China

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Anyone for Chinese? Oh, everyone...

My flight to China from Kathmandu was fairly average; Dragon Air, a Hong Kong carrier, were pretty good. Kathmandu airport was...chaotic. It is also quite old school, like an airport from the 50's. Guys stand around smoking cigarettes, and nobody pays much attention to anything you do. Not that I'm suggesting this, but I reckon you could smuggle anything out of that country. Your destination may have a thing or two to say about it, but the Nepali don't give a toss. We flew into Hong Kong, then transferred aircraft and made a brief hop to Beijing. The early morning approach made for spectacular sunlit cloud vistas. The landing in Hong Kong was particularly interesting; it looks like you're going to hit the water until the last second, when the island materialises below you.

I arrived in Beijing in the early morning, and breezed through immigration and customs. The airport was not especially busy; it has sometimes taken me longer to get through Dublin airport when coming home. Anyone who thinks China is closed to tourism or difficult to visit - think again. Tibet is another story, but the main part of China welcomes all comers. I managed to avoid the taxi scams by walking to a taxi queue where a policewoman was directing affairs; taxis in China sometimes have fake meters, or no meter at all, or try to charge a fictional "luggage fee", apparently. My driver was not up with the latest developments in the English language, such as speaking it; my Chinese lessons (free online software) prepared me just enough to tell him where I was from and where I wanted to go. He was a jolly old bugger though, and we charaded and gestured our way through a coversation. I ended up trading a Chinese bracelet for my Nepali/Tibetan one. He dropped me at my hostel, Sanlitun. Sanlitun is an open, breezy space, with a cool bar and a decent restaurant, though it is a little pricy. It is always better to eat away from your hostel in China; restaurants are generally very cheap, though a basic knowledge of Chinese is often required. You can point to something someone else is having if it looks appetising, but this is not always the case...Anyway, Sanlitun was clean, with great staff. They were always able to advise on places to go, and to help with organising tours or transport.

On my first day, I was a bit tired, so I just went for a stroll. In the area around Sanlitun, the Beijing Worker's Stadium and Worker's Gymnasium are to be found. They are nothing special from the outside, and I had nothing to do inside, so I moved on and took the metro to the Military Museum. This museum is hog heaven for anyone into their military hardware...and I am. Large inventories of every class of personal weapon, from knives and swords through pistols and rifles, all the way to rocket launchers; military vehicles; artillery and tanks; fighter planes and bombers; and space vehicles, such as satellites and rockets. Most of these are Soviet era, belonging to either China or Russia, such as iconic T-37 and T-38 tanks, and a large number of MiG fighter craft. Some other items have been captured or acquired from other nations; most notibly, the US U-2 spy plane wreckage and the wreckage of an automated spy plane more recently captured from the US. These are not prominently displayed, like trophies, but a certain amount of pride in their capture is sensed. China's attitude is far from the deliberate belligerence some would have you perceive, but their national pride is powerful; they, as Americans, really believe they inhabit the greatest nation on Earth.

Later in the evening, I caught the metro - Beijing is BIG, the metro helps to make it smaller - to the Olympic park. This, in the general shape of things in Beijing, is a massive, open space, spotlessly clean, well guarded and safe, with some spectacular architecture. The Water Cube and Bird's Nest stadium are the two most prominent features; the Water Cube, on the left, is blue and has cell-shapes outside, and was home to aquatic events in the Beijing Olympics; the Bird's Nest stadium was the site of the athletics, and is red with tangled metallic shapes. Both are marvels of modern construction. You can see sports events at the Bird's Nest, and for a large fee, you can swim at the Water Cube. The Olympic Tower is also worth seeing here. It is a frame structure, constantly changing colour, with the Olympic Rings at the top. A huge number of sellers offer cheap Olympic souvenirs in the square. The best amongst these are the kites, long lines with huge numbers of paper kite shapes along them. You can see them sitting on air all along the square. My last effort for the day was to try to locate Wanfujing market. This night market sells all kinds of interesting stuff, like crickets, snakes and scorpions...as dinner. Unfortunately, I could not find it in time, and I had to go back before the metro closed.

