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Published: March 12th 2009
REMEMBER THERE ARE MANY MORE PICTURES. GO TO THE OTHER PAGES AT THE END TO VIEW. IF YOU ALL DON'T LIKE SO MANY PICTURES, WHISTLE. IT HAS TAKEN ME H-O-U-R-S AND H--O--U--R---S TO DO THEM. I DON'T MIND IF YOU ARE ENJOYING THEM. BUT, IF YOU AREN'T......I CAN GET BACK TO ONE OF MY MYSTERIES!
I will be leaving Goa for South America on the 16th. I think I’ll go back to my Indian blog to write about my adventures there. If you are interested in still getting my blogs, please let me know. I want to update my blog addresses. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll presume you are not interested. You can contact me anyway you want. My regular e-mail address is mills.charlene@gmail.com. But, you can just send me a message with this blog if that is easier. I’ll look both places. Hope spring is showing it’s lovely face for all you in the temperate zone. Me…I haven’t had a blanket since leaving Kodai Kanal and every day the sky has been blue here in Goa!!
This is my much delayed and final blog on China. Fortunately, I wrote it as I was leaving
Beijing, so it was very fresh in my memory at the time.
I’m not sure what caused me to lose interest in blogging. Maybe it was becoming too big a job. Maybe I wanted to relax once I got to Bangkok last time. China had been such an experience. I cannot begin to relate how amazed I was at the China of today. Still, I set a fast pace for myself because of the length of visas the ungenerous government gives out. So, I was tired by the time I got to Thailand. Finally, since then I have had ‘different’ travel adventures. I volunteer taught for a semester up at an International School in the cool mountains of the Western Ghats , in Tamil Nadu,India- which took up about 110% of my time and thoughts, then I came back to Goa where I have been since the first of December, just living, relaxing and enjoying my ‘life’. When I am in Goa, I am beginning to feel like I am not traveling at all, but have come ‘home’. I love this place….more later on it.
Jeff came and spent the whole month with me. Speaking of which, he
is now in Thailand, just starting a teaching job at a Catholic school there. Those of you who know us well, know he hasn’t been happy with his life for literally decades. He finally decided to give this life that I have loved so well a try. He has always wanted to go to Thailand and spent a month there after leaving Goa. Then was supposed to go to this job in Beijing. Got there, only to find it was a screwed up mess (it happens in this career). So he booked a flight back to Thailand and hit the job-hunting trail. I haven’t seen him this contented with life in years. Am really happy for him and think he has made a wise decision.
Back to visa extensions in China. I’ll relate my experience only as a word of caution to all independent travelers to that fair land. Mine was for only 2 months. I was told I could probably get an extension without much problem. Well, I managed to get a 3 week extension (to match my ticket departure date out of Macao.) But, easy it wasn’t. Plus, for future travelers, the new visa cancels the
Purses, I think
Coudln't resist including...they are just so beautifulold one and takes place immediately. This means that I had to wait until my 60 days were almost up. Then, the city where I got the renewal (Taiyuan - terrible, try some place else), made me leave my passport and travel a week and return. When I returned, on their date,they said they couldn’t get it to me that day - and I had a train out to Beijing in the evening. After keeping at them, they finally produced it less than an hour before they closed….then told me the price was over $100 (for 3 week!!) and I didn’t have that much cash on me. Why they didn’t tell me the price earlier is beyond me. I sat in their office at least three hours waiting.
I had to go frantically looking for an ATM and actually was so stressed that I kept thinking, ‘this is how people have heart attacks’. But, I finally found one after running all over the place. By this time I was lost because the road the visa place was on was one that came into a circle, one of many that fanned out like spokes. And, this is not India we
are talking about, where people speak English. I was frantic. Finally, some lady on a bicycle seemed to realize how truly panicked I was and led me through all these back alleys, for close to 10 minutes until she delivered me right to the door….and, the employees, who by this time, were about 30 plus minutes past quitting time had waited - bless them. What a horrid experience. Just be careful trying to renew visas in China….that is my warning, from solid experience, you don’t want to go through.
Now, on to Beijing and the journal I wrote as I was leaving.
I am sitting on a train that has traveled less than five minutes from Beijing station -heading for Hong Kong/Macao and on to ‘home away from home’, Bangkok - my forth trip back since the beginning of this odyssey.
