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Published: August 11th 2008
Though I was feeling somewhat nostalgic and sad to begin the last leg of our trip, I was still extremely pleased to see Guangzhou again. The city is what I think of as “Jackie Chan’s China”, the one you see in all the kung-fu movies. Large, blocky apartments draped in laundry, towering over small noodle stalls hidden in narrow alleys. Some of my favorite memories were the taxi rides, circling up endless on-ramps that curled between the towering buildings, all ablaze with neon lights. Guangzhou is a huge, busy, smoggy city, but with undeniable charm.
On one hand, the city is an important transportation and administrative hub, as well as a major business center. Many factories, producing products for export, hover around the city’s periphery. Due to the large amount of foreign investment, the city is very expat-friendly. There are many international restaurants (we had some excellent middle eastern) and the population seems quite diverse, with many from SE Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, as well as Europe, and North America, coming to Guangzhou for work. Also due to the large amount of manufacturing, Guangzhou is a shopper’s dream. Everywhere you look there are stores overflowing with shoes, clothes,
purses, nick-knacks, and anything else you could imagine. I am convinced you could buy anything here. Anything.
At the same time, in spite of its status as a bustling mega-metropolis, Guangzhou, like Hong Kong, has many hidden corners that quickly make you forget this. Time and time again we have heard out Chinese friends discourse on the differences between the North and the South of China. Generally, these discrepancies boil down to three things: 1. the weather in the South is much warmer. 2. People in the South eat noodles; people in the North eat rice 3. Southerners have a much more relaxed outlook on life, while northerners tend to be brusquer. Having spent the first part of this trip in the frozen North I would have to agree, especially with the third point. Even in Guangzhou’s hustle and bustle, the cities residents seemed to take a much more laid-back approach to things.
We only spent a couple of days in the city, and on one we wandered under humid gray skies to Shamian Island. Despite being in the center of the city, the island was still quiet and sleepy. Groups of old men played mahjong in the
parks, or admired their birds which they brought with them in bamboo cages. Couples strolled hand in hand by the river, and no one seemed in an incredible hurry to get anywhere.
The next stop on our travels was Xiamen in Fujian Province. We reached it on an overnight train from Guangzhou. Geographically, the province sits directly across the strait from Taiwan, and hence many who fled the mainland after the fall of Republican China were from Fujian. It is also known for making some of the best tea in the country. We stayed on Gulang Yu, an island located just off the coast a short ferry ride from Xiamen. The island is extremely popular with Chinese tourists, and has a reputation as being a center of painting, sculpture, and classical music. It was once a popular place of resident for European expatriates, which is evident in the island’s architecture. Gulang Yu, nicknamed the “island of music”, has excellent academies of music and fine arts that have produced some of China’s brightest talents.
We enjoyed walking the paths circling the island, and admiring the many sculptures located along its shores. We also took the ferry over to Xiamen
The Bund
Shanghaito look around a bit. While Gulang Yu seemed a rather restful escape, Xiamen reminded us that we were in fact still in China. People cut in front of us to buy tickets, shoved us out of the way, and waited crammed next to the barred gates of the ferry until the boat would arrive and the bell would sound, at which point the floodgates would open for the pushing, stampeding mass of humanity.
From Xiamen, we continued by train to Shanghai. Though it is perhaps one of China’s most famous cities and financial center, I have to say I wasn’t incredibly impressed. That said, we had a very good time, the Bund was beautiful at night, we had some excellent food, and enjoyed walking around the city. I think in the end, my aforementioned feelings were due to the brevity of our stay. I didn’t really have enough time to do it justice, and unveil the hidden elements that make me love Beijing so much. Instead I was left with the impression of a city that seemed a little too bland.
Another train trip took us to Qingdao in Shandong province, probably one of the most interesting
Fisherman
Gulang Yu places I have ever been. The city was once a German concession, and perhaps best represented abroad by its signature beer (also spelled Tsingtao). The city is sprawling, and split into “old” and “new” sections. The challenges of finding a decent hotel continued as we toured several monolithic budget options that were all too reminiscent of “the Shining”. We finally gave up and decided to splurge, ending up in quite a nice place by the May Fourth monument, with European-style architecture and bright purple paint you could spot a mile away. The monument, erected to celebrate the 1919 cultural movement, is extremely unique. Its haphazard orange rings looked like something from mars, and yet its modernity did not seem out of place. At night the structure was lit impressively, and the surrounding park became a gathering place. Several flew kites, the most impressive of which was a large electric kite that resembled a stingray, complete with flashing, colored lights.
During our stay we visited the Qingdao brewery for a pitcher of beer, and went to explore the beach. The city has some lovely coastal areas, which I would imagine become very crowded in the summer. Things were quieter in
the early spring, yet we were still surprised to encounter at least thirty wedding parties on the beach. I suppose this was because it was a Saturday, but it was still amazing to see the couples braving the chilly weather, white gowns dotting the sandy shore as far as the eye could see. Qingdao is renowned for its European architecture, which provides strange parallels to the blocky, Communist buildings. We visited several old mansions in the German quarter, as well as the protestant church
After Qingdao, we took the train back to Beijing and prepared for our departure. Having grown extremely tired of re-packing my belongings and cramming them back in my pack every couple of days, I was definitely ready to return home. Not to mention the tedious hours fighting for breathing room in crowded train stations, very questionable toilets, bumpy plane rides, dirt, and wearing the label of “tourist” stamped on my forehead, making me a target for all sorts of “help” from local entrepreneurs. On the flip side, I will definitely miss the adventure, the amazing people we have met and who went miles out of their way to genuinely help us, and the thrill of
new experience. We began and ended our trip in China. It was exciting to come back, several years after studying abroad in Beijing, and have a new kind of experience. Independent travel here has proven to be taxing, difficult, and frustrating, and yet at the same time fascinating and infinitely rewarding. It has been amazing witness the momentous changes the country continues to undergo, and hopefully, through our travels and the people we have met, to understand it a little bit better.
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