8/8/07: Hong Kong to Tokyo, LA, Detroit & Richmond

The trip to the new Hong Kong Airport (new since I was here, anyway) was pretty straightforward. The Airport Express terminal in Central lets you check your bags & pick up your tickets, then hop a 23-minute train to the airport, where you simply clear security & immigration and leave. At least in principle. The remote computer terminal went down while we were checking our bags: all but Chris’ got tagged. We had to tote his to the airport, but it only took a couple minutes to get the last bag checked there. The boys & Judy stopped for a snack at Burger King, then we hopped on the plane.

It was almost 4 hours from Hong Kong to Narita/Tokyo, and we discovered that our last meal at Whampoa was the first & only one over our 3 ½ weeks in China to make all (except Chris) sick. So the trip home was a bathroom relay. By the time we got back to Virginia, I figure we must’ve hit the loo in 8-10 time zones over 24 hours. Not the most fun way to travel, but thank God it was on a plane instead of one of our 6-hour bus rides!

At Narita, I first encountered an invention that returns bathroom supremacy to the Japanese, a position they ceded with the invention of the western “throne” while retaining their curious attachment (like the Chinese) to “squatters.” The Japanese have leap-frogged us technologically with the invention of a toilet, which – how do I put this delicately? – cleans you up when you’re done with a blast of water. They had one in the bathroom at Narita, and while I’d heard about these, I’d never seen one. An arm rest had a touchpad with buttons to control water temperature & velocity, as well as a special button promising extra powerful odor control. I was intrigued, but in the end chickened out. What if I set the pressure too high and it blew me off the seat? I could just imagine a geyser erupting over the stall wall, with me emerging, drenched, moments later. Or what if the water temperature was set too high? With 24 hours of flying ahead, one doesn’t want a scalded derriere. You can’t be too careful about these things. Anyway, I can’t report on the efficacy of this device, but it sure LOOKED impressive.

The leg from Narita to LA was long, cold, and not helped by being a little green in the gills. But we got to the U.S. OK, had no trouble getting through Customs (though later found that a lot of our fragile stuff was destroyed), and not only made all our connections but arrived in Detroit and Richmond early. Does that ever happen anymore? We were picked up by Jeanine Hinz & were home in our own soft beds not long after midnight. Home sweet home!

8/7/07: Big Buddha, bye to Dan, lost in Hung Hom

The TV said we’d have rain all day, but it was over by 10:00AM, with patches of blue in the mostly overcast skies. After kicking around the idea of a harbor cruise, we decided instead to head out to Lantau Island, home of the new airport, Hong Kong Disneyland, and our destination, the largest sitting Buddha statue in the world. We toyed with taking a ferry to the island, but were unsure the weather would hold up, plus we wanted to get Dan back by 5:00 so he could pack and get out to Shenzhen. In the end, we opted for the faster & more frequent MTR. It took a little over ½ hour to get to Ting Shung, then a very SLOW 45 minute bus trip across the island to Ngong Ping, home of the monastery & the Buddha. There’s a much more direct cable car that would’ve been cool, but it was down for the day.

The world’s biggest sitting Buddha is… well, BIG. The weather was great, so it was a nice hike up and we got some great pictures (all Hong Kong pics are at http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172069620/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539).

Judy had wanted to visit a traditional fishing village on the island – Tai O – but everything took longer than expected and time was running short for Dan. We hadn’t eaten and there was a free shuttle from the statue to Ngong Ping village, which supposedly had some food. So we hopped on the shuttle… and waited… and waited… about 15 minutes later, the bus driver returned and drove us around the corner to the village, less than 100 meters from where we’d started.

We found a restaurant with a mix of Asian foods – Indian, Thai, Malaysia, Chinese and more. It was pretty good. But the “village” was about as authentic as “Main Street USA” in Disneyworld. There was a troupe doing a dragon dance in t-shirts with Chinese characters. The bathroom was the cleanest I saw in China, with western toilets, A/C, soap, and even soft toilet paper. Not very traditional, but very welcome.

We got back later than we had hoped, so Dan packed quickly and we ran with him to the Central MTR to say our goodbyes. We continued to the ferry piers, thinking we might try to get that harbor cruise, but we weren’t in the right place and hadn’t brought any maps our guides. We ultimately decided to just take the ferry to Hung Hom, a pier further east in Kowloon. We had never been there and we’d be following the coast of Hong Kong eastward across Central & Admiralty – and the sun had set so the town was lighting up again. It was a nice ride & we got some good shots. When we got off the ferry, though, we realized that the ferry we’d taken was the last one, and we didn’t have any idea about alternative transportation back.