This city has been a remarkedly pleasant experience. As I look out the window (5 minutes from city center) there are green areas, and cleanliness. Three days ago we had a windy day, so for my last two days Beijing has been smog free.
It’s a hard city to compare with others. Physically, it’s like
most Asian cities, no downtown, no nice central skylines, most areas have a mixture of business, buildings, shopping centers and malls, huge apartment houses, and restaurants. Like Tokyo, it is more like a bunch of medium sized cities linked together.
Even more importantly are alley neighborhoods, called huntongs, where all of the foregoing city fixtures are also, but on a much smaller more crowded scale. Here no such thing as zoning, as we know it exists…and this is the way that, throughout history the Chinese have lived. These are the neighborhoods. Unfortunately, in the country’s eagerness to show its modernity to the world for the games, some of these have been destroyed and replaced with modern structures. Still, many remain. Hopefully they always will. These Huntongs remind me a lot of the neighborhood PJ and I lived in my first (and his only) year in Taiwan. They are, aesthetically not so great, but the energy and life there is wonderful. The place I stayed was in such a huntong, just south of Tienaman Square.
I have now been writing this for 15 minutes. Just this distance from the biggest train station of the capital one of the most
populous city on earth and we left the city behind 5 minutes ago. Chinese cities have no suburbs. We are in the countryside, where there are farms. Chinese LOVE their cities. They love the excitement and activity. They even have a word for it…something like ‘renwa’. They love to be around a lot of people and out at night wandering around. Boy, this would be the country to live in if you liked the countryside. You could probably get something really cheap that would be 15 minutes from the city. And, you wouldn’t have to worry about neighbors, because there almost aren’t any.
The only person I know that has something like I just described is my sister and brother-in-law, Nan and Bob. They have a few acres (not good at measurements) about 10 minutes from downtown Portland. Inherited from Bob’s family, they have kept it so that all they see are trees, fields and Beaveton lights at night in the distance. But, totally surrounding them are hundreds of houses and apartment complexes that have been built in the past 20 years. In other words, ‘the burbs’.-extending another 30 miles west. So, their place is unique…and one we all
Last one
Overall, the performance was enjoyable but I think the 'first string' was on tour somewhere...or mayb we are just too used to seeing the incredible Cirque du - Soleil. No comparison would enjoy (deer, foxes, raccoons and even an occasional mountain lion cub can be seen in their field.) But the Chinese would find this b-o-r-i-n-g.
My travel experience has sort of made me look at it this way. First world countries have suburbs surrounding their cities, third world countries have slums. In China no slums, no suburbs, just huntongs (some probably poor) in the city and farms outside.
I planned 10 days in Beijing and figured that would be five too many. But, the hostels around the country have all been good and I figured just hanging out sounded like a decent use of any excess time. What I am learning, sometimes the hard way, is that I don’t take enough time in places. I end up sometimes with just a so-so experience. Now, many times, of the places I decided to ‘linger’, I confess that decision is made after I get there and have gotten, for lack of a better definition, ‘good vibes’ about. I have yet to be sorry for these decisions: Guilin/Yangshuo, Lijiang, Hangzhou, Pingyao are all places to spend much more than a couple of days - at least for me. My extra time
in each only enhanced my enjoyment. I have wondered if I would have liked Shanghai better had I stayed longer. Although, most fellow travelers seemed to feel the same as I did.
Before visiting Shanghai, I had this vision of an intriguing alluring place where east meets west - more like Mumbai. It isn’t like that. But, my ‘false’ image probably set me up for disappointment. I sure didn’t have any expectations (at least positive ones) of Mumbai..and it is now my # 3 favorite city in my life travels…who would ever have imagined. I truly did not have any great hopes of liking Beijing much. Maybe that was good. What I experienced and saw came as delightful surprises.