In the morning, I took a taxi to Tiananmen Square. The largest city square in the world, Tiananmen was famously the site of student protests against the goverment in 1989. Nothing here refers to that now, or the massacres that happened nearby; it retains its image as the centre of modern Communism. I was in the square at 05:12, in time for the flag raising ceremony. Every morning, just after sunrise, the Chinese flag is raised. Once a month - and luckily when I was there - there is a military parade to go with the ceremony. The square was crowded; this ceremony is very popular with Chinese. One thing I noticed in China is that all the sights are packed with Chinese tourists; they are very interested in their own country. This could be thought of as healthy, or insular; I reckon it is probably a mix, but leaning towards healthy. You only need to look around modern Chinese cities to see that the West is here already: McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, Nike, Adidas, Levi...these are the signs that greet you all along the street. Young people in particular are very into the newer culture, but it seems as though many people prefer a balance of the two. From the flag ceremony, I walked to the Forbidden City entrance. It is right on Tiananmen Square, and difficult to miss. The entrance currently consists of a huge red building, topped in traditional fashion, with a large portrait of Chairman Mao on it. The crowd from the square largely moved this way too. The ticket office wasn't due to open until 08:30, and it was barely 6am, so I took a stroll through the Zhong Shang park nearby. This lovely green space provided a cooling breeze and fresh air. After India, China seems pleasantly cool and pollution free, but the humidity is high and the smog is ever-present nonetheless. There were many little pavillions and gazebos to relax in, so I strolled amongst them and sat a while wherever it looked pleasant. Around 7, I headed back to the Forbidden City entrance. The queue was already forming, and I joined it, reading on my Kindle to pass the time. At 08:00, they opened the office due to the large queue; I picked up an audioguide, and entered the Forbidden City.


From the moment you pass through the medium sized arch to one side of the main, huge one, two things strike you: this place is HUGE, and by gum there are a lot of people here. The first courtyard contains a number of bridges, all passing over a small part of the golden river. The "Gate of Supreme Harmony" lies directly ahead. The bridges are full, the crowd made worse by some of the more idiotic Chinese habits: using large umbrellas during sunshine, ignoring any semblance of a queue system, and travelling in very large tour groups with guides who use portable amplifiers to make themselves heard over all the other portable amplifiers. Even as one of the first in, I was still surrounded. The wonder of the place is untameable, however, and soon the truly wonderful rooves and the scale of the place take your attention back. The rooves are flat across the top, with dragons at either side. Small creatures adorn the corners, which slope down in a parabola (more creatures means a more important building; the Hall of Supreme Harmony has the most, with 11). Tens of thousands of orange tiles sit atop one another, daring the whole stucture to just try and hold them up. And it does. The internal structure of these halls and corridors is a solid construction of wood, huge poles and struts. Each piece is decorated beautifully, with blue, red and green paint and gold detailing. Figures depicted generally include dragons, horses and birds. Outside the buildings, bronze animal figures impress. Phoenix and geese are prominent. In every courtyard, huge bronze pots that were used to light fires at night time line the edges. In case of fire, even huger bronze pots were filled with water to form a bucket chain. The courtyard in front of the Gate of Supreme Harmony is not small, but it is a mere trifle compared with the next area.

Between the Gate of Supreme Harmony and the Hall of Supreme Harmony lies a 30,000 square meter yard. Every inch is paved with hard, grey bricks. It is breathtaking. The Hall of Supreme Harmony sits atop its stairs at the far end, stealing all the attention away from this space. I think it is important to notice it, though: the pride and measurable power of an Emperor is well represented by the amount of space he can afford to waste. Approching the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the single most decorative and impressive of the buildings here, the symettrical stairs, balconies, doors and eaves fill your perspective. As you draw even closer, you can't see the ends without turning your head; this is true for most buildings, but with this one it happens when you're still really far away. Out to the right and left of the courtyard, there are ancilliary areas with minor displays, such as the "Hall of Litereary Brilliance", and the "Hall of Military Glory". These require an extra entrance fee, and there is more than enough in the Forbidden City without going there. I continued north, to the Hall of Preserving Harmony. In fairness, some of these structures are very similar to one another, so I had a peek at the giant pillars, wooden frames, golden inlays, and so on, and headed north again.

