China farewell!
Spent my last day in Lijiang going back to the market, wandering around, filled with greed for all the cooking implements. The cleavers were so sharp and beautiful, the fact that I already have one, hardly ever used is beside the point. Skimmers in all different sizes and all those woks, I wanted them all. Don’t worry I restrained myself, didn’t buy one item.
Walk by a store in town, that have caramelized small fruits on skewers, they look like jewels laid out in the window. Finally I get to the Mu mansion, the Mu’s as chief of the Naxi’s have kept their status for 22 generations and 470 years. It is quite magnificent, one would think that after having seen so many historic buildings I would have had my fill, but this one really thrilled me. There were some old frescoes on the walls in one of the buildings. The Mu’s were apparently very scholarly and had an extensive library, to which scholars of the day were invited. As I am walking around, I see a group of elderly Naxi women who appear to be out on an outing. They permit me to take their pictures and indicate that they would like copies. One little problem, none of them seem to know how to write, I corral a youngish woman walking by and appeal to her better instincts, she does reluctantly copy down one of the addresses, which I had translated later in the day. Am not sure if they were illiterate or exactly what their story was. I remember meeting many women, some quite young in Turkey, who did not know how to read or write, but am not sure about China.
Time to leave Lijiang, for my one night in Kunming which I spent at the Guandu Hotel, it is very near the airport, and can be recommended. Leave for Guangzhou at 6 am next morning, have still not seen Kunming.
Guangzhou in the heart of Canton, what does one do, one shops and eats Dim Sum. It took a little while to deposit my suitcase at the airport, give an English lesson to the attendant, she had difficulties differentiating between fifteen and fifty, and finally catch a bus into the city. It was hard getting information, apparently there is not one airport bus, but many going to different destinations. I finally got on the #1 which took me to the terminal. The information I received there was to go to Shang Xiu Jiu, for shopping, as well as eating. From there I took a taxi. The #5 bus would have taken me directly/, bypassing the need for a cab.
My first stop was, HongXing seafood restaurant. I had wanted to try Abalone while in China but it didn’t happen. I ordered a Sharks fin soup with crab meat, with every intention of ordering more items. However the experience was so uncomfortable, with the young waitress staring at me and every morsel I put into my mouth, then gesturing to another waitress to join her in giggling at the “Laowai” that I left as soon as I could.
Shopping was something that I have really not indulged in, I had regretted not getting a computer bag/knapsack on wheels in Yangshou and that was the first order of business. Almost as soon as I entered the mall I discovered the bag section, found the very same fake copy of a Swiss Army Knife bag that I had seen earlier and it was mine for $19. If only I was a shopper, there was floor after floor with so much stuff, and no hassle. Then I got to the 4th floor with all the fur salons, that sold mainly mink coats. Most of it seemed geared for the Russian market given the styles and colors but there were some real finds at incredibly low prices. However I resisted temptation, because now it was time for Dim Sum. I know my priorities and went to Lucky ???? am unable to find the card but it is a huge very popular place. There are many stations where you go to order whatever small plates you want, then at strategic locations there are women with dumpling carts. I ate until I couldn’t anymore, took my new knapsack and left for new adventures in Vietnam.
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Lijiang part 3, Baisha and Mu's Mansion
Lijiang, Naxi sites and Baisha
9 am Lu is waiting for me by south entrance to the old town. We are going sightseeing. She is a young girl studying English, who trained as a tourist guide but unfortunately studied Japanese. She lives in Baisha, and her English teacher is the other partner at my hotel.
We start off at Jade Water Village which is a big park dedicated to Naxi rites and traditions. The top of the park has a wonderful golden statue with an inscription, that says in essence we should not pollute what we eat or drink. I could make a few comments, but better be polite to the host country. It is standing in the middle of a pool that has a 800 year old tree and a spring that is very holy to the Naxi. From there many waterfalls come down, most of them with manmade stones. We walk around and see copies of Naxi food in one building at another area there are some Naxi farmhouses which show how the Naxi wine is made, as well as paper. Outside the building there are Yaks to be ridden, and no tourists. I give in and have now ridden a Yak, the same sensation as a camel, except this was for much shorter time.
We then continue Jade Peak temple that has a Camelia Tree that is supposedly 500 years old and bears 1000’s of flowers when it blooms. This tree like everything else is on top of many, many steps but it is very impressive. On the way up we pass some monks, it appears as if one of them is having his fortune told with playing cards. Unfortunately could not get that confirmed as Lu’s English is very limited. There were the usual group of elderly Naxi women by the entrance singing songs, am not sure if Lu’s grandmother was one of them but she came down the path as we were leaving. I did get a couple of nice pictures of them together.
On to Baisha, Lu’s home village, one of her friends has a restaurant and we had lunch there. I got yet another version of Jidouling Fen this one was warm, she also served sautéed cucumbers with scrambled egg and hot peppers, eggplant with a special greens from the region, wild mushrooms and a soup with tofu and greens. Dessert was an apple and an orange. They had such a good time talking to each other and when lunch was over, I was taken to the neighbor’s house to see her hay, dried corn, the cow and the yard. The neighbor spoke a little English and invited me to stay,unfortunately we had more visits to make. We walked around Baisha through lanes of souvenir sellers to a temple that had some ancient frescoes. By this time I am sightseeinged out and don’t quite get what it is all about. I know that Baisha once was a capital of a kingdom, now it appears as a tourist spot and an agricultural village. We do end up visiting Lu’s other grandmother, where I am shown the pigs, they all have separate quarters, depending on their age. Also see the dried corn, and wheat, as well as the rape and its grinder. Do so wish that I could communicate better, it strikes me that this, as many of the other houses in the village are quite self sufficient. As you drive down the street, you don’t realize that behind those doors are yards with farm animals, barns and living areas.
By now I am really tired, but there is still one more stop to yet another place, I don’t remember the name but it was totally touristy. I did however see eighty year old man finger paint, and he was proud of it. Since Lu and I have a language barrier I indicate that I am really tired and enough is enough. Lu drives me back and we call it a day.
In recapping my day it was a wonderful experience. Though we couldn’t really have a conversation as such, we certainly communicated, Lu showed me so much of her culture, and I was very grateful for her taking me to all these places. I also finally saw the pine cones that produce pine nuts. What I have come to realize, once again while traveling, if there is intelligence, and a willingness to share, lack of language is only a hindrance not a barrier.
I get back to the hotel, the architect is around and we sit down in the courtyard with some of the wine I bought. He is totally amazed that Chinese wine can taste this good. We then start to discuss the dining room addition, it is being painted, his words, IKEA blue and yellow. He likes it edgy, am not sure that the Swedish colors are edgy except perhaps in China. He is 29, from Beijing, and we talk about the difference between Lijiang and Beijing. He tells me that he was party boy and lived on the edge, did a lot of drugs, not quite sure how much he has given up. According to him drugs are no longer part of his life which is why he likes Lijiang, according to some of the other characters, he is a pot smoker. The whole place is a puzzle to me. Part of it is definitively a hotel/guesthouse with paying guests like myself, but then there are so many 30ish, stylish in a funky kind of way people flitting around that I cannot quite figure out what their function is. Are they staying there, are they friends of the owners and visiting for the moment, whatever they are they certainly rule the lounge. This is so familiar, I could be back in NYC but I am in China and in my mind it is not supposed to be like this.
One more day to go and I don’t want to leave
9 am Lu is waiting for me by south entrance to the old town. We are going sightseeing. She is a young girl studying English, who trained as a tourist guide but unfortunately studied Japanese. She lives in Baisha, and her English teacher is the other partner at my hotel.
We start off at Jade Water Village which is a big park dedicated to Naxi rites and traditions. The top of the park has a wonderful golden statue with an inscription, that says in essence we should not pollute what we eat or drink. I could make a few comments, but better be polite to the host country. It is standing in the middle of a pool that has a 800 year old tree and a spring that is very holy to the Naxi. From there many waterfalls come down, most of them with manmade stones. We walk around and see copies of Naxi food in one building at another area there are some Naxi farmhouses which show how the Naxi wine is made, as well as paper. Outside the building there are Yaks to be ridden, and no tourists. I give in and have now ridden a Yak, the same sensation as a camel, except this was for much shorter time.
We then continue Jade Peak temple that has a Camelia Tree that is supposedly 500 years old and bears 1000’s of flowers when it blooms. This tree like everything else is on top of many, many steps but it is very impressive. On the way up we pass some monks, it appears as if one of them is having his fortune told with playing cards. Unfortunately could not get that confirmed as Lu’s English is very limited. There were the usual group of elderly Naxi women by the entrance singing songs, am not sure if Lu’s grandmother was one of them but she came down the path as we were leaving. I did get a couple of nice pictures of them together.
On to Baisha, Lu’s home village, one of her friends has a restaurant and we had lunch there. I got yet another version of Jidouling Fen this one was warm, she also served sautéed cucumbers with scrambled egg and hot peppers, eggplant with a special greens from the region, wild mushrooms and a soup with tofu and greens. Dessert was an apple and an orange. They had such a good time talking to each other and when lunch was over, I was taken to the neighbor’s house to see her hay, dried corn, the cow and the yard. The neighbor spoke a little English and invited me to stay,unfortunately we had more visits to make. We walked around Baisha through lanes of souvenir sellers to a temple that had some ancient frescoes. By this time I am sightseeinged out and don’t quite get what it is all about. I know that Baisha once was a capital of a kingdom, now it appears as a tourist spot and an agricultural village. We do end up visiting Lu’s other grandmother, where I am shown the pigs, they all have separate quarters, depending on their age. Also see the dried corn, and wheat, as well as the rape and its grinder. Do so wish that I could communicate better, it strikes me that this, as many of the other houses in the village are quite self sufficient. As you drive down the street, you don’t realize that behind those doors are yards with farm animals, barns and living areas.
By now I am really tired, but there is still one more stop to yet another place, I don’t remember the name but it was totally touristy. I did however see eighty year old man finger paint, and he was proud of it. Since Lu and I have a language barrier I indicate that I am really tired and enough is enough. Lu drives me back and we call it a day.
In recapping my day it was a wonderful experience. Though we couldn’t really have a conversation as such, we certainly communicated, Lu showed me so much of her culture, and I was very grateful for her taking me to all these places. I also finally saw the pine cones that produce pine nuts. What I have come to realize, once again while traveling, if there is intelligence, and a willingness to share, lack of language is only a hindrance not a barrier.
I get back to the hotel, the architect is around and we sit down in the courtyard with some of the wine I bought. He is totally amazed that Chinese wine can taste this good. We then start to discuss the dining room addition, it is being painted, his words, IKEA blue and yellow. He likes it edgy, am not sure that the Swedish colors are edgy except perhaps in China. He is 29, from Beijing, and we talk about the difference between Lijiang and Beijing. He tells me that he was party boy and lived on the edge, did a lot of drugs, not quite sure how much he has given up. According to him drugs are no longer part of his life which is why he likes Lijiang, according to some of the other characters, he is a pot smoker. The whole place is a puzzle to me. Part of it is definitively a hotel/guesthouse with paying guests like myself, but then there are so many 30ish, stylish in a funky kind of way people flitting around that I cannot quite figure out what their function is. Are they staying there, are they friends of the owners and visiting for the moment, whatever they are they certainly rule the lounge. This is so familiar, I could be back in NYC but I am in China and in my mind it is not supposed to be like this.
One more day to go and I don’t want to leave
Lijiang part 2
Lijiang continued.
Since I have 4 ½ days here, decide to take it easy in the morning. I get out around 11 am and the town is quiet. People are out doing their thing, especially around the pools. Laundry is big here as is washing vegetables. The water comes down from the mountains into town in small canals. There are three pools in strategic positions within the canals, throughout town. The first is for drinking water, the second for washing vegetables, and the third for laundry. Shops are gradually opening up, and since I am only walking the main streets meet a few people coming back from the market. Apparently this is the beginning of the Yangtze river.
I am on a mission, that is having lunch at the Buddhist temple Anthony Bourdain went to in his Lijiang episode. I do find the temple nestled inside an alley, it looks awfully empty, but I find the outdoor eating area, and am invited to the kitchen to select what I want to eat. I don’t know what I want so I just nod yes to everything she suggests. I then go and sit outside in the garden, watching the roof tops, the water flowing below and truly enjoying the silence. A monk looks in on me every so often, and there is one other man at a table who is joined by 3 others for lunch. Would I say that this is the place where the working men of Lijiang go for lunch hardly. They must have hired a lot of extras for the show.
Lunch comes, I get Naxi bread, started in a dry pan finished on a brick in a wood burning oven, eggs with tomato and scallion, seems a popular dish, had a different version last night, then I get Jidouling Fen. The same kind of cold noodles I had eaten at the market except these were dark grey. Have still not been able to get a recipe, but the jelly is made from Chick peas that grow in this region. They are served with soy sayce, 5 spice powder, hot peppers, cilantro and scallions, totally delish. I devour everything and pay my bill of 10RBM including tea.
I walk slowly through town, past the large square with the water wheel towards black Dragon Pool Park. Yet another entrance fee, but because I have my city card I don’t pay. The park is lovely, there is a Dongba cultural center, which I climb a lot of stairs to reach. Dongbas mean “master interpreter of scriptures” and in my ignorance didn’t quite understand the significance of the old man and a whole room devoted to paper making and writings. This is what I since learnt . The Naxi are the only ethnic group in the world to have their culture preserved in a textual writing system with images and pictographic characters (sijiulujiu) still in use. The ancient scriptures on paper or wooden boards and scrolls remain in their thousands preserved in libraries and museums worldwide. Of artistic importance are wooden boards with paintings of gods planted in sacred spots in nature or used in ceremonies. We saw the boards used at the performance but didn’t know what the significance was.
I continue through the park and stop several times to admire the pool, which is really a lake and the pavilions built around it. There is a large area where people are congregating, at one end there is a stage with musicians on it. I am informed that they will start playing in 15 minutes, and sit down. The sun is shining, an elderly lady is playing the Gu Zheng, a Chinese Zither, old men are shooting the breeze, children are running around. The musicians start to play Naxi music and it is lovely. What a perfect way to spend a few hours. As I am ready to leave one of the old men indicates that his friend is 95 years old. I take pictures and they all think this is great.
Walk out the north gate into the modern part of town and follow the line of the old town. It is a big street where many young mothers with small children sit on stools outside their shops. I stop to admire the children, and am invited to sit down and share the baked potatoes. I accept the invitation, but the children got so scared by my looks that I quickly got up. The adults were all laughing, but I don’t need to make Chinese children scared of blonde hair. Have finally realised why I only see children 2 years old, or younger, because the rest are at school. As I continue down the avenue I pass a large statue of Mao Ze Dong it is the only one I have seen so far in China.
