Day 9 - Oh the Smog

I had to get out for a jog this morning to get the day going. The hotel had a map of a jogging route so I grabbed it and headed off I. Well what another little gem. Every now and again we came across these tranquil parks and gardens around rivers and ancient buildings. This morning I discovered the hotel is right on a lake that is beautifully landscaped and paved with little observation points and pagodas to look out onto the water. It turns out it is a place that the locals frequent which I can understand.

One unnerving thing that happens in these parks early in the morning is older gents suddenly yelling at the top of their voices. This morning it happened again and it sounded like a ... actually I can't describe it, but it scared the you know what out of me. I don't think it is a mating call, but it might be a vocal exercise used for 'good health' to get the chi going. Around the park there are groups of people doing Tai chi, jogging, stretching and bending exercises. In Xian there were exercise machines at regular intervals and permanent table tennis tables with lots of oldies really going for it. I stopped to watch and got invited for a hit of table tennis which I really embarrassed my self doing. I could not get a rally going. We said goodbye to amazing Guilin today and our fabulous young guide Jocelyn. She really enabled us to have a brilliant time.

The flight to Shanghai was short but it felt like we were flying through smog the whole time. We did see blue sky at cursing altitude but it was not until we landed in Shanghai that we realised the smog was going to be worse. This city of 23million people has a thick blanket of smog over it, more so than Beijing and Xian. In the other cities it looks like haze, but here it is yellow grey smog. Our guide Nick did not beat around the bush, this time he agreed it is pollution. As we were going down the lift with our luggage and we battled people at every level we passed, I heard him say in exasperation, 'this is why we need the one child policy'.

Let me describe Nick (his english tourist name this week) our guide for you. He is a fast talking young guy of 27, who guides tourists part time. In his words 'it very expensive in Shanghai so need to work lot'. He has been to Australia and could describe aspects of life in Sydney and Melbourne. He is 'Han' which is the majority cultural group, and subsequently a product of the one child policy. He studied finance and came to shanghai four years ago to work and is currently finishing an MBA. Nick does not know how to cook as he eats out all the time. His excuse is that food in China is very cheep as there is not much meat used, so a good meal can cost as little as $8 AUD. He is much more world savvy than our other guides and knows that the 'gowrment' controls the media, so socialism is always painted in a positive light. I think he has a bit of Aussie in him, with that bit of suspicion.

We took a quick trip into the museum and then into the business district from the airport. The Shanghai museum has amazing displays of chinese culture, including jade and furniture exhibits. The detail in the crafts is astounding particularly with the ornate Jade pieces. It was a short stop at the museum before heading to the big pedestrian walk called the Bund. Shanghai has had western influence since the opium wars with England a century ago. The bund displays this history with its European architectural flavour. The new city development that started in the 80's is on the other side of the river and makes for spectacular photo's from the Bund. With the massive glass and concrete buildings, the river, Mall and its western influences, Shanghai does not feel like China but much more like Sydney.

Tomorrow we will get to explore this massive city in greater detail but for now it was good to escape to our throughly modern hotel to brace ourselves for the crush tomorrow.

Ben & Mum

Location:Shanghai

Day 8 - Boats & other vehicles

We really had no idea what was in store for us today. As we moved along the river I just had to sit and stare for 30 minutes to comprehend what an amazing landscape we were moving through. After a short drive from Guilin we boarded a 3 story boat at the wharf along with our guide and roughly a hundred other westerners. The river Li, which were we to explore for the next four hours, snakes it way through 30km of the giant Karst's grander than the ones I described yesterday. Coupled with the river life along the banks these massive structures take on a new meaning.

A typical river craft on the Li consists of four long bamboo poles strapped together and fixed to a long metal pole with a propeller on one end and a motor on the other. The propeller doubles as a rudder and the driver balances his load of vegetables, passengers or Cormorants in the middle of the craft. I don't think it is big enough for my bum let alone my weight. The next craft we came across was a local tourist boat. It is a similar design to the basic fisherman's craft, only bigger with the bonus of a canopy. The driver sits on a fold out chair and the passengers enjoy the luxury of a bamboo chair for two.

