The Most Wonderful Place You've Never Heard Of

Rolling on the River

For people who aren’t from China, the ‘must see’ places tend to be Beijing, Shanghai, Tibet and Hong Kong.  When I asked people from China what place I couldn’t leave without seeing the answer was always the same: Guilin.  Though China is literally filled with mystical and magical places, Guilin and the Li River stand out as one of the brightest jewels atop a glittering crown.  When my sister and her friend Jake said they were coming for a visit it gave me the perfect excuse to schedule a trip to this heaven on Earth. 

The three of us spent a little time in Shanghai (Read "The Point of a Printout" post for a mini update on that experience) before hopping on a plane to Guilin.  We hadn’t even left the airport before someone was trying to get us to purchase tickets for a cruise down the Li River.  We knew we were going to take the cruise, we already had a hostel booked for the cruise destination of Yangshuo, but we wanted to do some research before buying the first tickets that came our way.  Plus, we figured they were probably way over priced at the airport since they would be able to get to us foreigners first.  We turned down the offer.

We got to the hostel, asked about the boat tour and were told “No problem.”  The tour would pick us up at the front door at 7am the next morning.  The lady behind the desk said the boat held 40 people, included lunch and would cost 390RMB each.  Damn.  The lady at the airport had quoted us 300RMB for an intimate boat with 10 people and included lunch as well.  Oh well, we cut our losses and bought the tickets. 

The next morning we were down and ready by 6:45, ordered some coffees and tea to go, and the little van rolled in at 7:15.    Our coffees and tea still weren’t ready.  Again, we cut our losses and hopped in the van.  It sped off and took us to a bigger bus that was full of wide-eyed foreigners, the same thought apparently running through all of our heads: what the eff is going on, am I in the right place, and am I about to get royally screwed? 

30 minutes later we entered the gates to some golf-course community out in the middle of nowhere that was still under construction.  We pulled up to a large building that was overflowing with foreigners and oversized luggage.  This must be the right place.  Another 30 minutes later and there were finally signs that we were going to load the boats.  It was all accomplished in true Chinese fashion [Read: disorganized chaos.  Scientists should study this unnatural phenomenon.  It makes little to no sense that anything ever gets done in this country, and yet they have the longest bridge in the world, the biggest damn in the world, the most people in the world and the longest continual civilization in the world . . . . ]  In the cacophony of crowds, hundreds of people were herded like cattle through six tiny gates, all expected to find their respective boat by locating the ridiculous stuffed animal or cartoon character that their guide held above the crowds atop a long stick.  We found our happy little floating cartoon freak and followed it loyally onto our cruise ship.

When we bought our tickets we were told there would be forty people on our boat.  There were roughly 90.  I heard some fellow disgruntled passengers grumbling.  I told them I understood.  I described our situation and the misinformation we had been given.  They laughed and said, “Seriously?  We were told we were going to be on an intimate boat of 20 and we paid 420RMB each.”  Suddenly I didn’t feel so bad.   And the longer the cruise went on, the better I felt.  Gazing at the otherworldly limestone formations that walled us in, it was easy to forget just about anything and everything.  It was possible to actually let your mind go. 

When we walked out of the hostel in the morning it had been raining.  On the big bus it had started pouring.  But once we got on the boat, the sunshine took a timid glimpse at us through the dark clouds.  Apparently she liked what she saw for she kept her warm, attentive gaze on us through the duration of our cruise.  They say all good things are worth waiting for.  If there is no pain there is no gain.  Well, our pain was merely a minor bout of stress, but the gains were unprecedented.  Those five hours on the Li River were worth ten times what we paid, and not just for the breathtaking sites but for the overall experience; for five hours of time standing still; for the warm feeling that comes from so much more than just the rays of sun resting upon our skin.

Summary: If you take a trip to China, include Guilin on your itinerary.  If you go to Guilin, give yourself enough time to visit Yangshuo.  To get to Yangshuo, make sure you travel by boat.  Once you’re on the boat, enjoy the moment, and look forward to sweet dreams and warm memories whenever you look back on that magical time on the Li River.

