A 4 shirt day in the Bamboo Sea

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New photos on:
http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/

…..on the way back from my trip to the Big Piano, (see last week's blog), I was sitting in the bus station in Nanjing, waiting to get back to Yangzhou when a Chinese maths teacher, speaking pretty good English, started chatting &, after the usual pleasantries, offered to be my guide to the Zhu Hai, or Bamboo Sea. The what? Having a week left until we start preparing for the start of term, why not?.....

…..I mentioned in a recent blog the sleepwalker whose phone was probably destroyed when he suddenly walked into the bike lane without looking. In addition to looking out for yourself here you also have to look out for the preoccupied, careless & somnambulant masses. I spotted a young guy on an e-bike this week about to enter my bike lane from the right. I look behind, (a very foreign thing to do!), then move to the middle to allow him space to get in the bike lane, as he almost certainly is not looking to see who is already there. Not enough space. He flies out, oblivious to everything, right to the middle, clips my handlebars & is amazed to find himself in a heap on the ground. Being semi prepared I manage to stay on board.....

…..I go back to help pick him & his bike up. He doesn't appear to be badly hurt & I can't muster a great deal of sympathy. “Didn't you see me? Did you look before you came onto this road?”... Blank looks. A man arrives on another e-bike. He looks like a security guard in his blue shirt but could just possibly be an off duty policeman. To play safe I explain to him, the best I can in Chinese, what just happened. He looks at the youngster's e-bike & points at the ripped seat & then looks at me as though I should provide some compensation. “Ta huai le”, (“It's damaged”). “Dui, shi de”, (“Yes, it is”), I reply blandly, “Ta bixu mai yi ge xin de”, (“He'll have to buy a new one”). I also mention as I cycle off that sleeping while riding a bike is a stupid idea.....

…..I call the teacher from Nanjing, (who lives near the Bamboo Sea) & check that free time is available to be my tour guide. Yes. No need to book accommodation, it's just a day trip on the other side of Changzhou, (only about 2 hours on the bus). Meet at the bus station at Liyang. Too easy. I cycle round to the East Bus Station & buy a ticket for tomorrow morning.....

….almost as soon as I return I get a phone message. My guide has unexpectedly been given the order to go to work tomorrow. That's China. They seem to be on call at all times. Damn it, I'll go anyway.....

…..it's about 2 hours to Liyang but another hour on a local bus to the Bamboo Sea. I should explain that the Bamboo Sea is more a forest of bamboo on a hilly area which, given some imagination, appears like a sea of green from a high vantage point, accessible, as usual in China, via thousands of steps. Despite leaving the school at around 7am it's about 11am by the time I actually get there.....

…..Jiangsu is not just hot in summer. It's been around 35C all week & humidity levels are measured in shirts. Today is really a 4 shirt day. Unfortunately I haven't brought even one replacement. The first part of the path is not steep & it's cooler in the shade of the tall groves of bamboo. I meet a couple of tourists from Beijing who can't resist asking for a photo with the exotic, & sweaty, Caucasian Da Bi Zi, (Big Nose). “Can I take photo with you?” is the phrase most seem to learn in English, after, “Hello, how are you?” & “Fine, thank you”. Fair exchange is no robbery so, after taking a reciprocal photo with them we walk on up the path as one of them is keen to practice her, (pretty good), English & I am happy to practice my, (still woeful), Chinese.....

…..as we get to the steep part of the path they make what turns out to be a sensible decision to turn back & bring forward their trip to a local spa. I decide having got this far I might as well carry on. I never cope well with humidity but about 3 bottles of iced water & 2 ice creams get me to the top.....

…..by the time I get on the cable car, (another ¥40, well worth every jiao!), I realise my shirt is not just damp but totally soaked. Where it has come into contact with my trousers it has soaked them too so it looks like a severe case of incontinence. With a humidity level that feels close to 100% they're not drying out. I get on, & off, the bus to Liyang with knees slightly bent & holding the shirt down as far as I can to disguise it. As though we foreigners are not conspicuous enough already.....

