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Published: October 3rd 2007
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Where I went
China is a big country. I just wish I had more time. Now that I am back home, I can sit down and actually digest what has happened during the past month or so. It's been a long strange trip.
I was starting to get use to being on the road. Going where ever I wanted. Doing whatever i wanted. I felt free. I was getting comfortable with living my life out of a backpack too. Owning three T-shirts seemed a little rough at first, but it quickly became the norm. When I came home, there was a bit of a reverse shock. Home seems so much more luxurious. At first I was a bit happy to be back. Home is rich in comforts, but I find my life poor in excitement. The more I readjust to my normal life, the more I'd rather be on the road again. My everyday "nine to five" life seems so much more mundane in comparison to the uncertainties that the road offered. I would gladly give up hot water, western toilets, and clean T-shirts to travel again soon.
I can speak Cantonese, one of China's regional dialects. Mandarin and Cantonese are extremely similar. The two languages are almost mutually intelligible, not quite, but very
A Horrible Sight
A group of onlookers gather around a dead body on the street. There are many great things going on in China but there is also human tragedy. close. I've never attended school to learn Mandarin. Nor does any of my family speak Mandarin. However, a month or so before my trip, I decided to try to pick up as much Mandarin as I can by watching Chinese TV. The result is that I can speak enough Mandarin to get by, since most of the words and sentence structures are the same. However, my pronunciation is problematic. In cities like Beijing and Xian where most people spoke traditional Mandarin, I didn’t have too many language issues. In the more rural regions of China, where some of the locals were accustom to speaking their own particular regional dialects, I did sometimes have trouble understanding what people were saying. Their Mandarin, especially true for elderly folks, was heavily accented by region idiosyncrasies.
The very fact that I am Chinese changes the dynamics of my interactions with people and with other travelers. Sometimes I can get closer to the locals than someone who is foreign, other times, I am treated more poorly. I am fortunate that I speak enough Mandarin to converse with the local people I've met on the road. Being able to just talk to people, I can
Mao
Mao has become a symbol of China and the communist party. He is a cultural icon. learn a lot about how they feel about China in general. China has plenty of problems that are plain obvious: lack of worker and human rights, disparities between the rich and poor, pollution, and a lack of welfare programs for the downtrodden. However, China's residents are overall very happy about where their country is headed. The people whom I met spoke about their country with patriotism and optimism. The last time I was in China was a decade and a half ago, it has changed quite a bit since then; and compared to the China I was born in a quarter century ago, it is a completely different country. Modernization has changed living standards and ways of living for many people, but it has also changed the very culture of the country itself. I keep thinking about the Naxi girl in Lijiang who wore a traditional outfit just to sell cheap souvenirs to tourist or the monk on Emei Shan chatting away on his cell phone. Tradition is giving way to modernization. As communication, media, and travel become available to everyone, the culture inevitably has become more homogenized. As people inter-migrate, local nuances will inevitably fade. I was born in
A Guard
The police presence in China is huge. Guangzhou in Canton, and when I was a child, Cantonese was the language of the region. Hearing a phrase of Mandarin was rarer. As I revisit Guangzhou as an adult, I've found that Cantonese has been replaced by Mandarin. There is so much migration that some 60-70% of the population are from elsewhere. Now, imagine the magnitude of change that must take place in the culture when an entire region changes its language.
Hanging out with other backpackers has been a blast too. I've been able to share drinks and trade stories with many people I would have otherwise never have met. I've met so many other travelers from different parts of the world. Frankly it never occurred to me that I could go to China and meet travelers from around the world. I've met so many cool people on the road who have the same passion for travel. I'm glad I went traveling, and hope to go again soon.
Cheers.
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Ming
non-member comment
did u ever find out what happened to that dead guy on the street? why are Chinese police so skinny? they look like Jr. high school kids in America! btw, i'm surprised and happy that u're back in one piece. you're nuts for doing this trip without travel insurance. reading your blogs make me wanna backpack again. nice posts, bro! let's do that roadtrip we've always wanted to next year. better yet, come down to LA and grab some tacos with me. PEACE!