Before reaching the Palace of Heavenly Purity, I detoured west to see the Hall of Mental Cultivation (great names they have for these spots...in Ireland it would probably have been the Packie Bonner Centre for Learnin's). This is where students...studied for an exam taken in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Anyone passing this exam could work for the government. This practice was put in place almost 1000 years ago, and continued right up until the Emperor Puyi, the last person to rule from the Forbidden Palace, stepped down in 1912 (He ruled again for 12 days in 1917, but not from the Forbidden City). North of the Hall of Mental Cultivation was the West Six Palaces, places of residence for the Empresses and concubines, as well as other female staff. One entire palace was dedicated to preparing food for the Empresses. I stepped out from the West Six to the Impreial Garden. By now, the place was really crowded, so it was hard to really enjoy it. The gardens were beautiful, though, with many rare and lovely flowers and trees. One tree was, on closer inspections, actually two seperate trees which had wrapped around each other and fused. Naturally, these were called the "lovers", and were popular for photographs with partners. From here, the northernmost gate of the complex was visible. The Gate of Divine Prowess is one way to exit the Forbidden City. I decided to head back south to exit, and take in some more sights. The East Six Palaces were very much like the West Six, but housed yet more wives and concubines. Emerging from them, I headed south again, through the arcerhy pavillion, wherein archers practiced their skills and displayed them to the Emperor. Shortly, I was back at the exit, and I headed out to Tiananmen Square again through the Meridian Gate.

In the afternoon, I hung out with some folks at the hostel. There were a couple of Israeli and American and Welsh folks around, and we got to drinking. In the evening, we headed to a local night club, Vic's. It was an interesting experience. Watching the Chinese guys was particulary of interest. One will walk in, take a table, and look at the tables around it. He will proceed to buy as much plus one more of each item than the next tables have - if they have 2 bottles of vodka and one of whiskey, he will buy 3 bottles of vodka and 2 of whiskey. As well as half a dozen beers and some mixers and cigarettes. This behaviour is doubly true if he is near a westerner. Some nightclubs in China will actually give westerners free booze for the night, as they will more than make up the money from competitive locals. We had lots of people buying drinks for us, and when I did buy a round it was also...interesting. A girl at the bar was sitting there looking sad, so I got her a drink in the round. She then whispered in my ear, asking "You want sex?" I politely declined. Some guys told me that up to a third of the girls in an average club are prostitutes. A German guy who went for a massage another night was also repeatedly offered sex in the parlour. According to the internet, the sex trade in China consists largely of North Korean, Thai and Vietnamese immigrants living essentially as slaves. If you go, don't try the merchandise - whatever you may think of prostitution in general, it is definitely harmful here. The nightclub was fun anyway, and we got completely pished. The next day was largely given over to recovery...

I did get out in the afternoon though, and headed to see the Temple of Heaven. The construction here was roughly similar to that of the Forbidden City, though the buildings were far more spaced out amongst cypress woods. Also, this area has a round tower, with three circular rooves ascending. This was where the sacrifices were made to ensure a good harvest. This was the purpose of the place. The emperor would come here and pray; the kitchens and slaughterhouse would prepare the huge feast and a procession would carry it to the round tower, where it was offered up to the gods. What happened to it afterwards was not made clear. The park around the temple was massive. It was 1.6km from the temple to the Echo Wall, wherein a curved wall makes it possible, when standing in one building, to clearly hear someone in another building nearby. Of course, the two or three hundred Chinese tousists make it impossible to hear much of anything. I was most impressed by the forest here. I went walking around, only getting a little lost, for ages. Given the scale of the place, I'm amazed by how well tended it is. After strolling the gounds for a bit, I headed across the road to the Pearl Market. One or two shops there still sell pearls, though actually it is mainly cheap, knock off products and cut-price electronics. The Pearl Market is a great place to pick up batteries, chargers, accessories, etc., but the stress level is not great. You can't walk down an aisle without every attendant accosting you. They are very much in your face, no means nothing to them, and ignoring them yields no better results. A very firm no and a stare directly in the eyes is about the only way to make them back off, though all of this doesn't make for a pleasant shopping experience.