Walk back into the old town, now I know what they mean by tourist town. The Yaks are waiting for riders in the main square, the tourists, and tour groups, mainly Chinese are everywhere. I walk on one of the back streets, which is full of restaurants. The kitchen and wait staff are on break before the dinner rush and hang around, smoking and gossiping the way they do all over the world. It is cute seeing the very young boys in their whites and many of the waitresses in minority costumes. I sit down at one place and have a beer, have been drinking more beer here, these few weeks than I ever had before. It really took care of my thirst. The tour groups have discovered this street, I am as much an object of interest as the old houses, time to go back to the hotel.
Since I have 4 ½ days here, decide to take it easy in the morning. I get out around 11 am and the town is quiet. People are out doing their thing, especially around the pools. Laundry is big here as is washing vegetables. The water comes down from the mountains into town in small canals. There are three pools in strategic positions within the canals, throughout town. The first is for drinking water, the second for washing vegetables, and the third for laundry. Shops are gradually opening up, and since I am only walking the main streets meet a few people coming back from the market. Apparently this is the beginning of the Yangtze river.
I am on a mission, that is having lunch at the Buddhist temple Anthony Bourdain went to in his Lijiang episode. I do find the temple nestled inside an alley, it looks awfully empty, but I find the outdoor eating area, and am invited to the kitchen to select what I want to eat. I don’t know what I want so I just nod yes to everything she suggests. I then go and sit outside in the garden, watching the roof tops, the water flowing below and truly enjoying the silence. A monk looks in on me every so often, and there is one other man at a table who is joined by 3 others for lunch. Would I say that this is the place where the working men of Lijiang go for lunch hardly. They must have hired a lot of extras for the show.
Lunch comes, I get Naxi bread, started in a dry pan finished on a brick in a wood burning oven, eggs with tomato and scallion, seems a popular dish, had a different version last night, then I get Jidouling Fen. The same kind of cold noodles I had eaten at the market except these were dark grey. Have still not been able to get a recipe, but the jelly is made from Chick peas that grow in this region. They are served with soy sayce, 5 spice powder, hot peppers, cilantro and scallions, totally delish. I devour everything and pay my bill of 10RBM including tea.
I walk slowly through town, past the large square with the water wheel towards black Dragon Pool Park. Yet another entrance fee, but because I have my city card I don’t pay. The park is lovely, there is a Dongba cultural center, which I climb a lot of stairs to reach. Dongbas mean “master interpreter of scriptures” and in my ignorance didn’t quite understand the significance of the old man and a whole room devoted to paper making and writings. This is what I since learnt . The Naxi are the only ethnic group in the world to have their culture preserved in a textual writing system with images and pictographic characters (sijiulujiu) still in use. The ancient scriptures on paper or wooden boards and scrolls remain in their thousands preserved in libraries and museums worldwide. Of artistic importance are wooden boards with paintings of gods planted in sacred spots in nature or used in ceremonies. We saw the boards used at the performance but didn’t know what the significance was.
I continue through the park and stop several times to admire the pool, which is really a lake and the pavilions built around it. There is a large area where people are congregating, at one end there is a stage with musicians on it. I am informed that they will start playing in 15 minutes, and sit down. The sun is shining, an elderly lady is playing the Gu Zheng, a Chinese Zither, old men are shooting the breeze, children are running around. The musicians start to play Naxi music and it is lovely. What a perfect way to spend a few hours. As I am ready to leave one of the old men indicates that his friend is 95 years old. I take pictures and they all think this is great.
Walk out the north gate into the modern part of town and follow the line of the old town. It is a big street where many young mothers with small children sit on stools outside their shops. I stop to admire the children, and am invited to sit down and share the baked potatoes. I accept the invitation, but the children got so scared by my looks that I quickly got up. The adults were all laughing, but I don’t need to make Chinese children scared of blonde hair. Have finally realised why I only see children 2 years old, or younger, because the rest are at school. As I continue down the avenue I pass a large statue of Mao Ze Dong it is the only one I have seen so far in China.
Walk back into the old town, now I know what they mean by tourist town. The Yaks are waiting for riders in the main square, the tourists, and tour groups, mainly Chinese are everywhere. I walk on one of the back streets, which is full of restaurants. The kitchen and wait staff are on break before the dinner rush and hang around, smoking and gossiping the way they do all over the world. It is cute seeing the very young boys in their whites and many of the waitresses in minority costumes. I sit down at one place and have a beer, have been drinking more beer here, these few weeks than I ever had before. It really took care of my thirst. The tour groups have discovered this street, I am as much an object of interest as the old houses, time to go back to the hotel.
Lijiang and Jade Dragon snow Mountain
My last major stop on the China tour is Lijiang. One more night in Kunming and Guangzhou for the day until I reach Hanoi in Vietnam. I have 4 nights here and as many days, it is perfect.
The bus from Dali pulls in at 2 pm after a 3 ½ hour trip at the cost of 50 RBM, taxi to the parking lot outside the old city 7 RBM, where I am met by a young man who takes me to my home for the next few nights. I can tell he is struggling with my luggage. The street is very uneven so the suitcase doesn’t roll as well. We arrive and it is a construction site, a new dining room is being added. I enquire of the person whom I presume to be the owner what are the working hours. I am told 10-4, no big deal, I can live with those hours. Get checked in and am shown a double bedded room, I explain that I am single and only need one bed. Get moved to the honeymoon room, have a round bed, fresh roses and a lovely fruit bowl.
My friend off the internet, Aline from Shanghai and her husband Michael are also staying here, but they are away on a daytrip. I get a map and start walking and am in total like again. All the literature says what a tourist town this is, true but not true. I walk along ancient streets and come to the market, I know, 3 markets in 2 days but I love markets. This is a real market for the locals, no trinkets sold. As I walk along I see a sign for “Chinese Vegetarian Burger” this I have to try, what it is, it is a bun baked in a clay pot so it puffs up, then filled with noodles that I have been unable to figure out exactly what they are made of .It is some kind of bean jelly that become noodles when a piece is shaved off from this gelatinous mass that sits on a plate. The noodles are cold and mixed with various herbs and spices. A totally delicious sandwich and I am happy. Walking along, this market is very large and there are also many food vendors. I try deep fried duck from one, and potato chips from another. This is obviously a culture that uses a lot of potatoes, the piles of potatoes are everywhere, and weighed on small handheld scales as they are sold. It is time to head back, I pass a stall that sells what I think is Yak Cheese, I buy the smallest possible piece, bite into it, it is butter. My face says it all, there is laughter all around. I return it to be discarded, since I bit into the piece. The sales woman insists of giving me my money back, which I refuse, but accept in the end. I know I like this town already.
Return to the inn and my friends have arrived. We sit in the courtyard until dinner, which the owner’s very young and new wife has cooked. It is delicious and I tease him that he married her for her cooking abilities, he very seriously responds, it was her good heart. There are two partners and an architect, plus some other people that I am not sure of who they are having dinner with us. There is also a party of 10 non-resident guests who have ordered special meal but they are seated apart from us. We have eaten and are sated, a young girl sings a Naxi love song, one of the owners part of a Chinese opera, the other owner gets his guitar and starts singing pop songs. Very catchy tunes and of course yours truly is up dancing, so are others at our table, I get a few of the other guests to join in and we have a great evening. The construction crew is still working it is now past 10 pm. The room is freezing, despite the heater and I put on the heating mattress as well.
The next morning we are leaving early to go to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Impression Lijiang. There is no hot water, breakfast is rice gruel, fried bread and scrambled eggs. I survive all of it and we are on the way. It turns out we need our staying in historical town ticket, Aline runs to get them @80 RBM each. Will not bore you with individual prices but by the time we were done with the park, show, cable car and transportation within the park the tickets alone cost 540 RBM or $79. It turned out to be a spectacular day that I had not planned on.
Part of the park are a series of waterfalls, which we start off by going to, Aline gets on a Yak for picture taking. We take a bus around the lake, it is all very pretty and quite rustic. What has amazed me throughout China and even here, are the young girls in impossible high heels and flimsy clothes going on hikes. We return to the main area by bus and have lunch, excellent dumplings, I also buy some dried Yak meat. Then it is time for the Lijiang Impression show. This is quite extraordinary, an outdoor show performed under the snowcapped mountain. It is about the minorities in the area, mainly though the Naxi. There is a cast of hundreds who sing, ride, walk, dance in their native costumes. The underlying message is about brotherhood and peace. I don’t think there are too many dry eyes at the end. For the English speaking there is a simultaneously translation projected on the cliff wall. Most impressive, especially when you realize that they are all amateurs, who perform as they were the Rockettes. With the ticket comes a red cap, I finally get to be like the other Chinese.
The show is over and now comes the reason we are here, a cable car up the mountain. I had rented a large padded coat and am I ever glad that I did. The ride takes 12 minutes to reach 4506 meters above sea level. It is an amazing sight, also very cold. Aline and Michael had prepared by taking altitude pills and inhaling oxygen. I figured that 10 minutes were not going to affect me too much and I was correct, had no problems on top at all, but was really tired when we got back to the hotel. I am still not sure if we were in the Himalayas, as Aline claimed, or a mountain range on its own. I really don’t care, it was a fabulous day and am really looking forward to the next few days here, I will be on my own, but this is a place and an area worth exploring.
Will continue with my days in Lijiang later and experiences with Naxi food.
The bus from Dali pulls in at 2 pm after a 3 ½ hour trip at the cost of 50 RBM, taxi to the parking lot outside the old city 7 RBM, where I am met by a young man who takes me to my home for the next few nights. I can tell he is struggling with my luggage. The street is very uneven so the suitcase doesn’t roll as well. We arrive and it is a construction site, a new dining room is being added. I enquire of the person whom I presume to be the owner what are the working hours. I am told 10-4, no big deal, I can live with those hours. Get checked in and am shown a double bedded room, I explain that I am single and only need one bed. Get moved to the honeymoon room, have a round bed, fresh roses and a lovely fruit bowl.
My friend off the internet, Aline from Shanghai and her husband Michael are also staying here, but they are away on a daytrip. I get a map and start walking and am in total like again. All the literature says what a tourist town this is, true but not true. I walk along ancient streets and come to the market, I know, 3 markets in 2 days but I love markets. This is a real market for the locals, no trinkets sold. As I walk along I see a sign for “Chinese Vegetarian Burger” this I have to try, what it is, it is a bun baked in a clay pot so it puffs up, then filled with noodles that I have been unable to figure out exactly what they are made of .It is some kind of bean jelly that become noodles when a piece is shaved off from this gelatinous mass that sits on a plate. The noodles are cold and mixed with various herbs and spices. A totally delicious sandwich and I am happy. Walking along, this market is very large and there are also many food vendors. I try deep fried duck from one, and potato chips from another. This is obviously a culture that uses a lot of potatoes, the piles of potatoes are everywhere, and weighed on small handheld scales as they are sold. It is time to head back, I pass a stall that sells what I think is Yak Cheese, I buy the smallest possible piece, bite into it, it is butter. My face says it all, there is laughter all around. I return it to be discarded, since I bit into the piece. The sales woman insists of giving me my money back, which I refuse, but accept in the end. I know I like this town already.
Return to the inn and my friends have arrived. We sit in the courtyard until dinner, which the owner’s very young and new wife has cooked. It is delicious and I tease him that he married her for her cooking abilities, he very seriously responds, it was her good heart. There are two partners and an architect, plus some other people that I am not sure of who they are having dinner with us. There is also a party of 10 non-resident guests who have ordered special meal but they are seated apart from us. We have eaten and are sated, a young girl sings a Naxi love song, one of the owners part of a Chinese opera, the other owner gets his guitar and starts singing pop songs. Very catchy tunes and of course yours truly is up dancing, so are others at our table, I get a few of the other guests to join in and we have a great evening. The construction crew is still working it is now past 10 pm. The room is freezing, despite the heater and I put on the heating mattress as well.
The next morning we are leaving early to go to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Impression Lijiang. There is no hot water, breakfast is rice gruel, fried bread and scrambled eggs. I survive all of it and we are on the way. It turns out we need our staying in historical town ticket, Aline runs to get them @80 RBM each. Will not bore you with individual prices but by the time we were done with the park, show, cable car and transportation within the park the tickets alone cost 540 RBM or $79. It turned out to be a spectacular day that I had not planned on.
Part of the park are a series of waterfalls, which we start off by going to, Aline gets on a Yak for picture taking. We take a bus around the lake, it is all very pretty and quite rustic. What has amazed me throughout China and even here, are the young girls in impossible high heels and flimsy clothes going on hikes. We return to the main area by bus and have lunch, excellent dumplings, I also buy some dried Yak meat. Then it is time for the Lijiang Impression show. This is quite extraordinary, an outdoor show performed under the snowcapped mountain. It is about the minorities in the area, mainly though the Naxi. There is a cast of hundreds who sing, ride, walk, dance in their native costumes. The underlying message is about brotherhood and peace. I don’t think there are too many dry eyes at the end. For the English speaking there is a simultaneously translation projected on the cliff wall. Most impressive, especially when you realize that they are all amateurs, who perform as they were the Rockettes. With the ticket comes a red cap, I finally get to be like the other Chinese.
The show is over and now comes the reason we are here, a cable car up the mountain. I had rented a large padded coat and am I ever glad that I did. The ride takes 12 minutes to reach 4506 meters above sea level. It is an amazing sight, also very cold. Aline and Michael had prepared by taking altitude pills and inhaling oxygen. I figured that 10 minutes were not going to affect me too much and I was correct, had no problems on top at all, but was really tired when we got back to the hotel. I am still not sure if we were in the Himalayas, as Aline claimed, or a mountain range on its own. I really don’t care, it was a fabulous day and am really looking forward to the next few days here, I will be on my own, but this is a place and an area worth exploring.
Will continue with my days in Lijiang later and experiences with Naxi food.
Bus journey Kunming to Dali
The New Era in Kunming have the most extensive breakfast buffets that I have ever seen. I think that there were at least 6 stations, each quite enormous, featuring Chinese, Japanese and Western foods. Being no slouch in the food department I made sure to sample quite a few of the items, before I left for Dali.
My original plan was to spend the day in Kunming and take an evening flight out. What I had forgotten was to book the flight, which was probably just as well since the bus only took 4 hours. However there were not that many buses running, I opted for the 1 pm bus which basically left me no time to explore the city.
The traffic in Kunming is the worst I have seen here in China, bumper to bumper every which way you look so am glad that I got an early start. I have heard about these luxurious buses, I think they are a rumor. The bus was large and reasonably comfortable, but not as comfortable as a Greyhound bus. I find my seat, it is an aisle seat, but the gentleman who had the window seat offered it to me, which I gratefully accepted. I sit down and pull out my knitting, have promised myself that I will finish this sweater within the year. My seat companion indicates that he knits as well, he also makes it quite clear that he only speaks Chinese.