I wanted to figure out how we were going to get back first, but I was overruled. Everyone else wanted food. We went to Whampoa Garden Place, a building that houses dozens of restaurants. It is not a western hangout. The restaurant we chose was selected because it had one English menu. After ordering, I went out to talk to the receptionist about getting back to the Island. She didn’t speak any English.

I returned to our meal: our cheapest in Hong Kong, but nothing to write home about. After Hunan, Hong Kong Chinese is really bland. But at least we’re ending our trip with a real Chinese meal: beef, extremely fatty pork, green beans, cooked cabbage, all drowning in oil. All except the Dim Sum.

I asked for the bill & the girl spoke English, so I asked if there was an MTR anywhere nearby. She laughed: not good! But she said we could take the 115 bus all the way to the Macau Ferry Pier in Central. Good. And we could pick it up downstairs. Very good! And we did, and it was fast, and 35 minutes later we were picking up supplies from the grocery and heading back to the room to pack up. And Judy noticed that her stomach was bothering her.

8/6: Hong Kong Day 2

Our incredible luck weather-wise may be running out. We had thunderstorms & heavy rain in the early morning, but the skies broke a little & the rain let up by the time we got out. We’d thought we’d go to the Great Buddha on Lantau Island – preferably by harbor ferry – but it would be in the clouds at best, and drenching rain at worst. Instead, we headed for Central to catch the Star Ferry to Kowloon, where we could tour the Hong Kong Museum of History & stay out of any bad weather, for the most part. Then get some lunch, and see how things were looking.

The museum was excellent & deserved a lot more time than we were ready to give it. The Hong Kong exhibit covers its entire history, from the geological formation of the island through Neolithic populations to the reunification with China a decade ago. We never got to the rest of the museum. The history of the various dynasties, the Opium Wars, and the Japanese Occupation were particularly interesting. It’s easy to see how the latter would make an insular society even more so. There were also exhibits on the various tribal groups that settled Hong Kong over the centuries: their cultures, lifestyles, and so on. Our Hong Kong pictures (including of the museum) can be found here: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172069620/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.

After a couple of hours, we were starving. We stopped at a Thai restaurant that was pretty good. From there, Dan took us to the Women’s Market at Monkok, farther north on the Kowloon peninsula. Basically, a big tourist bazaar. We picked up some stuff, but not watches, despite the chorus of “hallo sir, copy watch, bag, wallet, hallo?” But we didn't get the abuse we'd experienced in Yangshuo or Beijing. Hong Kong is much more regulated than the mainland. Vendor police patrol the market to prevent unlicensed hawking or abusive tactics. And you get a $HK 1,500 fine for spitting, with similar fines for eating or drinking on the MTR. Definitely NOT the story on the mainland.

We caught the MTR & an electric tram back to the hotel to drop stuff, rest our dogs, and regroup. Within a minute of getting into the room at 4:00, the skies opened up. It got worse for the next couple of hours, but then it calmed down and we went back to the Mid Levels for burgers, meatball subs & cheese steak sandwiches at Archie B’s… real New York style fare from a proprietor named Gupta. Big portions: Dan’s burger was so big that it made him feel sick. This from the kid who can eat pig hearts and fried bees.

We took the escalator to the top just to see how far it went. Then the long, long walk back down & a tram to the hotel a little after 10:00. Polish Pitch until 1:00AM, then bed.

8/5/07: On to Hong Kong

We were awakened around 8:00 to some Chinese pop music & announcements that I didn’t understand at all. Judy’s new friend got off at another stop, 2-3 hours before us. Our ride is 14 hours, arriving in Shenzhen around noon.

The ticketing system on the train is interesting & helpful. When you board, fuyuans come by each car with a folder containing plastic cards in slots, one per berth. They trade you a plastic card for your paper ticket, putting the paper ticket in the correct folder slot. The plastic card is your ticket to move around the train, based on the kind of ticket you have. We could move anywhere. Because they have all the paper tickets, they can easily identify who needs to get off where. When the train is approaching your stop, the fuyuan returns your paper ticket and collects the plastic one. That’s your cue that you’re getting off at the next stop.

Upon arrival in Shenzhen, we lugged all our stuff onto the platform. Dan went to the ticket office to book his return to Changsha the evening of the 7th.

