Guilin and Longsheng

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My first stop in China was the province of Guangxi (west of Guangzhou). That is, if one doesn't count Macao and Hong Kong, which, apparently even the Chinese don't in some ways (i.e., no visas necessary, different rules, and even a different feeling. One commentator stated that nothing would please Beijing better than to have Shanghai surpass Hong Kong as the super-city of China. That tells a lot right there.)

One thing worth mentioning now is that cities 5 to 10 times the size of Portland, whose names I have never heard of are all over China. Dozens of them. Qingdao (where I am now....if you didn't know that the old spelling was Tsingtao - think 'beer') you wouldn't have the remotest idea it existed and yet it has 1.6 million people in it. Enroute to Guilin we passed, within a half hour of leaving Kowloon, the city of Shenzen. It was one of the first to become a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), where goods could be manufactured and exported under very favorable tax conditions. This was a part of the big economic push under Deng Xiaoping. It literally went from a small seaside fishing village to having a population of over 10 million today. Guangzhou (we used to know it as Canton), a place where a lot of Taiwanese businessmen were investing when I was living in Taiwan, while not a SEZ, has a population of over 3 million. As we passed it on the train, all you could see for miles were lines of new high-high rises. Even little Guilin, that I had pictured in my mind as a quiet 'village' along the Li River, is a bustling metropolis of 670,000. Nothing is small here.

However, one thing you don't get that you do in the US and, particularly in Japan, are 100 miles of urban sprawl beyond the cities. I personally attribute that to what I think I know about how Chinese like to live....(and I just could be wrong). They love to live in cities. They love the hustle, bustle, noises and crush of people that you only get in metropolitan areas. They love their night markets and standing and joking/yelling/squabling/etc. with each other outside among the crow. So, probabaly living in a 30 story building that has street markets outside they can immerse themselves in is a lot more to their liking than waking up to the crow of a rooster or just silence. On the opposite end, there is Japan (and the US for some unfortunates who live hours from their home). It was called 'inaka' (the countryside), where I lived...and yet, except on the hills and mountains, there wasn't a square mile between it and Tokyo that had any real 'countryside'. And, it took the poor 'salarymen' who lived there 75 minutes on a good morning to ride the train to Shinjuku (Tokyo's largest station) - probably standing up. And, the same amount of time coming home. And, Shinjuku was just the first station in Tokyo they got to - the busiest in the world with over 2 million passengers a day - a place, after 6 years, I could still get lost in. After that, most had to transfer to at least one other or walk good distances to get to wherever their jobs were. Given that choice, I'd gladly opt for the Chinese way. Three plus hours of compute....yuk!!! But, the result is a whole lot of very very tall buildings in these cities.

I arrived in Guilin without the slightest idea of where my hotel was and, since I had booked it through the internet, the directions were in Roman letters. There were a mother and daughter on the train who came to my rescue. I had forgotten how truly nice Chinese are.

To digress a moment. When, I was in Hong Kong I fell down and really hurt my hip. It was just one of those 1/2 inch rises in the payment, and rather than looking at my feet I was looking ahead trying to find a supermarket that I knew was very close, my toe caught it just right and down I went.. I really tumbled. Right hip, knees, left arm and head (how my head got that low, is mystifying). I was able to get up, but it was scarey. Well, my train from HK went to Guangzhou, then I had to transfer train stations by way of a subway system where I had to transfer subways. A little nerve wracking, but right away, people started helping me. They showed me how to get a ticket on the subway (and, before that, where the subway was - terminal right at the train stations!). Then, when one man got off who spoke a little English and had shown me how many stops I had until the transfer, another family got on, four, one of them being a young man - probably with his mom, aunt and little sister. He immediately found out that I was trying to catch a connection from the other train station to Guilin and insisted on helping me. Until then I was sure that one way or another I would have been able to do all this by myself (don't get me wrong, this help made a lot of difference), but when we got off the subway at the second train station, we had to walk up some stairs (there had been quite a bit of walking up and down stairs from buses to trains since leaving downtown HK, which meant lugging my suitcase, which I know ways 20Kg. (it's weighed at every airport check-in). I was lugging it up the stairs and wow-wee, suddenly my hip screamed bloody murder at me...it hurt like hell and I couldn't move. I just stood there, half way up the stairs with all sorts of people trying to get around me. Until this time, I had been feeling quite smug because, even though that fall was hard, I didn't seem to be suffering much from it. Well, I guess it had had enough. The young man was dashing ahead, but the mom (or aunt) could see the problem and came rushing to the rescue. Not only did she take this 20kg piece of luggage, she took my other bag that probably weighs over 10 pounds. But, of course, we couldn't go, because, I was frozen. Slowly the piercing pain quieted down and I tried moving it just a itty-bit...that seemed to work, so I slowly was able to hobble up the stairs and made it over to the train station, about 300-400m away...all the while with these ladies carrying my bags. But, the young man didn't stop there, he grabbed my bags and got me through the crowd, found out where my waiting room was. Then, when we found out I had to climb stairs to get to it, he approached a guard and got me a place to sit downstairs. Finally, he felt free to let me go and left while the guard took me to the other waiting room. Of course, it was a huge hall full of people and the security guy was yelling clear across the room to tell someone this 'crippled foreigner' needed special care..or something, not even that nice. Everyone in the place knew, though...except of course me. The point, though, is that I can't imagine too many people in our country helping to the extent this family did. Yes, I do think we try to be helpful., but not to the extent I have experienced here, as you will see as I relate more stories in my travels. Finally, when my train was ready to leave, one of the employees there gave me the signal and I was able to trudge to the train.

