I wanted to go until March 1st with my Chinese food fast, but I didn’t make it. Xiao Ji picked me up at work at 6:30 and asked me if I had eaten (which also corresponds to a familiar greeting). I said “mei yao” – no. And then he proceeded to ask me some questions beyond the usual simple Chinese. I finally gathered what he was talking about. “My friends”…”eat”…”you come”…”yes?”…”Hunan food”…”Very spicy”…”Party”…”you come?”. Of course, he wasn’t talking this way, but that’s what I gathered from the multiple repeats. I was planning on eating western food tonight. “Oh jeez”, I thought to myself. “You have the opportunity for a great experience here! Hang out with Xiao Ji and his friends, eat some spicy Hunan food, who knows what else?” So, I went, of course.

The party (Xiao Ji is leftmost in the first pic) and the *hot* Hunan (a province in China) food (notice I’ve got my Chinese sheet w/ me):

Well suh, Xiao Ji’s brother was there, two friends, one of the friends wives, and then another woman with a young girl. After saying “hello” to everyone and some basic basic Chinese, I started to eat. Wow, nice and hot, very hot. Tasty stuff. My small glass was filled with beer and on each proposed toast, everyone had to drink the the entire glass. After a few of these, I had to slow down. “No problem! No problem!” said the best English speaker of the group (maybe a little better than my Chinese). That was a relief. I tried to tell them I had work tomorrow. “No problem!” OK, glad we got that straightened out. Most of the evening was filled with all sorts of funny attempts of Chinese and English followed by raucous and rowdy laughter. The woman with the small child left after maybe 15 minutes, I never saw her again. The leisurely dinner continued on, maybe for an hour and a half or so. Towards the end of the meal, Xiao Ji, whose English is improving quickly said, “Wash feet!” “Wash feet!” What? Wash my feet, huh? I wasn’t sure what he was saying. “We go wash feet!” and he made a rubbing motion on his foot. Oh!!! “An mo!”, I said. “Yeah yeah yeah!!” OK, let’s go!

“An mo” = Massage. I can’t remember the word for foot.

(l-r) Waiting for the girls to show up, It starts with a back massage (sorry, I nearly fell asleep so I didn’t take a foot massage picture, but there’s not much to see but feet!):

We stood around for a while waiting for a free room. Xiao Ji explained that, for me, the price would be jacked up, but we had negotiated a group deal and Xiao Ji’s brother insisted on paying. So, I don’t know how cheap this little delight was. We were led to a spartan, brightly-lit yellow room with a TV bolted on to a steel rack near the ceiling. There were four large plush chairs in the middle of the room that we each took a seat in (the other two guys were in a different room). The girls came in (and one man for the solitary woman of the group), had us turn around and sit on the ottoman while they gave us a quick back rub, then washed our feet, and massaged our feet for a good 30-40 minutes, followed by some cleaning lotions, hot towels, and a final rub down on the feet and shins with heated rocks. I was so sleepy afterwards. Very nice!

I finally completely overdosed on Chinese food. After the dumpling house over lunch, I realized that I had to go off it for a while. Maybe two or three days of nothing but “normal” food is all I needed, I figured. So, I went to the grocery story and bought these supplies. How I enjoyed my next two lunches:

I tried to express my gratitude to the Zhao family as best I could, also telling the English speakers to please convey the same message.   I’m always so impressed when a group of people treat strangers so nicely.   Very generous folks.

Because of the night before (the smoke, noise, and lack of sleep – again), I had an excruciating headache by lunchtime.   We hit a restaurant that had western food where I got some french fries; that helped a lot.   Michael and I then tried to get back to Yangsuo where we were to catch an overnight bus back to Shenzhen.   “Maybe I’ll finally get some reasonable sleep”, I thought.   The bus station was insanely packed though, the most crowded I’ve seen yet.   I took one look and said “Forget it”.   The 180 yuan deal we got for a taxi all the way to Yangsuo more than paid for itself.   I napped the whole way but woke up with a pain in the neck thanks to my head sagging for so long.