Along the river bank their is plenty to take pictures of. Kasts, water falls, entrances to caves, water buffalo, ducks by the thousands and people doing a myriad of activities. I can understand the tourist pull to this area, as it's an action packed boat ride. We had lunch on the boat with the added option of fresh local produce gathered from those fishing on the river along the way. One couple on our table ordered tiny fried crab and little fish that looked like sardines, which were really tasty.

Our journey finished up at Yangshuo with the obligatory photo with the crusty old fisherman and his working bird Cormorants. We then had to dodge our way through the most amazing market with everything from silver to plastic. I got a 55% off barter today, so I'm on my way to a 70% bargain. I think I was still ripped off, but the money will be put to good use in the community I guess.

The return journey back to Guilin was again a fascinating insight into the people moving devices used by the locals. One of the strangest vehicles I saw looks like a Rhino on wheels. Basically it's a small ute tray on four wheels with a tiny cabin coupled to a rather large motor mower engine thrust out the front. Hanging off the side of the engine are a couple of large fan belts connected to the drive train. This monstrosity can carry almost anything and can be loaded up to the height of a large tour bus.

The other fascinating vehicle is the seemingly millions of scooters everywhere. It's the major source of transport in Guilin. The funniest and scariest thing is seeing a family of four riding these tiny vehicles. The oldest child is standing up under dads chin hanging on to the handle bars, while the youngest child is fast asleep between mum and dad with mum securing him or her in place by hanging onto dad. None of them is wearing helmets, obviously another population control method.

It was another amazing day, totally unexpected and well worth the time. Tomorrow we fly to Shanghai, one of the few Chinese cities with a long history of interaction with the west.

Ben & Mum


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Location:Guilin

Day 7 - Giant Sentinals

We said goodbye to our fellow tour group today after spending the last 6 days together. Being all Aussies on our first trip to China we had no idea what to expect, and I think we have all been pleasantly surprised by the hospitality and the sights.

Arriving in Guling we were met by Jocelyn our guide and Mr Chin our driver. Yes he does have a chin and no he does not know the story of the three little pigs. It's just mum and I on this leg of the tour. The first thing that gets your attention is the temperature. It's warm and humid like summer in Brisvegas. The next thing that grabs your attention is the massive limestone Karst's. It's like being in a giant game of Warhammer. They stand imposingly in every direction and come in many different shapes, though their height seems to be consistent. I'll have to find an explanation of how they are formed because I could not understand our guides explanation.

On the way to our hotel we are told that Gui'lin is a province governed by a autonomous ethnic minority. There are 55 recognised ethnic minorities in the country. One of the implications of this is that the minorities are not governed by the one child policy. I love the way the country regularly throws up issues that blow away my preconceived idea that China is one singular whole. It is a country of great diversity and the people it contains are a big pointer to that.

Being limestone country we stopped in on a rather spectacular cave for a sticky beak. The attachment of the culture to animals and mythical beast was present once again with lights pointing out formations of tigers, turtles, dragons, centipedes and owls to name a few. Mum pointed out that the dog in one display looked more like a marino sheep but our guide was not having any of that. I reckon I could see a few emus too but thought better of sharing my culturally imperialist perspective.

We dropped our bags off at the hotel, had lunch and headed off to the local national park. Aptly named Elephant Trunk Hill, it's quite beautiful and cooling on a warm day. The Karst in the park has been shaped by the local river to look like an Elephants trunk. A short steep walk to the top of the Karst reveals a great view of the amazing War Hammer landscape. Unfortunately the sun and sky are hidden once again by the haze, I'd love to see see it on a clear day.

Our evening show (it's getting to be expected, all this entertainment) was a display of some of the rich cultural traditions in the area. Each one of the minority groups in the area is famous for their dancing, singing or building skills. Yet they all share a common tradition of folk songs. Our show was an incomprehensible high pitched singing, dancing, acrobatic and highly colorful display of traditional costumes and folk songs. Despite some of the male performers looking like they would rather be out the back having a durrie and the lip syncing being almost perfect, I got a sense that this performance is not just a thing for the tourists but part of keeping the culture alive. I reckon that's why Neighbors has such longevity, it's expressive of our rich cultural language not to mention social aspiration.

Tomorrow we have a boat ride up the Li river, being on the water it will hopefully make the day cooler.