When I was told about Chinese trains, I was advised to book hard sleeper (which isn't hard and is the same as 3AC in India (stacks of 3 on each side in a little space.) I had been advised that the middle bed was the best because not everyone was sitting on your bed if you had the bottom one. So, following good advise, I booked the middle. Well, that was 'interesting'!! (as PJ always says, when I use that word, something is amiss!). When I tried to get into that second bunk, I am only glad that no one was there with a camcorder - at least I don't think so. (Of course, the way things are today it could be the latest 'whacky' video on My Space or somewhere.) I couldn't do it. I think it was about my leg (I hope so, because in two days I have a middle berth on a train out of here...no lowers available). The little ladder was at the end in the aise and I could climb it, but I couldn't twist my body around so that I could get into the bed. Of course, I was the only Waigoren (foreigner) there and, while I didn't acknowledge it, am positive that there were lots of people watching and having a big (silent) laugh. Finally this young lady who was with her mother in the bottom berths offered to trade with me. The problem was solved.

They are the same ones who saved me when I arrived in Guilin. They got the telephone number of the place and got me to a cab and gave the cab driver the Chinese address. The name of the place in English was the Oasis Inn. But, unless you have been around Chinese when they are trying to translate something from another language into Chinese, you haven't a clue as to how complicated it is. I can't explain it, except to say that for 3 years in Taiwan I watched this phenomena and, it doesn't matter how educated or how much Chinese they know, for them there are at least a half dozen possibilities as to how 'Oasis Inn' might be spelled in Chinese. Fortunately, the LP recognizes this and has lots of places with the Chinese address. This time, though, it wasn't a booking from the LP and the e-mail came without any Chinese.

As I intimated earlier, Guilin was a bit of a shock. It is a fair sized city. Probably to someone else, it would have seemed 'foreign'. But, it was surprising how quickly I began to feel at home...and to remember the problems of living in a city without the language or the alphabet. You never leave 'home' without the name card and address of the hotel in Chinese. You are a lot more conscious of the turns you make and the landmarks around you so you can make your way back. You look for places that have little a English before you go in to eat. Although, if there are lots of people in a restaurant, the other perfectly good method is to saunter through the diners and then get a waiter to follow you and point out the dish(es) you want that others are eating. One more reason to put your trust in a busy restaurant. You walk into places that you hope will have someone who can speak a little English and if you find none, you walk back out. Or, you use your LP book and show them the Chinese writing for what you are looking for and say 'Zai nar' (where). Plus, you plan ahead. Most places I have stayed have someone who speaks some English and you get them to write down in Chinese what you want...which you show to people as you head to wherever you are going. Then, when you are actually on the streets, I think the main thing is, that you just have to be more thoughtful about a lot of things you do and watch where you are going, so you can retrace your steps. Yes, you have the hotel's address, but you don't necessarily want to have to call a cab to take you back to your hotel, when all you want is to get back to that street you were on 2 or 3 turns ago. Landmarks, that's the big thing. On this corner there is a bakery, now I'm turning right, I've walked 2 blocks, here is a Bank of China, I'm taking a left....etc. Or you look for something high (a building or pagoda or something that sticks up and keep it in sight). Fortunately, this all came back to be right away and, so far, I haven't been 'very' lost for any length of time. Although, in Lijiang (2 blogs ahead), I did get so twisted around in their maze of lanes that a nice Inn Keeper took pity on me and escorted me back to my hostel (at a brisk walk, a good 10 minutes...I was that far off!). The next trip out, I was much more cautious.

One of the surprises, as you can guess, is just how modern a city Guilin is, big wide avenues, parks along the river, a huge city square just for citizens to wander around in. Lovely walks along the river and the inlets, and the lake with places to sit. One of the things that really surprised me is that they have electric bikes and electric mo-peds. What a good idea. We could use somethings like these. So far, I have seen electric bikes being pedalled sometimes and I have even seen electric mo-peds with pedals. Think how much fuel we would save if we used these to go to the market or to exercise class. I also see 3-wheeled taxis (that have two seats in front and 2 in back) that are electric. They are totally silent and one of those electic mo-peds in Guilin almost gave me a heart attack and made me wrench my hip again. Typical of Chinese drivers, they go anywhere that they can. I was getting ready to cross a street and here this totally silent mo-ped drives up right in front of me from the wrong way and literally misses me by inches, which made me whirl back (and thus the hip twist and some more pain). I have also seen 3 wheeled small transport trucks that are a lot more sturdy than Indian and Thai 3 wheelers. Plus, later in Suzhou, I saw rickshaws in the tourist areas operated by men on bicycle and (to take into account the rain) they could all be closed in with waterproofing. As I have said in my India blog, I don't like the idea of men bicycling me around. It feels wrong. However, I wonder about these Chinese rickshaw drivers. For the most part, they are big burly guys, nothing like the poor reed-thin Indians who do this job.

