Happenin' Hangzhou

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Okay, I'm finally getting round to starting a blog. It seems a bit stupid now as I've already been to Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing and I'm only now starting. But never mind.

I'll do a quick recap as I don't want you to feel cheated by not getting the full lowdown on the trip so far. So I left London on the 6th December I think, flew straight to Hong Kong on a flight which took about 12 hours but felt like 24, I booked a window seat but when I went to sit down this little old Chinese lady with a wrinkled face and beaming smile had taken my seat so being English I said nothing and smiled back politely at her choosing instead to sit in the middle seat where there was a space, then the old dear had the nerve to ask the guy on the aisle seat if he would swap seats as she thought she would need the toilet a lot. I was fuming on the inside, she made matters worse by falling asleep almost instantly sprawling her stick like arms all over my tv controller which meant that for a couple of seconds I thought that the Queen's life was a good deal more exciting then I had been lead to believe as it switched over with Pirates of the Caribbean (to be fair I was dozing myself and had drank a bit of the free whisky). Anyway that covers the first part of my journey to HK, so only another three weeks to fit in from that point and I'm loosing the will to write.

In fact I'll just do the highlights I think from now on. Spent a night in Macau before travelling the next morning to Kuala Lumur. Travelling through Macau and HK at night was a surreal experience, they looked so futuristic, Blade Runneresque, with all the lights and highrise buildings. If you've ever felt lost by the enormity of somewhere like London then HK and Macau should be avoided as I felt not only lost but completely insignificant in the hussle and bustle. Admittedly my time there was short (I was in HK for about four hours) and I'd just gotten off a long plane ride but still it was a strange experience. I left Macau the following day after spending just the night there to go to KL.

Mum and dad both met me at the KL airport and took me back to their place near the Petronis Towers, where I spent about three weeks. KL's not really got a huge deal going for it (other than the fact my family live there), it's a bit souless and bland. There are huge highrises going up all the time and any sense of culture or individuality is being quickly stamped out by the developers. We did spend three days over Christmas on an island called Lankawi off the Malaysian coast which was absolutely stunning, it was almost picture perfect with the sandy beaches, blue sky, blue (well greenish) water and the locals there were very friendly and laid back. It's definately worth going if you get the chance although I imagine a lot of the islands around there are equally as nice. We had a great Christmas and then came back to KL on the 27th I think.

I spent the rest of the time trying to find a job for my time in China, well my mum did most of the legwork but I definitely was there. I spent New Years with Tom and Spen surrounded by 18 year olds but it was good and I spent the next day recovering by vomiting and eating fruit. I left KL on the 5th back to Macau where I spent another night before catching the bus to Guanzhou which is where I felt like my trip really started.

I caught the night train out of Guanzhou at about 5pm I had a hard sleeper seat which I was a bit dubious about as there was an option for a soft sleeper which sounded more like my style. But Tom had been insistent the hard sleeper was better and having done it I definitely agree. I shared an open cabin with five Chinese people, none of whom spoke to either me or each other over the course of the journey. I had been expecting to be the hit of the bus with little kids running up to me before bashfully trying out their halting English and Chinese girls coming over to flirt, but none of it. Maybe it was the way I smiled at everyone that put people off.

So I finally arrived in Beijing on the Sunday and realised that I was woefully underprepared for the city. I'd written down the address of the hostel I wanted to stay in and handed the scrap of paper hopefully to a taxi driver who approached me, the fool didn't appear to speak English though so I moved on to what looked like the information desk only to be horrified when my requests for information were met with blank faces and some gibber jabbing. Doubts about moving to China were at this point beginning to set in, but I persevered and my scrap of paper was taken away and pored over by the growing crowd. The original taxi driver at this point had left, deciding that I had no hope. Eventually an English speaker was found and he told me that I should just catch the bus into the city centre and find it from there. I was acutely aware of the large group of people surrounding me now all trying to help so I grabbed my paper and headed off in the direction of the bus stop.

I managed to get on the right bus and was helped by a family who spoke some halting English who told me when to get off. I then spent the next three hours walking around the centre of Beijing trying to find the hostel that the Lonely Planet had not only recommended but also pinpointed on a map, but no-one I asked knew where this place was and I couldn't even find the right street, so I accepted defeat and hopped into one of the many cabs that patrol Beijing's streets and pointed at the address who nodded reassuringly. The arse took me to a hotel. It was a nice hotel to be fair and cheap but I was still pissed but by the time I'd realised his mistake he'd taken off. My doubts about Beijing had moved on from the seed stage and little green shoots were wriggling their way through the earth.

The next day though everything changed, I spent a mini fortune on accessing the internet, I got proper directions to the Downtown Backpackers hostel which is where I originally wanted to stay. I found it on my map and headed off with what I like to think off as steely determination. Four hours later I found it and was so grateful the receptionist looked at me as though I was a little bit crazy. I was in a 6-bed dorm room with a German girl and two Swedes, we went out had some food and lots to drink. It was the perfect start to my stay there.

