Jinghong (21-23 Sep 13)

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And so after that brief one week transit in Laos, and another 7h bus ride later, I say hello to the Middle Kingdom. Crossing the Boten-Mohan border, it became apparent very quickly that I'd entered another country. Gone were the quiet small-laned streets and rural backdrops. Enter large, super-highways, flanked by equally imposing but tackily opulent buildings. Yes, welcome to China, centre of the ongoing Asian economic miracle.
And my first stop was Jinghong, the capital of the Xishuangbanna region in Yunnan province, in the far southwest of this large country. Despite it being very much a secondary city, it could hardly be more different from my last stop in Laos. Bustling, with lots of people. LOUD-talking people (we are in China after all), many conversing in what I presume to be some kind of Yunnanese dialect that is completely unintelligible to me. In contrast to their speaking volume, I observed that many of them were riding silent electric scooters that sneak up unbeknownst to you on the sidewalks.

I was reminded also of the highly objectionable habit that I'd previous observed and which many others have remarked about the Mainland Chinese - they spit EVERYWHERE and practically all the time. And despite having seen my fair share of questionable toilets along many long bus routes across all of Southeast Asia, the few Chinese ones that I've come across so far already have them all beat. Some of these highway gas station restrooms are frighteningly off-putting. I do remember a Chinese teacher of mine back home in Singapore previously remarking about the horrendous toilets in China, but that must have been some twenty years ago. Despite the breakneck speed that its economy has grown since, I guess some things just take a long time to change. But well I'm not here for the toilets. Lest I end this entry on a grotesque note, I shall say that I am of course still looking forward to everything else this much-storied country has to offer, at least in Yunnan province for a start. Stayed at the Bus Terminal Hotel.

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Photos

Road to Xishuangbanna Region
Passed some stunning terrain.

Rock Gambling
You buy a rock, they cut it open for you, and you hope it's pure jade inside. Somebody spell "scam" please.

Say what?
So apart from standard Mandarin, they seem to use a local Xishuangbanna script as well, which looks like a cross between Burmese and Thai to me.

Mengla
First transit stop in China, and already struck by contrasting gaudy opulence...

Got gas?
Possibly the most make-shift petrol station I've ever seen. Yes, our driver filled up here.

First Taste of Real Chinese Food
Indeed as salty and oily as everyone says. I'm gonna have to get used to this for a while!