Ben & Mum




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Location:Gui'ling

Day 6 - Pedestrians & Terra-cotta

It seems the car has right of way in every situation in China, the bigger the vehicle the 'more right' of way you have. This places pedestrians in a very precarious situation. There are pedestrian crossings in the streets, but the only reason I can see for them being there, is for drivers to line up their vehicles for a direct hit. Maybe they have a clean up pedestrian reward system or it's another form of chinese population control. I am amazed we have not seen anyone lying in the street, but there is definitely an order to the chaos that i can't understand yet.

On our way out to the terra-cotta soldiers museum we stopped in on a lecture on making terra-cotta figures. Many of the kilns have been moved out of the city to curb the air pollution, but this government run factory remains for tourists. Essentially it was another 'fly in the honey pot' stop, yet seeing the manufacturing process gave us some insight into the detail and effort that goes into the craft.

Upon arriving at the warriors museum it was apparent this is a was going to be a highly organized and busy tour. The buildings were grand, the people organising elements were well conceived and the landscaping was groomed colorful. There are three pits that the solders are buried in, so as to accompany the Emperor into the after life. English story boards around the site describe 8000 soldiers being contained in the pits, but they may never recover them all. The exhibit is an ongoing archeological dig, which means there are sections with complete figures and sections with piles of pieces left where they lay. It is a jigsaw puzzle lovers dream come true. There is one live fossil, in the form of the famed farmer who discovered this funerary site. For a few Yuan he would sign your tour book and blow some cigar smoke in your face. I get the sense he loves the notoriety.

The most sensory experience on the site was the last exhibit we toured. It is an ornate brick and marble building that houses two bronze chariots complete with 8 terra-cotta horses. They are really magnificent pieces of art, but the sound of a thousand voices bouncing off the marble walls detracted from the experience. It was not until I came across the museums reason for existing that it dawned on me that this building is designed in such a way as to project the strength and might of the Chinese ideal.

Let me quote you a piece from a translated board titled 'Looking forward to the future'. "The hard time during the past thirty years went by, a few generation's great efforts are tremendously rewarded. The Emperor Qin's Terra-cotta Army Museum is well known in the world now. The past has gone, we are going to shoulder heavy responsibilities in the future. In the new century, the museum men are going to meet the new challenge'. I get a sense, in reading between the lines, that there is a lot of national pride wrapped up in this part of Chinese history. The powers that be have a desire to project the success of this discovery into other parts of Chinese endeavor. Then again maybe I'm over thinking it.

It has been a short stop to this ancient silk road city highlighting the ancient aspects of Chinese culture. No luck with my 70% off bartering challenge yet. Tomorrow we fly 1000miles south to Guilin, a city the size of Brisbane.

Ben & Mum.


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Location:Xi'an

Day 5 - Sell Sell Buy Buy

First stop on arrival in Xi'an was the defensive wall surrounding the ancient city. Followed by a visit to a museum. Our new guide David was quick to point out that this city is the site of China's oldest historical record. Human remains have been found here dated to 500,000 years. Our main purpose for visiting Xian was to see the site of the Terra-cotta Soldiers. Do you remember a select few of the soldiers touring Australia back in the 80's? Ever since then mum has been keen to see them in situ, so it's a dream come true for her. We will get to see the soldiers in their tomb tomorrow, but today we did a bit of a historical back ground check. The museum has over 300,000 artifacts but I was feeling a bit of a troglodyte Queenslander, and browsed a look as opposed to having a proper examination. Some times I get too information over load while traveling and end up like a grumpy two year old, only I did not have a stroller to fall asleep in.

I made a hasty retreat to the group meeting point and subsequently fell into the 'here comes a tourist with money', gift shop. The Chinese sales experience starts like this. You start to browse and see something you might consider buying, and then a woman (it's been a woman every time so far) comes up to you and explains nicely, what you are looking at. The first time I was really appreciative when the lady did it, but this was the third time in as many days and I knew what was coming. The next step is a tempter. She says 'for you I can do 20% discount'. My strategy is to acknowledge the figure and then say nothing. The next move is to consider what you want to pay. I start at half the price hoping to get to a 35% off the amount. On this occasion I got 40% off but I had to walk around the shop for 15 minutes with the same woman who had turned into part bloodhound, part sucker fish, part invisible woman, following me around explaining every thing I looked at. When you finally decide to buy something she pounces, and you haggle. It's quit unnerving the whole 'trapped in a honey pot' experience, but my goal now is to get a 70% discount on something so I've turned it into a game.