He falls asleep, and when he wakes up I have my dictionary ready to ask if he slept well. Apparently he did not sleep the night before as he just got back from Thailand. He shows me pictures, am not quite sure but I think he went for more than a beach vacation quite a few women appear in these pictures. He borrows my dictionary and goes through it very diligently until he finds what he wants, turns to me and says “You have a nice body” I know I am blushing and say xiexie, (thank you) then he says “I like” by now I am really uncomfortable. It’s a good job that I have “The Rough Guide” phrasebook and not Lonely Planet’s which has some rather graphic language, and a lot of pick up phrases.
Pull up the computer and start to write, let him think I have important business to take care of. Then he indicates that he is driving me to Dali when the bus arrives. The bus stops in the new town and I am staying in the old town. I very politely decline saying that he must be tired after his journey and I will take a taxi. This dance continues for a few more turns until he gets that I am taking a taxi when we arrive.
The landscape is very pretty, we pass a lot of buildings with paintings on the outside walls. It seems as if they have the same design for a few miles, several villages had dinosaurs, then a new design made an appearance for a few more villages and so it went. There seems to be a lot of agriculture and several different kinds of crops. Wheat was one of them but there were some other greens, I did not recognize but acres and acres of it were planted.
We arrive and I get a taxi, my travel companion helps me explain to the driver where I am going, at least that is what I thought. We get to old Dali and he doesn’t have a clue, refuses to look at my map and in the end I am left, in the middle of the city. As usual my travel karma is with me and this very kind woman walks me to my hotel.
The hotel is an old Bai building that has been converted into a hotel. It is beautiful and my room is lovely with a canopy bed and old wood work. It is time for dinner and am give a recommendation to go to Yi Heng on Renmin Road. I find it and am totally confused, at the entrance there is an array of vegetables, dried mushrooms and fresh fish. The chefs are in front with their woks, do I select the food and they cook it or what is the deal? I turn to a young man and ask him if he speaks English, a woman dressed in a Bai costume pipes up and says I do. It turns out that she is a guide and is there with her clients a middle aged couple from North London. She invites me to join them and pay my share of course which I accept. All or at least most of the restaurants in Dali have the fresh produce displayed in front I discovered the next day. It was a pleasant enough dinner, the food was mainly very good we had spare ribs, roast duck, broad beans, some tasteless soup which was supposedly a specialty of the region and some other vegetable dish with celery. Am not sure I would have eaten better on my own, but certainly differently. I paid my share which came to 60 RMB and said goodnight.
As I walk home I am thinking that I have hardly had a dinner by myself since I arrived in China. Haven’t even been that much by myself, or have I? Get back to my lovely court Hotel and go to bed. Lovely it is, sound proof it is not, I just try to imagine living a communal life as a Bai and find that I rather be a Laowai(foreigner) fortunately the din end at 11 pm. The next morning I wake up with a sore throat and beginning of a cold, Self medicate with airborne and zinc lozenges. Have my noodle breakfast and lovely Yunnan coffee, before setting off for Zhou Cheng village and its market. Two buses and 20 minutes later I am left on the main road, and start to walk towards the market. I pass a shop that makes rape seed oil, a very fascinating machine that grinds the seeds into oil and leaves a very hard olive green residue.
I arrive at the market and am deluged by women who have trinkets to sell. They will not leave me alone, I don’t know where they keep it all but one item after another is brought up and put in front of my eyes. “Looka, looka very pretty” finally I am really annoyed and show it. All but one scatters, we are haggling over a pair of ear rings that I don’t even want. I am offering 10 RMB she has come down from 380 to 40 as the market is winding down she makes one last attempt, and smilingly walks away when I stick to my price.
I return to Dali and walk around, run into a Canadian couple who I had met at the bus station in Kunming, they tell me about the market in Dali. This is a food market only, quite large and sells meat as well as fish. Tiny little crabs, crayfish not much larger than a thumb, carp and catfish and other varieties I don’t recognize. It is a lively market, but the food for sale does not tempt me. I finally end up having a Tikka Masala at an Indian restaurant. My throat needed that kind of heat, the Chinese chef all of 20 may be comes out and anxiously asks if I like it. The Nan is the flakiest I have had in a long time, yes I like it.
Wander aimlessly around, there are hardly any non-Chinese anywhere, I see maybe 10 in all Westerners, and all of a sudden I am crashing. Too many tchotchke shops, too many Bai handicrafts, too much of everything, all I want is to leave. On my way back to the hotel I see a shop with really nice linen goods, end up buying a jacket which I am pleased about. Get back and read what someone had sent me, about traveling on your own and how to deal with the moments when you are low. It does the trick of course, tomorrow am off to Lijiang and new adventures.
My original plan was to spend the day in Kunming and take an evening flight out. What I had forgotten was to book the flight, which was probably just as well since the bus only took 4 hours. However there were not that many buses running, I opted for the 1 pm bus which basically left me no time to explore the city.
The traffic in Kunming is the worst I have seen here in China, bumper to bumper every which way you look so am glad that I got an early start. I have heard about these luxurious buses, I think they are a rumor. The bus was large and reasonably comfortable, but not as comfortable as a Greyhound bus. I find my seat, it is an aisle seat, but the gentleman who had the window seat offered it to me, which I gratefully accepted. I sit down and pull out my knitting, have promised myself that I will finish this sweater within the year. My seat companion indicates that he knits as well, he also makes it quite clear that he only speaks Chinese.
He falls asleep, and when he wakes up I have my dictionary ready to ask if he slept well. Apparently he did not sleep the night before as he just got back from Thailand. He shows me pictures, am not quite sure but I think he went for more than a beach vacation quite a few women appear in these pictures. He borrows my dictionary and goes through it very diligently until he finds what he wants, turns to me and says “You have a nice body” I know I am blushing and say xiexie, (thank you) then he says “I like” by now I am really uncomfortable. It’s a good job that I have “The Rough Guide” phrasebook and not Lonely Planet’s which has some rather graphic language, and a lot of pick up phrases.
Pull up the computer and start to write, let him think I have important business to take care of. Then he indicates that he is driving me to Dali when the bus arrives. The bus stops in the new town and I am staying in the old town. I very politely decline saying that he must be tired after his journey and I will take a taxi. This dance continues for a few more turns until he gets that I am taking a taxi when we arrive.
The landscape is very pretty, we pass a lot of buildings with paintings on the outside walls. It seems as if they have the same design for a few miles, several villages had dinosaurs, then a new design made an appearance for a few more villages and so it went. There seems to be a lot of agriculture and several different kinds of crops. Wheat was one of them but there were some other greens, I did not recognize but acres and acres of it were planted.
We arrive and I get a taxi, my travel companion helps me explain to the driver where I am going, at least that is what I thought. We get to old Dali and he doesn’t have a clue, refuses to look at my map and in the end I am left, in the middle of the city. As usual my travel karma is with me and this very kind woman walks me to my hotel.
The hotel is an old Bai building that has been converted into a hotel. It is beautiful and my room is lovely with a canopy bed and old wood work. It is time for dinner and am give a recommendation to go to Yi Heng on Renmin Road. I find it and am totally confused, at the entrance there is an array of vegetables, dried mushrooms and fresh fish. The chefs are in front with their woks, do I select the food and they cook it or what is the deal? I turn to a young man and ask him if he speaks English, a woman dressed in a Bai costume pipes up and says I do. It turns out that she is a guide and is there with her clients a middle aged couple from North London. She invites me to join them and pay my share of course which I accept. All or at least most of the restaurants in Dali have the fresh produce displayed in front I discovered the next day. It was a pleasant enough dinner, the food was mainly very good we had spare ribs, roast duck, broad beans, some tasteless soup which was supposedly a specialty of the region and some other vegetable dish with celery. Am not sure I would have eaten better on my own, but certainly differently. I paid my share which came to 60 RMB and said goodnight.
As I walk home I am thinking that I have hardly had a dinner by myself since I arrived in China. Haven’t even been that much by myself, or have I? Get back to my lovely court Hotel and go to bed. Lovely it is, sound proof it is not, I just try to imagine living a communal life as a Bai and find that I rather be a Laowai(foreigner) fortunately the din end at 11 pm. The next morning I wake up with a sore throat and beginning of a cold, Self medicate with airborne and zinc lozenges. Have my noodle breakfast and lovely Yunnan coffee, before setting off for Zhou Cheng village and its market. Two buses and 20 minutes later I am left on the main road, and start to walk towards the market. I pass a shop that makes rape seed oil, a very fascinating machine that grinds the seeds into oil and leaves a very hard olive green residue.
I arrive at the market and am deluged by women who have trinkets to sell. They will not leave me alone, I don’t know where they keep it all but one item after another is brought up and put in front of my eyes. “Looka, looka very pretty” finally I am really annoyed and show it. All but one scatters, we are haggling over a pair of ear rings that I don’t even want. I am offering 10 RMB she has come down from 380 to 40 as the market is winding down she makes one last attempt, and smilingly walks away when I stick to my price.
I return to Dali and walk around, run into a Canadian couple who I had met at the bus station in Kunming, they tell me about the market in Dali. This is a food market only, quite large and sells meat as well as fish. Tiny little crabs, crayfish not much larger than a thumb, carp and catfish and other varieties I don’t recognize. It is a lively market, but the food for sale does not tempt me. I finally end up having a Tikka Masala at an Indian restaurant. My throat needed that kind of heat, the Chinese chef all of 20 may be comes out and anxiously asks if I like it. The Nan is the flakiest I have had in a long time, yes I like it.
Wander aimlessly around, there are hardly any non-Chinese anywhere, I see maybe 10 in all Westerners, and all of a sudden I am crashing. Too many tchotchke shops, too many Bai handicrafts, too much of everything, all I want is to leave. On my way back to the hotel I see a shop with really nice linen goods, end up buying a jacket which I am pleased about. Get back and read what someone had sent me, about traveling on your own and how to deal with the moments when you are low. It does the trick of course, tomorrow am off to Lijiang and new adventures.
Yangshou
Yangshou
Correction, I did not eat bearded crab, it is called hairy crab, as it was pointed out to me so now you all know.
The taxi was waiting for me in the morning just as agreed, butit wasn’t the driver I expected. I forgot to mention that the taxi I had taken the previous evening to the restaurant had an English speaking young man as a driver. We had arranged for him to pick me up in the morning, except he sent someone else ,who took me to the airport, and when we arrived handed me a handwritten note saying that he was sorry he couldn’t drive me but sent his nephew instead. I was very touched by that gesture.
Arrived in Guilin and was met by Mr. Tan as arranged by Lilly. The airport was a little surrealistic, as much is here in China. There were palm trees lit up in different colours and of course raining. The airport is 1 1/12 hours from Yangshuo, and when I arrived at Yangshuo Culture House, Lilly and Mr Wei the proprietor were waiting for me. The Hostel was fully booked, bur because of my pre booking,I got a room on the first floor which had 3 double beds which was fine with me. It was late, I made arrangements to meet with Lilly the next morning to start our sightseeing, but it was raining again. Lilly made arrangements for me to go on a tour to the Silver Cave. This was an all Chinese group, but I didn’t get a hat. Actually it didn’t matter very much, the cave was pretty spectacular with all the stalactites and stalagmites lit up in different colors. What was very fascinating to me were the guides, they all worked at the cave. Some had a little English, but there was no interrupting to ask a question. They had the descriptions of the formations down by rote, and could not be interrupted .The tour took an hour then it was time to board the bus back to the city.
It is still raining intermittently, Lilly decides we should go to the Minority village. It is a tourist village where you take a boat trip, past minority groups that perform for you. Then you walk through the village and see the various handicrafts made by the different native groups. There didn’t seem to be much else to do since the weather was really crappy. The trip was actually quit enjoyable.
It is time to go back to Yangshuo Culture House where dinner is served. It is a great concept, all meals are included in the price of the room, I paid 160 RBM or $23 per night for a single room with all meals. The dinner is served family style and there are 10-12 different dishes. You really get to know the other guests which in my case was a double blessing because I acquired some great playmates and tour companions.
There were a young Austrian couple and two Swedish students who joined me for a trip to the market in Xing Ping and then onto a cruise up the Li River. Lilly arranged for a van with a driver and a boat up the river. I had read about an artist in Xing Ping and made sure that I got to his gallery that was diagonally across from “Old Place Café” I bought for lovely ink drawings, by the artist. As we were ready to leave Verena the Austrian girl saw two paintings, hidden in the back, on silk rolls of a Qing empress and emperor. I managed to bargain them down to 300RMB or less than $50. She was thrilled and they looked great.
We arrived to board our bamboo boat. It was covered so the rain which was only intermittent didn’t really disturb us. The trip was lovely, we saw the karst formations that are pictured on the 20 Yuan bill, and had lunch at a small place by the side of the river. We basically ate omelette, stuffed tofu, rice and some greens, turned down the offer of fish, the river didn’t look too terrific. With our stomach full once again we continued to drift up the river, the landscape is stunning with the Karsts in the background, green vegetation going up the hills and hardly another boat on the river. We managed to see a brilliant blue Kingfisher and some other birds that I don’t know the name of. The trip with lunch cost 670RMB for the 5 of us. Mr. Wei had arranged tickets to the Li River show that night. We paid 150 RMB each including the driver to take us and pick us up. The show is produced by the same man who produced the Olympics. It was very lovely, but as usual I kept on dozing off. They sold Cd’s and Dvd’s at the end but I resisted the urge.
The next day it was supposed to be good weather so we booked a van again to take us to the rice terraces. The drive is 3 ½ hours from Yangshuo, when you arrive there is a 50 RMB entrance fee since these are minority villages. The women have very long hair which is artfully arranged, They are very persistent sales people and also in offering their services as a guide. Our driver did not want to climb the hills, so he was left behind. We started to walk up and and when we came to village number 2, the women were told that we did not want a guide. One of them would not take no for an answer, and continued following us.Tthere was an older woman watching this whole scene, she came over and gave me a walking stick. What a blessing that was, we proceeded almost to the top as we were hiking up, two bamboo litters carried by four young men and holding a Chinese couple were being carried down the mountain. My feeling was if I cannot make this trip by my own steam, then I should stay away from the hike. True I had 4 wonderful companions that waited for me and assisted me when necessary. We get as high as everyone decided is high enough. The view is spectacular despite the fact that the rice has been harvested. We make a last effort to reach a house that appears to be a restaurant. No food, the owner said she could get some but it would entail a wait so we decide to descend.
We finally reach village #2 and stop by a restaurant. We are the only guests, and order from the English menu amongst other things “Bamboo Chicken” the normal assumption would be that it is chicken cooked with bamboo shoots. Not so, first you go and find a chicken in the yard, then you kill it, pluck it and cook it in a bamboo stalk. The chicken was very scrawny, we had rice and greens and some other vegetables with the meal and for the 6 of us it was less than $20. When it is time to leave we take a few pictures and the Yao woman, who I presume is the owner gives me a kiss on the cheek and a big hug, I wish I had a picture of that. We drive back to Guilin to drop of the Austrians, return to the Culture House where we are served a late dinner.