Of course, one can’t visit China and not see ‘The Wall’, the Forbidden City, Tienamen Square, the Summer Palace. Sort of like visiting India without seeing the Taj Mahal or Varanasi. Rather unexplainable - even to one’s psychiatrist! So I made the journeys and am so glad I saw them all. The least impressive is Tienamen Square. It was a 10 minute walk from my hostel and at the south end of the Forbidden City. It’s huge. Seeing it,
Gentrified Hontung
This is one for the foreigners to walk around in during their Beijing visits one can understand why it could be the meeting place for masses of demonstrators (supposedly 1,000,000 can gather there). And, it’s clean. But, the buildings, while nice are not so magnificient, just huge to go with the scale of the Square There is one rather interesting round building they have built off to the west side that I think is going to be a performing art center, but we couldn’t go in. It’s a silver dome and and quite an object of derision right now. The LP says it looks like an alien space ship landed. Maybe doesn’t fit into well with the other buildings, but in its defense, it looks no worse (and probably better) than a lot of our domed stadiums. I actually thought it was attractive. Other than that, just copies of big Chinese buildings.
It was c-l-e-a-n there, though. While I was there they had certain areas of the cement blocked off and about 30 workers on their haunches were scraping dried gum and other debris off the ground. This was not unusual. Remember, it was just before the Olympics and they were scrubbing that country with a hard-bristle brushes! All the huntong neighborhoods I
My Hutong
Great place for skating. walked through were clean and no garbage was seen anywhere. Maybe it’s always like that. But, I know the Chinese in Taiwan, who I loved, were slobs about garbage and anything that wasn’t directly on their property. Then, there were all the big red splotches in Taiwan that when I first got there though was from people bleeding. Silly me. It was actually from people chewing beetle nut and then spitting it out. Plus, in Singapore, you can’t even chew gum…that law had to have sprung from a problem of where gum-chewers threw their old gum. No, Chinese are not much better when it comes to garbage than the Indians (and that is very bad). So, things were unusually and magically clean during my visit. One more example of those orange day-glo army of street cleaners on the march across the country.
Speaking of unusual buildings, I made a special trip out to see the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium. Glad I did. They were still working on it. Can’t go inside unless there’s a competition and I couldn’t find out when one was scheduled. But, I walked around part of the outside and got some good photos. It sounds
My Huntong
Much more real....much more fun....an definitiely more Chinese odd - Bird’s Nest??. But, it’s quite attractive and most unique. For the Chinese it was certainly an aesthetic risk - that I think succeeded. Now, since this is being typed long after the games, you will all have the opinion of experts, but this is what I thought when I saw it. Didn’t see much parking area, but maybe that was on the unseen side.
Now that I am on the subject of the Olympics, I have to say that it seems unreal the amount of things that were being done all over the country - big time in Shanghai and Qingdao (beer, remember) - where the sailing competition was to take place. And, most of all in Beijing.
Even as I was there, on the edges of the Hungtong I stayed in there were buildings being torn down and new prettier ones in the traditional Chinese style being erected. Close by hundreds of huntongs had been torn down and a huge shopping area, tourist attraction was being completed to look like a Qing dynasty area. These all look like ‘stage sets’ All over Beijing there are probably thousands of these wonderful old neighborhoods that have been
My Huntong at night
The night life in any Chinese city takes place in the small streets and night markets. destroyed, just so Beijing can look ‘more gentrified’ for the Olympics. They say there are 2,000,000 construction workers employed on these projects in Beijing alone. Hopefully, visitors will be adventurous enough to wander just a few blocks off the main streets where they will see the real China. It is nothing they should be hiding. The huntongs are wonderful areas..and they are real.
Of course, there has been some criticism about tearing down people’s neighborhoods. But, one big advantage of a dictatorship is that you don’t have to listen. Much more efficient. (Aside: One of the big problems in India last year was that the government wants to build nuclear plants for energy for rural electrification. No go, even with Bush’s support (which I agreed with, Bush and India that is - even a chimpanzee can make a right decision once in a while), until the opposition (actually the Communist Party) finally backed down. Fortunate for India this time, but democracy can be so messy!!! In China, by contrast, it’s ‘damn the torpedos and full speed ahead!’.
Onlookers, like we tourists, probably look at all this and wonder how they can possibly get it all done in time.