But, what they may be saving in electricity and fuel with these energy efficient vehicles, they are at least partially wasting in Neon lights. I forgot how the Chinese love their neon lights. Every city in Taiwan looked like Reno or Las Vegas at night. Well, here, is no different. It does feel very 'festive' to be out on the streets at night...and of course, that is what they love. But, it sure isn't energy conservation.

The Li River, which you will hear about in the next edition, runs right through Guilin and walking along it and around the parks that they have built around little inlets or lakes is such a soothing and yet sparkling thing. Coming to China at the end of March and starting in the south may or may not have been the right way to do my trip . It made good sense when I planned, but either I am following a lot of rain or it is following me. My logic was that I would be moving north with the spring. That much has been true. And, starting in Guilin, I have seen almost nothing but beauty in this country. Almost. I have had to spend a bit of time in some butt-ugly cities, but not much. Guilin, at the end of March was green and misty. In fact the only three days, out of a total of about 8 or 9 that were clear in this area of my travels were; 1. the day of my Li River trip, 2. the trip to Longsheng, and 3. the day we rode motor scooters all over the Yangshuo valley area. How lucky is that. But, walking around in the spring rain is not so terrible because everything is that vivid new spring green. And, meandering through Guilin along the banks of the Li River and around the lakes with their tea houses in the middle and arched Chinese bridges, all of it shrowded in mist, will be one of my favorite memories of China.

Longsheng area...not far from Guilin, was a day tour. It wasn't on my 'must see' agenda, but the more I thought about it, the nicer it seemed. So, I took off with a Chinese tour group one morning. So, far I have not been on many tours, but they have all been Chinese only. Well, if you are going to walk up hills to view the rice terraces, there isn't too much you need to be told about what you are seeing. This little village of Ping'an has been there 600 years. The villagers are not Han Chinese, but come from minority groups (Dong, Zhuang, Yao and Miao cultures). They look quite Asian, maybe a little more like they are from the Himalayas or the North. Anyway, they have built terraced rice fields up a string of 800 meter peaks. If 1,000 meters equals a kilometer, and that is .6 of a mile, well then, they are about a half a mile high at the top. It was interesting to see. I wish the rice had been at it's green (and most beautiful) stage but, the picture gives you a good idea of the work involved.

The village has many many nice new homes. I have a feeling that nowadays these people may be making a lot more money off of us tourists than growing rice. If I were them, I'd hire some other workers to do my rice fields and open a B&B or a restaurant. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of tourists up there that day and we all had to eat. In Longsheng town the ladies of the area did a performance for us. You can see from the picture how they wear their hair. It may not catch on with the outside world and the little dances they did for us was strictly to take in a few more yuan. But, they do all seem to wear their hair this way, so they must think it is either very attractive or a tradition worth preserving.

Longsheng was a nice unexpected treat. I had one other while I was there. When I went to buy the ticket for the Longsheng tour, the lady suggested I take in an evening performance. It is called Dream of Li Jiang (jiang=river). I have been to some hokey performance in my travels, but I keep thinking it is only an evening and it might be worth while. Well, this one certainly was. It was a bit of Barishnikov ballet, Chinese acrobats and this ethereal undewater setting that they managed to create (and once, not under water, but above the clouds) . It was really beautiful and if it ever comes to your area and isn't outrageous, I do recommend it. It was totally professional and does travel around the world. So, you might just get the chance some day.

One last thing, if the accomodations in Guilin and Yangshuo are any indication of things to come, I have definitely moved up a notch. My rooms in both places were what I would consider almost 3 star hotel status. Nice big duvets, shampoo, one-use-toothbrushes, even t.p. plus, both places had TVs and an English language station..Which was very interesting because it was right when the Tibet riots were happening and you would be surprised just how many of those rioters saw the wrong they had committed and voluntarily turned themselves in to the police. Isn't that something!!! Well, it must be true, it was on Chinese TV. But, back to the rooms....they are an absolute luxury after Inida....my gawd, tp and towels, a miracle! Next, edition, the Li River cruise and Yangshou. Bye for now. C.


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Photos

A Rainy Spring Day in Guilin
Guilin along the lake and river was so beautiful this day....chilly, but mezmerizing. China's springtime rain is more like a mist which makes everything appear as though you are viewing your surroundings through a haze.

Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces
These are the rice fields near Longsheng. They are farmed by a special minority group and way high in the hills. Many of the homes here are new.....wealth that has come in from tourism, rather than a rise in the price of rice!

Paloquin Delivery to the Top
You wouldn't believe how many tourists (all Chinese, at least the ones I saw) who proceeded to the top the terraced rice fileds, carried as in days of old, when we all had slaves (or were slaves!)

The Women of Longsheng
They did an entertainment dance and demonstation for us. They all wear their hair this way (at least all we saw everywhere in the two villages). They actually add a long hair piece to their already long hair to get it to go this way. Think it'll catch on as a style!