The Point of a Printout

Check More Than Just Your Bags

Planning a vacation in China can be tricky.  It typically involves long distance bus rides, train rides, plane rides and cab rides just to get to one city.  To make sure you don’t miss a leg of your journey, timing is crucial.  Knowing exactly which bus, train or plane station you will be departing from is vital.  Never assume there is only one train or bus station.  And if you have a flight departing from Shanghai, remember there are two airports.  More importantly, remember to check your flight itinerary.  As soon as you step into the cab and start heading to the airport, check it again.  I learned first-hand what happens when you ignore this cardinal rule of travel.

My sister and her friend, Jake, were awesome enough to brave a trip to China to visit me last spring.  Since I was the most familiar with traveling in China I was the de-facto travel planner.  Fine by me.  They would both be arriving in Shanghai on April 28^th and I scheduled our flight to Guilin for the next morning.  After meeting them both at the Pudong Airport, we hailed a cab and sped off to our hostel.  Ange and Jake seemed concerned that our cabbie was going roughly 130 km/h in an 80 zone and was weaving wildly from lane to lane.  I was thrilled.  After being in China for about 8 months I had come to expect certain things from cab drivers.  They will speed.  They will cross the median and play chicken with oncoming cars as often as they see fit.  They will lay on the horn.  They will smoke, spit and speak on their cell phones simultaneously.  A ‘real deal’ Chinese cabbie will do all the above at the same time.  If I don’t walk away from the cab ride wondering how the hell we got outta that trip in one piece I feel like I’ve been cheated. 

Needless to say, when we got in a cab the next morning on our way to the airport and started cruising comfortably at exactly the speed limit, I was not pleased.  I don’t like being late, so we had left with plenty of time, but I was still very obvious about checking my watch and sighing loudly with exasperation every time I saw another cab zooming by us.  I sighed a lot that ride. 

Finally, with an hour and a half before our flight, Pudong airport was within sight and the cabbie asked which terminal.  I got out my travel document and looked.  There was no terminal number listed.  I looked closer.  And that’s when I noticed something funny.  Our flight wasn’t leaving from Pudong.  It was leaving from Hongqiao.  The other airport.  All the way on the other side of the most populous city in China.  Fuck.  Fuckity-Fuck Fuck Fuck!!!! 

I told our cab driver to step on it and at least see if we could make it to Hongqiao before the flight left.  Our meter was already up to 100RMB.  But at least the ride now felt a little more normal; rather than constantly getting passed we were actually speeding by a few cars every now and then.  Ange and Jake took everything like champs.  Less than 24 hours in China and they were getting a real taste of the chaos and crazy that has come to define this great land to me. 

I called the customer service number that was on my travel document.  Thank God they included that on the confirmation printout.  Thank God for cell phones.  And thank God that the lady on the other end of the line and I were both fluent in Chinglish.  The conversation was long and tedious, but essentially went something like this: She told me there was no way we would make it to the other airport in time.  There was another flight leaving later that afternoon.  Would I like to reschedule?  Yes please.  It’s leaving from Pudong.  Don’t forget that.  Pudong, got it.  That will be 120RMB per ticket to change the reservations.  Fine by me.  Great, we’ve updated your information.  Ok, thank you soooo much.  And I just want to double check, but it will be leaving from Pudong, right?  Not Hongqiao?  That’s right.  Duly noted.

After hanging up I was breathing a little easier and informed Ange and Jake of our updated travel plans.  We sat wallowing in our peace of mind for a bit before I realized that the cab driver had no idea what had just happened and was still zooming towards the other airport.  He wasn’t up to snuff on his Chinglish, so it took considerably longer to convey to him that we didn’t want to go to Hongqiao anymore.  We wanted to go back to the city.  I pointed to a place on a map in the Lonely Planet guidebook that Ange had wisely brought along.  He finally understood what I was saying and jerked the wheel to veer off at the exit that we were currently passing.  He didn’t look first.  Why should he?  If he had he would’ve seen the massive semi-truck that was already there.  Thankfully the truck had a really loud horn and a decent set of brakes.   But Mr. Semi driver was NOT happy that we had squeezed in front of him and I was sure he was going to run us off the road just to prove that he could.  Thankfully, he didn’t. 

We proceeded down some back alleys and after another half hour or so of driving, we passed the road that our hostel was on.  We went a few more blocks and got out at some historic old-town district.  We thanked our cab driver profusely for being so patient with us.  He had a funny grin smacked on his face.  He must have thought we were the biggest idiots in the world.  He probably took the rest of the day off.  He damn well should have.  After that ride he didn’t need to work for the rest of the day.  We are the reason so many Chinese people think all Americans are rich.  We had just spent close to 400RMB to get dropped off a few short blocks from where we were originally picked up. 