After strolling around the town some more, we caught our bus around 9pm and headed out around 10pm.   I did fall asleep in the tiny cramped quarters but work up around 4 feeling ill and nauseus.   What was worse was that this bus had no bathroom and there were no bathroom breaks.   Eep.   I started to get worried.   The auspices were not good for the remainder of my trip.   At least there was a small vent that I could put on my face.   I lay on my back, listened to my iPod, and simply tried to relax.   I made it fine.   But, I felt awful as we pulled into Shenzhen around 7am, ahead of schedule.   I did not care about cost at this point, I wasn’t about to take the subway or a bus or anything like that back to my apartment.   Of course, cost is not really an issue in China.   We found the first taxi and piled in.

Back at the apartment, I had a shower and finally felt clean.   I went to bed around 8am.   I slept until noon, ordered a pizza from Sandro (see “Caffe” below, ate, wrote my first blog post (“Ying zuo”), emailed a little, and took another nap around 4.   I slept until 9.   Got up and made a phone call to the US (Stantz), a few more emails, and went to bed around 11:30 and slept until 7:30.   17 hours.

The following morning, after another poor night of sleep, Michael and I headed out on rented bikes and a guide (about 5 bucks for everything) around the outskirts of Yangshuo checking out all the natural wonders. We were planning on going up in a balloon this morning but the rain was still threatening and there was a lot of mist. I also wanted to try some sport climbing, but, again, the rain. Around noon time, we got a call from the Zhao family who invited us to lunch back in Yangsuo and then to accompany them to Guilin for an evening. We accepted.

(l-r) A view outside of Yangsuo, Lunch back in Yangsuo (all sorts of crazy things for lunch. See the snails? You gotta suck ‘em out of the shell – haha!!):

Turns out the Zhao family had quite an entourage with them: rivate bus with driver, interpreter (only Japanese – for the husband of the daughter), and photographer. We went to another river cruise which featured several little villages, some of them quite primative. I thought it felt kinda funny boating past them – this boat full of about 20 tourists. Some pictures:

The photographer doing his work while Nancy, the interpreter, looks on:

Back in Guilin, we had an excellent dinner, wandered around the city, which is much bigger than Yangsuo, and went to another show, this one called something like “The Dragonback”, whose name references the sharp peaks of the area. So, there were artsy dances and captivating music that depicted the history of the area. (I especially enjoyed the song about pounding the rice. ) Again, the cast for this production was huge and the sets were elaborate. The most impressive performances were the artistic acrobatics, which included one man (or woman!) balancing five people above them, or a woman standing on one tip toe balanced on a man’s head! Crazy!!! How?

After expressing much gratitude to the patriarch (myself included), the “young folks” headed out to a club, which was the loudest one I’ve ever been in. Aside from the music being unbearably loud (my chest vibrated from the bass) and the cigarette smoke, the drink was this wine and soda concoction, which I drank only sparingly of. I really liked the snacks though – fruits like peeled apples and pears, berries, and watermellon slices.

(l-r) Western girls hired to dance at the club (how did they end up getting this gig?), part of our group:

After leaving the raft behind, we hiked maybe a mile down a thin road to the village of XingPing where we’d catch another bus to take us the remaining distance to Yangsuo, a popular tourist town. As we walked along the road, I marveled and gawked at the scenery and setting around me. It felt like stepping back in time one century…except for one thing: the cell phones. You cannot escape the cell phones. I’ll have to write a post on this in the future and collect some supporting photos on this topic – how the Chinese love their cell phones.

XingPing:

The outskirts of XingPing looked like a movie set from an old Chinese Kung Fu movie. The only additional anachronisms (the cell phones are always present) were the items being sold, like pirated DVDs. In the central part of the town, near the bus station, the setting became more familiar. We hopped on a bus just as it was pulling out of town. Of course, there was no room again and we were packed in again. In addition to the driver, there’s someone who goes around collection money. There’s no tickets that are given out, you just give him your money (like 5 yuan, or 75 cents). I suppose he just memorizes who has paid. Of course, he wouldn’t forget me, the one “ghost” (or “gui lao”, a derogatory term for foreigners). I couldn’t see much again except for crouching down as best I could. At one point, I recall crouching down to get a view and saw an official basketball game in progress on a cement court right on the edge of the road with no seating for the crowd. In the background, there were more limestone towers. What a visual treat! Some minutes later, we pulled into Yangsuo. The assistant barked something at us in Chinese and motioned for those of us standing to crouch down low. Apparently, there were policemen around who would have fined the bus for accepting too many passengers. What a joke.