Shenzhen train station is the border crossing into Lo Wu in the New Territories, and it’s our only reason for being here. But the city is the richest in China. To quote The Lonely Planet:

“Shenzhen was no more than a tiny fishing village until it won the equivalent of the National Lottery and became a SEZ [Special Economic Zone] in 1980. Developers added a stock market, hotels & towering blocks, and the world as Shenzhen knew it came to an abrupt end. Indeed, the only fishnets you’re likely to see here nowadays will be on the legs of the city’s formidable hordes of whores… It’s true that Shenzhen is a commercial success, but it’s devoid of culture or spirit.”

And I’ll bet you $100 that you’ve got at least a dozen things made in Shenzhen within easy reach in your house.

But we just walked from the train, following signs saying “Hong Kong” until we got to Chinese immigration, where we officially exited “real” China, then Hong Kong Immigration, where we filled out a departure card to turn in when we leave again, and then Customs, where again we just breezed through to Lo Wu. From there, we boarded a KCR train to Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. Then, we transferred to the MTR (subway system) to cross to Hong Kong Island.

Unfortunately, we didn’t look carefully at where our hotel (the Ramada Hong Kong) was, even though we had a street address. So we got off at Admiralty and tried 2 cabs, neither of whose drivers could speak English or understood “Ramada.” Then we looked at the Lonely Planet map & got back on the MTR to Central. Off again, and walked a mile or 2 with luggage past the next station, and finally grabbed 2 cabs whose drivers did recognize “Ramada” at the Western Market. They took us the rest of the way. For all our Hong Kong pics, click here: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172069620/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.

The hotel itself is 5x as much as we’ve been paying, but the rooms are great, and we have towels, and showers with walls, and coffee (instant), and hotel staff who all speak English, and we can pay for everything with credit cards. We even called the staff to come up & open a couple of beers for us. Living like kings.

After checking in & cleaning up (being rather rank after 24+ hours on the road), we hopped the MTR to Central where we took the world’s longest escalator up to the "Mid Levels." Hong Kong is a mountain island jutting out of the sea, so very little is on the flat. The escalators end at Conduit Road, near the Zoological & Botanical Gardens, but we got off less than halfway up for dinner at one of Dan’s favorites, Taco Loco. Good tacos, high prices – at least what you’d pay in the U.S., and more for margaritas. We’ve gotten way to used to feeding 5 (with beers) for $20!

The weather was looking good and we headed for the Peak Tram, some distance to the northeast of us. The line was huge, but the wait was worth it. We boarded around dusk & reached Victoria Peak as Hong Kong and Kowloon were lighting up.

This site has changed a lot since I came here with Leon Zhao in 1996. The tram now ends at a high rise shopping mall & galleria, but if you go to the top & can push through the crowds, you get breathtaking views of one of the most impressive city skylines on the planet. There was a steady cool breeze, with light clouds and very clear views. We hung out & walked around for awhile, then waited in another long line to get back down. While there, I checked out a Hong Kong guide in a bookstore and looked up the double-decker electric trams. These run along the lower levels of the island & some stop in front of our hotel. I learned that (1) Hong Kong & Brighton, England are the last two cities with these vehicles, and (2) you can get on & ride any distance for $HK 2. We got to the bottom of the hill and got on a tram that took us right to our front door, which it turns out is in Shek Tong Tsui.

Quick aside: you may have noticed that the Chinese names violate my previous statement that the only ending consonants are “n” and “ng.” The reason is that they speak Cantonese in Hong Kong, not Mandarin.

8/4/07: I'm leavin', on a night train...

Clockwise from top left:

Ice with Dan, Adam & Chris in hotel lobby; Chris in the sleeper bunk; dining car; hallway outside of sleeping berths.

Today was devoted to travel or killing time while waiting for transportation. We had to check out by 11:00 but weren’t catching the night train from Guilin until 9:50PM. We convinced the kids running the hotel to hold our bags & headed out to wander. Judy stopped at a chop shop, where she bought a couple of chops that would be inscribed with names using Chinese characters that came as close phonetically as possible. Chris brought along a chop he’d gotten as part of a calligraphy set. Getting a phonetic match for “Chris” will be tough, as no Mandarin words end with the “s” sound. In fact, the only consonant endings are “n” and “ng.”

By 11:30, we were back to the Feel Magazine Café, if only to show the menu to Dan & see if through Ice we could gain insight into some of the more interesting translations. Unfortunately, Ice knows almost no English and Dan too little Chinese, so we were unable to fill the gaps.

We also experienced the slowest, most incompetent wait staff on the planet, and perhaps in the history of the planet. First, we ordered drinks – 2 cups of regular and 2 cups of chocolate almond coffee, plus a Coke. The fuyuan (waitress or any female staff) didn’t write anything down, but trotted away. 10-15 minutes later, she came back & informed us that she couldn’t make the flavored coffee. We switched to iced coffee, and she scampered off. 10 minutes later, the first cup of regular coffee arrived. 5 minutes after, the second cup. Some time later, the first cup of iced coffee. Another 5 minutes, the second.