The next day, I took my tour to the great wall. I booked it through my hostel, and it was pretty good - most tours stop at souvenir shops, this one didn't. An air conditioned bus brought us to the wall. We alighted, and got the run-down on the area. The whole Great Wall, all sections added together, runs 8851.8km. Originally it was built to control migration of northern nomadic people, more so than for defence. Even later, as it grew more extensive, its purpose was more to control and corrale enemy moves than to actually keep them out. The Mutianyu great wall sector is slightly less touristy than Badaling, though still busy, and with an entire street of souvenir shops leading from the car park to the wall. You can see restored and unrestored sections of wall at Mutianyu. They have a chair lift up - which is worthwhile, as there is no lack of climbing at the top; there is also an immensely fun tobaggan down from the wall. I walked along the restored section to the right of the chair lift station. It is fascinating to see the wall as it was, with barracks and ramparts. Being a soldier on that wall must have been immensely boring most of the time, then far too exciting all at once. Economically, it nearly ruined the country on numerous occasions. Over 10 million people worked on sections of the wall at various times. It was an incredible achievment - though much of its construction depended on slavery. At the end of the restored section, you cannot go any further, but you can clearly see along the unrestored section. It is collapsing slowly, as plants and rain tear it away piece by piece. To lay your hands on the bricks of the unrestored section is something special, picturing the person who laid it there so long ago; it is also a limited experience. One day, all of the original wall will be gone. Now is the time to see it, though I would urge visitors to follow conservation rules.

On my last day in Beijing, I went back to Tiananmen square for a look at the actual "square" part. It was security controlled, meaning a bag scan and pat-down. Thousands of people stood there to look around, and go into the Mao mausoleum. The Soviet looking, sold concrete building fronts were impressive and oppressive in equal measure. Not very attractive, in any case. Other areas of Beijing are much nicer and greener; it seems as though Tiananmen is preserved as the staunch Soviet centre of it all. It goes without saying that there is no mention of any tanks, students or protests that may have been here. I exited the square, and headed around the side of the forbidden city to Jishan Park. Jishan contains pretty much the only hill in the city, and it is an artificial one. At the top, a small pagoda with a golden Buddha statue provides a great view over the city of Beijing, and the Forbidden City. My last activity in Beijing was to go and see an acrobatics show. Chinese acrobats are pretty amazing, and the show did not disappoint. There was a unicycle on a high wire, some impressive jumps and flips through hoops, incredible balance and contortion acts, and the obligatory 17 girls on one bicycle trick. It was a brief show, but a lot of fun. I had booked an overnight bus to Xi'an, to the southwest, and jumped on the next day.

The bus to Xi'an was a sleeper; beds had space for your feet to go in beneath the head rest of the next person. It was surprisingly comfy, and I managed to get some decent sleep. It was a long bus, and the next afternoon I arrived in Xi'an. I got to the hostel, dropped my gear, and went to explore. Xi'an is a hige city, larger than Beijing. It has a completely modern centre, inside the walls, and no shortage of malls, designer outlets, and American fast food joints. Outside the walls, it is pretty much the same. The walls themselves are a really nice feature; over 600 years old, they have been maintained and restored, and you can do a circuit around the top. The first place I entered in my walk around Xi'an was the Bell Tower. In many Chinese towns, bells were rung in the morning, and drums in the evening, to mark time for the citizens. There are some nice gardens surrounding the tower, and a couple of huge ornate bells outside. Inside, smaller bells and other traditional Chinese instruments are used in a music show several times a day. I caught the show by chance, and it was great. The building itself was reminiscent of the Forbidden City construction; it is quite a sight during the day, but at night when it is lit up it is spectacular.