Lunch was at another western restaurant, but i'm persevering with with the local food as I can eat the western stuff all the time. I tried a sticky rice parcel today, wrapped in a lotus leaf. It was very tasty with a hint of a tea leaf and herb flavour. We finally got checked into our hotel, which I was hanging out for. Some of our cynical party were thinking our hotel was not ready so as to create another shopping event. Our hotel is amazing, a very posh 5 star joint.

The day was rounded out with a dumplings dinner and a show. The dumplings were part of an eighteen course meal. Every one on our table tries a bit of everything and the dumplings are made in the shapes of the animals they are filled with. Very ingenious. It was topped off with a sweet, in the design of a walnut shell filled with a sweet walnut paste. I ended up feeling quit full. The Tang Dynasty dancing and singing show after the meal was a visual spectacular with lots of colour and flowing material. The graceful deliberate movements of the women dancing was inter-dispersed with a flat strings instrument playing traditional music and an athletic male acrobatic display. The set was a giant LCD screen 20 meters wide and 8 meters high. It added to the rich colour which were not over the top, but created a dilemma for my camera. My photos of the event look like a big light display.

Well it was an exhausting day but fantastic. Tomorrow the tombs of the Terra-cotta soldiers.

Ben & Mum

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Location:Xi'an

Day 4 - Palace to Hutong living

I think our tour group has decided that the haze we have encountered everyday in Beijing in not natural, but rather smog. We have not seen the sky the whole time we have been here. This made it very difficult to take decent pictures of the Summer Palace today. This 400 year old palace got it's name because the Emperor who built it and his entourage spent the summers there. It's only 20km from the regular residence but the major feature is a massive man made lake in the middle of the expanse. Beijing is essentially as flat as a pancake, except for two sizable hills which are totally man made on Feng Shui grounds. The amount of earth moved in these endeavors is tremendous. Yet being surrounded by the tens of thousands of visitors to the temple today, I got a sense of the possibilities of human endeavor if so many could be harnessed.

On leaving the palace we got a bit of a fright when some plain clothes police pulled our driver and guide aside for questioning. Our tour group went silent. Not understanding the language and expecting the worse, we waited a good 20minutes before one of the police started to talk to us. He wanted to know who we were and how much we had been charged for our tour. He spoke broken English (which the locals call chinglish) and told us he and his team were from the traffic police. They were doing some random checks on tour operators so as to the protect the rights of visitors to Beijing.

Bummer I thought, I could have had a brilliant sermon illustration if I had been detained by the secret police in a dark Chinese jail, sucking rice trough a straw after being beaten senseless by the boot of a died in the wood communist general. Anyway Ocean got back in the mini van and said ah that happens a lot. Meanwhile our driver got hauled away for not having an up today's license to drive as a tour operator, and the rest of our drive was done by a plain clothes man. We may never see him again!!!!!!!

After lunch at a western restaurant, with food we westerners are supposed to eat, mum and I took a ride to visit a Hutong. The best way to describe a Hutong is as a traditional dwelling of city living people. It is characterized by extremely narrow streets and lots of people living in small spaces. There is some running water to every house, but 90% of the community relies on the communal toilets and baths that are found on most streets. We were driven around the labyrinth by rickshaw and our young female guide Suri, traveled with us on her bicycle. We ended the rickshaw ride by being invited into a local residents home to drink tea and talk with the father. Turns out the family had had continuous ownership of the courtyard for over 150 years, and there are four generations of 12 people living in a space half as big as my town house for one. Our visit was a highlight as we headed out of the Hutong past retirees playing mahjong, while dodging bikes of all shapes and sizes.

Tomorrow we leave Beijing and fly to Xian pronounced Zianne.

Ben & Mum


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Location:Beijing

Day 3 - The great Wall & acrobats

I feel a bit shell shocked after today so much happened and I'm not sure where to start. The highlight was definitely the visit to the Great Wall of China, and the low light was the hard sell pearl exhibition. I'll start in the middle.

