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Published: September 25th 2009
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Most of you know me as a relatively happy, go lucky guy, but I can safely say I am at least 3 times as happy and go lucky in Pingyao. There are many wonders in this world which can get you high: coffee, drugs, alcohol…others, but nothing beats the intensive sensation of being high on life. The town of Pingyao did just that to me. The last four days have just been a dream. There are 19 preserved buildings which exist in one of China’s oldest walled cities which I sadly must admit that none of these I visited. Not that I had anything against these tourist attractions, but I must admit that if the Chinese do one thing poorly, it is whore-out many beautiful sights into ones dependent on buying souvenirs and getting your picture taken and placed on a plate…okay, I was very close to doing the latter. Imagine eating off of my face every morning, man would I feel good. If it wasn’t for the tourist activities, why did this small town which is a perfect mix of tourism and small town locals making money off of tourism spark such a positive light you ask? Well, simply said,
it was the
people. Having arrived on a rainy morning, I was greeted by a drowsy Linda, the 18 year old hostel girl. To get right to the point, Linda is nuts. She seeks male attention like a vampire seeks blood. She asked me what price I wanted to pay. I said 5Y from the website I read(approximately 65c) and she agreed. Screw you girls who get cheap drinks in the US because you are girls. Finally it pays to be male. Spending the day reading, playing pool and meeting the other numerous girls making their way out of the woodwork, it was perfect to be lazy. And in case any of you guys from Beijing who read this - from the Pingyao book exchange, I am now the owner of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, by the same guy who wrote Duck Tails.
After being asked to come on a visit to a few sites outside of the town, we hopped into a van with another mix of Poles, Dutch and Danish ygoren(outsider). I am preferring this term a lot more to lowai, a lot more of a derogatory term I am informed. Our destination included
Mr Wang’s New Friends
Please note hats of awesomeness Courtyard and the
Zhangbi Underground Castle(castle used loosely here). Within 15 minutes of chatter there occurred another one of those moments when I realized why travelling is one of my favorite pastimes.
Me - “So where did you come from?” I asked my new Danish friend
Danish guy - “I was just in Mongolia for a few weeks. A couple of Australian guys and I bought some horses and rode them from West to East across the country”
At this point all other conversations in the ygoren van stop…interest has been peaked
Me - “So you’ve ridden horses before?”
Danish guy - “No, not really. We fell off a couple of times, but we got pretty good”
Me - “Wow, that is one hell of a story. So how much does a horse in Mongolia cost you?”
Danish guy - “1800Y. I could only sell it for half though”
Me - “Yeah, depreciation of a horse is a bitch huh?”
At which point the Chinese traveler from Singapore chimes in
“No, no. Good price for horse”
At this point I realized how normal my travel had been and how much cooler Danish people were.
Flower Tea
Tastes...like a flower Not only did he buy a fucking horse, rode it with no prior riding experience through Mongolia, but he was also price conscious when buying and selling a horse…priceless. Mum and dad, have no fear. This is not something I will be trying anytime soon.
The Wang inclosure was a colossal series of wealth and masses of land acquired during the Ming Dynasty by a family of Wang’s. Picture the Forbidden City with a tenth of the tourists and half the size, fantastic. The pictures tell a better story than I can ever write but getting lost within the room upon room of grey walled pavilions, kitchens, sleeping chambers and watch towers makes this a worthwhile sight to see.
Put in the most simplest way, Zhangbi Underground Castle is not a castle. I am Scottish, we know castles. The series of underground tunnels which some go thousands of feet into the ground are quite impressive though. As we exited the tunnels we began to walk through the nearby town in which we were the only Westerners and began to become the talk of the town. Kids began to be brought out to show us and even though our
communication in Mandarin was lacking, or better put, non-existent, we exchanged photos and drank tea together with both sets of people curious in the other.
I said in my first blog that I would bring Germans into the picture, and I never disappoint. If any Germans read this, please do not get offended, there are disgruntled people everywhere, I am aware of this - So as a Polish guy named Kuba and I got back from our nightly photograph session, we stumbled upon four Germans. The conversation that ensued for the next four hours was one of great interest, but also a sorry disappointment for me. The topics dealt with social healthcare, the current recession, US world-wide government oppression and the neverending war in Iraq. Heavy blows were dealt to the EU, the US government, the German government and generally everyone on this earth by the Germans which Kuba and I tried to counter but the general unhappiness of these people was such a shock to me. Look at yourself I thought, you are in China, travelling while not having to work. Feel lucky. So many people will never get this opportunity. As much as there is not a
point to this story, I still had to get it out of my system. So there is it. This being said, America and Western Europe are not the center of the world anymore, countries like Poland, Russia and China are now getting their fair share…and I am completely alright with this, some people are obviously not.
Which brings me to my final story from this wondrous town. Ben, the American living in Beijing with a pronounced knowledge of Mandarin after only three years is a legend. I didn’t even imagine I would spend as much time riding bitch on any man’s bicycle, but with him, it just seemed right. The looks, laughs and stares which two white men get riding one bicycle in China are just way too good for me to get my own bike. Take that, and then add the fact that there are conversations to follow could have got me to stay here for much longer. But alas, all good things must come to an end. Next stop is the larger city of Xi’an for some Terracotta fun.
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