Summary: Double check your damn flight itinerary.  One would have thought this lesson would have been pounded in our heads.  Believe it or not, we almost missed our flight from Guilin back to Shanghai simply by not checking our handy-dandy printout.  But that’s another story . . .

August in Review

THINGS I LOVE AUGUST

1.       Qingdao!

2.       The sandy beaches

3.       Starbucks in China (At least in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xiamen, Beijing and prob a few other big cities . . . didn't find one in Qingdao though)

4.       Chinese food

5.       Knowing that summer classes are almost over

6.       My nightly glass of red wine

7.       Reading books (The River of Doubt & The Blindside were esp. good : )

8.       Knowing the temperature is going to cool down soon

9.       Thunder storms

10.   Old Street

THINGS I MISS

1.       Home, sweet Home

2.       EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE

3.       The cabin

4.       Free time

5.       Temperate climate

6.       The U.S.A

7.       Clothes that fit

8.       Clothes that don’t smell like sweat or mildew (it keeps raining which makes the air really damp so none of the clothes I wash get dry >: P)

9.       Greenlake

10.   My friends and family

Bamboozled

A Natural Beauty

A diamond in the rough is exactly what it sounds like.  It’s rough.  It’s not beautiful.  But with a little cut here, a little polish there and suddenly man has improved upon nature.  But not everything Nature gives us needs improvement.  Some things are not only perfect in their beauty, but are also beautifully and remarkably blessed in their utility.  After coming to China, I now regard Bamboo as one of those things. 

Bamboo is truly one of Nature’s masterpieces.  Its lasting relationship with the people of China is one of the most profound partnerships on the planet.  For thousands of years bamboo has helped build, feed, symbolize and adorn one of the oldest Nations on Earth.  For the Chinese, Bamboo has always been an integral part of their lives.  With a solitary bamboo pole draped across their shoulders, the men and women of China have hauled earth and transformed mountains.  From the pole on their shoulders, crops for centuries upon centuries have been planted, harvested and brought to market.  From the market, the crops are taken home and turned into a meal, and are shoveled with relish into eager mouths.  These mouths more often than not are being fed with chopsticks made of bamboo. 

The uses the Chinese employ for bamboo is nearly limitless.  It is used for scaffolding, for pipes and gutters, for furniture and dishes.  It adorns houses and covers floors around the world, and can be found in the form of a woven mat on any sandy beach.  It is used to make musical instruments, clothing, fans, pens, pencils and paintbrushes.  And those very paintbrushes often depict scenes and studies of bamboo.  It is used to build houses, sheds, and shelters of all kinds.  It is burned as firewood and bamboo shoots are a popular and delicious meal.  Of course, bamboo is also the staple food of the very animal that is the icon and the living symbol of China: the Giant Panda. 

Aside from simply being one of the most useful resources to be found in China, Nature also blessed this weed of hers by making it infinitely serene.  A bamboo forest is one of the most tranquil places man can escape to.  It’s easy and pleasant to get lost in thought, and one can almost swear that these wispy tendrils of thought take visible form and float playfully amongst the delicate, feather-like branches of the bamboo.  These forests whisper in much softer and flirtatious tones than the intimidating and dark mutters one finds getting heaved around in the forests of pine, oak, cedar and other woods populated by giants.  The bamboo is smooth and beguiling and infinitely more seductive than any other shrub or tree.  The air moves like water or a thick sweet syrup through this forest; it lingers longer on each leaf and gives the illusion that everything is in slow motion.  The wind dances with this forest softly, and the movement is pronounced but fluid.  It’s hard to know whether the wind takes more pleasure from these listless encounters, or whether the person lost in the moment does.

Summary: If you are ever in Anhui, China, visit the Mukong Bamboo forest.  It’s where they shot the scenes for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and stunning as this forest was in the movie, it’s even more so in person.  Remember, though man is a genius and has moments of grandeur and glory, Nature always wins in the beauty contest.  And bamboo is one of her willowy supermodels. 

