I have a feeling she sugar-coated a bit of the translation for us, but gave the hostel the full account, and apparently, somebody's in trouble. Ideally, Darren and I would have liked to be reimbursed for the entire tour, but this isn't home-- things don't work like that here.
So, now for the sweet stuff.
The first night in Jiuzhai, we went to some sort of Tibetan dinner. It was almost like a cold luau in that as we got off the bus they draped a piece of yellow cloth around our necks. Before we were allowed to pass through the gate, we had to step over a bowl of some sort of smoking substance. From there, we walked over to a wash basin and washed our hands, before passing by and touching the gold wheel/spindle things, afterwhich we were led to walk around some sort of shrine. Form there we were led into the room where we were to eat. It was a small room, the table and bench seats set up in a square, with an open space in the middle. True to the Tibetan style, the room was very bright and colourful, with lotus flowers and other cultural symbols painted on the walls. We sat down to various plates and dishes of breads and snacks, some strange green things, a bowl of soup/broth with a chicken head in it, and a nice steaming bowl of yak meat. They also performed some sort of ceremonial toast where we chanted something or other, dipped our fingers in it in the ceremonial way and the proceeded to splash people with it, before toasting again and taking sip. It tasted like cold broth. It's possible that it was supposed to be warm but cooled while waiting, I'm not sure. It was strange, but a lot of fun. We sat eating while the locals sang songs, and quite well. I told Darren that if he could learn to sing like the one guy (who was kinda cute--Darren noted that he looked like Jason Lee off the Jungle Book) I wouldn't mind so much when he made up his own words to songs. The other men in our group really took to Darren, raising a glass of potent rice wine to him several times and saying "Gambe", which is a Chinese form of "cheers" except that you have to down your entire glass. Darren could easily drink them all under the table. Most of them had on their Asian glow after their first cup. We also had, what I'm pretty sure was the Tibetan milk tea, made with yak milk, and it was pretty good. At one point in the night, they brought out a huge roasted something-with-no-head on a platter. When we asked one of the guys what it was, he said he didn't know what it was called in English. It kind of looked like a dog, and he said it wasn't a dog, but like a dog. Darren braved a piece of rib and took a bite, but I don't think he liked it. The animal, whatever it was, looked somewhat under-fed because there didn't seem to be much meat on the thing to begin with. After the "not-dog" meat, and a lot of singing, they played some strange game where they dressed two of the men in traditional Tibetan garments (but I think they were women's clothes) and sang more songs. At first they tried to elect Darren to play the game but we didn't know what was going on. It was pretty funny. After everyone was done drinking and eating, we all went outside and danced some special dance around the fire. Well, they were all dancing their dance, Darren was "picking potatoes" and doing the electric slide. It was a blast though and we had a great time. The women kept telling Darren "I love you, I love you" and then giggling and dancing some more. It was a great way to relax and relieve the stress of our trip up, and we really enjoyed the experience. The next morning, it was off to Jiuzhaigou.
The mythical story behind the creation of Jiuzhaigou is based on a love story of course. Apparently there was a man who was in love with a goddess, and he gave her a very special mirror made of wind. An unforseen evil force apparently separated the two lovers and the goddess smashed the mirror, the pieces falling to earth and creating the crystal clear lakes of Jiuzhaigou. The water there was so unbelievably clear and so blue that it didn't seem real. It was unfortunately miserable weather, raining and cold, but the scenery was still beautiful. I can't imagine how amazing it must look with clear blue skies, but apparently, they really do look like mirrors and perfectly reflect the surrounding mountains. They were still fairly clear though, despite the clouds and the rain rippling the water. We walked a lot of the back walkways and it's incredible walking through waterfalls basically. The water rushing below your feet on the walkways and down the hillside. Trees still grow all over the place and it's like a wet land but with clear moving water rather than a boggy swamp. Some of my favourite places were the little waterfalls tucked behind the trees with no one around. The Panda lake was also pretty cool. It was actually a white sand beach with the bluest water which varied in shades, depending on the depths of course. It was all so unreal. The park consists of five valleys (I think) with a road through it shaped like a Y. To walk the entire thing is 32 km, but they have a shuttle bus that you can get on and off of to save time between some of the sights. It was an excellent walk though, even with the rain,, and they say that it's the ever changing weather that makes each experience to Jiuzhaigou so unique. Apparently, October is a great time to go because the weather is a little clearer, and the lake refelcts all the bright colours of the fall leaves.
In Huanglong (which I'm sure I'm spelling wrong), or Yellow Dragon, the water falls down the mountain gathering in small pools on its way down. The minerals in the water actually turn the mountain-side a light shade of yellow, and the pools a bright shade of blue. Though we missed a lot on the way up, we did take in a bit on the way down. A lot of people take a "rope way" up and walk down, but Darren and I opted for walking the entire thing. On the way, we saw a lot of people with oxygen tanks, or stopped at the various oxygen bars along the way. Apparently the altitude gets to people and makes it hard for them to make the climb. But it's not even a climb really. All the mountains we expect to be more like Grouse or the Chief, but they're all just a series of steps, and not very steep. Again, the weather was kind of crappy and it was freezing, but still a gorgeous wonder of China's landscape. As Darren and I were discussing, it's just a pitty you have to travel so far and pay so much to enjoy what little of the beautiful landscape is left.
Finally, the other "experience" that I got from the tour was less scenic and more... personal I suppose. I tend to avoid squat toilets when at all possible, especially the ones where there isn't really a stall so much as two small walls on either side of you and no door. When travelling with a tour however, and in a rural area especially, you basically don't have an option unless you want to pee your pants. During our tour, not only did I use squat toilets, but also squat toilets that look more like a trough (troft?), and I used them with people standing right in front of me waiting for me to finish. These weren't clean squat toilets either. If you do have the option of picking which stall you go into, then you can pick the one that doesn't have number two splattered all over the floor, but usually, you just had to use whatever was available when it was available. It's a small milestone, but one you have to experience in China and I think I can now successfully cross that one off my list. I've actually gotten pretty good at it... squatting that is. It's difficult at first, trying to aim, but you really just have to get right in there. It's not like hovering over a public toilet, but you fully have to squat as low as you can get basically! I'm still perfecting my technique, but I think I've got it down pretty good.
While you think about that, Darren and I are heading off to Kunming. 20 hours! It's a long one. I'm going to work on getting photos posted soon but I've run out of time for now. Hope everyone is well and we'll send word from the Yunnan province next.
Let me make clear that the scenery itself wasn't unpleasant, in fact, it was breath taking, but Darren and I have both agreed that we will never take another overnight tour again. This tour wasn't just overnight, it was over three nights, and the problems started on the bus on the way there.
