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Published: October 15th 2006
First view, Mao
I'm still puzzled by Chinese politics and their love of Mao.China is amazing but can be hard.
It’s hard to capture the thousands of amazing, crazy things that happen every day.
It's hard to sift through the vast history of one of the most ancient, powerful civilizations in the world.
It’s hard to capture the struggle of daily life for the millions of people of the most populous country as they toil to survive.
It's amazing to take a stroll along a monument to human fortitude and construction on the Great Wall.
It's hard to figure out all the varying religious influences of a place that began the eastern philosophies of the world.
It’s impossible to relay the level of smog in the country with the worst environmental record in the world.
It’s hard to explain the frenzy of negotiating that takes place with every transaction but I loved it.
It’s hard to capture the restriction of information to the people (no Wikipedia!) and their undying belief in a leader who terrorized so many of their forefathers.
It’s a hard place at times, but one of the most rewarding- a view all the way across the ‘west’ to the far east, where politics, economics and history are all different.
As
Great Wall of China
Even with the hype, it was an amazing experience. a snapshot of my time in China, I'll share a funny story about our final night in China. My friend Frank and I were spending the final Friday evening in Tiyuan, a city of 4 million- and probably the most polluted city I have ever experienced. We thought we’d get a good meal and have a few beers before parting ways after 3 weeks of travel and would be able to find it here. So we went to several major international hotels to inquire about restaurants and bars- Frank’s way of doing this was explaining ‘you know, young people, good food, having fun’ (I have to just crack up thinking about him explaining this with gestures and a loud voice to people who hardly understand English). It takes us 3 hotels and 45 minutes but we have 1 place so we head there for some food. Nobody there so we take a walk to find another place which looks pretty good but there is no English menu, there is only 1 guy who speaks English and he can hardly understand I simply want some chicken with vegetables (what comes out somewhat resembles that). Frank must punt and hit McDonalds again
(can’t say I blame him). We find no bars so ask again at the best hotel in town where they search their directory and send us to 1. Mind you, it’s Friday night and 4 million people live here so we figure someone will be out; however, we were 2 of 6 people at this bar in the middle of town. We inquire more about, as Frank would say, ‘a place with music, young people, you know’- at which point they turn on the disco just for us… ahhh, no. We are finally told about another place which may have music and enter. It’s a smoke pit with a ton of drunk locals rocking to bad American music from the 80’s where we spend some time trying to order beers and have the last of our miscommunication with our Chinese counterparts. It was a frustrating night at times, humorous at others- but a travel experience I won’t soon forget.
On my way to China, I had a 2 day stop in Bangkok to get a glimpse of Southeast Asian flavor. Man, Bangkok is a bit crazy! Tuk-tuks all over the place, unexplained rain and heat, street vendors everywhere pushing
Art work, Shanghai- a reflection of Mao times
"World people unite against the US aggression and their running dogs." around their carts, neon signs on every street and a pace that doesn’t quit. Having visited Manila in the past, I was somewhat prepared for the density of human beings and heat but Bangkok was a definite change from Russia. I’ve got to say, the people were so warm as well and the price of everything just went down about 50%, perfect for my budget. Because the flight from Moscow was a bit long and rough, I only got to glimpse at the crazy night life but did get out on a river cruise and was able to eat a few good thai meals which I had been craving for a long time.
Hong Kong seems like it may belong somewhere in Europe because it is so orderly and modern. I met up with a number of people there, friends there on business, vacation and even a British mate who just happened to be in Asia at that time- so that first night out, Friday, was a big night out in Hong Kong and required a more relaxed approach Saturday. I did the obligatory trip to Victoria Peak (a beautiful site overloking the city), Kowloon by day and night
Summer Garden, Beijing
A beautiful setting that was created for the royalty of China. along with the Hong Kong museum, which showcased the Opium Wars in which the British took control of the city. Overall, Hong Kong was fairly interesting, but more a nice oasis in between Russia and the fore coming China.