I relaxed that evening, and ran into Kyle - a Kentuckyite I had met in Beijing. He was hanging out with a couple of other folks, and we all headed to the Muslim quarter for dinner. There is a small, but significant, Muslim population in Xi'an, and their district is an interesting place to wander. The food is spicy and flavourful, and cheap. Mostly, it comes on skewers, and you can get almost anything, from locust and snake to plain old beef. There who looked to be blowing small glass figures, which on closer inspection were candy. He had made a sort of sticky caramel, and was blowing it into the shape of animals. It looked exceptionally difficult. We returned to the hostel, and I arranged to cycle the walls the next morning with one of the group.

The Xi'an city walls have a small entrance fee, and then you can rent a bike on the top for 20 Quai (2 Euro). You get the bike for 100 minutes; with stops for pictures and to look at features, we cycled the entire wall in 80. The view from the walls is attractive. Many parks line the outside, and temples and old buildings can be picked out from amongst the newer construction. One place in particular, a temple with a golden roof, was stunning from above. Cycling the walls was very pleasant early in the morning, and I reccommend it to anyone going to Xi'an. When we returned to the hostel, Kyle was up and about, and we walked down to the Big Goose Pagoda. It was an epic walk, as we got a little lost, but on getting there, there was a nice park and fountains. They were far more impressive than the lopsided pagoda. It is expensive to get inside, and is neither as impressive or as ancient as other sites in China. In the evening, we went for one of the best dinners I had in China. A place called King Noodle serves these massive, thin noodles, cut up with scissors. They are served with shredded beef and veg, and in a very spicy Sichuan sauce. Sichuan peppers are awesome; not a true peppercorn, they give both a spicy flavour and a numb sensation on the tongue. Tasty stuff.

I decided to relax the next day, writing some blog and emailing some people I had met along the way. In the afternoon, I got out and tried to find the Forest of Steles. The Forest of Steles contains Chinese epics and legends, carved into stone cylinders. Unfortunately, I was unable to find them. I retreated to the hostel, and resumed my horizontal position on the couch, accepting that tomorrow would be enough for sightseeing. Tomorrow came, along with my tour to see the Terracotta warriors. Kind of obligatory when visiting Xi'an, and China in general, tours are easily organised from any hostel, hotel or booking agency. Most tours will include a stop at the souvenir factory (not as bad as it sounds), Banpo ancient village ruins, and the Terracotta Warrior pits. On my tour, Banpo was up first. The village ruins are 6,000 years old, and there are some unusual burial techniques on show to interest the archaeology enthusiast. Unfortunately, however, the site has been vandalised by the authorities. They have built an ugly, concrete shelter, which allows almost no light in. The village ruins have been deliberately arranged, nothing left as it was found. Broken pottery and other items have been removed. Much of the ruins have, and I'm not joking, simply been covered in concrete. The moat that the people dug has also been mostly filled in. Turning this into a tourist and propaganda site has come at the cost of the integrity of the location. I found it depressing and, frankly, idiotic, that they had done this here. It did not bode well for the Terracotta Army. We stopped briefly at the souvenir factory; surprisingly, they did not try to push the merchandise too strongly, and it was interesting to see how they bake the souvenir warriors. Some of them are full size, or even larger. We departed and went along to the Terracotta Army pits. Again, depressing, huge concrete buildings had been built over the whole thing. There are three main pits, named, imaginatively Pit 1, Pit 2 and Pit 3. Pit 3 contains some intact figures, standing amongst the excavated earth. Most of the figures, however, are missing their heads. This pit was vandalised at some time in the past. Pit 2 contains almost nothing of interest; broken fragments of warrior and horse sit in the cleared pits here. Pit 1 is the area you tend to see in documentaries, though it is not possible to get anywhere near the figures. In a huge, aircraft hanger type building, most of the intact figures, as well as those that are being repaired, are line up near one end. These, at least, give some idea of how the warriors would have looked. Tour details like to speak about the warriors, archers and horses, in "battle formation". The fact of the matter is that there aren't enough warriors left in place, and almost no horses. All the weapons have been removed. In short, the site has been, like Banpo, disected, disturbed and ransacked by the Chinese authorities. I really think that it is barely worth spending the time going to see the Terracotta Warriors. It is a bit depressing. If you do go to see them, then don't book a costly tour; it would be best to take local transport, and go as cheaply as possible. After the tour, I met a few more people in the hostel and went for dinner in King Noodle again. I booked a ticket to my next stop, Chegdu, and turned in. I left the next day, after a last stroll around the pleasant city of Xi'an. My last visit was to the drum tower; opposite to the bell tower, it marked time during the night in Chengdu. There was a show, like the one in the bell tower, but I missed it. Nonetheless, the variety and vintage of drums on show was interesting.