…..no more tickets to Yangzhou today! OK, Changzhou. I'm sure there'll be one from there. We get stuck in the Changzhou rush hour &, after 6pm, there are no buses to Yangzhou until tomorrow. I book a room at the Green Tree Inn near the bus station, getting out the passport which, luckily, I brought, while still holding my shirt down with my spare hand. What a relief to get into the shower &, yes, I packed a pair of shorts & underpants in my backpack.....

…..I mention to the receptionist that I'm from Yangzhou & it's great to be in another city where I can actually understand a lot more of what people are saying & have some sort of conversation. Yangzhou hua, (Yangzhou local dialect), I tell her, is a real pain. She tells me she's from Yangzhou. Oops! Still she laughs & I think she knows if it's difficult for other Chinese people to understand it must be virtually impossible for a foreigner.....

…..we have a large number of returning teachers this year & 4 new ones. Anthony from California, bless him, at 61 has taken the crown as the oldest foreign teacher from me. I don't mind relinquishing it. He has worked in a lot of places around the world & has just finished up in Hefei, Anhui Province, (see last week's blog about the Big Piano). Brad is a young Canadian from the same small town in Manitoba as existing couple Alex & Krista. It's his first trip overseas & he's currently like a little kid on his first trip to the seaside. I'm sure he'll calm down in time! Steve, my musical partner, is an academic from England who is conveniently moving from another teaching job on the west side of Yangzhou to the next floor down, which will make rehearsals MUCH easier. Finally Julie, from Virginia, a good friend of our Texan teacher, John. She seems to be quietly weighing up the odd collection of people that she has committed to live & work with for the next year. As usual, I'm sure it will be interesting.....

…..Alex, having worked in Taixing near Taizhou as the only foreign teacher at a small school learned Chinese more quickly than some of us here & is great a sniffing out interesting opportunities to practice Chinese here. The video is a clip from a small tea house on Dongguan Jie, a popular local tourist street. The lovely young lady in the shop is from Chongqing, (so we can understand her Chinese!), & she just pours out the tea & is happy to have someone in the shop to talk to.....



…..I go with Anthony to show him around, the Da Run Fa, Blue Market & street vendors. We are waiting at the bus stop, Anthony sitting next to a middle aged Chinese man. As he's talking to me the man starts stroking the hair on Anthony's arm & commenting about it to his wife. Luckily we've both been in China long enough almost not to notice. I ask the man why he doesn't have any “fur”. He looks at his arms & just laughs, “Mei you, mei you”, (“Not have, not have”).....



…..there's talk of a course at Yangzhou university for foreign teachers who want to learn to study formally. It will be interesting to see who takes it up. Some gave up ages ago but are finding it increasingly irritating to have to rely on people like Alex, Patrick & me to make everyday transactions, like buying train tickets. Why, with new teachers here we're in the same position as Will & Corey from my first year here, fountains of knowledge & interpreters of sorts for people who are struggling to get started in a country where, “Hello, How are you? Can I take photo with you?” is not always very helpful. If only they knew how little we know.....

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Photos

Can I take photo with you?
2 friendly tourists from Beijing

Waves of the Bamboo Sea
From the top

Wreck upon wreck upon...
Old scooters taken away on a very old trike

Cheap but not nasty
Cheap but tasty open air restaurants near the supermarket

Take Care, Danderous
You'd think it'd be safer with no traffics

Zhu Hai, view
The Bamboo Sea from the top

Zhu Hai, going down
The Bamboo Sea, cable car

Zhu Hai, going up
The Bamboo Sea, cable car

Zhu Hai, the Bamboo Sea
Hot and humid

Zhu Hai, the Bamboo Sea
Some Aussie friends in the aviary

Fast train, Hebei Station
Sleek and comfortable