The reason Darren and I join tour groups is strictly convenience. I haven't come across a tour price yet, that is cheaper than what it would cost for us to do it alone. We did the calculations, and for us to go to Jiuzhaigou on our own, would be less than a 100 RMB difference from the tour; but, with a tour we don't have to worry about the planning and arrangments. In this particular tour, the transportation, accomodation, entrance fees, a Tibetan event, and all meals but one were included. Anything not included in our tour price, was optional. We also opted for the "bus tour", which was cheaper than the "plane tour" by over 1000 RMB, but took 10 hours longer! It was a long 10 hours! Now, when we booked our tour (and by we, I mean Darren) we were very specific about the details. As you can see, we wanted to make sure we knew exactly what was included, and the nature of the tour itself (like the Panda tour, this one would drop you off at the sight and pick you up, but didn't accompany you and force you to follow a set schedule while at the park). So, when the tour guide (who didn't speak any English) finished his microphone speal on the bus, and started walking around and collecting money, we didn't really know what was going on. When he got to us, he said/gestured that we were to give him 600 RMB, 300 RMB each. We didn't know why and were not about to just hand over that much money blindely. We recited our well used phrase "Wo ting bu dong" (I don't understand), and he proceeded to solicit the translation of a girl from the back of the bus. As best she could, she explained to us that the 300 RMB each was for two events, two Tibetan cultural experiences/parties. We were aware of the events, and were also aware that they were optional and simply said that we didn't want to go. The guide did not take this well. As per her translation, the guide insisted that we attend these events, and that they were mandatory. The girl however, also informed us that the events weren't mandatory and that we had the choice of whether or not to go. The guide obviously had a different opinion and after brooding in silence for a few hours, asked us again to pay, during a pee break. We again said no, and the guide blew up. He started yelling at us in Mandarin with flaring hand gestures and we couldn't understand why he was so upset. It's funny how some things are quite clear despite the language barrier, because it was quite clear that he was threatening to kick us off the bus if we didn't pay. Sure enough, as our translator informed us, this was the case. The guide called someone who claimed to be his manager who also told us that if we didn't pay the 600 RMB they were going to kick us off the tour once we got to Jiuzhaigou. We were pissed off enough and not impressed at all, and didn't want to be on the bus anymore anyway. So Darren told the guy on the phone, that quitting the tour was fine with us, that we would pay 100 RMB a piece for the drive up and that they could refund us our remaining 1400+ RMB and we'd be on our way. We got disconnected (driving through the mountains) and when he called back, he explained that he had looked into our bookings, noticed that the one night's event was included in our package, that we were right, the other night was optional, and that if we wanted to go we could pay the 150 RMB but we didn't have to. With a bad taste in our mouth, we stayed on the bus, though in hindsight, we wish we had gotten off.
Though awkward, things seemed to have smoothed out. The other people on the bus were very empathetic and even embarrassed by the tour guides actions. They were extremely kind and went out of their way to make sure that we were comfortable. Needless to say, Darren and I didn't trust our guide at all from this point forward, and were weary of his every move. Before we left our hostel we inquired about student prices for entry into the parks. As it is with most places, they did have student discounts, but the hostel and the agency weren't sure if foreign students were applicable for the discount. After checking with the agency, our hostel told us to just bring our student cards and see if they'd be accepted; if they were, we'd be reimbursed the difference at the end of the tour. So when we got to Jiuzhaigou we asked one of the girls to check abou the student pricing for us, and sure enough we got the student discount (-50 RMB each). We were still a little ticked off about him trying to scam us for 600 RMB, but this was a small redeeming factor.
The next morning, we boarded the bus at 7 am to head for Huanglong, expecting to get there around 10 am, and we didn't get there until after 2 pm. We had stopped at four different tourist/souvenir shops on the way to Huanglong. At each one of course, our tour guide got a commission off how much we purchased. Consquently, when a couple of the other tourists decided to take over an hour perusing and purchasing cystals, there was no rush. Everyone was sitting on the bus, waiting and preturbed as the amount of time we were wasting. Oh, and did I mention that up in the mountains it was freezing? We were all so cold and just wanted to get going. Darren and I made a small purchase, just snacks, at the last place and regretted doing so as we watched him collecting copies of receipts as we paid. (It was such a massive waste of time and everyone else on the bus seemed to think so as well, but it does seem to be par for the course with these tours.) Once we finally got to Huanglong, the guide went around collecting all the student cards/certificates before going to get our tickets, but came out and told us that the discount only applied to Chinese students, and then dashed off. Still untrusting, Darren went into the ticket office himself to check whether or not our student cards were applicable. Sure enough, they were, and the girl at the office told us that we'd have to take up the discount with our guide. Livid and raging, we stormed up the hillside, passing people with oxygen masks like it was no problem at all (a lot of people apparently struggle with the elevation). We were so mad that we barely took in anything we saw on the way up. Once we got to the top we sat down, had a bite to eat and talked over how we were going to deal with getting our money back (another 50 RMB a piece). On the way down it was like seeing everything for the first time since on the way up we just stormed passed it all. We made sure to get back down before the ticket office closed and went back to speak to the attendant. She called our guide (the tickets were registered under him) and found out that the tickets were booked online as full price tickets, and that once they were booked, you couldn't redeem them at the student price. Just to be sure, we had one of the girls who speaks English to double check for us. She came back fuming. (Keep in mind, this is the same girl who translated to Darren when the guide said that the student price was for Chinese students only). She said that the tickets were booked as full price adult tickets (which we couldn't understand since they knew we were students) but that all the guide had to do was cancel the tickets (at the expense of 4 RMB each) and then ask for student priced tickets. Well, she was so angry that she could hardly relay this information to us, and when the guide got back on the bus, she tore a piece out of him! Our hero (her name is Gloria by the way), she was fantastic! They got to arguing and even stormed off to the ticket office together to sort it out, but the office was closed. He apparently told her that it wasn't his responsibility to explain to the "English" people why they couldn't get the discount, and it wasn't his responsibility to get us the discount in the first place. Then, he threatened to kick her off the bus as well, told her she was a "bad student" and that she was an embarrassment to the Chinese for helping us. Again, we had the empathy of everyone else on the bus, but were really no better off.
The next morning (we left Huanglong at 5 am), another dissatisfied tour member got into an argument with the guide and he threatened to kick her off the bus as well. The guide was off his rocker! We've met a lot of tour guides or aspiring tour guides and none seem to be quite the prick this guy was. Thanks to our wonderful Gloria though, we were able to call our hostel, explain to them what had happened, and ask them to figure out how we were going to be reimbursed the 200 RMB (the total amount we saved with our student discounts). Our hostel spoke to our guide who apparently told them that we wouldn't be reimbursed for the student discount at Huanglong because we weren't applicable. Our hostel then called the tour agency who said we would be reimbursed the full 200 RMB, and then told us to wait until the end of the tour and that if we had any trouble to call him again. Sure enough, at the end of the tour, our guide proceeded to hand us each 50 RMB. Wonderful Gloria told him that we were each entitled to 100 RMB, which of course he argued, now claiming that we he was reimbursing us for Huanglong and not Jiuzhagou, and we called the hostel again. Meanwhile, he got on the phone with his boss, and was apparently arguing with his boss telling him that Darren and I were trying to cheat him. In the end, after the tour guide called Gloria our whore, we got our 200 RMB back. Gloria was fantastic, if not for her I don't think we would have been able to get our money back. She also came with us to our hostel to relay to them what had happened. The people at our hostel speak incredibly good English, and it wouldn't have been that they couldn't understand our explanation, but it's difficult relaying the faults of someone else through translation. At first, the hostel thought maybe it was just a case of miscommunication, but Gloria made sure they knew that the guide was definitely trying to take advantage of us. I have a feeling she sugar-coated a bit of the translation for us, but gave the hostel the full account, and apparently, somebody's in trouble. Ideally, Darren and I would have liked to be reimbursed for the entire tour, but this isn't home-- things don't work like that here.
So, now for the sweet stuff.