I cannot sleep, the election is taking place, I am so nervous, and what if McCain wins. There is a big discussion going on the next morning, the results are not in yet but it looks good for Obama. There were many nationalities at the hostel, all without fail including Mr. Wei were rooting for Obama. I had to leave for Kunming and still didn’t know the results. Get to Guilin airport, that was one of the few that did not provide Wi-Fi so I am still in the dark. I spot some Americans going into the First Class Lounge and ask if they knew. I am told in a most bitter voice, Obama won 2-1. I guess they were Republicans.
I checked into my hotel in Kunming, it is very posh, I had booked it on purpose, thinking that a nice hotel might be welcome after the hostel. It was welcome but not necessary. Am watching Chinese CNN and I am crying, I am so proud of America, to be an American and the Americans at this moment, the fact that race was put aside and a black president, who proved to be the most capable to make rational decisions was elected.
Never got to see Kunming, the flights were sold out so I took a bus to Dali. Which is a whole other story.
More later
Correction, I did not eat bearded crab, it is called hairy crab, as it was pointed out to me so now you all know.
The taxi was waiting for me in the morning just as agreed, butit wasn’t the driver I expected. I forgot to mention that the taxi I had taken the previous evening to the restaurant had an English speaking young man as a driver. We had arranged for him to pick me up in the morning, except he sent someone else ,who took me to the airport, and when we arrived handed me a handwritten note saying that he was sorry he couldn’t drive me but sent his nephew instead. I was very touched by that gesture.
Arrived in Guilin and was met by Mr. Tan as arranged by Lilly. The airport was a little surrealistic, as much is here in China. There were palm trees lit up in different colours and of course raining. The airport is 1 1/12 hours from Yangshuo, and when I arrived at Yangshuo Culture House, Lilly and Mr Wei the proprietor were waiting for me. The Hostel was fully booked, bur because of my pre booking,I got a room on the first floor which had 3 double beds which was fine with me. It was late, I made arrangements to meet with Lilly the next morning to start our sightseeing, but it was raining again. Lilly made arrangements for me to go on a tour to the Silver Cave. This was an all Chinese group, but I didn’t get a hat. Actually it didn’t matter very much, the cave was pretty spectacular with all the stalactites and stalagmites lit up in different colors. What was very fascinating to me were the guides, they all worked at the cave. Some had a little English, but there was no interrupting to ask a question. They had the descriptions of the formations down by rote, and could not be interrupted .The tour took an hour then it was time to board the bus back to the city.
It is still raining intermittently, Lilly decides we should go to the Minority village. It is a tourist village where you take a boat trip, past minority groups that perform for you. Then you walk through the village and see the various handicrafts made by the different native groups. There didn’t seem to be much else to do since the weather was really crappy. The trip was actually quit enjoyable.
It is time to go back to Yangshuo Culture House where dinner is served. It is a great concept, all meals are included in the price of the room, I paid 160 RBM or $23 per night for a single room with all meals. The dinner is served family style and there are 10-12 different dishes. You really get to know the other guests which in my case was a double blessing because I acquired some great playmates and tour companions.
There were a young Austrian couple and two Swedish students who joined me for a trip to the market in Xing Ping and then onto a cruise up the Li River. Lilly arranged for a van with a driver and a boat up the river. I had read about an artist in Xing Ping and made sure that I got to his gallery that was diagonally across from “Old Place Café” I bought for lovely ink drawings, by the artist. As we were ready to leave Verena the Austrian girl saw two paintings, hidden in the back, on silk rolls of a Qing empress and emperor. I managed to bargain them down to 300RMB or less than $50. She was thrilled and they looked great.
We arrived to board our bamboo boat. It was covered so the rain which was only intermittent didn’t really disturb us. The trip was lovely, we saw the karst formations that are pictured on the 20 Yuan bill, and had lunch at a small place by the side of the river. We basically ate omelette, stuffed tofu, rice and some greens, turned down the offer of fish, the river didn’t look too terrific. With our stomach full once again we continued to drift up the river, the landscape is stunning with the Karsts in the background, green vegetation going up the hills and hardly another boat on the river. We managed to see a brilliant blue Kingfisher and some other birds that I don’t know the name of. The trip with lunch cost 670RMB for the 5 of us. Mr. Wei had arranged tickets to the Li River show that night. We paid 150 RMB each including the driver to take us and pick us up. The show is produced by the same man who produced the Olympics. It was very lovely, but as usual I kept on dozing off. They sold Cd’s and Dvd’s at the end but I resisted the urge.
The next day it was supposed to be good weather so we booked a van again to take us to the rice terraces. The drive is 3 ½ hours from Yangshuo, when you arrive there is a 50 RMB entrance fee since these are minority villages. The women have very long hair which is artfully arranged, They are very persistent sales people and also in offering their services as a guide. Our driver did not want to climb the hills, so he was left behind. We started to walk up and and when we came to village number 2, the women were told that we did not want a guide. One of them would not take no for an answer, and continued following us.Tthere was an older woman watching this whole scene, she came over and gave me a walking stick. What a blessing that was, we proceeded almost to the top as we were hiking up, two bamboo litters carried by four young men and holding a Chinese couple were being carried down the mountain. My feeling was if I cannot make this trip by my own steam, then I should stay away from the hike. True I had 4 wonderful companions that waited for me and assisted me when necessary. We get as high as everyone decided is high enough. The view is spectacular despite the fact that the rice has been harvested. We make a last effort to reach a house that appears to be a restaurant. No food, the owner said she could get some but it would entail a wait so we decide to descend.
We finally reach village #2 and stop by a restaurant. We are the only guests, and order from the English menu amongst other things “Bamboo Chicken” the normal assumption would be that it is chicken cooked with bamboo shoots. Not so, first you go and find a chicken in the yard, then you kill it, pluck it and cook it in a bamboo stalk. The chicken was very scrawny, we had rice and greens and some other vegetables with the meal and for the 6 of us it was less than $20. When it is time to leave we take a few pictures and the Yao woman, who I presume is the owner gives me a kiss on the cheek and a big hug, I wish I had a picture of that. We drive back to Guilin to drop of the Austrians, return to the Culture House where we are served a late dinner.
I cannot sleep, the election is taking place, I am so nervous, and what if McCain wins. There is a big discussion going on the next morning, the results are not in yet but it looks good for Obama. There were many nationalities at the hostel, all without fail including Mr. Wei were rooting for Obama. I had to leave for Kunming and still didn’t know the results. Get to Guilin airport, that was one of the few that did not provide Wi-Fi so I am still in the dark. I spot some Americans going into the First Class Lounge and ask if they knew. I am told in a most bitter voice, Obama won 2-1. I guess they were Republicans.
I checked into my hotel in Kunming, it is very posh, I had booked it on purpose, thinking that a nice hotel might be welcome after the hostel. It was welcome but not necessary. Am watching Chinese CNN and I am crying, I am so proud of America, to be an American and the Americans at this moment, the fact that race was put aside and a black president, who proved to be the most capable to make rational decisions was elected.
Never got to see Kunming, the flights were sold out so I took a bus to Dali. Which is a whole other story.
More later
Xi'an
Xi’an
Arrived to the hotel at 7.30 pm. Tired and cranky after all I had not eaten since noon. The airline, since the flight was so delayed, provided some weird box lunches for us, Chicken, warm lettuce, peas mixed with corn and of course rice. I took the airport bus for 27RBM which stopped a block from the hotel across from the Bell Tower.
I am staying at Xi’an city hotel at a rate of 168RBM or $25 including breakfast. Expected a dump but it is not, the room is small, but it has all the necessities including internet, a comfortable bed a TV with 50+ Chinese channels.
Hook up the computer to make my phone calls. Before I left I took out a 2 months subscription to Skype, this enables me to make phone calls to land lines and mobil phones from my computer, also packed earphones and a mike. I had sent an e-mail to Clarence Guo, since I had asked him a long time ago to be my guide in Xi’an. Had also hired Lilly Lu for Yangshou, both for transportation from Guilin, since my flight gets in at night and as a guide, these were the only places in China where I felt guides might be helpful. Clarence in particular because of his interest and expertise on the Terracotta Army, I I have recently read a play called “The Great Wall” about Emperor Qun, he was the Emperor that unified China, started to build the great wall and had the warriors made, and wanted to get Clarence's opinions..
True, though this trip has been planned for months, of course did not print up a lot of information that might have been helpful, nor did I reconfirm my arrangements, going on the assumption that once it was agreed upon it was. This method of functioning has usually worked for me, but not always. I wish I was different, I admire people who think to print out a picture of a hotel, at least I printed out the Chinese names. I tried to call Lilly, a woman answers and hangs up, recheck the number it is correct, call again this time a man answers and hangs up. Haven’t heard from Clarence either, but there I have a plan B, to take public transportation and self guide. Go down to the reception and ask them to call for me, they tell me to have the house keeper make the call. The housekeeper does not speak English so she is clueless to what I want her to do. Go back to reception, they claim they have no outside lines. Go tell that to the Marines, all I can hope for is that Lilly got my e-mail and that all is well. By now I am really cranky and go out the front door. WOW!!!!
It was Times Square and Las Vegas combined but in China, Xi’an all lit up with neon lights. The energy was exhilarating just walking down the street, seeing the Drum Tower illuminated next to modern shopping malls, the modern underground passage and bouncers at a night club dressed up for Halloween. How could I even think of being cranky. I walk over to the Drum tower and towards to Moslem night market that I have read so much about, all of a sudden it is there in all its glory. I am transported to heaven, All the foods that are being cooked. Am looking for a place that may perhaps have a similar lamb sandwich to the one I ate in NYC, made by a man from Xi’an. Don’t even see anything similar, try an egg vegetable fried turnover, nothing to write home about. The cooking odors are intoxicating, lamb skewers, chicken wings covered in cumin and coriander, the numerous shops selling dried fruits and nuts, some which I have no idea what they are. In the middle of this chaos are tuk-tuks and of course people.
I walk by several tables that have hotpots built into them. Stop at one and ask if I can photograph them and the table. Guess what, I end up having dinner with these two Chinese couples, they speak a little English and keep putting all sorts of strange things into my bowl. It is all very tasty if a little spicy. I recognize tripe and intestines. Before any of you go “yuck” unless you are vegetarian or kosher, chances are you have had intestines and not known it. Most sausage casings are intestines, you know that because it’s edible, plastic you have to peel. Anyway I am sitting there, feeling like a queen drinking beer and eating wonderful food in the middle of Moslem street. My hosts refuse to let me pay and leave. I wander a little while longer then it is time to return to my hotel. I didn’t feel like going the long, safe way, so like the fool I am braved the traffic and lived to tell the tale.
By now I have heard from Clarence and Lilly. Clarence picks me up at 9 am, and then drives around picking up 2 Italian women who are here on business, a young American couple who live in China and a Chinese couple. The tour is almost as described, the warriors, a silk factory visit, where we were supposed to have lunch, but fortunately did not, then for me transportation to the airport. We started out seeing a movie about the emperor, his battles, and the discovery of the warriors, it was a wonderful costume drama. Then onto the warriors, which were very interesting to see, one also realizes the enormous amount of work involved in unearthing and putting them together. There are two pits, #1 is where most of the unearthed warriors are, #2 there are some including horses and charioteers, most of that site is still unexcavated. There were also exhibits in glass cases of different ranking soldiers. The this building houses various exhibits, which are all described only in Chinese, as well as 2 bronze chariots that were found close to the tomb of the emperor. Then it is on to the silk museum which was hugely overpriced. Though I haven’t done any shopping to speak of I had still priced items in other places. We had all agreed that we would prefer lunch elsewhere. Clarence took us to a restaurant called Ling Long Xue in Lin Tong, that had the best dumplings and food I have eaten so far. Apart from the “Jiaozi” as they were called here, there were many other various dishes that kept on coming out. A truly memorable meal.
A fter Iunch it was time for me to leave for the airport, the others were continuing on their sightseeing tour. Clarence has been described as laid back, that is probably an accurate description. He gives you the information needed,and then lets you fend for yourself. My impression is that he has built a very good business for himself, through boards like Fodors, Trip Advisor and Thorn Tree and at this point puts out the minimum for maximum return. Did I think he services were worth 700 RBM, probably not, but that meal for me outweighed everything!
See you all in Yangshuo
Arrived to the hotel at 7.30 pm. Tired and cranky after all I had not eaten since noon. The airline, since the flight was so delayed, provided some weird box lunches for us, Chicken, warm lettuce, peas mixed with corn and of course rice. I took the airport bus for 27RBM which stopped a block from the hotel across from the Bell Tower.
I am staying at Xi’an city hotel at a rate of 168RBM or $25 including breakfast. Expected a dump but it is not, the room is small, but it has all the necessities including internet, a comfortable bed a TV with 50+ Chinese channels.
Hook up the computer to make my phone calls. Before I left I took out a 2 months subscription to Skype, this enables me to make phone calls to land lines and mobil phones from my computer, also packed earphones and a mike. I had sent an e-mail to Clarence Guo, since I had asked him a long time ago to be my guide in Xi’an. Had also hired Lilly Lu for Yangshou, both for transportation from Guilin, since my flight gets in at night and as a guide, these were the only places in China where I felt guides might be helpful. Clarence in particular because of his interest and expertise on the Terracotta Army, I I have recently read a play called “The Great Wall” about Emperor Qun, he was the Emperor that unified China, started to build the great wall and had the warriors made, and wanted to get Clarence's opinions..
True, though this trip has been planned for months, of course did not print up a lot of information that might have been helpful, nor did I reconfirm my arrangements, going on the assumption that once it was agreed upon it was. This method of functioning has usually worked for me, but not always. I wish I was different, I admire people who think to print out a picture of a hotel, at least I printed out the Chinese names. I tried to call Lilly, a woman answers and hangs up, recheck the number it is correct, call again this time a man answers and hangs up. Haven’t heard from Clarence either, but there I have a plan B, to take public transportation and self guide. Go down to the reception and ask them to call for me, they tell me to have the house keeper make the call. The housekeeper does not speak English so she is clueless to what I want her to do. Go back to reception, they claim they have no outside lines. Go tell that to the Marines, all I can hope for is that Lilly got my e-mail and that all is well. By now I am really cranky and go out the front door. WOW!!!!
It was Times Square and Las Vegas combined but in China, Xi’an all lit up with neon lights. The energy was exhilarating just walking down the street, seeing the Drum Tower illuminated next to modern shopping malls, the modern underground passage and bouncers at a night club dressed up for Halloween. How could I even think of being cranky. I walk over to the Drum tower and towards to Moslem night market that I have read so much about, all of a sudden it is there in all its glory. I am transported to heaven, All the foods that are being cooked. Am looking for a place that may perhaps have a similar lamb sandwich to the one I ate in NYC, made by a man from Xi’an. Don’t even see anything similar, try an egg vegetable fried turnover, nothing to write home about. The cooking odors are intoxicating, lamb skewers, chicken wings covered in cumin and coriander, the numerous shops selling dried fruits and nuts, some which I have no idea what they are. In the middle of this chaos are tuk-tuks and of course people.