Shanghai was the first city on the list of the mainland. It’s a surprisingly extremely large city, home to some 14 million packed Chinese people, who answer the call to work every day on bike, moped and a plethora of other ways. It’s a city of skyscrapers- one of the highlights is walking the Bund on the river to view buildings on both sides of the polluted river. It is said the night life is the best in Shanghai and we did find a cool little area of posh restaurants and live bands. I was also able to buy a bunch of DVDs for $1 each over there so I stocked up!
An overnight train brought us to Beijing on a Thursday morning as the sun crept above the horizon and the capital city of the most populous country of the world awoke for another day to grind it out. Beijing, even with it’s’ challenges, was one of my
Street vendor, Beijing
The food is a bit dodgy.. but pretty tasty if you ask me. favorite cities to date because of the rich history it has and current climate of communist political control over the people. Beijing teems with people in every corner and is gigantic- the city proper is about the size of Belgium (according to Lonely Planet). While there, we strolled through Tiananmen Square looking for the undercover police that monitor the area, went to the flea markets where almost everything under the sun is sold (including dog and wolf furs), 798- the art district, the Forbidden City where empresses, emperors and their concubines lived in near seclusion for hundreds of years and a ton of metro Beijing. What I found most interesting were the temples there- the Lama Temple (largest Buddhist temple outside Tibet), Dongyue Taoist Temple, and Zuozijian Confusian Temple. The ancient eastern religions began in this foreign land, mainly as philosophies, but were widely followed throughout the history of China. Well, until Mao and his time. I am still trying to figure out how to get to Tibet and was very curious about the situation today within China; in Beijing they seem to feel Tibet has always been a part of their history. Probably my favorite site in China was
Gathering of gringos, Hong Kong
I met up with a number of friends in Hong Kong for a fun night out in the city. the Great Wall- a 2 hour trip outside Beijing. I was in awe of the physical beauty of the mountains, the scale of the wall and the effort and history that has gone into it. I can only hope that pictures do it some justice.
In my interactions with the Chinese who did speak English I tried to inquire about ‘Chairman Mao’ and the history and myth behind the man. In my readings he seemed like a sadistic madman who drove the country further into poverty, starving millions during the ‘Great Leap Forward’ and literally killing off advancement and openness with the ‘Cultural Revolution’. But in a few conversations, people are convinced he was right and that some of those events were fabrications or friends of the enemy. It had me questioning my own learning of history but I’m still appalled by the campaign of propaganda within the country and the censoring of the media. Another really interesting facet to learn was about the anti-American sentiment that was propogated in the 60’s and 70’s. I bought some of the memorabilia that showed how the US was the enemy of the world (literally dogs of war) and how China must
Overnight train in China
Even 5-star Frank could manage the overnight train. arm themselves for war against the capitalist pigs. My God, I don’t remember being at such odds with China in the past! It’s interesting and almost humorous to look back now but also a bit astonishing as to the world of politics during that time.
One nice overnight train later we landed in Pingyao, a quaint historic Imperial Chinese town that time has hardly seemed to touch. While the pollution was tough to take (China is horribly smoggy), the people and the old architecture of the city (with red lanterns outside the shops and small homes within the walled city and the old, large temples) was a welcome relief from the huge cities we had been visiting. We were able to witness rural Chinese life and get a glimpse of what China was like before it opened itself up to the world- full of bikes, uniforms, old tradition, simplicity.. and a bit of smog and bad smell to boot.
I was fascinated by China but also frustrated at times with things. We found it very difficult to get around at times, even armed with an address written in Chinese (which was a requirement for a Chinese cab). But
Confuscian Temple, Beijing
I got into the feeling... amazing to be in the heart and soul of eastern religion. the real gems were the people, who were extremely kind and persevered through the changing time- and the Great Wall to the origins of a number of religions- was fascinating. I’m not sure when I will get back again (unless I can make it to Tibet this trip) but I am glad to have seen the next great world economy, even if they live under some bizarre circumstances.
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Pavlina
non-member comment
Many faces of China
Amazing pictures and interesting chapter of your travels, looking forward to hearing more about it when you come home.