The first night in Jiuzhai, we went to some sort of Tibetan dinner. It was almost like a cold luau in that as we got off the bus they draped a piece of yellow cloth around our necks. Before we were allowed to pass through the gate, we had to step over a bowl of some sort of smoking substance. From there, we walked over to a wash basin and washed our hands, before passing by and touching the gold wheel/spindle things, afterwhich we were led to walk around some sort of shrine. Form there we were led into the room where we were to eat. It was a small room, the table and bench seats set up in a square, with an open space in the middle. True to the Tibetan style, the room was very bright and colourful, with lotus flowers and other cultural symbols painted on the walls. We sat down to various plates and dishes of breads and snacks, some strange green things, a bowl of soup/broth with a chicken head in it, and a nice steaming bowl of yak meat. They also performed some sort of ceremonial toast where we chanted something or other, dipped our fingers in it in the ceremonial way and the proceeded to splash people with it, before toasting again and taking sip. It tasted like cold broth. It's possible that it was supposed to be warm but cooled while waiting, I'm not sure. It was strange, but a lot of fun. We sat eating while the locals sang songs, and quite well. I told Darren that if he could learn to sing like the one guy (who was kinda cute--Darren noted that he looked like Jason Lee off the Jungle Book) I wouldn't mind so much when he made up his own words to songs. The other men in our group really took to Darren, raising a glass of potent rice wine to him several times and saying "Gambe", which is a Chinese form of "cheers" except that you have to down your entire glass. Darren could easily drink them all under the table. Most of them had on their Asian glow after their first cup. We also had, what I'm pretty sure was the Tibetan milk tea, made with yak milk, and it was pretty good. At one point in the night, they brought out a huge roasted something-with-no-head on a platter. When we asked one of the guys what it was, he said he didn't know what it was called in English. It kind of looked like a dog, and he said it wasn't a dog, but like a dog. Darren braved a piece of rib and took a bite, but I don't think he liked it. The animal, whatever it was, looked somewhat under-fed because there didn't seem to be much meat on the thing to begin with. After the "not-dog" meat, and a lot of singing, they played some strange game where they dressed two of the men in traditional Tibetan garments (but I think they were women's clothes) and sang more songs. At first they tried to elect Darren to play the game but we didn't know what was going on. It was pretty funny. After everyone was done drinking and eating, we all went outside and danced some special dance around the fire. Well, they were all dancing their dance, Darren was "picking potatoes" and doing the electric slide. It was a blast though and we had a great time. The women kept telling Darren "I love you, I love you" and then giggling and dancing some more. It was a great way to relax and relieve the stress of our trip up, and we really enjoyed the experience. The next morning, it was off to Jiuzhaigou.
The mythical story behind the creation of Jiuzhaigou is based on a love story of course. Apparently there was a man who was in love with a goddess, and he gave her a very special mirror made of wind. An unforseen evil force apparently separated the two lovers and the goddess smashed the mirror, the pieces falling to earth and creating the crystal clear lakes of Jiuzhaigou. The water there was so unbelievably clear and so blue that it didn't seem real. It was unfortunately miserable weather, raining and cold, but the scenery was still beautiful. I can't imagine how amazing it must look with clear blue skies, but apparently, they really do look like mirrors and perfectly reflect the surrounding mountains. They were still fairly clear though, despite the clouds and the rain rippling the water. We walked a lot of the back walkways and it's incredible walking through waterfalls basically. The water rushing below your feet on the walkways and down the hillside. Trees still grow all over the place and it's like a wet land but with clear moving water rather than a boggy swamp. Some of my favourite places were the little waterfalls tucked behind the trees with no one around. The Panda lake was also pretty cool. It was actually a white sand beach with the bluest water which varied in shades, depending on the depths of course. It was all so unreal. The park consists of five valleys (I think) with a road through it shaped like a Y. To walk the entire thing is 32 km, but they have a shuttle bus that you can get on and off of to save time between some of the sights. It was an excellent walk though, even with the rain,, and they say that it's the ever changing weather that makes each experience to Jiuzhaigou so unique. Apparently, October is a great time to go because the weather is a little clearer, and the lake refelcts all the bright colours of the fall leaves.
In Huanglong (which I'm sure I'm spelling wrong), or Yellow Dragon, the water falls down the mountain gathering in small pools on its way down. The minerals in the water actually turn the mountain-side a light shade of yellow, and the pools a bright shade of blue. Though we missed a lot on the way up, we did take in a bit on the way down. A lot of people take a "rope way" up and walk down, but Darren and I opted for walking the entire thing. On the way, we saw a lot of people with oxygen tanks, or stopped at the various oxygen bars along the way. Apparently the altitude gets to people and makes it hard for them to make the climb. But it's not even a climb really. All the mountains we expect to be more like Grouse or the Chief, but they're all just a series of steps, and not very steep. Again, the weather was kind of crappy and it was freezing, but still a gorgeous wonder of China's landscape. As Darren and I were discussing, it's just a pitty you have to travel so far and pay so much to enjoy what little of the beautiful landscape is left.
Finally, the other "experience" that I got from the tour was less scenic and more... personal I suppose. I tend to avoid squat toilets when at all possible, especially the ones where there isn't really a stall so much as two small walls on either side of you and no door. When travelling with a tour however, and in a rural area especially, you basically don't have an option unless you want to pee your pants. During our tour, not only did I use squat toilets, but also squat toilets that look more like a trough (troft?), and I used them with people standing right in front of me waiting for me to finish. These weren't clean squat toilets either. If you do have the option of picking which stall you go into, then you can pick the one that doesn't have number two splattered all over the floor, but usually, you just had to use whatever was available when it was available. It's a small milestone, but one you have to experience in China and I think I can now successfully cross that one off my list. I've actually gotten pretty good at it... squatting that is. It's difficult at first, trying to aim, but you really just have to get right in there. It's not like hovering over a public toilet, but you fully have to squat as low as you can get basically! I'm still perfecting my technique, but I think I've got it down pretty good.
While you think about that, Darren and I are heading off to Kunming. 20 hours! It's a long one. I'm going to work on getting photos posted soon but I've run out of time for now. Hope everyone is well and we'll send word from the Yunnan province next.
Loveable, Huggable Chengdu
When reading our guidebooks take on Chengdu, it didn't seem like there was much to do here but drink tea and eat hot pot; but, Chengdu serves as the base point for reaching the outlying areas, so a visit here was inevitable. Our original plan was to come to Chengdu, and from there, make trips to the Wolong Panda Reserve and Jiuzhaigou. It turns out however, that our book wasn't published until after the earthquake of 08, and the Wolong Panda Reserve is now closed. The other Panda facility outside of the city is only accessible to volunteers, and while that would have been amazing, Darren and I didn't feel we had the time to go through the paperwork and the minimum 3 week service; so, we settled on the Panda Breeding Centre here in Chengdu.
We decided to visit the Breeding Centre with a tour group since the only other way to get there in time for feeding (which is basically the only time they're awake) is by taxi, and it's a bit out of the city. The tour group worked out well for us because it wasn't one of those tours where they put you in matching hats and make you follow a yellow flag. The "tour" basically consisted of them picking us up at our hostel, dropping us off, and coming back to fetch us a few hours later. We also lucked out because one of the couples on the tour with us had already done the tour, but because their camera was stolen, they wanted to come back and reshoot the experience. So they already knew where all the best hot spots were and were more than happy to share them with us! Instead of wasting our time trying to interpret the park map and decide where to go and what to do first, they already knew when and where the feedings would be, and the best vantage points. Consequently, we got some pretty amazing pictures (which you'll have to wait for until I can upload them).
We started with a few of the older pandas, up bright and early waiting for breakfast. They are fairly entertaining to just watch. They are huge, and just sit there, doing basically nothing. We caught sight of another who hadn't quite woken up yet, but seemed to be enjoying his sleep, all sprawled out. We made our way to the Red Pandas (which really do look more like raccoons than bears) and they were a bit more lively, though rather shy. They really are cute, but when they hear you coming, they freeze and don't move, and despite the many signs that ask you to be quiet, most of the local tourists think that calling at them and making strange noises will cause them to turn around and pose for their cameras.
