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Published: October 8th 2008
Take one of the largest places on the planet, with almost one-fifth of its population, probably the most varied landscape of any one country, a history of power and culture that goes back 4,000 years and try experience it all in two weeks. THEN, try to reduce that down into 1000 words of commentary to be consumed by the masses back at home (I may be overstating my audience a little with "masses") The task is impossible. China is too much, we've been grinding nonstop for the last 2 weeks and have hardly touched this place. Our treks are a grain of sand in the Sahara, a drop of water in the Red Sea, a typo in a Sarah Palin press release. China is so epic that when travelers all get together and talk about where they've been, it turns into an exercise in faked nods of understanding. No one in the room will have ever heard of the place this guy just mentioned, but traveler machismo forbids ignorance about the world. So the whole room just goes "Cooooool" and then immediately changes the subject to something familiar- Like squatting to poop (a talent that apparently eludes me). So with an
apology to Chairman Mao (and his pet kitty cat Chairman Meow), I'll give this rushed and grossly incomplete account of the gargantuan beast that is China.
China was totally cool.
The End
(Ok, maybe not that incomplete. For reals this time.)
We hopped a quick flight from Seoul to Beijing. Saying goodbye to the comfort of our friendly guides in Korea only to walk off the plane and into the loving arms of Joe's assistant Sally. She's a young, spunky, adorable little Chinese girl who holds a lifetime of knowledge about China, a thirst for all things American and that warm fuzzy blanket that is the native language. Sally and her college friend Robert, a native of Beijing with a doctorate in Chinese history (a set of knowledge that may have been of some use to us) took us by the hand (not literally, the Chinese don't do physical affection as displayed by Robert's panic attack when Jenny gave him a hug goodbye). We toured Beijing (their new official slogan: We had the Olympics! Did you see the Olympics? Hey, Olympics. Look at me! OLYMPICS! WOOOO FUCKIN' OLYMPICS! It's much more subtle in Mandarin). During our three
Scarfin on Scorpions
Mike ate one too, but his face and the idea of eating scorpion combined would make you short your keyboard with vomitdays in Beijing we managed to squeeze in three of the most incredible architectural sites on the planet. We toured the Forbidden City, a massive palace that housed emperors from several dynasties. The whole compound has 999 rooms (there are a thousand rooms in heaven-one doesn't to be too opulent). The city is adjacent to Tienanmen Square, former site of landmark events in Chinese history like Mao's regime change speech and the student riots of 1989, current giant cement area with the world's highest concentration of tourists standing around and asking each other "Is this it?" China has some amaizing places within it's borders, this square just aint one of em. It's the world's biggest concrete rectangle!!! Apparently they've never seen a Wal-Mart parking lot. Nice try China, call me when i can get an Icee and some Martha Stewart living solutions.
I also got a to tour the Imperial Summer Palace (I say "I" because Jenny was too busy doing an impression of a near-empty shampoo bottle over the toilet after eating some bad Peking duck.) The palace was huge and sprawling. Sally, Bob and I (Robert is his English name, most Chinese select a western name
Just me and the wall
You have no idea how much hiking it took to get this shot because stupid Americans can't pronounce their true name. Robert, unfamiliar with the English tradition of name-shortening colloquialism would always shoot me an intensely puzzled look as for three days i insisted on calling him Bob. Robert is far to rigid.) We got so lost, that we had to walk for a solid hour from where we stood just to get to the exit. Finally on our last day in Beijing all four of us (Jenny managed to cork it for about 3 hours) hopped on a bus to visit one of the undisputed wonders of the world (our fourth, skadoosh) The Great Wall of China. Now many monuments of the world are a touch disappointing because they look exactly how they do in photos and the mass of publicity and people make you feel like a travel whore and really suck the joy away from the site as everyone there begrudgingly makes a check mark on their life "seen it" list (I'm looking at you Pyramids of Egypt). For a brief period, this was the case for me with the Great Wall.
I should step back. Unbeknownst to us when we bought our tickets, we had chosen our time
in China during the National Independence holiday. It's the biggest holiday of the year and the Chinese all get a week off to celebrate. That means 1.3 billion people with the week off. Needless to say, quite a few of them came to see the Wall. At times the hike up the steps of the wall felt like walking through a carpet of black hair. Everywhere I'd turn there's be a blanket of Chinese scalp (5'10" is really tall in China). The trails up the face of the Wall were so dense with people that getting the space to take a free breath was a task, forget having that life affirming moment where you were able to stop and soak in the breadth and scale of one of mankind's greatest achievements without a Chinese grandma sticking a cigarette in your ass. This trend continued until Jenny's lingering sickness forced us to turn around (Jeff Lewis says "She's so selfish"). Not wanting to see one of the Seven Greatest Chunders of the world, we headed back to the entrance. It was as we were beginning to exit that i noticed something. As they entered, everyone just turned right up the wall.