On THE WALL
My tour group..This was the beginning. The next time we saw each other as a group was in the vehicle going home. Not me! They will not only get it done on time, they will probably finish early. You combine Chinese mentality (never afraid to work hard) with an unopposed government plan PLUS a sense of real pride among themselves about who they are, how far they’ve come and what they want to show the world - it’s a unbeatable recipe for success. On the last point - pride and involvement, everywhere you go there are Olympic reminders. They have done a really clever thing. They have TV’s on all the subway and subway platforms that show competitions. But, for the unfamiliar one, like horses and hurdles, they break them down with diagrams and explanations and go over them slowly to explain why one is a better performance and what is wrong with another. They are continuously educating their people on many many events so that people will become more knowledgeable and interested in events. I also heard that they will be selling unused tickets very cheap to Chinese so that there won’t be empty stadiums….smart. In the winter Olympics in Nagano the Japanese should have done that. Much harder though since Nagano is an area, sparsely populated in the middle of
The Wall
Take a look at the forests (and pollution - my camera picked this up. I didn't notice it). But, do you see what I mean about all the green! mountains…not Tokyo.
One last big topic about Beijing, and all of China more or less - the people. They are its strength. Not so elegant. Most definitely don’t shop on the Golden Mile in Hong Kong. Sixty years of egalitarianism has produced a society that seems to have let the ‘niceties; of society fade into the background. They are kind of a rough and tumble, no nonsense society who say what they think and treat each other totally as equals….except for their Communist masters. The word ‘kowtowing’ is certainly not part of Chinese vernacular and that goes for women too. I saw no sexism here…no chivalrous behavior either! The only deference I saw given was youngsters giving up their seats on the buses to elders. And, I am utterly humbled to say that this happened to me at least a half dozen times (and it was not because I was foreign). I guess it’s time to quit kidding myself about how old I ‘don’t” look. Didn’t have those Chinese kids fooled. What I want to pass on is that Chinese today are about as un pretentious as any people on earth. As to my comment about ‘elegance’, I can’ty
substantiate that since I don’t understand Chinese. But, boy, no conversation here seems private and one certainly gets the sense that what is being said is exactly what’s on their minds. Sometimes I think I am listening to a fight and have been seriously misled because someone suddenly says something and both sides are laughing - and what felt to me like a lot of negative energy is immediately dispelled. But, whatever they have to say it doesn’t appear that they care a wit about who hears it. They are a brusk, noisy, take me as I am people, with great senses of humor, which probably prevents much permanent damage. Which is good because, from my experience of living with Taiwanese Chinese for 3 years, nothing is more serious than ‘losing face’. Plus, they are truly kind and helpful when they think you need a hand. I loved the Chinese when I lived in Taiwan - and while a lot of Chinese here are a little less gentle in there outward behavior, I have totally enjoyed being among them once again. They are terrific people. I absolutely like all the Asians I have lived among…but, if I had to choose,
they would probably be my favorite. Haven’t lived long enough in India yet, though. And, I do absolutely love some of the people I have met here.
Well, I haven’t said much about The Wall and the other sites. For those who may some day come here, my tip, don’t go to Badaling, too many tourists. I went to Mutioryu (I may have spelled these places wrong because I am working off my written notes and, as anyone who has had to read my writing will tell you, they are often indecipherable. But, the spelling is somewhere close). Mutioryu has great guard tower and was recently repaired so no hard walking. It’s a beautiful section of the wall. The biggest surprise I had is that pictures of the wall are always predominately grey - because they are taken of the wall, dah! But, when you are there what really hits you as well is all the beautiful green forests (deciduous) that surround the wall, against a backdrop of high mountains in the distance. It was a not-to-be-missed experience. Plus, where we went you could take a cable car u to the wall and then…..a toboggan ride down on this
The Wall
Th real reason for which umbrellas were invented. wildly curving stainless steel slide. What terrific fun that was, great ending.
As to the Forbidden City, of course, see it. It’s got some lovelythings in it, but it’s a bit place so plan the better part of a day. I rented one of those audios that tell you about the palace. They were very clever. Whichever way you went that section of the audio would be activated It didn’t stop and rewind, though. One time through and you are finished. This audio is a must unless you have a good tour guide or just want to breeze through and look at the architecture. Listening to it and thinking about what the life of the Emperor’s concubines must have been like (get up, have someone dress you and make you up, play stupid games, gossip, ‘kowtow’ to concubines that were higher than you (and there was a real pecking order…now Sisterhood in this place. It all sounded dreadful, unless your highest desire in life is beautiful clothes and indolence.