From there we headed to the main feeding area for adult pandas and they were hilarious! The four or five of them just sat there on their great big behinds, slouched over and back mouing down on their nutritious bamboo... and they're not clean eaters either (not that you'd really expect an animal to be). We left for a bit and came back to a couple pandas with mass piles of shredded bamboo husk all over their bellies. No, Ruth, we didn't see any of them poop but I'm sure it would be quite a sight. They are rather entertaining with their human-like personalities.
The baby pandas were of course my favourite. They are so cute. The lady said in the morning they do their stretching and gymnastics, and it totally seemed that they were. They were rolling around and contorting their chubby little bodies in awkward poses, and sitting on each others' heads. They were too adoreable and too cuddley. I wanted to "hug" one, but wasn't about to pay 1000 RMB to do so. (You really must wait for pictures to do justice.)
For all my fellow "Up" fans, Kevin was at Breeding Centre. If you don't know who Kevin is, you need to watch the movie again. Kevin is the female, multi-coloured, ostrich type bird in the film that makes a very loud squawking noise. We kept hearing this noise and I couldn't help but be reminded of Kevin, and then up on the roof was this large bird that even looked like a smaller version of Kevin! It was awesome! (It may have been a peacock.)
After our Panda expedition, we had a bit of a rest and went with our tour group to the Sichuan Opera. It was pretty cool! Aislinn, you would have loved the mask changing. It was definitely my favourite part. They change masks so quickly I didn't even notice the first couple times. I was of course busy taking pictures, and Darren was like "did you see that" and I was like "what?". Ya, it happens very quickly... and, they breathe fire which is sweet! Aislinn, if you ever master the art of mask changing, you may just kill me with fear!
The following day, Darren and I just ventured through the city, exploring the various areas. The two "local/old streets" that we walked through still have a lot of the old architecture, but all the shops are modern and a lot western... which basically equals EXPENSIVE, so we got through there pretty quick. We wandered over to the Tibetan quarter which was pretty cool. Not quite the same crowded streets of shops and vendors as the Muslim quarter in Xi'an, but a regular "district" with a lot of shops selling Tibetan cultural/religious articles. My favourite part of it though, was all the monks wandering around the streets just going about their daily business, all of them in their burgundy and orange robes. It was fantastic though kind of strange to see Buddhist monks in their robes, with their shaved heads, beads in one hand and then a cell phone in the other. Something about it just doesn't add up.
On Sunday, we left for Jiuzhaigou (see the next blog), we got back this evening, and tomorrow we're off again. Overall, Chengdu has been a very pleasant experience. The atmosphere here is very laid back (as it apparently is in all the Sichuan province) and our hostel has just the same atmosphere. While we're excited to head south to Kunming and explore the Yunnan province, I think I could easily spend a week here, just doing nothing (except I always feel guilty for doing nothing for too long). Another 20 hour train ride ahead! Here's hoping we don't end up with stinky feet, more farters or another cabin of snorers!
We decided to visit the Breeding Centre with a tour group since the only other way to get there in time for feeding (which is basically the only time they're awake) is by taxi, and it's a bit out of the city. The tour group worked out well for us because it wasn't one of those tours where they put you in matching hats and make you follow a yellow flag. The "tour" basically consisted of them picking us up at our hostel, dropping us off, and coming back to fetch us a few hours later. We also lucked out because one of the couples on the tour with us had already done the tour, but because their camera was stolen, they wanted to come back and reshoot the experience. So they already knew where all the best hot spots were and were more than happy to share them with us! Instead of wasting our time trying to interpret the park map and decide where to go and what to do first, they already knew when and where the feedings would be, and the best vantage points. Consequently, we got some pretty amazing pictures (which you'll have to wait for until I can upload them).
We started with a few of the older pandas, up bright and early waiting for breakfast. They are fairly entertaining to just watch. They are huge, and just sit there, doing basically nothing. We caught sight of another who hadn't quite woken up yet, but seemed to be enjoying his sleep, all sprawled out. We made our way to the Red Pandas (which really do look more like raccoons than bears) and they were a bit more lively, though rather shy. They really are cute, but when they hear you coming, they freeze and don't move, and despite the many signs that ask you to be quiet, most of the local tourists think that calling at them and making strange noises will cause them to turn around and pose for their cameras.
From there we headed to the main feeding area for adult pandas and they were hilarious! The four or five of them just sat there on their great big behinds, slouched over and back mouing down on their nutritious bamboo... and they're not clean eaters either (not that you'd really expect an animal to be). We left for a bit and came back to a couple pandas with mass piles of shredded bamboo husk all over their bellies. No, Ruth, we didn't see any of them poop but I'm sure it would be quite a sight. They are rather entertaining with their human-like personalities.
The baby pandas were of course my favourite. They are so cute. The lady said in the morning they do their stretching and gymnastics, and it totally seemed that they were. They were rolling around and contorting their chubby little bodies in awkward poses, and sitting on each others' heads. They were too adoreable and too cuddley. I wanted to "hug" one, but wasn't about to pay 1000 RMB to do so. (You really must wait for pictures to do justice.)
For all my fellow "Up" fans, Kevin was at Breeding Centre. If you don't know who Kevin is, you need to watch the movie again. Kevin is the female, multi-coloured, ostrich type bird in the film that makes a very loud squawking noise. We kept hearing this noise and I couldn't help but be reminded of Kevin, and then up on the roof was this large bird that even looked like a smaller version of Kevin! It was awesome! (It may have been a peacock.)
After our Panda expedition, we had a bit of a rest and went with our tour group to the Sichuan Opera. It was pretty cool! Aislinn, you would have loved the mask changing. It was definitely my favourite part. They change masks so quickly I didn't even notice the first couple times. I was of course busy taking pictures, and Darren was like "did you see that" and I was like "what?". Ya, it happens very quickly... and, they breathe fire which is sweet! Aislinn, if you ever master the art of mask changing, you may just kill me with fear!
The following day, Darren and I just ventured through the city, exploring the various areas. The two "local/old streets" that we walked through still have a lot of the old architecture, but all the shops are modern and a lot western... which basically equals EXPENSIVE, so we got through there pretty quick. We wandered over to the Tibetan quarter which was pretty cool. Not quite the same crowded streets of shops and vendors as the Muslim quarter in Xi'an, but a regular "district" with a lot of shops selling Tibetan cultural/religious articles. My favourite part of it though, was all the monks wandering around the streets just going about their daily business, all of them in their burgundy and orange robes. It was fantastic though kind of strange to see Buddhist monks in their robes, with their shaved heads, beads in one hand and then a cell phone in the other. Something about it just doesn't add up.
On Sunday, we left for Jiuzhaigou (see the next blog), we got back this evening, and tomorrow we're off again. Overall, Chengdu has been a very pleasant experience. The atmosphere here is very laid back (as it apparently is in all the Sichuan province) and our hostel has just the same atmosphere. While we're excited to head south to Kunming and explore the Yunnan province, I think I could easily spend a week here, just doing nothing (except I always feel guilty for doing nothing for too long). Another 20 hour train ride ahead! Here's hoping we don't end up with stinky feet, more farters or another cabin of snorers!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Seeing Green
Well, we're in Chengdu, one more long train ride later...
Just a note: Yesterday, Darren and I were talking about how even though we're in another country, and there is a noticable cultural difference, something about being in China hasn't quite sunk in yet and we couldn't really figure out why. We thought it might have to do with being in the cities. As Darren put it, "modern is modern is modern"; the cities are just that, in a way that wasn't really what we were anticipating. I mean, we understood perfectly well the population density of most of China and just how "modern" China was, but when we envisioned travelling to China, I think we both had a slightly different idea in mind.