I had booked a sleeper bus to Chengdu, though when I showed up, there was just a seated bus. A long night of loud Chinese, crying babies and repeated stops awaited. It was not pleasant, and when I got into Chengdu at 05:30, I was in no mood for the taxi driver attempting to cheat me. The driver set off with the meter off, stating 30 Quai to my destination. I switched the meter on myself, and wouldn't let her switch it off. She screamed in Chinese; I shouted in English. We got to where I wanted to go, and the cost was 14 Quai. Hah! No sleep, and still winning. I got into the hostel, checked in in record time and crashed out. For 10 minutes. At which point everyone in the room decided it would be a good time to get up, pack and leave. If you stay in a hostel, pack your bag the night before you leave, so you can leave in the morning in minutes, and not be an inconsiderate gimp. With about 2 hours sleep, and some strong coffee, I just went for a walk around town to get my orientation. I went down to Tianfu Square, where there is a large statue of Mao just in front of the Science and Technology museum. It was hot and sweaty, so I went back to the hostel. I met some Israeli guys I had hung out with in Beijing; one of the had been badly hurt, falling from a horse on a tour. Safety standards in rural China are non-existant. In the morning, after some much needed sleep, I walked to Wenchu Temple. The temple was nearby the hostel, and a nice shaded place to walk about. There are some nice gardens, including a very cool tortoise pool. There were several temple buildings, housing massive Buddha statues, and statues of his students. Apparently, Wenchu is also home to scriptures written using "tongue blood". It was not made clear if this meant human tongues. The nice gardens and architecture, along with the quiet and scent of incense, made this a lovely place to spend the morning. In the afternoon, I met the Israeli guys, and a German and Chinese couple, for lunch. The Sichuan food was awesome, spicy, but flavourful. The Israeli folks departed, and Alex and Nancy (German/Chinese couple) headed back to their hostel. I then met Griffin, an American biochemist...a natural companion to the Science and Technology museum.

The next morning, we headed down that direction. It was cheap in to the museum, just 3 euro (30 Yuan). It was not quite up to the quality of, e.g. the London Science and Technology museum, but it was not bad. The spaceflight and aviation room in particular was very good. The electrical display was pretty cool too, featuring a mock-up of a Tesla Coil, and a Jacob's Ladder device. Much of the museum was under repair; other parts were only opened once or twice a day - stupidly, early morning and late afternoon were the times, so unless you were there first or last thing, you missed it. We did. When we left, Griffin headed to Renmin People's Park, and I went to a Sichuan Cookery course I had booked a couple of days before. Alex and Nancy also went on this course. We cooked twice fried pork, and tofu, both in very spicy sauce. It is always great to see people cooking something they've made all their lives; no recipes, no measures, no scales, just knowledge. I look forward to trying all the recipes I've picked up back home. The food in China is generally extremely tasty, and of high quality (the meat varies a bit, sometimes a bit fatty, but everything is fresh).