The LP said there was a Starbucks in the Forbidden City. And, you know me, I looked all over for it, futilely. Only think that marred my day! Jeff
Is that beautiful, or what!
One of the great things about doing a blog is that you go back and look at all the pictures...and remember, just was a fabulous experience it all was. told me later that he read there was so much stink about it that it was shut down.
Well, I do have a reason for this digression. I ws thinking of Court life and a part of my mind was on that latte and the images sort of interlocked. Or a least got a glimpse of them simultaneously and - I am dead serious when I say this - if the economics were equal, I’d far rather be a barista at Starbucks than a concubine in the forbidden city. What useless those women must have led. Boring beyond belief. No wonder there was so much court intrigue…remember our biblical saying ‘Idle minds are the devil’s workshop.”
My final advice for future travelers is that the Summer Palace is a great place to spend a whole day. Don’t do it fast. And, it’s not the palace that’s important. In fact, I am not sure where the palace was..or if I saw it. The beauty is the setting. They patterned it after West Lake in Hangzhou. So, there are dozens of little pavilions, temples, and a long corridor that would allow you protections from too much sun or rain as
you stroll around the lake. It is also the domain of entertainers. There were groups playing traditional instruments and others singing. You Cn Qlkup the big and visit temples, stop for gorgeous views. Then, if that’s not enough, on the back side the emperor had a copy of the Suzhou Market street built so his court could ‘buy’ things. But, the story I heard is that only he was allowed to ‘bargain’. (What an empty illusion some of this whole court life seemed. The more I saw the happier I was to be a Western middle class professional working for a living at decent jobs).
Other places I visited and enjoyed were Lake Beiha, the touristy reconstructed huntong area up by the Bell and Drum Tower. Unless you are going nowhere else, don’t bother with the towers. By Beijing I was bell & drum towered out. The snack street down at Wangfunjing (or depending on your sense of adventure, other street food in the Hontongs - stick to the deep fried stuff that is fresh). The Silk Street Market for you shoppers is a must. Lots of shops, crammed together, lots of bargaining. Me? *I went because I needed
shoes. Got a pair of Niki Air and aa pair of leather flats and another pair of Tefvas for about $120. I had a Chinese guy with me - just someone wandering around, wanting to practice English. He helped me with the bargaining. I think the main difference he made is thatI just didn’t immediately walk away. The first price she gave me was 3800 yuan - that’s $542, folks!. It was so far out of my ball park that I’d have just left. In theend I got almost my price. I told him I didn’t want to spend more than 650 yuan and I ended up spending 850y. I know that one has to bargain here but I was totally unprepared for what they ask and what they will take. Heaven help the poor innocents that are shopping here during the Olympics.
One last story in this vein. Taxis have to use meters. The fare starts at 10 yuan for the first 2-3 km. When I went to the Bird’s Nest I took a tax from the closest subway - 1- yuan. When I finished I got a tax and told him to taie me to a subway,
Olympic Stadium
As close a shot as I could take showed him the Chinese word. WQell, off he goes, and goes, and goes. I started grousing from the back seat about how far he is take me. He doesn’t understand Eglish, but he understands my tone. And, I look at the meter. It’s at 17 yuan. With this, I am even more uhappy and saying subway (Chinese word) shi quai 10 yuan. He finally pulls over at a subway stop and is saying Okay? Okay? And I am Mad and saying, ‘No not okay’. It’s at 19 y now. I take out some money but won’t give it to him until he gives me my receipt (which, by the way, is always good to have in case you leave something in the cab). I can report him to the tourist police and he doesn’t like this idea at all. Suddenly my 19 yuan fare is only She Quai - 10. The tourist police are be9ing very serious about cheating tourists. But, boy are they going to be worked to a nubbing, come the Olympics. Let the games (and dodges and cons) begin!