When I woke up (at 5 am from the snoring above, below, and beside me) I looked out the window of the train and I felt what I had been missing so far this trip. The China Darren and I both longed to see was just down the river bank. For a couple of hours, the train tracks followed the river, and on the other side of the river was lush green mountains, and, what I have been waiting to see, rice fields terraced into the sides of most of those mountains. Now, it may sound cliche to most of you, that what I had envisioned of China included rice fields, but come on... who doesn't think rice when they think China? I have this strong desire to somehow be involved in the whole rice cultivating experience. I would love to help plant rice, but I'm pretty sure that season has come and gone, but maybe I can help with the harvesting? We'll see.
Otherwise, Darren and I have both longed for a Chinese landscape that wasn't covered in concrete, and waking up this morning to the green hills was exactly what we needed to really get into the last leg of our trip here. The Wolong Nature Reserve and Panda Breeding Centre, which we were hoping to visit while here, has been closed because of the earthquake in 2008 (the year in which our book was published, but before the closure), so we're going to the one here in Chengdu tomorrow. No nature reserve, but Darren and I will both get to see a real live panda bear for the first time... and if we're willing to pay 500-1000 RMB, we will also get to "hug" one. As much as I'd love to snuggle with a little baby panda, I don't think 1000 RMB (almost $200) is going to be in our budget ;). We will be taking a four day tour to Huolong Park and Juizhongou (sp?) Valley in the next couple days as well, which are supposed to be some of the most breath-taking natural sceneries in all of China. After that, it's in villages such as Dali and Lishang that we'll be spending a good chunk of our time; so, the remainder of our trip should be seeing a lot more lush green and a lot less cement, and we can't wait!
Just a note: Yesterday, Darren and I were talking about how even though we're in another country, and there is a noticable cultural difference, something about being in China hasn't quite sunk in yet and we couldn't really figure out why. We thought it might have to do with being in the cities. As Darren put it, "modern is modern is modern"; the cities are just that, in a way that wasn't really what we were anticipating. I mean, we understood perfectly well the population density of most of China and just how "modern" China was, but when we envisioned travelling to China, I think we both had a slightly different idea in mind.
When I woke up (at 5 am from the snoring above, below, and beside me) I looked out the window of the train and I felt what I had been missing so far this trip. The China Darren and I both longed to see was just down the river bank. For a couple of hours, the train tracks followed the river, and on the other side of the river was lush green mountains, and, what I have been waiting to see, rice fields terraced into the sides of most of those mountains. Now, it may sound cliche to most of you, that what I had envisioned of China included rice fields, but come on... who doesn't think rice when they think China? I have this strong desire to somehow be involved in the whole rice cultivating experience. I would love to help plant rice, but I'm pretty sure that season has come and gone, but maybe I can help with the harvesting? We'll see.
Otherwise, Darren and I have both longed for a Chinese landscape that wasn't covered in concrete, and waking up this morning to the green hills was exactly what we needed to really get into the last leg of our trip here. The Wolong Nature Reserve and Panda Breeding Centre, which we were hoping to visit while here, has been closed because of the earthquake in 2008 (the year in which our book was published, but before the closure), so we're going to the one here in Chengdu tomorrow. No nature reserve, but Darren and I will both get to see a real live panda bear for the first time... and if we're willing to pay 500-1000 RMB, we will also get to "hug" one. As much as I'd love to snuggle with a little baby panda, I don't think 1000 RMB (almost $200) is going to be in our budget ;). We will be taking a four day tour to Huolong Park and Juizhongou (sp?) Valley in the next couple days as well, which are supposed to be some of the most breath-taking natural sceneries in all of China. After that, it's in villages such as Dali and Lishang that we'll be spending a good chunk of our time; so, the remainder of our trip should be seeing a lot more lush green and a lot less cement, and we can't wait!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
In the Heart of Xi'an
(This will have to do for now until I can get the pictures uploaded.)
So our trip is really moving along now, not as many lazy days, or weeks spent doing nothing. We're almost half way through our visas now. Don't think of it as rushing, but being more efficient. Consequently, we are already leaving Xi'an though we just got here Monday evening (it's Wednesday). We're headed out on the train in a few hours here.
Our first night, we walked on over to the Bell Tower, just to get a feel for the city and take a look around. I think right away Darren and I both noticed that Xi'an had a very different look and feel from the other cities we've been in, especially coming from Beijing (with a short stop in Luoyang). The people here seem to be much more handsome (women and men alike). It sounds shallow, but as we've discussed with other travellers, something seems to go terribly wrong with a lot of Chinese men (somewhere around puberty maybe). They start out as such cute kids, and somehow turn into disgusting old men. Xi'an however, has some decent looking people. The men and women are both more attractive in general. The city also seems much more laid back than the others. Not sure what it is, and despite that I was more or less shoved into the side of a moving bus, they are otherwise quite easy going. Darren is especially drawn to the history of the city. For him, it somehow feels like there is more historical integrity here than in the other cities-- it could possibly be the presence of the city wall. In other ways, Xi'an is no different-- like everywhere else, there is a pluthera of excellent street food right outside our door. One of the local dishes, one that Darren really enjoys, is lamb/beef kabobs wedged between two pieces of steamed flat bread (it's not really flat bread, but it's a dense bun of sorts). And of course, every morning, you can count on delicioius "pancakes" for breakfast.
Our first night here, we also booked a show through our hostel to go see the "Tang Dynasty" performance. For the first time this whole trip, I forgot my camera, and for that I apologize. Some of the dances were quite beautiful, others comical. The womens' dances reminded me a lot of Mulan. They do this "sleeve dance", where their costumes have long sleeves, made of a very light material. It's more or less like a glorified ribbon dance, maybe the original ribbon dance. Some of the warrior dances were a little more comical, with giant masks with glowing, flashing eyes. There was another performance that was actually called "Ducks Quarrelling" and it sounded like ducks quarrelling. Ha ha ha. It was interesting and a nice way to begin our time in Xi'an.
Given the mentality of jumping right in, we of course spent our first day visiting the Terracotta Warriors. We chose to do it on our own, rather than with a tour group (as tours are approximately 200-300 RMB/person). We got a bit of a late start, and were worried about being crowded by said tour groups, nevermind everything you have to actually go through to get to the warriors. The bus dropped us off in the parking lot, and it was a couple hundred meters to the ticket office, no big deal. We were able to pull the student cards out and get in for 45 RMB/person rather than 90 RMB which was nice. From there, it was about a kilometer walk, lined with shops and vendors, to the entrance of the "museum". Once at the entrance, like everything else, we had to go through a security check point (which is a little ridiculous since they scan your bags but don't watch the scans, and don't care if you beep through the detectors). Finally, we were in, and headed straight to Pit 1. We walked in, up a few steps, and there it was-- a mass dig site with hundreds of clay warriors lined up in battle formation. We've heard that the warriors are a little anti-climactic, but we certainly didn't think so. It's overwhelming how vast Pit 1 is. Pit 1 alone is said to house 6000 of the 10000 warriors (I think), and not even half of the Pit is unearthed yet. It is quite incredible. I only wish I could've bypassed the red tape to get some better shots, though the zoom lens came in handy. The reconstructed warriors are pretty impressive in their numbers, but what Darren and I really liked were the ones that were in mid-assembly, as well as the ruined pieces that were still half burried. Pit 2 and 3 are smaller and have a bit of a different feel, but are also excellent. Pit 2 is where some of the nicer finds are encased behind glass, but displayed for a 360* close up view, which is cool. Both Pit 2 and 3 are more "in progress" in terms of the build of the actuall warriors, and it's cool to see what looks like ruins of a battle scene strewn about in the dirt. We absolutely loved it, and Ruth and Harold, I know you said that you guys didn't get to spend much time there, and I would say it's definitely worth a second trip to really get a feel for it!