The morning after the lesson, I went down to Renmin Park with Griffin - I had to try the ear cleaning he had done the day before. Locals like to get this done once in a while; you walk through the park, then settle for some tea. A guy approaches you with his ear cleaning tools, and hokes some nasty, yellow crap out of your ear. It is an interesting experience. It feels like the little spatula is way too far in, but in reality it never goes that far. Afterwards, your hearing is a little clearer, and you just feel better after seeing the crud that came out. The park itself is a lovely place, with a lot of rock formations and gardens. In one section, people gather to do aerobics, or sing karaoke - two of the most popular public activities in China. That evening, there was a free a bike tour. For about 3 hours, we biked around the town, seeing christian churches, a mosque, some traditional style hutongs, and the beautifully lit-up riverside. A few drinks with the group back at the hostel closed proceedings.

My second to last day began late with a stroll around the Cultural Experiencing Area near the hostel. Mainly home to souvenir stands and cheap tack, it also has some pretty good food and drinks originating with ethnic minorities in China. We tried grasshopper and scorpion...still no snake! The area features a lot of statues, murals and arches, so we ambled around slowly, occasionally snacking. We also checked out the modern shopping areas, though they were not especially exciting. I considered buying a phone at one point, but it was the same price as back home. Much more interesting was the tea ceremony we stopped in for. I had known about the Chinese tea ceremony, but never seen one properly executed. We went in and sat at the little table, which features a built in funnel for spillages. There are small cups for everyone, and a bowl for steeping, and another with a little strainer for removing leaves. We tried a fermented tea, which is more scent that taste, and a half fermented tea, which has a little more flavour. Both were extraordinary, and nothing like the dried, blended stuff back home. Observing the little nuances, learning the etiquette and speaking about the history of the cermemony was a great experience. I had booked my train to Kunming for the next day, so I just packed up my gear and relaxed in the bar for the evening. We played songs on the hostels two guitars, and drank quite a few beers. After breakfast, I took a cab to the station, and boarded my overnight train to Kunming.

The train was comfy, and my top berth, though very close to the roof, meant that short Chinese people did not bump into my protruding feet. The train food was also really good, and cheap. I got in around lunch time, and walked most of the way to the hostel. Kunming was undergoing massive road works, so many of the bus routes are disturbed. This is all in aid of getting the new subway routes into place. When they open, Kunming will become much more accessible, though it's not too bad anyway. The area around the hostel was pretty cool. Pedestrianised, and just outside the massive modern shopping streets, the Golden Horse Arch area is clean and green. In the narrow alleys around, there are a multitude of tiny stands selling all kinds of junk, knock-off clothes and food. I just took a look around the place, chilled out in the hostel, and got a good sleep. The next day, I went to one of the most surreal places I've seen on this trip: the Kunming Dwarf Village. A theme park more than an actual village, the Dwarf Village is home to over 80 dwarfs. Nicely, they staff the whole place, from the shops and restaurants to the entertainment. Many of them genuinely did run away to escape discrimination at home, and they seem to like it well enough. There is one guy working as the ruler, or the Emperor, and his retinue of black-clad soldiers. There is the cleaning staff, and the shop assistants. There is also a pair of singers, and some performers that act out ancient Chinese stories (though as they are in Chinese, I can't say what they were about). It was extremely odd, to say the least. The dancing, the running around...I felt a mix of wanting to laugh, and feeling like a voyeur. The show was entertaining, and there was a nice little park to hang out in and wait. It looked like they were planning to expand, with a bumper car stand being set up and several other concreted areas ready to be built on. The village is beside a butterfly sanctuary, which is included in the entrance fee (not much to look at, some good photo opportunities), and is in a lovely, open country area. The air in Kunming city and its surroundings are much clearer than other metropoli in China. There is no smog, and humidity is lower. It also rained a little, making for nice, cool evenings.