I walk by several tables that have hotpots built into them. Stop at one and ask if I can photograph them and the table. Guess what, I end up having dinner with these two Chinese couples, they speak a little English and keep putting all sorts of strange things into my bowl. It is all very tasty if a little spicy. I recognize tripe and intestines. Before any of you go “yuck” unless you are vegetarian or kosher, chances are you have had intestines and not known it. Most sausage casings are intestines, you know that because it’s edible, plastic you have to peel. Anyway I am sitting there, feeling like a queen drinking beer and eating wonderful food in the middle of Moslem street. My hosts refuse to let me pay and leave. I wander a little while longer then it is time to return to my hotel. I didn’t feel like going the long, safe way, so like the fool I am braved the traffic and lived to tell the tale.
By now I have heard from Clarence and Lilly. Clarence picks me up at 9 am, and then drives around picking up 2 Italian women who are here on business, a young American couple who live in China and a Chinese couple. The tour is almost as described, the warriors, a silk factory visit, where we were supposed to have lunch, but fortunately did not, then for me transportation to the airport. We started out seeing a movie about the emperor, his battles, and the discovery of the warriors, it was a wonderful costume drama. Then onto the warriors, which were very interesting to see, one also realizes the enormous amount of work involved in unearthing and putting them together. There are two pits, #1 is where most of the unearthed warriors are, #2 there are some including horses and charioteers, most of that site is still unexcavated. There were also exhibits in glass cases of different ranking soldiers. The this building houses various exhibits, which are all described only in Chinese, as well as 2 bronze chariots that were found close to the tomb of the emperor. Then it is on to the silk museum which was hugely overpriced. Though I haven’t done any shopping to speak of I had still priced items in other places. We had all agreed that we would prefer lunch elsewhere. Clarence took us to a restaurant called Ling Long Xue in Lin Tong, that had the best dumplings and food I have eaten so far. Apart from the “Jiaozi” as they were called here, there were many other various dishes that kept on coming out. A truly memorable meal.
A fter Iunch it was time for me to leave for the airport, the others were continuing on their sightseeing tour. Clarence has been described as laid back, that is probably an accurate description. He gives you the information needed,and then lets you fend for yourself. My impression is that he has built a very good business for himself, through boards like Fodors, Trip Advisor and Thorn Tree and at this point puts out the minimum for maximum return. Did I think he services were worth 700 RBM, probably not, but that meal for me outweighed everything!
See you all in Yangshuo
Suzhou, Tongli and Hanhzhou
Suzhou, Tongli and Hangzhou
Am sitting at Hangzhou airport waiting for my flight to XiAn to depart, it is at least 5 hours delayed due to weather. It gives me a good opportunity to catch up.
After my very brief visit in Shanghai, the next morning I boarded the train to Suzhou. What I haven’t revealed so far is that I am not traveling as lightly as I usually do, not that I am ever a minimal packer. This time there is the laptop that is small and lightweight. However the transformer, universal adapter plug, ,and make up that I never put on as well as guide books all weigh a ton. My clothing is minimal, have basically worn the same black pants and shirt for 3 weeks. Whatever it is I have packed weighs a lot.
When I get off the train in Suzhou I discover that there are stairs a lot of them to exit the station. Not a porter in sight, I am finally by myself on the platform with a station employee, he had a fancy uniform so I supposed he was the one that waves the trains on. Anyway he first indicated that he was calling for help, when noone appeared, I tried to carry my suitcase myself.
Nothing doing this kind gentleman took everything down all the stairs for me. As I thank him profusely, or as profusely as my Chinese will permit another young rescuer appears. He speaks English and takes my two bags to the taxi stand. I didn’t have a hotel booked, but knew the area where I wanted to stay, he tells me that is in the direction he is going and offers to share the cab. When we approach the old town he tells me he knows of a Chinese chain hotel aptly called My Hotel and suggests it. He refuses any money for the cab takes me to the front desk makes sure I have a room and then leaves. The hotel is very basic, but my room is nice with a terrace, if only the weather was better I could sit there in the morning. The cost is 258 RMB or approximately $38.
I am very happy and start exploring. First I go to the tourist office to find out about the overnight boat to Hangzhou. Unfortunately it stopped running for the season. I feel my travel karma continues. This way I can still get to see another water town and take the bus to Hangzhou. Also like the feel of Suzhou. Those of you, who know me, know that I have a thing for Chinese gardens. Suzhou, though it has canals and bridges is all about its gardens. I start out at the Master of Nets Garden, this supposedly is the garden that was copied at the Metropolitan Museum in 1981. Though I go there frequently, I didn’t recognize it, however it seemed exactly like the Chinese garden I saw in Portland. Whatever, it was lovely and I was very happy.
Decided to go for lunch, and whatever possessed me I don’t know but I ordered a tuna fish sandwich. It did take care of the hunger pangs, next it was time for one more garden, since I never got to the Summer Palace in Beijing I selected the Humble Administrators Garden which is supposed to rival the Summer Palace. It was very large and very lovely with a lot of pavilions , water flowing through the gardens and courtyards in the most unexpected places. What a treat it was to see and to be there. Now I am getting hungry again, having read in one of the tourist brochures that Sofitel, the French hotel chain was having a Bearded Crab Festival with a buffet dinner for approx $20.
I had read about bearded crab and knew this was on my list of things to try. My natural inclination is to stay away from hotel dining rooms, especially the buffet dinners, the crabs were the draw. Also didn’t know where else to go to try them. Took the bus to the hotel and walked into an empty dining room, was seated with my back to the television that was showing some American movie. The Assistant Manager comes up, he was obviously looking for something to do, and proceeds to explain the buffet. We walk through it together, he raves about the oysters of course I try them, watery and tasteless. Will I ever taste oysters like those we had in Cape Town again? I try a few more sea food items and then it is time for the crabs. The young man, they are all young men and women here it seems, then informs me, that he will show me how to eat a crab. It is pointless to explain that I ate crabs before he was born, so I graciously accept the lesson. The main difference is that these crabs are eaten with a sweetish vinegar ginger sauce. He also told me that I should not eat more than 4 or at the most 5 since my stomach would be upset. To the amusement of the staff I ate 4, had some salad, cheese and dessert including a beer the total bill came to $23. Money well spent in my opinion the crabs were delicious.
Since my schedule had been turned around I decided to go to Tongli, the closest of the water towns. The hotel was fairly near to the South bus station so I decided to take a bus. Missed one and waited for 15 minutes for the next and thought I’ll take a cab. It was a woman driver and I had all these great feelings about women taxi drivers, since I hadn’t seen one yet. I very clearly explained where I was going showing on the map and using the dictionary, she takes off to where she is going, which was to the train station in the exact opposite part of town. Took another cab to the North bus station and finally got a bus. There is a specific ticket booth for Tongli, you pay 80 RMB which includes the bus fare. Tongli is a very cute little water town with many canals and bridges, old houses and lots of vendors. If you haven’t already, you can buy pearls, silk comforters, pigs trotters and hocks, amongst all the other merchandise. A different variation on the black sesame crackers,I had seen in Pingyao, these were made on a large electric griddle as opposed to a wok with black pebbles. There is too much merchandise everywhere for me to get engaged in shopping, or perhaps I need a shopping companion. I did discover one street that was obviously geared to local residents, with furniture, household goods and a super market. Lunch was had by a canal where the cooking was done in one of the local residences. I had a delicious lunch consisting of local white fish, hairy crab and edamame with water chestnuts.
It was time to return back to Souzhou, on my way to the bus I see a man deep frying something am not quite sure what, there is an American standing there so I ask him what it is, it’s onions and potatoes in a batter. A Chinese version of latkes, he treats me to one, next time I think I will pass. On my way to the bus I pass a store that sells wine, having not had any since Beijing I decide to explore. Buy a bottle of white, brand name Dynasty and bring it back with me, surprise it is drinkable, not quite Pouilly Fume but not gut rot either for $5.
Next morning I get up early to catch a bus to Hangzhou. Try to catch a taxi outside the hotel, this is a city that wakes up late, nothing seems to come alive before 10 am. There are neither taxis nor Tuktuks. I walk down to the main street, thinking I will grab a bus, fortunately a Tuktuk comes along and off I careen through Suzhou. Surprisingly I did arrive in one piece, to be met by a very old looking man who wanted to be my porter. I have no idea what price he was asking for his services, the usual crowd gathered who seemed to have an auction amongst themselves. The dictionary with numbers was useless, I offered 10RMB, which he accepted. It was worth every penny and more, he took my luggage, made sure I got the ticket, went with me to get some food, got me seat in the waiting room and stayed with me and the luggage for 45 minutes until the bus was to take off. Showed me where he had put the luggage on the bus and was off.
The movie shown on the bus had English subtitles am not sure if it was supposed to be inspirational or what, since my Ipod managed to erase itself, with a little help from me, I knitted and watched the movie. My knitting is of great interest to the women. It seems that the majority of knitters use four needles and do it all in one piece as opposed to me who uses two needles, and if it ever gets finished will sew the pieces together.
Am now in Hangzhou, the weather is very grey, it looks like it might rain. I am staying at the West Lake Hostel because it is close to the lake and my friend Sue had recommended it. It is very nice pleasant and as usual the staff is delightful and young. By now it is lunch time so I ask where to go, with a little map drawn. I think I have found the are but not the restaurant so I ask a doorman for this place, he indicates that it is around the corner, the map is crude I take his word for it. What I find is a hole in the wall with a lot of people, it is obviously not the place but who cares. I have a very good lunch of stirfried pork and a potato dish which was it seemed a specialty of the house since everyone was eating it.
Took a bus which wound its way around the lake to Lingyin Temple. It was founded in 326 and is one of the most famous Zen temples in China. You pay an entrance fee to the grounds and a separate one for the temple. As you approach the temple you pass 380 Buddhist images carved in the rock, dating from 10th-14th century. I only saw some of them and they were both beautiful and impressive, especially viewed in the misty grey light. I did go to the temple it was rebuilt after having been destroyed many times in 1956, still impressive. I met a woman from Taiwan who was there with her little very cute daughter, we took the bus back together and she told me about the night market. The buildings were white with black roofs and obviously old. There were many, many tea merchants and clothing shops with really nice things, unfortunately I was not in the mood to try on anything. By now it is late and time for dinner I go into a restaurant on the main street, actually not too many to choose from except McDonalds. Am tolod that the fish I wanted was not available, instead I was recommended a fish and dried bean curd dish that was not good. The braised pork belly was heaven and the vegetable dish acceptable. By now it is raining and as I leave the market and go to the next street to get a taxi I see an entire street full of restaurants.
Next morning it is grey,cold, foggy and raining I stay in and catch up on things. It is a blessing that every place has wireless connections. Kathy thanks for your advice to bring an extra cable. Finally I decide to brave the weather and walk to the Pagoda that is a few minutes away. Pay my obligatory fee, at least here there are escalators and elevators. The view did not exist due to the weather I was cold, my feet wet and stopped by a place by the lake for lunch. Then back to my room, all the other guests were Chinese who did not speak English, so my room it was. That night I put on my Crocs and took a taxi to supposedly Hangzhou’s best restaurant “Grandmother’s kitchen” It was located in an extremely posh shopping Plaza in Hangzhou Towers on the 8th floor. Again my travel karma is with me, am informed the wait is an hour, but there were two Germans and a Chinese girl waiting and if I was willing to join them there was no wait. We had a mainly vegetarian meal except Fish Head and I got to finally taste Smelly Tofu. It was a very good meal, I was not allowed to pay my share since the total bill for the 4 of us came to 130 RMB or $20. So ended my trip to Hangzhou. When I return it will be a different time of year and I will stay much longer, making day trips.
Am sitting at Hangzhou airport waiting for my flight to XiAn to depart, it is at least 5 hours delayed due to weather. It gives me a good opportunity to catch up.
After my very brief visit in Shanghai, the next morning I boarded the train to Suzhou. What I haven’t revealed so far is that I am not traveling as lightly as I usually do, not that I am ever a minimal packer. This time there is the laptop that is small and lightweight. However the transformer, universal adapter plug, ,and make up that I never put on as well as guide books all weigh a ton. My clothing is minimal, have basically worn the same black pants and shirt for 3 weeks. Whatever it is I have packed weighs a lot.
When I get off the train in Suzhou I discover that there are stairs a lot of them to exit the station. Not a porter in sight, I am finally by myself on the platform with a station employee, he had a fancy uniform so I supposed he was the one that waves the trains on. Anyway he first indicated that he was calling for help, when noone appeared, I tried to carry my suitcase myself.
Nothing doing this kind gentleman took everything down all the stairs for me. As I thank him profusely, or as profusely as my Chinese will permit another young rescuer appears. He speaks English and takes my two bags to the taxi stand. I didn’t have a hotel booked, but knew the area where I wanted to stay, he tells me that is in the direction he is going and offers to share the cab. When we approach the old town he tells me he knows of a Chinese chain hotel aptly called My Hotel and suggests it. He refuses any money for the cab takes me to the front desk makes sure I have a room and then leaves. The hotel is very basic, but my room is nice with a terrace, if only the weather was better I could sit there in the morning. The cost is 258 RMB or approximately $38.
I am very happy and start exploring. First I go to the tourist office to find out about the overnight boat to Hangzhou. Unfortunately it stopped running for the season. I feel my travel karma continues. This way I can still get to see another water town and take the bus to Hangzhou. Also like the feel of Suzhou. Those of you, who know me, know that I have a thing for Chinese gardens. Suzhou, though it has canals and bridges is all about its gardens. I start out at the Master of Nets Garden, this supposedly is the garden that was copied at the Metropolitan Museum in 1981. Though I go there frequently, I didn’t recognize it, however it seemed exactly like the Chinese garden I saw in Portland. Whatever, it was lovely and I was very happy.
Decided to go for lunch, and whatever possessed me I don’t know but I ordered a tuna fish sandwich. It did take care of the hunger pangs, next it was time for one more garden, since I never got to the Summer Palace in Beijing I selected the Humble Administrators Garden which is supposed to rival the Summer Palace. It was very large and very lovely with a lot of pavilions , water flowing through the gardens and courtyards in the most unexpected places. What a treat it was to see and to be there. Now I am getting hungry again, having read in one of the tourist brochures that Sofitel, the French hotel chain was having a Bearded Crab Festival with a buffet dinner for approx $20.