“West Street” in downtown Yangsuo.   Nice place:

Yangsuo – what a great town! It reminds me very much of places like Boulder or Vail – fun small towns that are loaded with shops, places to eat, bars, etc. There were plenty of foreigners here too, but I had little desire to speak to them for some reason, maybe it was just a general vibe I picked up on that I didn’t care for. Or maybe it was the pair of young American guys who were cussing loudly and walking around like roosters. Bah! We found a cheap hotel, ditched our stuff, and headed out to look around some more. We found a little bar where I ordered one of the most hideous cappuccinos of all time when a Chinese family came it. We ended up striking up a conversation with them, only a couple spoke reasonable English and I spoke my unreasonable Chinese with the others. It turned out that we’d spend a lot of time with this nice family for the rest of the trip.

We ended up going with them to an outdoor evening show featuring five hundred performers and lots of spotlights illuminating the towers in the distance. It was quite beautiful and the music really stuck with me. That reminds me, I need to try to hunt down a recording of some of these traditional songs from the region. Later that evening it rained hard for a long time and we ended up staying out very late waiting for the rain to stop (it didn’t), and eating a long leisurely dinner.

Ever had “Drunk Duck”?   I did have some snails later on.   Not too shabby.

Well, despite a lousy night sleep, I was excited to start the sight seeing. First thing was first though: trying to find a return ticket so we could get back to work on time. Because of the Spring Festival, only one-way tickets were being sold. The ticket counter was a zoo, though even more crowded and noisy situations were yet to come, and we waited in line for thirty minutes or so only to find that there were no more tickets to Shenzhen. Oh well, maybe we could fly! Well, we decided that we would find a travel agency in Yangshuo, our destination for this evening.

We walked down to the bus stop and caught a bus (we actually had a seat, the last time this would happen on the local busses) for the boat dock to the most scenic spot on the Lijian River. We had a boat guide waiting there for us. Many more people piled on the bus, even bringing little plastic stools to sit in the aisles. After a 20 minute ride, we were dropped off at the intersection where we’d catch another bus to a small village, whose name I don’t recall, where the dock was. Thank goodness for Michael’s language skills. This trip would have been 10 times as hard in broken Chinese.

Every bus that passed us was crowded. We tried bargaining with some motorcycle riders for passage but they wanted like 30 yuan, about $4.25. Though that was cheap, a bus would be about 75 cents. So we waited a bit. Every wierd for of transportation drove by including these rigged duct-tape contraptions meant to haul a few people but were often packed with 10 or more. Also, there were boat guide representatives who chased cars along trying to get business. I shot a short bit of video here. I hope everyone can see it (you’ll need Quicktime).

Check out this jalopy:

We finally found a bus to get on but we were the last to board so we stood the entire way. Being so tall, all I could see was the ground along the side of the road, but occassionally I would crouch down (as best I could…easier after a few people got off) and could see the mystical limestone towers with swirling mist around them. This was a different world. We arrived in the village where people were carrying live chickens by the wings directly to the chopping block on the side of the street, lopping off their heads or breaking their necks and then de-feathering them. There were creepy old ladies selling peanuts and oranges shouting “Hello Hello!” at me and whatever else in Chinese.

The village:

We walked down to the dock and caught a ferry to the other side of the river. For some bureaucratic reason, the reed rafts weren’t allowed to come to this dock. At last, we were on our way.

Stunning scenery. You’ve never seen anything like it before:

Of course, I was awestruck by the vegitated limestone towers. Each one reminded me of a miniature Johannesburg Mountain and I couldn’t help imagining what it might have been like for Michael (Stanton) and me to climb one of them…anything like J-Burg? To quote Michael (Stanton again), imagining the climb was “strangely enticing.”