After the Dwarf Village, I sat in the hostel common area and struck up a conversation with two Belgian girls. Maggie and Lynn were at the beginning of their travels. Lynn was going to the Stone Forest the next day, an area of extraordinary karst topography. The tour was a little pricey, and Maggie and I decided to hang out in Kunming instead. We met up in the morning, and went to Yuantong temple. A nice, medium sized temple on an artificial lake, it was worth a visit - especially for the 60 cent entrance fee. Unfortunately, the garden area leading down to the temple was undergoing reconstruction. The temple itself was operating as normal; chanting and prayers were ongoing, and huge Buddhas and massive stacks of candles and incense were burning. The lake is populated with tortoises and golden fish, always nice to stare at for a while. Apparently, the temple has existed in various incarnations for 1200 years. After the temple visit, we headed to a restaurant near the hostel called Brothers Jiang. Extremely popular with locals, they serve a Kunming specialty called Over-the-Bridge Noodles. Apparently, a wife used to bring lunch to her farmer husband in the fields, but every day it would get cold on the way (she had to cross a bridge to reach him, hence the name). She began bringing hot oily broth and raw ingredients, only adding them together when they met. The heat of the oil would cook the ingredients, and he got a hot lunch. Now, you get many small plates of ingredients and a bowl of noodles to mix together. Some of the meat is uncooked, so you need to stir everything around before munching down. It is delicious, and the lunchtime singing and dancing at Brothers Jiang is great craic. It also cost us the sum total of 2 euro for two big bowls and water to drink. Awesome.

After that, we met up with the folks returning from the Stone Forest, and just relaxed for the rest of the evening. Relaxation was a theme in Kunming for me. Call it laziness, but there wasn't a whole pile I wanted to see, and taking a few days to sit on your bum is healthy when travelling for a long time. The next day was very rainy, so I just got out for a brief walk. I spent the rest of my time hanging out on the cosy cushions at the hostel, chatting with the Belgians until they departed around 5pm. I was booked to fly to Hanoi the next day, so I just made my preparations for flying, booked a cab, and had an early night.

China was a very educational place. I learned that communist countries are more open that you would think, and that, yet again, wherever you go, people are just people. It is really just those at the top that are truly into the party line. I do, however, feel that China is still a bit too insular. The younger generation are quite open and eager to meet you, but there is a lot of racism amongst those 30 and above. It was odd to feel that discrimination; as a young, white male, I generally belong to the class that does the discrimination. Several of the more open Chinese I spoke to bemoaned the racism of their elders; many Chinese do not like westerners, much less Africans. Chinese national pride is an extremely powerful force in every day life; propaganda has had its effect. Most of the time, I received either a warm welcome or a more chilly, but tolerant response. Sometimes, people were downright rude, or dismissive: sometimes, taxis would not stop for me (others experienced this even more than I did, from their stories). It is stupid, and pathetic, as much as any other racism, and makes the Chinese look weak and foolish (which is probably not the intention). If the younger people are an indication, though, things are getting better. I actually think things may be swinging too much towards the west; I am no fan of McDonalds or Nike, or any other of these big brands. A balance between personal freedom and traditional living, with acceptance and openness thrown in, would make this the incredible place it claims to be. China is simply awesome, and actually they are right to have pride in their nation (just not arrogance). One of humanity's oldest civilisations, with an epic and global history, accomplishing feats of technological, architectural and scientific brilliance earlier than most other ancient nations; and, currently, one of the worlds most technologically advanced nations with massive, developed city centres, China has much to offer travellers of all kinds. Also, as long as China continues to keep its currency from gaining value (not willing to overtake the dollar and become the buyer of last resort, just yet), China will be a cheap place to visit. Food and internal travel in particular are extremely reasonable. I would reccommend China to anyone, as long as you can ignore a little ignorance.

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