For later that evening, Darren and I got wind of another free water/light show (quite literally got wind of it actually). It wasn't like the one in Suzhou, this one was an actual fountain show, and Daren and I picked, not the smartest place to watch from. There are several pools/fountains that cascade in front of the "Good Pagoda" and we chose to watch from the narrow divides between the fountains. It was a perfect view, until the wind began to blow; and, especially with some of the higher fountains, the wind blew the water right at us. We (by that I mean "I" because Darren was hiding behind me) got quite soaked, but not as soaked as all the people running through the fountains. It was a fun night and our viewing area made the fountain show that much more exciting. I was only really wet on the backside, but the water totally dripped down my back and into my underwear and from the front I definitely looked like I peed myself. We had a blast though and it was a great way to end a wonderful day.
I guess we sort of did things backward a bit cuz today we spent all day wandering the city and seeing the local sights. We started off with the 8 Immortals Temple. It was nothing exciting really, but it was cheap, and even more important, there was supposed to be a nice little antique market in the alley leading to the temple. The market was alright, not as good as the dirt market in Beijing, but Darren sure liked it. For those of you who haven't already figured it out, he did buy a sword (despite the fact that we weren't sure if he'd be able to get it home). He's pretty excited about it though. From there, we headed to the History Museum which was pretty cool. The museum runs through each of the dynasties, showcasing different arts/artifacts from the Shanxi district. It had everything from stone, to bronze, to porcelain, jade, silk and gold artefacts, plus some different examples of digs (other than the Terracotta Warriors) in the area. It was quite informative, as well as interesting to see the tools and daily items from civilizations hundreds, even thousands of years old. From there we headed to a post office so Darren could try and ship his sword out. There was some sceptisism because it was a sharp sword, and issues with sending something more than 1 meter long to Canada. Apparently there's a length restriction shipping to Canada. We were however, able to ship it to Hong Kong (after much debate and uncertainty)-- thank goodness. From there, we headed to the Muslim quarter and the Great Mosque. The Mosque was a bit of fresh air compared to a lot of the temples we've seen. somehow it seemed more genuine and integral. Maybe it's just not as popular, but it wasn't as commercialized, and seemed quite peaceful, considering the mass markets right outside its doors. It was also interesting to see the fusion of the Chinese languge and architecture with Arabic script and culture. Afte the Mosque, we walked the streets of the Muslim Quarter, trying nibbles of all their local sweets and snacks. Some were delicious and others were good, but were dry and looked like balls of hair.
So now, we wait until it's time for our train to leave. About three hours to go. It's off to Chengdu next to visit some Pandas and one of China's most beautiful natural reserves. We'll keep ya posted!
So our trip is really moving along now, not as many lazy days, or weeks spent doing nothing. We're almost half way through our visas now. Don't think of it as rushing, but being more efficient. Consequently, we are already leaving Xi'an though we just got here Monday evening (it's Wednesday). We're headed out on the train in a few hours here.
Our first night, we walked on over to the Bell Tower, just to get a feel for the city and take a look around. I think right away Darren and I both noticed that Xi'an had a very different look and feel from the other cities we've been in, especially coming from Beijing (with a short stop in Luoyang). The people here seem to be much more handsome (women and men alike). It sounds shallow, but as we've discussed with other travellers, something seems to go terribly wrong with a lot of Chinese men (somewhere around puberty maybe). They start out as such cute kids, and somehow turn into disgusting old men. Xi'an however, has some decent looking people. The men and women are both more attractive in general. The city also seems much more laid back than the others. Not sure what it is, and despite that I was more or less shoved into the side of a moving bus, they are otherwise quite easy going. Darren is especially drawn to the history of the city. For him, it somehow feels like there is more historical integrity here than in the other cities-- it could possibly be the presence of the city wall. In other ways, Xi'an is no different-- like everywhere else, there is a pluthera of excellent street food right outside our door. One of the local dishes, one that Darren really enjoys, is lamb/beef kabobs wedged between two pieces of steamed flat bread (it's not really flat bread, but it's a dense bun of sorts). And of course, every morning, you can count on delicioius "pancakes" for breakfast.
Our first night here, we also booked a show through our hostel to go see the "Tang Dynasty" performance. For the first time this whole trip, I forgot my camera, and for that I apologize. Some of the dances were quite beautiful, others comical. The womens' dances reminded me a lot of Mulan. They do this "sleeve dance", where their costumes have long sleeves, made of a very light material. It's more or less like a glorified ribbon dance, maybe the original ribbon dance. Some of the warrior dances were a little more comical, with giant masks with glowing, flashing eyes. There was another performance that was actually called "Ducks Quarrelling" and it sounded like ducks quarrelling. Ha ha ha. It was interesting and a nice way to begin our time in Xi'an.
Given the mentality of jumping right in, we of course spent our first day visiting the Terracotta Warriors. We chose to do it on our own, rather than with a tour group (as tours are approximately 200-300 RMB/person). We got a bit of a late start, and were worried about being crowded by said tour groups, nevermind everything you have to actually go through to get to the warriors. The bus dropped us off in the parking lot, and it was a couple hundred meters to the ticket office, no big deal. We were able to pull the student cards out and get in for 45 RMB/person rather than 90 RMB which was nice. From there, it was about a kilometer walk, lined with shops and vendors, to the entrance of the "museum". Once at the entrance, like everything else, we had to go through a security check point (which is a little ridiculous since they scan your bags but don't watch the scans, and don't care if you beep through the detectors). Finally, we were in, and headed straight to Pit 1. We walked in, up a few steps, and there it was-- a mass dig site with hundreds of clay warriors lined up in battle formation. We've heard that the warriors are a little anti-climactic, but we certainly didn't think so. It's overwhelming how vast Pit 1 is. Pit 1 alone is said to house 6000 of the 10000 warriors (I think), and not even half of the Pit is unearthed yet. It is quite incredible. I only wish I could've bypassed the red tape to get some better shots, though the zoom lens came in handy. The reconstructed warriors are pretty impressive in their numbers, but what Darren and I really liked were the ones that were in mid-assembly, as well as the ruined pieces that were still half burried. Pit 2 and 3 are smaller and have a bit of a different feel, but are also excellent. Pit 2 is where some of the nicer finds are encased behind glass, but displayed for a 360* close up view, which is cool. Both Pit 2 and 3 are more "in progress" in terms of the build of the actuall warriors, and it's cool to see what looks like ruins of a battle scene strewn about in the dirt. We absolutely loved it, and Ruth and Harold, I know you said that you guys didn't get to spend much time there, and I would say it's definitely worth a second trip to really get a feel for it!
For later that evening, Darren and I got wind of another free water/light show (quite literally got wind of it actually). It wasn't like the one in Suzhou, this one was an actual fountain show, and Daren and I picked, not the smartest place to watch from. There are several pools/fountains that cascade in front of the "Good Pagoda" and we chose to watch from the narrow divides between the fountains. It was a perfect view, until the wind began to blow; and, especially with some of the higher fountains, the wind blew the water right at us. We (by that I mean "I" because Darren was hiding behind me) got quite soaked, but not as soaked as all the people running through the fountains. It was a fun night and our viewing area made the fountain show that much more exciting. I was only really wet on the backside, but the water totally dripped down my back and into my underwear and from the front I definitely looked like I peed myself. We had a blast though and it was a great way to end a wonderful day.