We were supposed to have lunch at the boatman’s house, a little shack on the side of the river, but it was already crowded with people. The kitchen building was a small little house with two rooms: one for eating, one for cooking. The floors were dirt, but there was cable TV in the eating room. In the kitchen were two large black kettles, resembling woks, where the food was being prepared. We decided to move on and eat at a small restaurant down the river.

The restaurant, which was just a medium sized pavilion, had a similar feel – the chickens were being freshly prepared just outside. The food was excellent. My chopstick skills are getting pretty good. I’m not nearly as messy as I used to be. This was our first real meal since leaving Shenzhen and we both were sure to eat well.

(l-r) the restaurant and posing for a pic at the restaurant:

Back on the river, we cruised past some of the most scenic areas, the ones that you see all the photographs of. Speaking of which, I don’t recall ever seeing any photos of this area before. I don’t know why. Maybe because China was so inaccessible in the past? Hmmm, dunno, but I think it’s curious because some of the scenes are so otherworldly, you’d think at least that some movies would have been filmed here.

A while later we took a short break on the gravel shore where many tourists were congregating. There were people out selling junk, people selling the opportunity to have photos with them for 2 yuan (25 cents). One of them were these people carrying a balancing stick across their shoulders with two birds on either side attached by cord to the stick. Apparently, these are fishing birds and the people who use them put rings around their necks so that they cannot swallow their catches. After the birds have caught enough though, the ring is removed and they’re allowed to feed.

(l-r) The gravel shore, fishing bird, a yak or some close relative:

The trip was now nearing an end. A few more stunning views and we were done. The boatman deposited us on the shore, we paid him the 20, I think, yuan ($2.50) and we started a short hike to the village of XingPing where we’d catch a bus to Yangshuo.

Some final views:

“Ying Zuo” means “Hard Seat”. I was introduced to this term in a book called Coming Home Crazy, a collection of essays on China from the point of view of an American English teacher living there during the mid to late eighties. Now, to me China is pretty wild in 2007, but I can only imagine the insane picture of China twenty years ago that this book paints and when hearing similar stories confirmed by the locals here.

“Hard Seat” is the term for the cheapest tickets on the train, the most popular means of travel in China.   The Hard Seat used to be wooden upright benches bolted to the passenger seat.   Not too long ago, people also used to climb in through open windows and stand for the duration of the trip.   Oh my God.   To me, just having people sit like this for hours on end is a violation of human rights :-p but that’s the way it’s done.   Nowadays, the hard seat is at least slightly padded an a bit reclined, but it’s still too much for me…

Michael and I left Shenzhen for Guilin around 6pm due in for an arrival to Guilin around 10:30 the following morning. Thankfully, we didn’t go “hard seat”, but we did go “hard bunk” where there are 6 bunks per compartment, stacked three high, without enough room to sit up straight, at least for me. It’s a step up though; at least you get to lie down.

While the train isn’t moving, the bathrooms are locked, so before the train left, numerous parents took their kids out to platform, yanked their pants down, then squatted with them and let the go right there on the platform.

(l-r) Crowded train station, the train to Guilin, and bathroom time:

Now, I’ve been on many extremely physically demanding climbing trips that last for days in the North Cascades where we’re working hard for 12-14 hours a day and sleeping on the ground with no more than 2 feet of 1/2″ thick foam rubber. I swear I am usually much more tired when taking long train rides, long bus rides and sleeping on uncomfortable hotel beds. Well, this trip was no different. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so sleep deprived. This first night set the stage for my lack of sleep. I normally could have easily slept through the mysterious metal bar pounding outside the compartment, but the snoring, ah the snoring. I have such a hard time. What is it with Michaels and snoring. Hee hee. I probably got some solid sleep around 3am.

Here’s a view from the top of the “hard bunk”:

There’s no way I’m going to be taking the train from Guangzhou to Lhasa.

