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Published: February 28th 2010
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Train station 3 days before New Years Eve
Shuffle like penguins for an hour until you reach the train. Well I have just returned safe and sound from frozen Korla. Last year there were riots that killed 200 and left many more injured. This was instigated but the Uyghur minority (40%) who want independence from China. Bus bombs and RPG attacks were common at one point. China’s response was executing 26 people involved in the riots and completely shutting down the internet, texting and also phone calls to anywhere outside Xinjiang because they were used to plan the attacks. They have started removing these sanctions as the violence has stopped, although a lot of tension remains. Text messaging within Xinjiang is now permitted and 27 Chinese websites are back online. Tom’s dad is very bitter about the sanctions. He said if someone is killed by a car, should you stop everyone driving? That’s the reason anyway why I have been out of contact.
It proved to be a really unique opportunity to discover a side of China that is hard to see as an outsider. Toms family were so hospitable, I quickly felt at home. His mother and father are two of the very small percentage that are divorced in China. This is bad news for Tom as
KFC
In English, Arabic, Tibetan and Chinese. In case you can't recognise the face. many people think the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and at 25 is being highly pressured to get married. Spring Festival is easily the most important festival in China. It is like Christmas but for 15 days. Everyday there is more food, drink and cigarettes than anyone could ever want, though most women in China don’t drink or smoke. The more you offer the more you respect the guests. It is important for there to be lots of food going to waste as leftover food signifies you are able to provide food for the next generation. People would go hungry over finishing all the food.
There was never much warning when guests and food would arrive. One minute we would peacefully be playing cards and the next there would be a room full of people all bearing gifts and a table covered in food. You don’t have much choice but to drink a lot at these meals, especially as a foreigner, we were treated as important guests, everyone making individual toasts, and hoping for them in return. Much like the Russians, when someone toasts you, it is respectful to finish your drink. If someone finishes theirs and
Toms father and stepmother
after being stuffed with food you don’t in return it’s very rude. It is also polite to refill someones glass when it is empty, and rude to refuse. And the drink for most meals was 50% rice wine and at Tom’s dad’s house, traditional Chinese medicine; deer antler alcohol. Just as strong but with a hint of deer bone. Try and find that in Tesco. There is one word in China that means ‘touches glasses’ and ‘finish it’ depending on when you say it. It took me a few meals to master the difference after forcing all the men to drain large glasses of the Chinese wine. Including myself. Once drunk, the men would start dancing and singing and try to get me to join in. I sang them some songs but left the bizarre dancing to the experts.
For Toms dad, I gave him a bottle of wine, where the box cost as much as the wine itself. I was told presentation is more important than taste. I got his mother some expensive chocolates with a tiger mascot for the New Year. In hindsight, a poor choice, as Chinese people don’t enjoy sweet food like we do, and she is very careful what
Dessert anyone?
Why don't the Chinese have normal puddings :( she eats to maintain her slim figure. Anyway, New Years Eve was spent with his family watching the Gala that took over most TV channels. The performances were remarkable, many of the dancers would practice the routine everyday for a year ready for the big show, when midnight drew close we went down to the street to let off fireworks. It is good luck to be setting off explosives the moment the New Year begins. I can only compare that half an hour outside as being in a warzone. Every time one firework or firecracker finished, two more would start. Car alarms mingled in with constant bangs in every direction. At one point there were firecrackers behind me, to my left and in front of me, a blaring car on my right fireworks shooting up everywhere. I was left trying to decide where to set off the one in my hand without getting blown up in the process.
A few days later, we were taken by Toms’ uncle (who owns a private car, which is big deal in China) to the mountains on the edge of the city. You are meant to pay to get in but as we
Tom and his mother
And some lovely peach juice =) pulled up Toms uncle shouted
‘Let me in, do you want to die?’
Apparently he knows someone who works there, and in China, knowing people is all you need to get what you want. We jumped over a barrier and scrambled up some rocks to an impressive; if not incredibly windy view of the lake and dam we had parked next to. Our drinks froze unfortunately in this weather. I decided to test the ice and picked up a massive rock and hurled it high into the sky over the lake. It hit the icey surface and bounced twice refusing to enter to cold water beneath. Next we stopped at the Silk Road, which runs from Rome to Xi’an. The ancient road is named as such because the traders travelling it would trade Roman silver or Indian spice for the Chinese silk. I stared up it wondering how many people had made this perilous journey.
Before I knew it two weeks had passed and it was time to say goodbye to the frozen world of Xinjiang and return to the milder Xian. So another 42 hours on a train quickly passed as the white plains and peaks turned
Crimson Snow
For every little piece of red paper on the floor, was a very loud bang the night before into desolate brown sand. We passed Chinas second biggest river the Yellow River, green shrubs began to pop up amongst the dirt. We passed the end of the Great Wall and green finally spread until taking over all the land in time for us to arrive in Xian. In my time in Korla and the countryside around it, in farmers’ homes and nice restaurants, I tried chicken and pigs’ feet, insects, pigs’ ear, tongue and cartilage, intestines, stomach. No dog.
And that’s where this entry ends. But I intend to fill in the run up to Spring Festival soon. I hope everyone is well.
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sophie
non-member comment
Waahoooo!
The pics are awesome once again! Looks like you had an amazing time in the freeziing cold :) hehe! It's cold here but i doubt its anything like where you were! How nice is it that you got to stay with that family!!!! :) So friendly :) Miss you lots and lots :) keep on truckin'! xxxx