I had read about bearded crab and knew this was on my list of things to try. My natural inclination is to stay away from hotel dining rooms, especially the buffet dinners, the crabs were the draw. Also didn’t know where else to go to try them. Took the bus to the hotel and walked into an empty dining room, was seated with my back to the television that was showing some American movie. The Assistant Manager comes up, he was obviously looking for something to do, and proceeds to explain the buffet. We walk through it together, he raves about the oysters of course I try them, watery and tasteless. Will I ever taste oysters like those we had in Cape Town again? I try a few more sea food items and then it is time for the crabs. The young man, they are all young men and women here it seems, then informs me, that he will show me how to eat a crab. It is pointless to explain that I ate crabs before he was born, so I graciously accept the lesson. The main difference is that these crabs are eaten with a sweetish vinegar ginger sauce. He also told me that I should not eat more than 4 or at the most 5 since my stomach would be upset. To the amusement of the staff I ate 4, had some salad, cheese and dessert including a beer the total bill came to $23. Money well spent in my opinion the crabs were delicious.
Since my schedule had been turned around I decided to go to Tongli, the closest of the water towns. The hotel was fairly near to the South bus station so I decided to take a bus. Missed one and waited for 15 minutes for the next and thought I’ll take a cab. It was a woman driver and I had all these great feelings about women taxi drivers, since I hadn’t seen one yet. I very clearly explained where I was going showing on the map and using the dictionary, she takes off to where she is going, which was to the train station in the exact opposite part of town. Took another cab to the North bus station and finally got a bus. There is a specific ticket booth for Tongli, you pay 80 RMB which includes the bus fare. Tongli is a very cute little water town with many canals and bridges, old houses and lots of vendors. If you haven’t already, you can buy pearls, silk comforters, pigs trotters and hocks, amongst all the other merchandise. A different variation on the black sesame crackers,I had seen in Pingyao, these were made on a large electric griddle as opposed to a wok with black pebbles. There is too much merchandise everywhere for me to get engaged in shopping, or perhaps I need a shopping companion. I did discover one street that was obviously geared to local residents, with furniture, household goods and a super market. Lunch was had by a canal where the cooking was done in one of the local residences. I had a delicious lunch consisting of local white fish, hairy crab and edamame with water chestnuts.
It was time to return back to Souzhou, on my way to the bus I see a man deep frying something am not quite sure what, there is an American standing there so I ask him what it is, it’s onions and potatoes in a batter. A Chinese version of latkes, he treats me to one, next time I think I will pass. On my way to the bus I pass a store that sells wine, having not had any since Beijing I decide to explore. Buy a bottle of white, brand name Dynasty and bring it back with me, surprise it is drinkable, not quite Pouilly Fume but not gut rot either for $5.
Next morning I get up early to catch a bus to Hangzhou. Try to catch a taxi outside the hotel, this is a city that wakes up late, nothing seems to come alive before 10 am. There are neither taxis nor Tuktuks. I walk down to the main street, thinking I will grab a bus, fortunately a Tuktuk comes along and off I careen through Suzhou. Surprisingly I did arrive in one piece, to be met by a very old looking man who wanted to be my porter. I have no idea what price he was asking for his services, the usual crowd gathered who seemed to have an auction amongst themselves. The dictionary with numbers was useless, I offered 10RMB, which he accepted. It was worth every penny and more, he took my luggage, made sure I got the ticket, went with me to get some food, got me seat in the waiting room and stayed with me and the luggage for 45 minutes until the bus was to take off. Showed me where he had put the luggage on the bus and was off.
The movie shown on the bus had English subtitles am not sure if it was supposed to be inspirational or what, since my Ipod managed to erase itself, with a little help from me, I knitted and watched the movie. My knitting is of great interest to the women. It seems that the majority of knitters use four needles and do it all in one piece as opposed to me who uses two needles, and if it ever gets finished will sew the pieces together.
Am now in Hangzhou, the weather is very grey, it looks like it might rain. I am staying at the West Lake Hostel because it is close to the lake and my friend Sue had recommended it. It is very nice pleasant and as usual the staff is delightful and young. By now it is lunch time so I ask where to go, with a little map drawn. I think I have found the are but not the restaurant so I ask a doorman for this place, he indicates that it is around the corner, the map is crude I take his word for it. What I find is a hole in the wall with a lot of people, it is obviously not the place but who cares. I have a very good lunch of stirfried pork and a potato dish which was it seemed a specialty of the house since everyone was eating it.
Took a bus which wound its way around the lake to Lingyin Temple. It was founded in 326 and is one of the most famous Zen temples in China. You pay an entrance fee to the grounds and a separate one for the temple. As you approach the temple you pass 380 Buddhist images carved in the rock, dating from 10th-14th century. I only saw some of them and they were both beautiful and impressive, especially viewed in the misty grey light. I did go to the temple it was rebuilt after having been destroyed many times in 1956, still impressive. I met a woman from Taiwan who was there with her little very cute daughter, we took the bus back together and she told me about the night market. The buildings were white with black roofs and obviously old. There were many, many tea merchants and clothing shops with really nice things, unfortunately I was not in the mood to try on anything. By now it is late and time for dinner I go into a restaurant on the main street, actually not too many to choose from except McDonalds. Am tolod that the fish I wanted was not available, instead I was recommended a fish and dried bean curd dish that was not good. The braised pork belly was heaven and the vegetable dish acceptable. By now it is raining and as I leave the market and go to the next street to get a taxi I see an entire street full of restaurants.
Next morning it is grey,cold, foggy and raining I stay in and catch up on things. It is a blessing that every place has wireless connections. Kathy thanks for your advice to bring an extra cable. Finally I decide to brave the weather and walk to the Pagoda that is a few minutes away. Pay my obligatory fee, at least here there are escalators and elevators. The view did not exist due to the weather I was cold, my feet wet and stopped by a place by the lake for lunch. Then back to my room, all the other guests were Chinese who did not speak English, so my room it was. That night I put on my Crocs and took a taxi to supposedly Hangzhou’s best restaurant “Grandmother’s kitchen” It was located in an extremely posh shopping Plaza in Hangzhou Towers on the 8th floor. Again my travel karma is with me, am informed the wait is an hour, but there were two Germans and a Chinese girl waiting and if I was willing to join them there was no wait. We had a mainly vegetarian meal except Fish Head and I got to finally taste Smelly Tofu. It was a very good meal, I was not allowed to pay my share since the total bill for the 4 of us came to 130 RMB or $20. So ended my trip to Hangzhou. When I return it will be a different time of year and I will stay much longer, making day trips.
Train travel, Pingyao and ShanghaiI
Overnight train travel, Pingyao and Shanghai
According to my itinerary I was supposed to leave Beijing for Pingyao on the 22nd. Well it didn’t happen, all the trains were sold out and all I could get was a hard sleeper on the 23rd. Not knowing the difference between a hard and soft sleeper I accepted the ticket, figuring all it meant was comfort level. Not quite, a soft sleeper has 4 to a compartment and a door that closes, soft sleeper 6 bunks and no doors.
Was also advised ,that there were buses to Taiyuan which were frequent and fast from Beijing. One morning I took myself to the bus station which was very far away, as everything else is in Beijing, and tried to find out time schedules. The women at information had extremely limited knowledge of English. After an hour using the dictionary, including a large part of the population at the bus station, who were very intrigued by this laowai, putting in their 2 cents worth in Chinese. I found out that the bus takes 7 hours to Taiyuan, and then it is another 1 ½ hour to Pingyao. The bus to Taiyuan runs every 30 minutes to Pingyao there are only 2 a day. Since I already had my train ticket it didn’t seem worth changing. Especially since the train ride was approximately the same amount of time.
I arrived at the train station after my wonderful sightseeing day in Beijing and immediately ran into two of the Swedish girls who had been on the trip to Mutinayu. They were on the same train as I going to Pingyao, and were very helpful in watching my luggage, while I got something to eat, since I had not had time to eat during the day. The variety of food and freshness was really a surprise since rail road stations are not exactly known for their cuisine.
It was time to board, the train was leaving at 5.10 pm and it turns out that I am sharing with 5 men, not one of them who spoke English. However they had great fun with my dictionary, and I think that their friends were in the adjoining compartment,all these men kept on joining us. I did manage to find out who was sleeping in the bottom bunk and was able to switch from the top to the bottom. At one point Malin and Erika came to visit me, the men were somewhere else, all of a sudden this older woman sits down and starts to converse in Chinese with us. I did get that she said Hong Kong is very large and Pingyao is very small, she herself lived in Shanxi. No I don’t speak any more Chinese now than I did when I arrived, but sign language works great, most of the time. Finally she said goodbye, the girls left, and it was time to go to sleep after all it was after 8 pm. I put in my ear plugs, donned the eye mask and swallowed a Benadryl. Next thing I knew it was time to wake up, we were approaching Pingyao at 3am. The conductor was very solicitous to make sure that I knew which door to exit through. In general the service on the train was very good, food and drink carts going through as well as thermoses with hot water for tea were constantly offered. Another thing that really impressed me was that the men at one point had bought a bag of sunflower seeds but did not throw one hull on the floor. The cleanliness on the train was impressive, including the tablecloth on the table under the window..
As promised the car from the hotel Tian Yuan Kui was waiting for me, and when I arrived they had a a bunk bed outside the owner’s bedroom available, so I could get some more sleep, since the hotel was fully booked. When I woke up and went downstairs I knew I wanted to stay in this place for weeks. The hotel is in the center of town and in a very old building from 1791, to get to my room I walked through a classic courtyard and an outside corridor to enter a very comfortable room. The staff was lovely, as was the owner and I was in heaven. The girls arrived at 9 am as we had arranged, very distraught, the hostel they had booked into was freezing and they decided to leave that night for Xian.
Pingyao was founded during the Ming dynasty and is surrounded by the only completely intact city wall in China. It prospered during the Qing dynasty as a banking city and it really is a historical museum, with all the old buildings.
We hired a driver to take us to Shuanglin si a Buddihst temple founded in 571 there were thousands of the most amazing statues dating from The Song, Yuan ,Ming and Qing dynasties, a definite highlight for me. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shanxi/taiyuan/shuanglin.htm
When we returned to town it was time for lunch. We found a place on one of the side streets that looked nice and we had a delicious lunch for approx $3 each. We then bought our city tickets,120 RMB, mine at half price because of my venerable age of over 60. If I was over 70 almost every place would be free. When this trip is over I am going to sit down and figure out how much all the entrance tickets cost. They are definitively a large part of any budget, and should be considered.
We walked ½ the wall and thoroughly enjoyed all the backyards and looking down on the old buildings. We then wandered the streets just admiring the building styles. Of course here as everywhere else most of the shops on the main streets looked like Panjiayuan market in Beijing. Said goodbye to the girls and went back to my lovely room. That night I borrowed the DVD of “Light the Red Lantern” a sad story of a concubine, which I watched in bed on my laptop. The movie was shot at an old compound called Qu after the family that owned it. It is on the way to Tiyuan airport.
The next morning I awoke to glorious weather and walked around town, trying some of the street foods and visiting many of the historic buildings, including climbing up a gate in the middle of town. They say you should walk stairs instead of taking elevators, I have climbed more stairs on this trip than I care to count, and I think my knees are stronger. So I guess they are right.
Before going to the airport my charming driver took me to Qu’s compound, to get there you walk through a street lined with vendors. On one side there was what appeared to be a parking lot, lined with corn kernels drying in the sun. Two little children were having a great time playing with them. The compound was old, crowded with Chinese and as usual no signs in English. I walked through it, took lots of pictures and tried to imagine what it had been like to live there 300 years ago. Then it was time to leave and re-enter the 21st century in Shanghai.
I cannot really comment on Shanghai, since I was only there for one day. It seemed much edgier than Beijing, a lot of beggars, in particular women with small children, sitting on the side walks. Many more westerners on the streets and incredible shops Did manage a few meals, I stood on line for the very light and delicious dumplings (xiao long bao) at 90 Huanghe Lu, which was very near my hotel. Thanks EKS for the tip.
Later I met my friend Mimi who was having brunch, with her family and friends, at the Westin hotel. If you are in Shanghai with children on a Sunday that is the place to go, it probably costs close to a small fortune, but what a spectacle. Apart from the buffets on two floors, unlimited champagne, there were jugglers, magicians, acrobats, singers and musicians performing. There were also wandering entertainers for the children, I had declined the invitation to eat with them since I wanted to see the Shanghai museum which was stupendous. Mimi’s husband and children went home we went shopping, at some small mall that one of the young girls had heard of. I broke down and bought a Hermes belt for 30 or 40 RMB, I don’t remember the exact price. It was time to say good bye and for me to go back to the hotel. Dinner was had in the old section of town, in a restaurant that President Clinton had gone to. A word of advice, stay away from restaurants with pictures of celebrities. I shared a table with a man from Mexico City, who imported machinery from China. I tasted his Xiao Long Bao, no comparison in quality to that morning's breakfast. He tasted my beef which in my opinion was no gastronomic epiphany.
Next installment from Suzhou.
According to my itinerary I was supposed to leave Beijing for Pingyao on the 22nd. Well it didn’t happen, all the trains were sold out and all I could get was a hard sleeper on the 23rd. Not knowing the difference between a hard and soft sleeper I accepted the ticket, figuring all it meant was comfort level. Not quite, a soft sleeper has 4 to a compartment and a door that closes, soft sleeper 6 bunks and no doors.
Was also advised ,that there were buses to Taiyuan which were frequent and fast from Beijing. One morning I took myself to the bus station which was very far away, as everything else is in Beijing, and tried to find out time schedules. The women at information had extremely limited knowledge of English. After an hour using the dictionary, including a large part of the population at the bus station, who were very intrigued by this laowai, putting in their 2 cents worth in Chinese. I found out that the bus takes 7 hours to Taiyuan, and then it is another 1 ½ hour to Pingyao. The bus to Taiyuan runs every 30 minutes to Pingyao there are only 2 a day. Since I already had my train ticket it didn’t seem worth changing. Especially since the train ride was approximately the same amount of time.
I arrived at the train station after my wonderful sightseeing day in Beijing and immediately ran into two of the Swedish girls who had been on the trip to Mutinayu. They were on the same train as I going to Pingyao, and were very helpful in watching my luggage, while I got something to eat, since I had not had time to eat during the day. The variety of food and freshness was really a surprise since rail road stations are not exactly known for their cuisine.
It was time to board, the train was leaving at 5.10 pm and it turns out that I am sharing with 5 men, not one of them who spoke English. However they had great fun with my dictionary, and I think that their friends were in the adjoining compartment,all these men kept on joining us. I did manage to find out who was sleeping in the bottom bunk and was able to switch from the top to the bottom. At one point Malin and Erika came to visit me, the men were somewhere else, all of a sudden this older woman sits down and starts to converse in Chinese with us. I did get that she said Hong Kong is very large and Pingyao is very small, she herself lived in Shanxi. No I don’t speak any more Chinese now than I did when I arrived, but sign language works great, most of the time. Finally she said goodbye, the girls left, and it was time to go to sleep after all it was after 8 pm. I put in my ear plugs, donned the eye mask and swallowed a Benadryl. Next thing I knew it was time to wake up, we were approaching Pingyao at 3am. The conductor was very solicitous to make sure that I knew which door to exit through. In general the service on the train was very good, food and drink carts going through as well as thermoses with hot water for tea were constantly offered. Another thing that really impressed me was that the men at one point had bought a bag of sunflower seeds but did not throw one hull on the floor. The cleanliness on the train was impressive, including the tablecloth on the table under the window..