Almost every single day, on the front page, is a story about how serious China is about the environment. I wonder how much of this is propoganda from the government. Anyway, I find it curious. The growth rate in China is pushing 10% which is scary. I still play the game with myself where I turn my head in some direction and try to find a construction crane. I almost always can. So, how serious are they about the environment when the economy is ripping along, almost at a dangerous level? Dunno, I’ll keep watching.

FYI, I’ll be going dark for a while. I’m taking a trip to Guilin for about 4 days. Keep a lookout for some stunning photos in a few days. It’s the Spring Festival holiday; I got the full week off, except I need to be back at work on Sunday.

The very first place I ate at in my neighborhood is one that I frequent often now. It’s called “Caffe di Roma” and is a simple little Italian eatery with very friendly staff. I usually eat Chinese food for lunch and then balance it out with a western style dinner. On my first night in China, I was trying to find a place. I wandered up the promenade and this Chinese man came up to me speaking in perfect English. This was Sandro, the owner. He’d picked the name “Sandro” from living in Italy fairly recently for three years. He’s a former IT professional turned Italian food and cappuchino afficionado and now has his own restaurant. I’ve become a loyal customer due to his and the staff’s friendliness, not to mention the excellent pizza, my favorite dish there.

Here’s a shot of me n’ Sandro. He frequently comes out and sits w/ the customers. I’ve been wearing this shirt a lot. It just so happens to be a very lucky shirt this time of year – red with yellow stripes, you know?

There’s also a tiny staff of four waitresses, usually only two at once. Of the four, only one, Pearl, can speak decent English, and she’s quite good. I’ve learned a good bit from her. She was the one who taught me the subtle difference between “to eat” and “to go”. I recall having a hard time with the two verbs, but it’s much easier now. I guess there is some progress. The chef, who’s name I don’t recall, is a funny guy who looks the role. He comes up to me and talks a lot but I almost never understand him. He seems to think I’m fluent in Chinese ’cause I can say a couple of phrases. I reckon all the girls help me speak to one extent or another, but the chef just sends words flying into one ear and out the other. He and Sandro often can be found playing Chinese Chess. Here they are:

I usually carry around a raggedy piece of paper for impromptu lessons. When I hear a significant new word, I have the person write it out in PinYin, the English phonetic language for Chinese. Here’s a shot of Pearl writing down something for me (I do this multiple times a day, every day):

A typical sheet of paper of mine w/ PinYin and English:

A little dog w/ another party at the caffe:

On the day I took these pictures and wrote up this post, I actually hung around the caffe for two meals: breakfast and lunch. Activities in between: writing emails or blog posts, learning Chinese, showing the folks various pictures from the US. Because it was the first day of the Zhu nian (“Year of the pig”), folks take it easy. So, even though I have a lot of work to do (tomorrow), I’m taking it easy today. Also, it feels like a little cold, flu, or something has been trying to grab hold of me the past two days. So, I’m going to take it very easy today and focus on staying healthy.

Here’s some pics from another hike. This one, Da Nanshan, was much better than the first, but still nothing close to a wilderness experience. The views were great. The trail wasn’t a road, but still a cement path…alternating between stairs and winding walkways. There were small little shelters located in strategic spots for good views. I went with one of my Chinese teachers, Helen.

Here’s a shot of the mountain from Shekou below. We ran the entire ridge from right to left:

This hike was similar to the hike of Icicle Ridge that Aidan, Michael, and I did back in 2003. This was much easier though, about 1/4th the elevation and distance. Still the steep stairs that led to the top had me sweating pretty hard. We vowed not to stop until we got to the top, so we paced ourselves. Along the way, I learned the best phrases when riding in a taxi, especially when the driver doesn’t know where he’s going (which is common).

Some more views:

I can see myself coming back here for a workout. It can be done pretty quickly when you’re in shape. Maybe you can run the whole ridge in an hour and a half? Maybe less. Hard for me to tell ’cause we stopped so much and checked out the views. Once you climb up the opening ridge it’s pretty easy. Best not to hurry down; the stairs are steep and it wouldn’t be pleasant to trip.