CHANGCHUN - traffic jams, the last emperor, world of warcraft and a fake Venice

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The main reason for going to Changchun was actually to visit the palace of Puyi - the last Emperor of China. So we took an overnight train from Harbin and arrived around noon in Changchun.

- btw. taking overnight trains in China is not only a really comfortable and convenient way to travel (it saves time, offers a bed and is pretty cheap in relation to the distances) but also a great way to get in contact with some locals. And especially taking the hard-seat or hard-sleeper class causes a huge amazement combined with an even bigger curiosity amongst the guys in the same compartment. Some immediately try to start a conversation, which is a good way to practice a little chinese, or offer food and Baijiu (chinese white liquor), while others just keep on staring at you for hours and hours. -

After we arrived in Changchun we were not so confident anymore about the decision to come here. The city is pretty dirty, especially during winter time and the traffic jams causing a really bad air pollution. Finally we found two taxis that brought us to our "hostel". This hostel was probably the best thing we experienced in Changchun. It was run by some chinese students in their own flat and we only found this place with the help of a chinese friend who booked it online. The guys living there were just awesome. They were welcoming us really friendly, gave us some keys and said we can feel like home. And we did so. Although till the end we were not able to find out how many guys were really living there. The truth must be somewhere between 3 and 14. That was at least the range of the statements we got from different guys who lived there ... maybe. Anyway the guys were really cool and while some of them practiced some chinese with us or joined for a beer, others just sat infront of their computer playing world of warcraft (actually it was not WOW but some new chinese version of WOW). However, since they also had semester brake, their declared goal was apperently, to play as much as they can while eating and sleeping were just some annoying physicaly needs.

Even though the Palace of Puyi closed around 5pm, we fought our way through the traffic (actually the brave taxi driver fought for us while we fall asleep) and made it to the other end of the city in time. The palace was architecturally not that stunning but one exhibition about Puyis life was really interesting. He was some kind of chinese Forest Gump whose life had a lot of ups and downs - he was the final ruler of the Qing Dynasty and later the ruler over the Japanese puppet state Manchuko before he ended up as a gardener in Beijing during his last year.

After visting the palace we were almost starving because we ate nothing the whole day and our desperation led us to a really typical chinese place - a mall. It was allready a kind of millitary-secret-service-task to find the food and restaurant area because this mall was soooo huge. We had to pass a fake Venice with canals and gondolas as well as a dinosaur park. Finally we found something to eat and enjoyed the poorest meal of the whole trip while listening to the peacefull sound of the rollercoaster behind us.

However this meal was compensated by a great breakfast made by the french guys the next morning as well as an even better lunch at the favourite restaurant of one of our new flatmates. We also managed to decide for the next step of the trip - Baihe, a small town close to the ChangBai Mountains at the North Korean Border. Of course it would have been a little to easy and comfortable to make this decision two or three days in advance. So in a really fast heave-ho-action my flatmate and me crossed the whole town again, rushed into the busstation and got the last five tickets for the only bus going to Baihe the same day. On the way back to the hostel we had a really nice taxidriver who was not only really happy to have some Germans in his taxi (there is a big german car factory in Changchun and his car was a german one and he loved it and so on) but also asked us promptly about our opinion of chinese girls. Probably it was the wrong answer to say that we like chinese girls because our driver was apparently also kind of a self-employed business man. He got really excited and started to advertise his cousin or bring us in contact with some other girls. We refused politely which made him a little sad for the next five minutes. Especially the chinese girl who wanted to enter the taxi at the next traffic lite (in Changchun its very common to collect some more people on the way if they are going in the same direction) had to suffer from his sadness. The taxidriver didn't really agree with her travel plans and forced her to leave the taxi with an inspiring arsenal of swearwords. Anyway, we made it to the hostel, packed our stuff and invited one of our flatmates for the lunch mentioned above.

Strengthed by one of the best meals during the trip and after an almost epic fight to get a taxi, we enjoyed Changchuns traffic jams for one last time and prepared for the 8 hour busride to Baihe.

Next stop: Baihe - the Birthplace of Kim Jong Il, dog meat and the most scary shower on this planet

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