I guess we sort of did things backward a bit cuz today we spent all day wandering the city and seeing the local sights. We started off with the 8 Immortals Temple. It was nothing exciting really, but it was cheap, and even more important, there was supposed to be a nice little antique market in the alley leading to the temple. The market was alright, not as good as the dirt market in Beijing, but Darren sure liked it. For those of you who haven't already figured it out, he did buy a sword (despite the fact that we weren't sure if he'd be able to get it home). He's pretty excited about it though. From there, we headed to the History Museum which was pretty cool. The museum runs through each of the dynasties, showcasing different arts/artifacts from the Shanxi district. It had everything from stone, to bronze, to porcelain, jade, silk and gold artefacts, plus some different examples of digs (other than the Terracotta Warriors) in the area. It was quite informative, as well as interesting to see the tools and daily items from civilizations hundreds, even thousands of years old. From there we headed to a post office so Darren could try and ship his sword out. There was some sceptisism because it was a sharp sword, and issues with sending something more than 1 meter long to Canada. Apparently there's a length restriction shipping to Canada. We were however, able to ship it to Hong Kong (after much debate and uncertainty)-- thank goodness. From there, we headed to the Muslim quarter and the Great Mosque. The Mosque was a bit of fresh air compared to a lot of the temples we've seen. somehow it seemed more genuine and integral. Maybe it's just not as popular, but it wasn't as commercialized, and seemed quite peaceful, considering the mass markets right outside its doors. It was also interesting to see the fusion of the Chinese languge and architecture with Arabic script and culture. Afte the Mosque, we walked the streets of the Muslim Quarter, trying nibbles of all their local sweets and snacks. Some were delicious and others were good, but were dry and looked like balls of hair.
So now, we wait until it's time for our train to leave. About three hours to go. It's off to Chengdu next to visit some Pandas and one of China's most beautiful natural reserves. We'll keep ya posted!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Luoyang
Our trip to Luoyang has been short, but sweet, and salty, steamed and fried, and generally delicious! Our plan for this area was to go see the Longmen Caves and the Shaolin Temple, we detoured slightly.
We arrived Saturday morning, and the train ride here was fantastic in comparison to the last. We got on the train, we fell asleep and got off the train. Wonderful! We took a short, indirect (the street signs in China seem to be haphazardly placed) walk to our hostel, checked in, showered up, and got onto bus no. 81 to the Longman Caves. The caves/grottoes are a series of carvings which were founded by an Indian monk. They are separated into the west and east sides by the river. The caves on the west side are pretty cool and house one of the largest carved Buddha's in the world. Her/His earlobe alone is supposed to be almost 200 m. There were three major caves which were quite phenominal. For some reason however, which we never did find out, a lot of the carvings are missing faces. It looks as if someone deliberately broke them off.
(Not too sure what type of deity or Buddha he's supposed to be here.)
The east side of the river had a bit of a different feel to it. Both sides were fairly restricted with railings stopping you from going into the caves, but the east side also restricted any pictures as well. Not only were there railings, but each of the carvings were barred off like a prison cell. Also, the east side smelled unexplicably like cucumber (certainly not the worst smell in the world). The east side also housed one of the temples, but I think by the time we made it over to that side, we were pretty exhausted. It was a beautiful hot day, but we had already spent almost two hours on the west side of the river.
with green onion. They are delicious, and so cheap. For half of one, and they are huge, was 2-3 RMB. (Definitely stopping by for breakfast before the train tomorrow.) There are also these other things, which are like a wrap, but folded with green onion, eggs and noodles, which you can also get in a fried version, also delicious. And, of course, there is a pluthera of meats and kabobs to choose from, pork being the most popular (and the easiest to identify with its pig face staring at you). There's also a pluthera of fried fish, and whole fried/roasted birds (baby ones), a few escapees of which we saw earlier in the day and were admiring (unaware that they would become someone's dinner). Fish, pork, and chicken/bird is the most discernible of the meat, and probably the safest. When you see a cat tied up with a massive bowl of fish parts to feed on, right beside the guy selling unidentifiable grilled something or other, you really have to wonder what he's grilling (or maybe it's obvious).
By the way, we didn't end up going to the Shaolin Monastery. The more we heard about it, the less inclined we were to go. The place is apparently one large tourist destination, over priced and over crowded. Even as we got off the train we were bombarded with people soliciting us to take a bus tour to the monastery. It has little/no authentic appeal apparently, since it was burnt down during the cultural revolution, and only recently rebuilt once they realised they could profit from it. It fetches quite a hefty price, so we opted out. Aside from a demonstration or two, most of the monastery apparently consists of shops and monks who aren't really monks. We did however get a little kung fu show with dinner. While we were waiting for our food, some local children seemed to be practicing for their Kung Fu debut. They were pretty cute. The four of them would pair up, two against two, and get all ready with their poses, and then just start running at eachother and punching and kicking eachother. Not pretending, but actually beating eachother. Then they'd stop, all make disgusted faces at the pain they had just endured, look as though they were going to cry, and do it all over again. It was hilarious! This went on for quite some time and provided ample entertainment before dinner.
Earlier today, since we didn't go to the temple, we went shopping (of course). Another local market, which the receptionist called the "Old Market" but which sold mostly clothes. Well, I thought the Silk Market was cheap! Man! You can't really bargain here, but you don't really need to either. Darren picked out a cute jumper style dress for me, and it was only 45 RMB. I've also been searching everywhere for a nice vest, finally found one (they were everywhere here) and it was only 35 RMB- that's almost half of what I ended up paying for most of my clothes at the Silk Market. Needless to say, nothing we purchased at this "Old Market" was "old".
So with a little bit more shopping, and a lot more eating done, next stop is Xian. We're pretty excited for the Terracota warriors, and History Museum sounds amazing too. We'll keep ya posted!
(PS- Having some serious issues uploading photos. The rest wont attach properly, including the coolest Buddha one, so this will have to do. You can check out the slideshow at the bottom of the page for the rest.)
We arrived Saturday morning, and the train ride here was fantastic in comparison to the last. We got on the train, we fell asleep and got off the train. Wonderful! We took a short, indirect (the street signs in China seem to be haphazardly placed) walk to our hostel, checked in, showered up, and got onto bus no. 81 to the Longman Caves. The caves/grottoes are a series of carvings which were founded by an Indian monk. They are separated into the west and east sides by the river. The caves on the west side are pretty cool and house one of the largest carved Buddha's in the world. Her/His earlobe alone is supposed to be almost 200 m. There were three major caves which were quite phenominal. For some reason however, which we never did find out, a lot of the carvings are missing faces. It looks as if someone deliberately broke them off.
(Not too sure what type of deity or Buddha he's supposed to be here.)(I think this is the pose for the Budhavista of Mercy, but I'm not sure.)
The east side of the river had a bit of a different feel to it. Both sides were fairly restricted with railings stopping you from going into the caves, but the east side also restricted any pictures as well. Not only were there railings, but each of the carvings were barred off like a prison cell. Also, the east side smelled unexplicably like cucumber (certainly not the worst smell in the world). The east side also housed one of the temples, but I think by the time we made it over to that side, we were pretty exhausted. It was a beautiful hot day, but we had already spent almost two hours on the west side of the river.