I stayed at DTBPs for two weeks and met so many amazing people that I was really gutted when I eventually left. In fact being in Beijing was almost a secondary bonus to the fact that I was surrounded by all these great people. I met too many to mention them all, but there were the American girls, Kirsten and Elizabeth who were cool and filled every (good) stereotype I held about the Americans, they were loud, good fun and a bit like a whirlwind everywhere they went. I met some really nice aussies as well, Anna who went with her brother travelling around China who I'll hopefully get to meet again here in Hangzhou, Jon who was training to be a doctor and will be when he reaches my age who spurned me into thinking about going back into education when I get back to the UK. There were the two Danish guys, who made me realise that I'm a wouse when it comes to drink it's something I'm going to dedicate a lot of time to improving though. The danish for hardcore is 'I'm a Viking' just thought that was pretty cool. Then there was Diana and John the Canadians who came up from Hangzhou. John had been living here for the last year or so and said within 10 minutes of talking to me that I could stay at his here in Hangzhou, which is where I am now, sitting on his couch typing on his laptop.

I should probably say a few things about Beijing as it was a cool city full of really interesting things to see, I think I might be able to upload some photos which will be better then any words I could muster up. But briefly, the highlight without a doubt is the Great Wall, it's breathtaking and not just because it's a fucking hard walk up and down, up and down up and bloody down, they should have leveled the whole thing off for all the unhealthy tourists like myself. I'd like to go there again maybe without a tour group just with a couple of friends as you need time to sit down and soak it all in (maybe with a beer in the summer).

The other two big sights in Beijing, the Summer Palace and Forbidden City were also very impressive, the Summer Palace especially so. The workmanship and effort that went into making these palaces is incredible, you feel awed, it's like being in a work of art. The Forbidden City suffered because a lot of it was covered up for renovations, and the Summer Palace had too many tourists but this doesn't detract too much from the beauty of these places. I'll bore you all when I come home with my photos.

Anyway, to continue my narrative on how I've arrived in Hangzhou... John offered me to stay in his place, which I obviously took as too good an offer to turn down even though I'd originally been planning to stay in Beijing. So I came down on Monday (22nd) and he met me, the only problem being is that his apartment was (is) cold, very cold so we were all forced to share a bed together, John, Diana and me all snuggling in together. It was so surreal the first night, having just met these people for a couple of days and then sharing a bed all together. I'm going to make an effort to always be good to strangers now too, I think I'm pretty good anyway but I feel like I owe karma a big thanks. So this morning John and Diana left for Hong Kong, they're travelling around Asia for six months, which means I've got the place to myself till the tenancy runs out on the 31st Jan.

I've got a place sorted out near to this place for RMB1,500 (about 100quid) a month which is pretty good, it's just going to be strange living by myself as I normally like to be surrounded by friends, or at least friendly strangers. I can't move in till the 7th but this girl I met yesterday, a friend of John's called Christine, has said I can stay at her's for those seven nights. She lives in a proper Chinese apartment and shares her kitchen and toilet with five Chinese families so it's going to be an interesting experience, especially as she's leaving on the 3rd for two weeks to travel so I'm going to be by myself there.

As for jobs, I'm going tomorrow to meet with Katie's (the girl whose apartment I'm going to take over on the 7th) old employers as they need someone to take over her lessons, Katie doesn't think I'll be able to get a visa off them which is annoying as I'm beginning to worry about that now. That and the fact I'm spending too much money, the beer in the expat bar I've been to is RMB20 - about 1.50p a big rise from the 40p I was used to in Beijing. But this part time job that I'm going for tomorrow should pay ok, at least enough to cover the rent.

Anyway, I've bored you enough by now although if you've managed to read all of it to this point you have my respect - I can't be arsed to reread it so it probably makes no sense at all. I'm going to attempt some photos now which probably means it'll all come crushing down after I've spent the last two hours writing this.

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Photos

Last Supper
Last dinner with my family before heading out on my adventures.

Travelling to Beijing
My cosy hard sleeper, I had the top bunk which I was pleased about as the middle one's had no storage space and people kept sitting on the bottom ones and eating.

The Forbidden City
I was approached at least five times that day from people who wanted to take me to a tea ceremony or to view their art collection so they could rip me off.

Grrr
Defenders of something or other, I was too cheap to buy the audio guide so have no idea of their importance.

Frozen moat
Just to prove how cold Beijing really is, the moat had frozen solid. I have never been so cold, I had to buy thermal underwear.

The Great Wall
It snowed on the way there, which meant I could take lots of good photos, I'll bore you with them all when I get back. It was fantastic though.

Having a coffee after conquering the Great Wall
These are all guys from the hostel, the girl sat next to me is Linda a German I was in a dorm with, the crazy Americans are opposite us with the redhaired Irish and the older guy in the middle was a mental aussie who flirted outrageously with all the Chinese women he came across while his wife panted 500 meters behind the rest of us. Then there was a very timid Danish couple next to Linda

Drinks in the Breakfast Bar
The Americans on the left facing the Danish. I have new respect for the Danish after meeting these two hardened drinkers.

Rix and Phillip
My last night in Beijing, I woke up the next day still drunk forgot my passport, had to come back to the hostel, pick it up and buy another flight to Hangzhou.

Chinese delicacy
They sell these ugly things in the supermarkets. We were drunk before daring each other to take a bite, it was weird having a chicken's foot in my mouth.

Comments

[Ellie]

News from home (London)
Hi Al, Great blog! Very interesting and entertaining. I wish I was with you to meet all these crazy people. Just to correct you on one thing - you left on 11th December from London...look forward to hearing from you soon. Miss you, love Ellie x

[Claire H]

I want more news. Call yourself an ex journalist, or are you working to a monthly schedule? CX