Day 10: Benxi By Way of Shenyang


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Asia » China » Liaoning » Benxi
December 26th 2011
Published: December 27th 2011
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By the time you read this post, I should be back from the edge of civilization. Ok, not quite, but probably as close to the edge as I have ever come.Today we are flying from Shanghai to Shenyang and then driving to the small village where Liang’s Dad is from, Benxi.

We are staying at a hotel where I have been told to “expect the worst and hope for the best”. Not encouraging. Liang has been hording water from each hotel we have stayed at during the trip like its going out of style. His checked luggage bag is so heavy with water its been a pastime for us to see the reaction each time a cab driver or airport worker tries to pick it up. They usually end up laughing and turning to someone to say something in Chinese that must be similar to “what the heck is in here?” When I told Liang we were only going to need water for one day he informed me that he was even going to use it to shower. I might not be showering for awhile. And considering that bathrooms are communal I may not be using the restroom for awhile.
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Even though Benxi is very small, it is on the map because a very important Emperor came from this area.


Flying in China is so much better than in the US. I was a little worried how flights within China might be before we came on this trip, but every single flight has some sort of meal or snack service (and, no, five peanuts in a bag does not a snack make). With Liang’s flight status (China Eastern is actually a part of Delta Skyteam) they even came through the cabin looking for him when we boarded to bring him a hot towel (insert Stewie joke here) and a beverage. What service.

Later that evening…A two-hour flight from Shanghai to Shenyang followed by another two hours in a van and we have arrived in Benxi. The weather is similar to that in Wisconsin during winter- dark and cold. We walk down a dark gravel alley to a building with two old wooden doors that don’t really close as much as define the doorway. We are led up three flights of cement stairs in an unheated corridor dimly lit by a single bulb on each floor. We enter into a small room which acts as a dining room, family room, entryway and place for the refrigerator. I shuffle off my shoes and slip on a pair of house slippers. Including our family, there were over a dozen people in the small six-room apartment (3 bedrooms, a bathroom, the kitchen and the all-purpose room)- aunts, uncles, cousins and yeye (Mandarin for “paternal grandpa”). Yeye sat in his room on a daybed, which adjoins to the all-purpose room, where Liang, Tina and I took up our places next to him to visit. A small round dining table was assembled and set up outside the kitchen. Stools were pulled up to the table and we ate in shifts since the people outnumbered that of stools. We had a dinner of vegetables, chicken, pork, fish and dumplings- a special dinner for our visit. After dinner we all crowded into Yeye’s room, everyone speaking around me and catching up. I picked up a few things here and there and what I could not understand Tina translated seamlessly for me.

I feel lucky to have had this unique experience of seeing interior China and those much less fortunate than myself. Even more so than the US, the divide between the wealthy and the poor is massive. Visiting the tourist cities in China does not accurately reflect the life that the majority of Chinese citizens live each day.

Pulling up to our hotel in Benxi, we were all a little relieved. It looked…nice. After some negotiating in the lobby, Liang’s mom checking out the rooms to make sure they were clean, and the hotel owner calling friends to tell them Americans were staying at his hotel that night, we made our way up to our rooms. They had again forgotten that a mattress goes over the boxspring, but other than that, no smells, our own bathroom and it was clean, so I was relieved. The room even had internet, but it turned out to be broken. This was supposed to be the roughest part of our trip through China and it turned out to be better than in Xi’an, meaning the harshest conditions were behind me. I watched a little “Friends” (in English!) and headed to bed.

Tomorrow we will be heading to Liang’s mom’s home town a few hours away near the coast. We are on the home stretch!

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