Picture This

Buy a Nice Camera

For several decades the eyes of the world were forcibly closed whenever they tried to look at China.  After WWII China had turned in on itself, and turned its back on the world.  During the Cultural Revolution the Chinese were kept busy erasing all remnants of the past and eradicating anything resembling Western thoughts or ideas.  This of course included keeping as many foreigners away as possible.  A lot of things have changed since then.  China continues to look ahead to the future, but they now celebrate their past and have restored and salvaged whatever survived the Cultural Revolution.  Today, foreigners are welcomed here with open arms, and the eyes of the world can finally see when we cast our gaze in China’s direction.  Considering that China is poised to potentially become the next global super power, a lot of us want to get a better look.

I am one of those people, and I love to take in as much of this mesmerizing country as I can while I am here.  But I want to capture these moments that have meant so much to me.  I want to share them.  I want to be able to revisit them in the future.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but if it’s a shit picture, it’s probably only worth a few words at best.  While in China I’ve seen some incredible things, things that would take me thousands upon thousands of words to accurately describe.  A picture is certainly more efficient, but only if it’s good enough. 

Whenever I looked at the pictures my little camera had taken and compared them with the images of the memories I had stored in my head, one thing always stood out to me: my camera simply wasn’t cutting it.  I realized it was time to spend a little money on a camera that could take some truly priceless shots. 

I bought a Nikon D7000 and it has been money well spent.  I just wish the instruction manual were in English.  And I wish I knew more about photography in general.  Thankfully, there are easy solutions to those problems, and thankfully the automatic settings on the camera are great and make up for a lot of my shortcomings as a photographer. 

Helpful hint: When you buy a nice, expensive camera and plan on taking it with you on a trip to Guilin and the Lijiang rice terraces, make sure you are using a memory card that works.  The last thing you want to happen is to have fantastic vacation and a camera full of roughly 800 breathtaking pictures only to find out that the files are all corrupt and won’t load onto your computer.  I speak from experience.

The Lowdown on Downloading

The original intent of my blog was to provide information about my experience in China; information that would allow my friends and family to keep updated on my adventure, but still is relevant to strangers who just want to read about China.  The idea was that each entry would be a lesson about something I learned in China.  Though I still sort of follow that format, I think I’ve gotten a little carried away.  My entries tend to be long, but there is something to be said about brevity: it’s short.  It’s sweet.  On that note, here’s a sweet little “fun fact” about China.

If you come to China and bring your computer, you will inevitably encounter the Great Firewall of China.  No Facebook.  No Blogger.  No You Tube.  The list goes on and on.  However, like China’s other famous wall, this one can also be breached.   Simply get a VPN installed and you’re set. 

There is however, one major benefit of being trapped within the confines of the Firewall: access to a site called Google Music (http://mashable.com/2009/03/30/google-china-free-music-downloads/).  This site allows people to legally download music for free.  Piracy is such a problem in China that many artists have opted in to this program to get at least a little bit of money for their music.  The idea is that Google and the record companies split the proceeds of the ad revenue from the site.  Though not all songs and not all artists are available, it’s certainly better than nothing.  Plus, it’s guilt-free downloading, the site navigable for English speakers, and when you search an artist it recommends other similar artists.  Needless to say, it’s easy to spend a lot of time finding old songs you’ve always wanted and discovering new ones you never knew existed. 

Summary: Turn your VPN off, turn your speakers up and download away!  http://www.google.cn/music/homepage

July in Review

THINGS I LOVE JULY

1.       Mom and Dad visiting China!

2.       Going home

3.       Visiting with friends and family

4.       Sunshine in Seattle

5.       Cabin time!

6.       North West Microbrews

7.       Walking Greenlake and strolling around Richmond Beach

8.       Ferry rides

9.       Sarah and Eric’s wedding

10.   Fresh, crisp, clean, breathable air (after I got my allergies under control : P)

THINGS I MISS

1.       Free Time

2.       EXERCISE

3.       Short-distance traveling (taking 24+ hours to get back to Tunxi . . . . .NOT cool)

4.       Projects (weeding, log splitting, working on cabin, attempting to organize my room or clutter at home . . . you never really miss these kinds of things until you go a year without them)

5.       Temperate climate

6.       A set schedule

7.       Being able to hang out with people in Seattle

8.       Home

9.       The Cabin (and all its inhabitants and various festivities)

10.   My friends and family