I continue to be drawn in appreciation for the artist expression all around us. Where we Aussies tend to complain about our modern art installations, the Chinese just seem to place contemporary and ancient art everywhere, to the point of taking it for granted. It's not plastic imitation either, they are more often than not, massive stone lions or dragons that even stand outside the long drop loos. The most intriguing piece I have come across is a mythological beast which has the head of a dragon and the body of a turtle. The dragon, the Emperors symbol, repents power and the turtle represents long life. This idea of power and long life seems to be a strong metaphor for the culture.

The 80km drive north west to the Great Wall was not onerous on the three lane toll way. You can get a glimpse of the wall from 10km away and it does not disappoint. Every photo you have ever seen of the wall, can be captured at Juyong Pass. The country that envelops it is steep and majestic. Thankfully the crowds were not huge so we were on the wall instantaneously. The first thing that slams you in the legs is the steepness. The steps are not built to Australian standard, so it's easy to trip on the uneven gait between steps. I am thinking of suing the Qin dynasty for building the wall so far away from my bum. This is because the hand rail is useless if you are over 5 foot tall. Anyway after a serious workout to get to the top it was an exhilarating view. The wall stands out against the country side and is an imposing sight as is snakes across the top of the mountains. The two rampart walls side by side look like the back of a dragon spine. Oh no!! the symbolism is rubbing off on me.

We finished the day with a truly astounding acrobatics/magician show/balancing display/motorcycles in a sphere/plate spinning display. This really left me gob smacked. It was an hour of jaw dropping stunts that I can only compare to the first time I saw a Bruce Willis 'Diehard' movie. I still remember leaving 'Diehard with a vengeance' feeling like my heart worked over time. These young guys and girls put their bodies in the most amazing positions. One act had a young girl about 16 with her chin on the floor, which she then folded her back behind her head, to place her feet flat on the floor. Then two other girls proceeded to do the same but lying on top of each other and the first girl. The effect of three heads on top of each other, with their feet beside them was freaky. But wait there is more.

The show finished with this huge metal ball that a young guy on a smallish motor bike rode around the inside of, doing horizontal and vertical laps. When he did the loop the loop I was impressed, but then out of the corner of the stage another young guy on a similar motor bike came out and came to a holt in the middle of the stage. He waved to us then entered the cage, NO I said to myself 'that's crazy'. Two young guys zooming around the cage crisscrossing and looping the loops. Bloody amazing.

Then out came a third rider. He got into the cage and there were three of them tripping around the cage like it was a Sunday afternoon drive. Then out came a fourth rider. IM NOT KIDDING I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES. The little Chinese lady in front of the one of the ladies in our group turns around and holds up four fingers to her. She says something in Mandarin that I can only suggest was something like, 'Look at that you Aussie sheila, there are four bloody idiots in that cage now, do you reckon they are gonna crash?'

Anyway it is was ho hum after that because there were six of them in the cage by the time they finished and the crowd was getting used to the incredible spectacle. I reckon this is why the local traffic is so skilled at missing each other, everyone does their P's in the cage before they head out onto the roads.

It will take me a bit more time to digest the events of the day. The shopping culture, Olympic buildings drive by, and the visit to the Ming Emperors tombs are such a contrast of old world complexity and new world transiency. Tomorrow we are going to the zoo, the Emperors summer palace and maybe a visit to a local family that lives in a Hutong, which was the norm for a family living in Beijing not that long ago. Have fun because I am.

Ben.

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Location:Beijing

Day 2 - Dragons and 9's

I woke up with a stiff back this morning, so I decided to go for a run to loosen up the bones after the air travel and the stiff firm bed. I thought I'd better have a map of the local area, in case I get lost. So after tearing off a piece of a local tourist map I headed off down the street. It was 5.30am local time with hardly anyone around, they are a sensible city. The only people I had to share the foot path with were the oldies walking their dogs and a few vendors getting the business rush hour food ready. Other than that nothing to strange to report.

The English quote of the day was on the breakfast place mat - 'Have a nice time with you'. I think they meant to say 'enjoy yourself', but I like it their way. It describes our western preoccupation with 'ourselves' really nicely.