As promised the car from the hotel Tian Yuan Kui was waiting for me, and when I arrived they had a a bunk bed outside the owner’s bedroom available, so I could get some more sleep, since the hotel was fully booked. When I woke up and went downstairs I knew I wanted to stay in this place for weeks. The hotel is in the center of town and in a very old building from 1791, to get to my room I walked through a classic courtyard and an outside corridor to enter a very comfortable room. The staff was lovely, as was the owner and I was in heaven. The girls arrived at 9 am as we had arranged, very distraught, the hostel they had booked into was freezing and they decided to leave that night for Xian.
Pingyao was founded during the Ming dynasty and is surrounded by the only completely intact city wall in China. It prospered during the Qing dynasty as a banking city and it really is a historical museum, with all the old buildings.
We hired a driver to take us to Shuanglin si a Buddihst temple founded in 571 there were thousands of the most amazing statues dating from The Song, Yuan ,Ming and Qing dynasties, a definite highlight for me. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shanxi/taiyuan/shuanglin.htm
When we returned to town it was time for lunch. We found a place on one of the side streets that looked nice and we had a delicious lunch for approx $3 each. We then bought our city tickets,120 RMB, mine at half price because of my venerable age of over 60. If I was over 70 almost every place would be free. When this trip is over I am going to sit down and figure out how much all the entrance tickets cost. They are definitively a large part of any budget, and should be considered.
We walked ½ the wall and thoroughly enjoyed all the backyards and looking down on the old buildings. We then wandered the streets just admiring the building styles. Of course here as everywhere else most of the shops on the main streets looked like Panjiayuan market in Beijing. Said goodbye to the girls and went back to my lovely room. That night I borrowed the DVD of “Light the Red Lantern” a sad story of a concubine, which I watched in bed on my laptop. The movie was shot at an old compound called Qu after the family that owned it. It is on the way to Tiyuan airport.
The next morning I awoke to glorious weather and walked around town, trying some of the street foods and visiting many of the historic buildings, including climbing up a gate in the middle of town. They say you should walk stairs instead of taking elevators, I have climbed more stairs on this trip than I care to count, and I think my knees are stronger. So I guess they are right.
Before going to the airport my charming driver took me to Qu’s compound, to get there you walk through a street lined with vendors. On one side there was what appeared to be a parking lot, lined with corn kernels drying in the sun. Two little children were having a great time playing with them. The compound was old, crowded with Chinese and as usual no signs in English. I walked through it, took lots of pictures and tried to imagine what it had been like to live there 300 years ago. Then it was time to leave and re-enter the 21st century in Shanghai.
I cannot really comment on Shanghai, since I was only there for one day. It seemed much edgier than Beijing, a lot of beggars, in particular women with small children, sitting on the side walks. Many more westerners on the streets and incredible shops Did manage a few meals, I stood on line for the very light and delicious dumplings (xiao long bao) at 90 Huanghe Lu, which was very near my hotel. Thanks EKS for the tip.
Later I met my friend Mimi who was having brunch, with her family and friends, at the Westin hotel. If you are in Shanghai with children on a Sunday that is the place to go, it probably costs close to a small fortune, but what a spectacle. Apart from the buffets on two floors, unlimited champagne, there were jugglers, magicians, acrobats, singers and musicians performing. There were also wandering entertainers for the children, I had declined the invitation to eat with them since I wanted to see the Shanghai museum which was stupendous. Mimi’s husband and children went home we went shopping, at some small mall that one of the young girls had heard of. I broke down and bought a Hermes belt for 30 or 40 RMB, I don’t remember the exact price. It was time to say good bye and for me to go back to the hotel. Dinner was had in the old section of town, in a restaurant that President Clinton had gone to. A word of advice, stay away from restaurants with pictures of celebrities. I shared a table with a man from Mexico City, who imported machinery from China. I tasted his Xiao Long Bao, no comparison in quality to that morning's breakfast. He tasted my beef which in my opinion was no gastronomic epiphany.
Next installment from Suzhou.
Beijing continued
Beijing continued
It was a very grey day when I went to the Forbidden City, had rented or at least paid for an audio guide when I came upon the English information desk, with a Chinese British woman manning it. Sorry I didn’t write her name down, but I was told more than even I needed to know. Was told not to bother with the guide, since Roger Moore’s can only be picked up at the North gate, and I entered through the South Gate. She then informed me what I should, and should not see and proceeded to give me a Chinese map. I dutifully followed some of the advice since it was the only way I could avoid the other 599,000 visitors that day. However by the time I had seen the costumes , porcelain and art exhibits. I was tuckered in, did manage to see the treasures, or at least some of those that had been left behind, the well, and the garden, by then it was really time to leave.
I couldn’t be in Beijing and not go to one of the markets could I, that is, the Pearl or the Silk one? Off I went to the Silk Market. I never knew that I disliked being touched before, but discovered very quickly that I don’t like being grabbed to look at things. Quickly left the main floor, proceeded up floor by floor, until I reached the “better” merchandise. I saw a jacket that I liked bargained some but probably not enough. It doesn’t matter I got a garment I liked for a price that I can live with. By now it was really time to quit for the day, returned to RLH ready to collapse.
My British friend the photographer asked if I would join him and some others for another Hutong dinner. This time we went to the Moslem kebab place, very inexpensive but also not very good. The Lamb Kebabs on the main street are so far superior in quality.
On another day I went to see the Lama Temple, walked to the Bell and Drum towers and through some very pretty streets up along Beihai lake to see Prince Gong’s Palace. It is the largest and best preserved of the patrician residences. It was also obvious that it is a very popular destination for Chinese tourists. The place was packed, with not one single sign in English. By now I had walked for several hours and was not in the mood to battle crowds, so I took off for my own Hutong which was not too far away.
This brings me to the subject of food, and me in Beijing. For the most part I have had breakfast at the local dumpling place, that is unless I bought a scallion pancake from a stall, or another kind of pancake with egg, herbs, and things I didn’t recognize from another stall. The street food in the neighborhood is staggering, I never got to any of the “famous” streets the variety here is enough. After a few days I was recognized at the local noodle shop, and received special treatment, I got served as opposed to walking up to the window to get the food. One night I decided to go to a “real” restaurant and went to Ding Tai Fung for dumplings (xiao-long-boa) I just felt that it was time to act grown up, as much as I love street food and local joints. It was not a disappointment, on the contrary after having ordered Hairy Crab, Seafood and Baby Pork dumplings in soup, as well as a rice noodle, tofu seaweed salad I got greedy and ordered Vegetable and Pork dumplings. After all this was close to gustatory heaven, I almost swooned it was so good. However my body decided that I should not reach above my station, and revolted. Fortunately nothing that a few Imodium couldn’t fix but I thought it pretty ironic.
I had arrived before DTF had opened for dinner, and decided to walk around the neighborhood. It is in a fairly dismal area, but across the street is a small park with several machines, perhaps that is too big a word, but for want of a better one to describe these self propelled contraptions that quite a few elderly people were using to exercise. It appeared to be a working class neighborhood, a short tour of the supermarket didn’t convince me otherwise. It never ceases to amaze me how restaurants that have a built an reputation can go to the most out of the way places and still have a following.
The next day I visited the Temple of Heaven and had another encounter. As I stood and watched the gardeners exchanging plants on the approach to the entrance up to the temple, this by the way was all over Beijing ,plants being exchanged at tourist sites. There were two young men singing Hebrew songs one of them playing the guitar. Catchy tunes, people stopped to listen and swayed with the music. When it was finished the tall one started to talk about the music, that it was a song from Jerusalem and that is where God lived. He then went on and on about God and faith. The crowd could care less, all they wanted were their photographs taken with the blondes, those were me and the preacher. I tried to extricate myself from the situation, but every woman my age and older decided that a picture with me was what was needed for their happiness. Actually that seems to have been a pattern since I arrived.
I finally asked one of the young men if they were Jews for Jesus, the answer was negative. They weren’t Jewish but for Jesus. Then I asked if they weren’t concerned about preaching Christianity in China, the answer was Jesus protects. I wished them good luck and went on my way. When I was leaving I ran into them again and the “preacher” cornered me to try to challenge me. That is the kind of challenge that I try not to rise to, I wished him more good luck and left with a really bad taste in my mouth. How I detest religious fanatics who think that their path is the only one. Make that fanatics of any kind.
Talking about religion, my last day in Beijing was one of those super sunny, cool, crisp days when you feel as if you have more energy than you know what to do with. My train was not until 5 pm so the day was mine. I started out at Coal Hill with a stupendous view of the Forbidden City, the mountains and Beijing. Then went to the Zoo to see the Pandas, they were mainly sleeping but very cute, I didn’t do the rest of the Zoo so cannot comment on the conditions, it looked very nice and the tropical aviary on the way to the Pandas was in great shape. After the Zoo I went to the oldest Temple in Beijing founded in AD645, Fayuan Si, there were maybe 6 visitors all total,,and a few Buddhist.monks. I walked around and felt if not religious at least a similar feeling that I had experienced in a mosque in Istanbul. There was something very spiritual in the space. When I thought that I had seen it all and was on my way out, one of the women I had seen who was also leaving, came up to me and took me by the hand and showed me the original temple, I would have totally missed it if not for her kindness. It was completely hidden behind the newer buildings. I really have to read up more on Buddhism, even if we had a lot of information given to us in Korea I feel most ignorant. Going to so many temples here in Beijing, and seeing punk looking, young people bow, lighting incense and really showing great respect makes me curious about what I don’t know.
While I was at it decided to go visit the Nijujie Libai Si Mosque, am not sure whether the guard thought I was Moslem because of my scarf, or if I said yes to a question I didn’t understand but he never charged me an entrance fee. It was very poignant walking around after just having read how the Chinese government is cracking down on Moslems, if not in Beijing per se but in other areas further north. It appeared to be a very vital mosque with many men and women walking around. One thing that has really struck me here in China is that exact years are very rarely given, things are from such and such a dynasty. In the case of the mosque, people have worshipped here since the Song era 960-1270
So far my experiences and feelings about China are extremely positive. I have felt that people are genuinely kind and helpful. The fact that my Chinese is non-existent doesn’t seem to bother the Chinese, they talk as if I understand.
In Beijing the streets are super clean, actually to call them streets is an understatement. Each of the main streets are as wide as a city block. Distances are enormous, what looks near on the map takes 30 minutes or more by car, without traffic. The traffic is very congested and though the subway is very efficient it only covers certain areas, taxis are very cheap the most I paid for a very long ride was 30 RMB which is less than $5. I had remarked on how clean and orderly the Seoul subway was, so is Beijing’s, people are quiet, there is no debris or litter, actually that seems to be the case all over Beijing. I also traveled by bus a lot, the cost was approx 15 cents. The subway costs 30 cents.
Spitting is not the problem I expected it to be, neither is smoking since it is forbidden in most areas including parks. Of course these are my impressions from Beijing, which does not make me an expert on China but so far I really like this country. I know that Beijing has gone through a sanitation phase, however people are people, and the kindnesses I have encountered, the feeling of being taken care of, and the courtesies extended, no government can mandate people to show that to tourists.
It was a very grey day when I went to the Forbidden City, had rented or at least paid for an audio guide when I came upon the English information desk, with a Chinese British woman manning it. Sorry I didn’t write her name down, but I was told more than even I needed to know. Was told not to bother with the guide, since Roger Moore’s can only be picked up at the North gate, and I entered through the South Gate. She then informed me what I should, and should not see and proceeded to give me a Chinese map. I dutifully followed some of the advice since it was the only way I could avoid the other 599,000 visitors that day. However by the time I had seen the costumes , porcelain and art exhibits. I was tuckered in, did manage to see the treasures, or at least some of those that had been left behind, the well, and the garden, by then it was really time to leave.
I couldn’t be in Beijing and not go to one of the markets could I, that is, the Pearl or the Silk one? Off I went to the Silk Market. I never knew that I disliked being touched before, but discovered very quickly that I don’t like being grabbed to look at things. Quickly left the main floor, proceeded up floor by floor, until I reached the “better” merchandise. I saw a jacket that I liked bargained some but probably not enough. It doesn’t matter I got a garment I liked for a price that I can live with. By now it was really time to quit for the day, returned to RLH ready to collapse.
My British friend the photographer asked if I would join him and some others for another Hutong dinner. This time we went to the Moslem kebab place, very inexpensive but also not very good. The Lamb Kebabs on the main street are so far superior in quality.
On another day I went to see the Lama Temple, walked to the Bell and Drum towers and through some very pretty streets up along Beihai lake to see Prince Gong’s Palace. It is the largest and best preserved of the patrician residences. It was also obvious that it is a very popular destination for Chinese tourists. The place was packed, with not one single sign in English. By now I had walked for several hours and was not in the mood to battle crowds, so I took off for my own Hutong which was not too far away.
This brings me to the subject of food, and me in Beijing. For the most part I have had breakfast at the local dumpling place, that is unless I bought a scallion pancake from a stall, or another kind of pancake with egg, herbs, and things I didn’t recognize from another stall. The street food in the neighborhood is staggering, I never got to any of the “famous” streets the variety here is enough. After a few days I was recognized at the local noodle shop, and received special treatment, I got served as opposed to walking up to the window to get the food. One night I decided to go to a “real” restaurant and went to Ding Tai Fung for dumplings (xiao-long-boa) I just felt that it was time to act grown up, as much as I love street food and local joints. It was not a disappointment, on the contrary after having ordered Hairy Crab, Seafood and Baby Pork dumplings in soup, as well as a rice noodle, tofu seaweed salad I got greedy and ordered Vegetable and Pork dumplings. After all this was close to gustatory heaven, I almost swooned it was so good. However my body decided that I should not reach above my station, and revolted. Fortunately nothing that a few Imodium couldn’t fix but I thought it pretty ironic.
I had arrived before DTF had opened for dinner, and decided to walk around the neighborhood. It is in a fairly dismal area, but across the street is a small park with several machines, perhaps that is too big a word, but for want of a better one to describe these self propelled contraptions that quite a few elderly people were using to exercise. It appeared to be a working class neighborhood, a short tour of the supermarket didn’t convince me otherwise. It never ceases to amaze me how restaurants that have a built an reputation can go to the most out of the way places and still have a following.
The next day I visited the Temple of Heaven and had another encounter. As I stood and watched the gardeners exchanging plants on the approach to the entrance up to the temple, this by the way was all over Beijing ,plants being exchanged at tourist sites. There were two young men singing Hebrew songs one of them playing the guitar. Catchy tunes, people stopped to listen and swayed with the music. When it was finished the tall one started to talk about the music, that it was a song from Jerusalem and that is where God lived. He then went on and on about God and faith. The crowd could care less, all they wanted were their photographs taken with the blondes, those were me and the preacher. I tried to extricate myself from the situation, but every woman my age and older decided that a picture with me was what was needed for their happiness. Actually that seems to have been a pattern since I arrived.