Damn, I have one more discovery that I SIMPLY MUST SHARE. There is a book everyone interested
Now this is a good example of ''Enlightened Self Interest'
McDonald's advertising the Olympics and The Olympic Icons advertising for Mc Donald's. Synergy at work! n history should read. It is called 1421 and I can’t remember the Author. He’s a Brit who was a submarine captain. He loved old maritime maps and, upon retirement, began researching about the ‘age of discovery’. First, of course, the important European schools for exploration were set up in Portugal by “Henry the Navigator.’ He was the brother to the king and this was his passion. What he, the author, started to discover is that they were using as guides some maps that were already in existence. Ah, a mystery! Where did they come from? He studied these maps and concluded that it would Have taken a gigantic effort to have explored these areas. He worked backwards and finally realized that the only country capable of amassing this size of a fleet/armada were the Chinese. Why don’t we know this? Well the Emperor (Zhu Hi or Yongli - 3rd Ming emperor) did amazing things. He built the Forbidden City, he rebuilt and expanded the Great Wall (where I visited was part of his work). He dredged and finished the Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou - the largest of its kind and he built a huge fleet of enormous
Chinese junks and other naval vessels to explore and map the world. Although hundreds of ships were lost, as far as their main mission of mapping the unknown world, Unfortunately, in the two years they were gone between 1421-1423, the Forbidden City burned down (now one sees in all big buildings massive copper barrels filled with water to fight such fires) and the people rose up in rebellion because he had deforested most of the land in the Southwest and famine was wide spread. His ambitious projects had ruined the economy of China. When the Forbidden City burned he lost his confidence, became ill and died. The Mandarins who opposed these massive projects that hurt the populations so much and the new Emperor so disapproved of what had been done that when the fleets began returning home, all the information that they had accumulated was hidden and/or destroyed. The evidence that exists today is mostly from Westerners and others who encountered these fleets and, in some cases, even traveled with them for a while. It’s a fascinating read and I heartily recommend it…particularly to my book club.
There are three other places I saw that I did not write
Yummy!
These are 'Bugs on a Stick" Speciality of the area. I watched her eat these.....oooooooo! about. One is the Yungang Grottos, about 16 km from Datong. They are wonderful. All carved into the mountains and, in my opinion, more beautiful than the ones in Ellora, India (the ones in Ajunta are more monks caves, rather than in the light. These are carved into the mountain cliffs, probably 300-400 ft. high. They were built by different dynasties over the last couple thousand years. They are definitely worth a day side trip to. The second one worth seeing is a small valley of Budhist Monestaries and temples in Wutaishan, Shanxi Province, south of Yungang. This sacred mountain change forms a circle around the small valley and it is very peaceful and lovely. Soothing to the nerve. Also, Macao, is a fascinating city, a combination of Chinese, Portuguese and gambling. In the old city, you can just wander around and enjoy the mix of the first two. Then, there are these huge casinos on one side, separate, but close. There’s even a Steve Wynn (I think that’s his name, gambling is certainly not on my lists of interests). I did go and look at them, though. While I haven’t been to Los Vegas since the big rebuilding, the
Here's her favorite deli
These are all creepy crawly insects for your appetizer. Bon Appetit! Macao casinos seem pretty first class, if you like that sort of thing. No Cirque du Soleil shows, though. Anyway, these are all places I would recommend you look at when you are planning your itinerary. It’s just that I didn’t write about them when I was there…..and that information in detail is lost to the wind…and my senility!
Remember, let me know if you want to be on my list from now on.
PS Yesterday I was listening to CNN (or BBC?). China's exports to the world are down something like 40%, and to the US....47%. I have often wondered, both silently and aloud to friends.....what will happen on the day that American's don't go shopping...and continue filling their 2 car garages with crap they don't need? Now, we know. Almost all of the Asian economic miracle....(the Dragons - Japan, Korea and China, and the Little Tigers - Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia and to some extent Vietnam, has been export driven..and most of those exports were to the US. Well, one good thing. Hopefully, it'll give them good reasons to help the US try to get the economy back on track (enlightened self-interest is always an excellent motivator...even
unenlightened self-interest might work) and, maybe, they will quit depending so much on us and start selling to themselves. But, the best thing that might come of all this is that maybe we will stop our obsessive shopping. If any of you have been watching Oprah, she has had many experts on advising Americans on how to get through this.... and all of the advice is connected to sound spending. If you can't afford it, don't buy it...and don't charge it. It'd be great if we came out of this recession with some rational attitudes about spending. And, maybe someday American's will have space in the garage for cars...now, there's an idea!!
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