Crowd mentality forced them all to head the same direction. Lemmings that we are, we followed suit. To the left was a nearly identical section that was almost devoid of people. As they were all tired, I left the group behind and sprinted up this section. It only took 15 minutes of intense vertical ascent until i was there, alone with the wall. I had gotten the beauty and scope of this incredible structure presented to me under new eyes. Finally i was able to soak in the incredible peace one finds when tracing the Wall's snakelike path as it slithers across the horizon. My faith renewed and my discontent with modern exploitation quelled for a few minutes, i hiked downward back to my waiting friends, proud that i had gotten an experience that 99% of the visitors that day weren't adventurous enough to get. After that we left Beijing and Bob with it and hopped a flight south to Hong Kong.
If my travels here in China (and Italy last trip) have taught me anything, it's this: Joe Childers is a good man to know. Not only did we get the delightfully helpful company of Sally in Beijing,
but the man himself decided to take a break from his six-week business trip in China for a rendezvous in Hong Kong. Since Joe don't do hostels, we stayed at an amazing hotel on Kowloon island for three nights of laziness and great meals. Our first day in town, Joe's business associate KC, a Hong Kong native, gave us a whirlwind tour of the city. We shopped, dined on great food (I loved SOME chinese food, marinated jellyfish? no thanks. Kung pao chicken? yes please.), and finished the day with that mandatory life travel accomplishment: viewing the Hong Kong skyline from Victoria peak. What the Great Wall of China is to ancient military power, Hong Kong at night is to the new economic battlegrounds of the 21st century. This skyline is the modern version of a victory tower. It's a pulsing, florescent monument to triumph in financial warfare.
After our time in Hong Kong, the coddling had to come to an end. We had been babysat all through Korea, Beijing and Hong Kong by incredibly gracious hosts. We knew that this time would come to an end eventually, but that didn't mean we'd take it like adults. We hopped,
kicking and screaming, onto a plane out of the comfort and care of the familiar and into the world of the unknown. As our plane touched down in Guilin, Jenny and i shared a look that said "I'm not sure we remember how to do this on our own anymore." We hadn't really traveled independently since Iceland six months earlier. Sure enough there were some growing pains as we kicked the dust off the our travel skills and tried to get things taken care of solo. Nevertheless, like riding a bike (a bike who's gears you don't comprehend and who's instructions are in a language you can't begin to fathom) we were hailing buses and copping hostesl like the pros we'd become while slogging through South America and Africa. We had forgotten the satisfaction of completing a job by oneself. Not to take anything away from the hospitality that we'd received throughout the trip so far, but an experience is just a little bit more fulfilling when you make it happen yourself. Also, after hopping from the major urban centers of Asia (Tokyo to Seoul to Beijing to Hong Kong), which comprise some of the biggest cities in the world,
Bob
Summer Palace we were dieing for some good old fashioned high quality nature. Boy Howdy did Yangshuo deliver. Once we hit the sprawling green peaks of Yangshou, took a deep breath of fresh air (as fresh as you can get in China at least) and got dirty for the first time on this trip, we felt like travelers again. This is the type of stuff we've grown to love. Sweaty, smelly trek through the world's most beautiful landscapes, crashing at hostels that have a great sense of community and are home to a dizzying array of well seasoned-travelers who've gotten past the childishness of the "I saw this" "Oh yeah, I saw this" that goes on at most places. We made some great friends in Yangshou as including Kelly and Damien, a Irish/English couple doing there SECOND year long round the world trip, Karen and Ariel, Canuks from Toronto who's bike fixing knowledge saved our lives a couple times on our long rides, and Ed, a firy Brit who somehow found a way to match my spark-plug energy level. These are real travelers, the type of people that we haven't really run across yet staying in hotels. During our time in Yangshuo,
Where's the tanks?
This place is so square we tried our best to dodge the throngs of Chinese (fucking national holiday) while taking bamboo ride river cruises, picturesque bike rides, and spelunking through one of the coolest caves in the world (suck it Carlsbad!) complete with swimming pools and a mud pit.
Sadly our time in Yangshuo was fleeting. Next up backpacker's Mecca Thailand. Though it was only three days, Yangshuo will always hold a special distinction for us. It was a return to a stretch in time that will mark OUR style of travel. It's the spot where this trip really began.
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I totally busted up laughing at Jenny's "go straight (in Korean)" tribute to me. Thanks for that!!! I did appreciate it! Oh and China sounds way cool.