Once we got back to our hostel, we napped (of course) and walked a little way down an alley between our hostel and the bus station. We had stumbled here earlier for breakfast and found a noodle place, and thought we might venture here for dinner. Turns out, in the evenings, the little alley comes alive with street food vendors. One of our favourites so far in the street food market, are these pancake/crepe type things which are have a thin layer of egg (I think), and some you can also get
with green onion. They are delicious, and so cheap. For half of one, and they are huge, was 2-3 RMB. (Definitely stopping by for breakfast before the train tomorrow.) There are also these other things, which are like a wrap, but folded with green onion, eggs and noodles, which you can also get in a fried version, also delicious. And, of course, there is a pluthera of meats and kabobs to choose from, pork being the most popular (and the easiest to identify with its pig face staring at you). There's also a pluthera of fried fish, and whole fried/roasted birds (baby ones), a few escapees of which we saw earlier in the day and were admiring (unaware that they would become someone's dinner). Fish, pork, and chicken/bird is the most discernible of the meat, and probably the safest. When you see a cat tied up with a massive bowl of fish parts to feed on, right beside the guy selling unidentifiable grilled something or other, you really have to wonder what he's grilling (or maybe it's obvious).
There's also like a fast food version of Hot Pot in these markets as well. You'll stumble upon a vendor, who has a giant skillet in front of him, as well as a pluthera of meats and vegetables. You point and pick, he cooks, and away you go with your paper bowl! It's fantastic and a little classy. Usually you just walk away with your noodles/soup in a plastic bag. Right before our wonderful alley of street food, is a huge outdoor hot pot restaurant. A little less classy than the one in Beijing, this place has a series of tables with holes in the tops and propane tanks at the bottom. You get a metal pot of broth and all your fixins, and you're good to go. On the walls inside, they had posters with predesigned meals and prices. Each poster had a picture of an animal, and a picture of a hot pot-like meal. The animals varried: one had a rooster, another a goat, one a bunny rabit, a lamb, a cow, a pig, and of course, a dog-- pretty sure it was some sort of lab. Each of the animals in the posters were cute and alive and in full colour. The dog and bunny looked more like pets than food for sure, at least to us.
By the way, we didn't end up going to the Shaolin Monastery. The more we heard about it, the less inclined we were to go. The place is apparently one large tourist destination, over priced and over crowded. Even as we got off the train we were bombarded with people soliciting us to take a bus tour to the monastery. It has little/no authentic appeal apparently, since it was burnt down during the cultural revolution, and only recently rebuilt once they realised they could profit from it. It fetches quite a hefty price, so we opted out. Aside from a demonstration or two, most of the monastery apparently consists of shops and monks who aren't really monks. We did however get a little kung fu show with dinner. While we were waiting for our food, some local children seemed to be practicing for their Kung Fu debut. They were pretty cute. The four of them would pair up, two against two, and get all ready with their poses, and then just start running at eachother and punching and kicking eachother. Not pretending, but actually beating eachother. Then they'd stop, all make disgusted faces at the pain they had just endured, look as though they were going to cry, and do it all over again. It was hilarious! This went on for quite some time and provided ample entertainment before dinner.
Earlier today, since we didn't go to the temple, we went shopping (of course). Another local market, which the receptionist called the "Old Market" but which sold mostly clothes. Well, I thought the Silk Market was cheap! Man! You can't really bargain here, but you don't really need to either. Darren picked out a cute jumper style dress for me, and it was only 45 RMB. I've also been searching everywhere for a nice vest, finally found one (they were everywhere here) and it was only 35 RMB- that's almost half of what I ended up paying for most of my clothes at the Silk Market. Needless to say, nothing we purchased at this "Old Market" was "old".
So with a little bit more shopping, and a lot more eating done, next stop is Xian. We're pretty excited for the Terracota warriors, and History Museum sounds amazing too. We'll keep ya posted!
(PS- Having some serious issues uploading photos. The rest wont attach properly, including the coolest Buddha one, so this will have to do. You can check out the slideshow at the bottom of the page for the rest.)
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Random Points
Just a few things we've noticed that I thought I'd share:
First, pending the actual arrival of our package, China Post rocks! It is so cheap to ship things (we shipped to Hong Kong) and they package everything for you. We went in with some clothes and a few souveniers, including some framed paintings, and this lady went to town, bubble wrapping and using my clothes as padding. She didn't have a box big enough so she taped two boxes together, and then they use this machine that puts those plastic bands around the box to hold everything in place. I wish I had video taped it because it was quite amazing. I don't think you're even allowed to prepackage your own stuff, because the lady thoroughly checked through everything we brought to the post office. Her face upon seeing some of the stuff we were trying to send (tea pots and the framed paintings) was not amused. I think she knew she was in for a tough pack and seemed rather disgusted by the amount of effort she had to put in. But she was fantastic.
Second, hard sleepers compared to hard seats on an overnight train make a world of difference. Ten times better. Our trip from Beijing to Luoyang was fantastic. We laid down, fell asleep, woke up, and we were in Luoyang. There were two old men below us (who fell asleep immediately) and a younger couple above us who were hygenic and clean and didn't smell. It was fantastic. No random picture taking, no stinky feet in our laps, all smoking was in a designated area away from our beds, and the toilets were actually clean and usable. It was amazing! We even booked hard sleepers for our five hour trip to Xian (even though it's not overnight).
Third, no matter where we go, if I wear my hair down, the number of random people who ask to take pictures with us seems to double, almost triple. It's strange, however, there also seems to be a mass amount of women with perms, extensions, and sometimes even wigs. I think it might be because my hair, is the exact OPPOSITE of theirs- not sleek, smooth and straight, but course, curly and huge.
Also, does anyone have any guesses as to what this traffic sign is supposed to mean? Darren thinks it means that you're not allowed to drive your exploding car down the street, or that you're not allowed to burn your car down that street. What do you think?
More oddities to come.
First, pending the actual arrival of our package, China Post rocks! It is so cheap to ship things (we shipped to Hong Kong) and they package everything for you. We went in with some clothes and a few souveniers, including some framed paintings, and this lady went to town, bubble wrapping and using my clothes as padding. She didn't have a box big enough so she taped two boxes together, and then they use this machine that puts those plastic bands around the box to hold everything in place. I wish I had video taped it because it was quite amazing. I don't think you're even allowed to prepackage your own stuff, because the lady thoroughly checked through everything we brought to the post office. Her face upon seeing some of the stuff we were trying to send (tea pots and the framed paintings) was not amused. I think she knew she was in for a tough pack and seemed rather disgusted by the amount of effort she had to put in. But she was fantastic.
Second, hard sleepers compared to hard seats on an overnight train make a world of difference. Ten times better. Our trip from Beijing to Luoyang was fantastic. We laid down, fell asleep, woke up, and we were in Luoyang. There were two old men below us (who fell asleep immediately) and a younger couple above us who were hygenic and clean and didn't smell. It was fantastic. No random picture taking, no stinky feet in our laps, all smoking was in a designated area away from our beds, and the toilets were actually clean and usable. It was amazing! We even booked hard sleepers for our five hour trip to Xian (even though it's not overnight).
Third, no matter where we go, if I wear my hair down, the number of random people who ask to take pictures with us seems to double, almost triple. It's strange, however, there also seems to be a mass amount of women with perms, extensions, and sometimes even wigs. I think it might be because my hair, is the exact OPPOSITE of theirs- not sleek, smooth and straight, but course, curly and huge.
Also, does anyone have any guesses as to what this traffic sign is supposed to mean? Darren thinks it means that you're not allowed to drive your exploding car down the street, or that you're not allowed to burn your car down that street. What do you think?
More oddities to come.
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