I finally asked one of the young men if they were Jews for Jesus, the answer was negative. They weren’t Jewish but for Jesus. Then I asked if they weren’t concerned about preaching Christianity in China, the answer was Jesus protects. I wished them good luck and went on my way. When I was leaving I ran into them again and the “preacher” cornered me to try to challenge me. That is the kind of challenge that I try not to rise to, I wished him more good luck and left with a really bad taste in my mouth. How I detest religious fanatics who think that their path is the only one. Make that fanatics of any kind.
Talking about religion, my last day in Beijing was one of those super sunny, cool, crisp days when you feel as if you have more energy than you know what to do with. My train was not until 5 pm so the day was mine. I started out at Coal Hill with a stupendous view of the Forbidden City, the mountains and Beijing. Then went to the Zoo to see the Pandas, they were mainly sleeping but very cute, I didn’t do the rest of the Zoo so cannot comment on the conditions, it looked very nice and the tropical aviary on the way to the Pandas was in great shape. After the Zoo I went to the oldest Temple in Beijing founded in AD645, Fayuan Si, there were maybe 6 visitors all total,,and a few Buddhist.monks. I walked around and felt if not religious at least a similar feeling that I had experienced in a mosque in Istanbul. There was something very spiritual in the space. When I thought that I had seen it all and was on my way out, one of the women I had seen who was also leaving, came up to me and took me by the hand and showed me the original temple, I would have totally missed it if not for her kindness. It was completely hidden behind the newer buildings. I really have to read up more on Buddhism, even if we had a lot of information given to us in Korea I feel most ignorant. Going to so many temples here in Beijing, and seeing punk looking, young people bow, lighting incense and really showing great respect makes me curious about what I don’t know.
While I was at it decided to go visit the Nijujie Libai Si Mosque, am not sure whether the guard thought I was Moslem because of my scarf, or if I said yes to a question I didn’t understand but he never charged me an entrance fee. It was very poignant walking around after just having read how the Chinese government is cracking down on Moslems, if not in Beijing per se but in other areas further north. It appeared to be a very vital mosque with many men and women walking around. One thing that has really struck me here in China is that exact years are very rarely given, things are from such and such a dynasty. In the case of the mosque, people have worshipped here since the Song era 960-1270
So far my experiences and feelings about China are extremely positive. I have felt that people are genuinely kind and helpful. The fact that my Chinese is non-existent doesn’t seem to bother the Chinese, they talk as if I understand.
In Beijing the streets are super clean, actually to call them streets is an understatement. Each of the main streets are as wide as a city block. Distances are enormous, what looks near on the map takes 30 minutes or more by car, without traffic. The traffic is very congested and though the subway is very efficient it only covers certain areas, taxis are very cheap the most I paid for a very long ride was 30 RMB which is less than $5. I had remarked on how clean and orderly the Seoul subway was, so is Beijing’s, people are quiet, there is no debris or litter, actually that seems to be the case all over Beijing. I also traveled by bus a lot, the cost was approx 15 cents. The subway costs 30 cents.
Spitting is not the problem I expected it to be, neither is smoking since it is forbidden in most areas including parks. Of course these are my impressions from Beijing, which does not make me an expert on China but so far I really like this country. I know that Beijing has gone through a sanitation phase, however people are people, and the kindnesses I have encountered, the feeling of being taken care of, and the courtesies extended, no government can mandate people to show that to tourists.
Beijing #1
Beijing the first couple of days
Arrived to a very grey Beijing after an uneventful flight on Korean Air and took the airport bus into Beijing. Tried to get a metered taxi but there were none, I ended up in a stainless steel Tuktuk. He delivered me to Red Lantern House which was to be my home for the next 5 nights, Hutong meaning alley, sounds glamorous and quaint, this one was not, though very genuine. However, the courtyard I stayed in was lovely with lots of plants and a persimmon tree dripping with fruit. The room was spacious and very clean for 200RMB per night I was not complaining. The staff were very lovely, young women who spoke English, then there was William, the brother in law whose command of English and the violin were remarkable. He was there for everyone to help, assist and aid in every which way.
That first night, I had arranged to have dinner with two women I had met on Fodor’s travel forum. It turned out that one of them could not make it, but I was still to meet Lisa at 7 pm at her hotel. First I took a bus since I had given myself a lot of time, also being told to take a taxi at the end. Except there were no taxis, finally I got a rickshaw, that is a bicycle driven carriage the driver nodded very knowingly when I showed him my destination. I since learnt that there are two kinds of drivers, the ones that look as if they don’t have a clue but know, and the ones that look as if they know but don’t. I finally reached Lisa’s hotel an hour and some later. She was frantic with worry, I had a great story to tell, the driver being very lost, tried to lose me too in a godforsaken alley, which I wouldn’t let him. Some kind people came to my rescue, they screamed at him, what, I don’t know but I was allowed to continue on the ride to almost nowhere. When we finally arrived he had the most victorious smile on his face.
By now it is too late to go to the Courtyard restaurant we had planned on so we decided to go for duck. Grab a real cab this time, show the driver the name of the restaurant that Lisa had, which was not DaDong, but that is where we ended up. The wait was to be an hour+ however the wine was free. We each have a glass of wine, mine is white, has oxidized and tastes pretty bad. This prompts a conversation with a gentleman standing next to me who it turns out is the team captain for Malaysia’s Gastronomic team, that was competing the following day. Before we know it cards are exchanged, and we are invited to join them for dinner. Restaurant people never quite know when enough is enough, a lot of food was ordered apart from the requisite ducks. What stands out in my memory is a fish dish called “snow fish”, everything was delicious. Ringo, the team captain and I shared the pleasures of no longer owning a restaurant. His ownership I think was on a much larger scale than mine. We say our goodbyes to our hosts and thanks all around and as we make to leave, the Frenchman at the next table starts to sing songs by Charles Aznavour, Of course we have to stop and listen, get into a conversation while we are being serenaded. Before the evening continued we said goodnight and I got a taxi back to my hutong, so ended my first night in Beijing.
The next day Saturday I take the subway and bus to Panjiayuan Market after having had some dumplings and corn soup for breakfast at a little diner around the corner.
The market is amazing with so much bric a brac that is becomes overwhelming. I walk around for a few hours until I reach the row where the ladies from Guizhou sell their tribal works and clothing. Strike up a conversation with woman who exports their clothing to France and she offers to purchase at her price one of the jackets that caught my fancy. I may be short but dainty is no longer the way to describe me, all the jackets were too tight. Leave Ricky to let her continue her negotiations and continue down the aisle. Some of the women were about to have lunch and invite me to join them. Who am I to turn down the offer of a home cooked meal so I accept. There I am in the middle of Panjiayuan market sitting on a stool having lunch with the tribal women, nfortunately we couldn’t communicate too well. I did find out that one of them came from Taijiang but that was about it. Have no idea what I ate it was very tasty and enjoyable. They kept on filling my plate up and I kept refusing it was just too much food for me. This is now a very nice memory and it reinforces my belief that women can communicate without always knowing each other’s language.
As I am about to leave the market I run into Ricky again, I tell her that apart from a jacket I also wanted to buy pearls she offers to take me to the Antique market which is nearby and where she used to work, she also knows a lot of people there. I get my pearl necklace which is what I wanted for a very good price and return to the hotel very satisfied with my day.
That night a British photographer who is staying at the RLH and I go out for Hot Pot in the neighbourhood, 56RMB for the two of us with 2 beers, true it was not haute gourmet but very satisfying nonetheless.
Sunday
I had every intention in the world to go to Mutianyu great wall by public transportation but in the end I booked a tour with the hotel. The day was gorgeous with sunshine and a clear blue sky. The cost was 320RMB including breakfast and lunch. It turned out that the tour which picked up people from different hostels consisted of, apart from me, 5 Swedes and 2 Australians. I was very glad that I had chosen a tour, since Paul the guide was always at hand to assist me. The steps are very uneven and hard to walk. That is on purpose to make it more difficult for the enemy, in case they ever came onto the wall.
I chose to stop at one of the watch towers and let the rest of the group climb to the top. I had climbed enough and it gave me the opportunity to talk to some people. There was a young couple with 2 small children, one was a baby who was bottle fed milk, being as I am, I asked about the milk situation. They told me that they had always used imported milk, since they both worked for IBM they could afford the extra cost. I was also informed that since September 14th all the milk was safe to drink. It was interesting hearing them discuss China and how they felt about living here. Then I spoke with an American-Norwegian who manufactured machinery in China because labor was so much less than in Norway, he had climbed the wall 4 times. No wonder he was prematurely grey. I descended on the toboggan which was a lot of fun. After a rather lackluster lunch we returned to the city.
That night I went out for dinner to a Hakkan restaurant on Behai lake with a young French girl who was here on business and hated traveling and eating on her own. We had a lovely bottle of white wine with our fish dish, we also had corn and black rice, bok choy with garlic and a very nice duck dish. Walking around the lake was fun, it is obviously a very hot spot with many bars we ended up having Long Island Ice Tea at one of them. That is a drink I have not had for at least 20 years. I didn’t like it any better now than I did then.
Arrived to a very grey Beijing after an uneventful flight on Korean Air and took the airport bus into Beijing. Tried to get a metered taxi but there were none, I ended up in a stainless steel Tuktuk. He delivered me to Red Lantern House which was to be my home for the next 5 nights, Hutong meaning alley, sounds glamorous and quaint, this one was not, though very genuine. However, the courtyard I stayed in was lovely with lots of plants and a persimmon tree dripping with fruit. The room was spacious and very clean for 200RMB per night I was not complaining. The staff were very lovely, young women who spoke English, then there was William, the brother in law whose command of English and the violin were remarkable. He was there for everyone to help, assist and aid in every which way.
That first night, I had arranged to have dinner with two women I had met on Fodor’s travel forum. It turned out that one of them could not make it, but I was still to meet Lisa at 7 pm at her hotel. First I took a bus since I had given myself a lot of time, also being told to take a taxi at the end. Except there were no taxis, finally I got a rickshaw, that is a bicycle driven carriage the driver nodded very knowingly when I showed him my destination. I since learnt that there are two kinds of drivers, the ones that look as if they don’t have a clue but know, and the ones that look as if they know but don’t. I finally reached Lisa’s hotel an hour and some later. She was frantic with worry, I had a great story to tell, the driver being very lost, tried to lose me too in a godforsaken alley, which I wouldn’t let him. Some kind people came to my rescue, they screamed at him, what, I don’t know but I was allowed to continue on the ride to almost nowhere. When we finally arrived he had the most victorious smile on his face.
By now it is too late to go to the Courtyard restaurant we had planned on so we decided to go for duck. Grab a real cab this time, show the driver the name of the restaurant that Lisa had, which was not DaDong, but that is where we ended up. The wait was to be an hour+ however the wine was free. We each have a glass of wine, mine is white, has oxidized and tastes pretty bad. This prompts a conversation with a gentleman standing next to me who it turns out is the team captain for Malaysia’s Gastronomic team, that was competing the following day. Before we know it cards are exchanged, and we are invited to join them for dinner. Restaurant people never quite know when enough is enough, a lot of food was ordered apart from the requisite ducks. What stands out in my memory is a fish dish called “snow fish”, everything was delicious. Ringo, the team captain and I shared the pleasures of no longer owning a restaurant. His ownership I think was on a much larger scale than mine. We say our goodbyes to our hosts and thanks all around and as we make to leave, the Frenchman at the next table starts to sing songs by Charles Aznavour, Of course we have to stop and listen, get into a conversation while we are being serenaded. Before the evening continued we said goodnight and I got a taxi back to my hutong, so ended my first night in Beijing.
The next day Saturday I take the subway and bus to Panjiayuan Market after having had some dumplings and corn soup for breakfast at a little diner around the corner.
The market is amazing with so much bric a brac that is becomes overwhelming. I walk around for a few hours until I reach the row where the ladies from Guizhou sell their tribal works and clothing. Strike up a conversation with woman who exports their clothing to France and she offers to purchase at her price one of the jackets that caught my fancy. I may be short but dainty is no longer the way to describe me, all the jackets were too tight. Leave Ricky to let her continue her negotiations and continue down the aisle. Some of the women were about to have lunch and invite me to join them. Who am I to turn down the offer of a home cooked meal so I accept. There I am in the middle of Panjiayuan market sitting on a stool having lunch with the tribal women, nfortunately we couldn’t communicate too well. I did find out that one of them came from Taijiang but that was about it. Have no idea what I ate it was very tasty and enjoyable. They kept on filling my plate up and I kept refusing it was just too much food for me. This is now a very nice memory and it reinforces my belief that women can communicate without always knowing each other’s language.
As I am about to leave the market I run into Ricky again, I tell her that apart from a jacket I also wanted to buy pearls she offers to take me to the Antique market which is nearby and where she used to work, she also knows a lot of people there. I get my pearl necklace which is what I wanted for a very good price and return to the hotel very satisfied with my day.
That night a British photographer who is staying at the RLH and I go out for Hot Pot in the neighbourhood, 56RMB for the two of us with 2 beers, true it was not haute gourmet but very satisfying nonetheless.
Sunday
I had every intention in the world to go to Mutianyu great wall by public transportation but in the end I booked a tour with the hotel. The day was gorgeous with sunshine and a clear blue sky. The cost was 320RMB including breakfast and lunch. It turned out that the tour which picked up people from different hostels consisted of, apart from me, 5 Swedes and 2 Australians. I was very glad that I had chosen a tour, since Paul the guide was always at hand to assist me. The steps are very uneven and hard to walk. That is on purpose to make it more difficult for the enemy, in case they ever came onto the wall.
I chose to stop at one of the watch towers and let the rest of the group climb to the top. I had climbed enough and it gave me the opportunity to talk to some people. There was a young couple with 2 small children, one was a baby who was bottle fed milk, being as I am, I asked about the milk situation. They told me that they had always used imported milk, since they both worked for IBM they could afford the extra cost. I was also informed that since September 14th all the milk was safe to drink. It was interesting hearing them discuss China and how they felt about living here. Then I spoke with an American-Norwegian who manufactured machinery in China because labor was so much less than in Norway, he had climbed the wall 4 times. No wonder he was prematurely grey. I descended on the toboggan which was a lot of fun. After a rather lackluster lunch we returned to the city.
That night I went out for dinner to a Hakkan restaurant on Behai lake with a young French girl who was here on business and hated traveling and eating on her own. We had a lovely bottle of white wine with our fish dish, we also had corn and black rice, bok choy with garlic and a very nice duck dish. Walking around the lake was fun, it is obviously a very hot spot with many bars we ended up having Long Island Ice Tea at one of them. That is a drink I have not had for at least 20 years. I didn’t like it any better now than I did then.
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