Well we certainly got a taste of China today, well, maybe a tourist taste. Ocean, our guide (in pronunciation not spelling) is brilliant. He is 30 and stands about 5 foot 5. He seems to have a grasp of the spirituality of the place, which is interesting. First stop was the forbidden city, or the Emperors Palace. There is a lot of symbolism around the number 9 and the power of the dragon in the historic buildings we saw. Turns out the Emperor was greatly revered (or revered themselves greatly) and used the number 9 as a symbol of perfection and the dragon as the symbol of power. 9 stairs leading up or down. 9 dots on all the gates & doors. 9 dragon heads carved into marble, you get the drift. Effigies of dragons in huge and minute detail covered most surfaces. The Emperors dragon was never out of sight.

The dualism of the culture is present too, with lots of references to the separation of heaven and earth. There seems to be no concept of hell as the dualism of ying and yang, exists between heaven and earth. Humanity stands in-between the two. The earthly realm is represented by straight edges & corners, while the heaven realm is represented by perfect circles and arches built into the architecture.The colour blue is used on the uppermost roof of the temples to represent the sky, and subsequent lower roofs are green to represent the earth. Every feature on the temples and palace is there for a purpose. Nothing is devoid of symbolic meaning. I got a real sense of the history of the culture today, none more breath taking than a display of photos one containing Gough Whitlam in front of the Temple of Heaven. Ah the serenity.

When we got to Tiananmen Square the conversation immediately turned to the politics. Ocean, our guide, was 8 years old at the time, so he has no real knowledge of the student protest. He 'knows' about it, but the media never published the incidents of 1989, so he doesn't know about it. Ocean calls all politicians Blah Blah. His grandfather calls them bullshit blah blah. His grandfather has obviously met Tony Abbot. I asked Ocean if he ever feels like he can't speak his mind politically, and he said yes. Not because he will be reported, more because it's just bullshit blah blah as nothing changes. He still thinks the communist party is good for the country, especially as everyone is getting 'more rich'.
Q
Food for lunch and dinner was Chinese 'as we know it'. I am strangely suspicious we got served Chinese food Aussie style, as our guide and driver did not eat with us. I remember asking a Cantonese speaking cook in a take away in England if he could recommend a dish from his menu. I thought he would have a favourite dish he liked, and that I could experience as authentic. He said he does not eat the food from his menu, calling it English Cantonese. Mind you the Peking duck was carved in front of us so it's not all Aussie Chinese.

We were extremely well looked after today, lots of great memories. The sights were not overly crowed, though they was busy. The hawkers of $3 Rolex watches were not overly obnoxious. We are almost used to the lack of perceivable traffic rules and the people we met were friendly and helpful. Next stop tomorrow, the Great wall.

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Location:Beijing

Day 1 - The dreaded flights - Day 1

Well we made it. I was reminded at the end of the 14hr journey that I am over air travel. Swollen feet, waking sleep and a thick head. Well some would say I have a permanently thick head but let's say thicker than usual. Cathay Pacific was great and the food was generous and tasty. Tasty is a relative term for pre-cooked heated food.
We arrived at Beijing airport on time. The terminal is truly massive, great big expansive halls with lots of glass, aluminum and granite tiles. We hopped on a monorail to the baggage claim area. Mum thought our bags would take a while to reach us due to the distance from the airport, but mums bag beat us and mine had already done a lap. It's an impressive airport.
A young guy greeted us after we escaped a bag search at customs and he ushered us out to a treat of a car journey from the airport. I can only describe it as all of those crazy taxi journeys from foreign airports we have all taken but on steroids. Lots of big brand new cars jostling for position with cyclists, pedestrians and little ancient motorized motor bikes. This is a brilliant place to do a 12 steps program in road rage, where a well used horn becomes an indicator signal. The tall apartment buildings stretch further than the eyes can see and the newly paved roads are swamped by massive billboards, some 10 stories high. What a giant of a city.
We made it to the hotel without injury and the receptionist was very patient as I tried to communicate in Queenslander. You know, speaking slowly and loudly hoping I am understood by the person who knows more English than I know chinese. Well our room is great and the English CCTV news station fills a gap as we psych up to go out for dinner. It's quite refreshing to see badminton in the sports highlights. This is definitely not Kansas Toto.
Ben & Mum
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Location:Brisbane to Beijing may 25 2011