By now, it’s 12:15 (45 minutes later). We decide to order food. Ice starts with “pat the cucumber” and some meat dish. Chris follows, with an order of chicken fried rice. Before Adam can order, fuyuan runs off. Five minutes later, she comes back and he orders fried noodles. She leaves before Judy, Dan or I can order. When she returns after awhile, I order egg fried rice. Before she can disappear again, Judy grabs her and orders curry-fried rice & fruit yogurt, and Dan says (in Chinese) that he’ll have the rice as well: that's 2 orders of curry-fried rice.

Five minutes later, my egg-fried rice arrives. Another 5 minutes, and fuyuan tells Ice that they can’t make her meat dish. A little later, another dish arrives: Yangshuo rice, which nobody ordered. She drops the plate in front of Adam and leaves, oblivious to the protests. Next – all in 5-10 minute intervals – Ice’s “pat the cucumber” arrives. Chris gets his chicken-fried rice, which looks exactly like the Yangshuo rice, still sitting untouched in front of Adam. Somewhere in this, Ice explains to fuyuan that Adam had ordered noodles, not rice. Judy gets her curry-fried rice, which appears to be Yangshuo rice with curry powder sprinkled on. Adam’s correct noodle dish arrives. Another 15 minutes passes. The fuyuan happens by and Dan indicates that he never got his curry-fried rice and Judy never got her yogurt. A minute later, Dan’s dish arrives. One can only presume that the cook put it out with Judy’s and fuyuan didn’t want to carry 2 dishes at a time & promptly forgot about Dan after delivering Judy’s food. You’d think that simply passing a table that’s been sitting well over an hour when only half have a plate might be a cue that something is amiss. Apparently not.

Anyway, Judy’s yogurt arrived right after Dan’s plate, inexplicably quickly. Oh, did I mention that we were the only customers in the restaurant? Presumably, this indicates that (1) fuyuan was not busy with other customers, and (2) there might be a reason there are no other customers.

We didn’t really care. We were trying to kill time and fuyuan had obliged, exceeding our wildest expectations. We didn’t finish our simple meal – one that would have taken 5-10 minutes to get anywhere else – until sometime near 2:00. We agreed to meet back at the hotel at 3:00. Ice would accompany us as far as Guilin, where she would catch a bus back to Changsha and we would catch our train to Shenzhen en route to Hong Kong.

Adam, Dan & Ice did some last-minute shopping. The rest of us were shopped out. We found a shady place with something like a breeze now & then – a stone alcove overlooking a canal next to our hotel – and parked. Chris started reading a book & Judy worked on a Juneau, Alaska cross-stitch she’d had for years. It’ll get done this trip. We were joined by a Chinese family & they were fascinated by the Laowai working on the cross-stitch. Not the first time, nor the last. They offered us some fruit from a bag, and gave Chris a piece of newspaper to sit on. Chinese don’t like to sit on bare walls and benches – pretty sensible when anyplace is considered a reasonable location to expectorate or urinate. We stayed until the breeze died completely, then retreated to our little oasis, the Belleview Café, where the beverages are cold, the room is air-conditioned, and the fuyuans are attentive and prompt.

The place was packed with westerners who had arrived together on a tour, including a large (8-10) African-American extended family. Whites are not very common in most of China. These were the first blacks we’d seen in China, and it’s a huge family. After the circus that we’ve generated, I can’t imagine what it’s like for them!

The trip to Guilin was uneventful and took 1 ½ hours. We said goodbye to Ice & were able to check our luggage at the train station, adjacent to the bus stop, for 70 yuan. We had almost 5 hours to kill, so ate at McDonalds (again), wandered through some stores, and spent some time in an internet café where the fuyuan tried very hard to speak English & wanted to know what we thought of Guilin. I said it seemed like a very nice city & she was pleased. “We are very proud of it!”

Guilin does seem like a very nice city, if wandering a mile or 2 down the main drag is any way to judge such a thing. Judy was struck by how clean it is, while country towns like Ningyuan are filthy. She thought it was the opposite in the U.S. I’m not sure I’d agree, but maybe the rule of thumb holds. Here, I think it’s a matter of infrastructure. Guilin's main drag has trash containers on every block, and they’re not overflowing. Interestingly, each has separate holes for “recycling” and “other trash,” but both holes empty into the same plastic bag. Hmmm.

We boarded the train to Shenzhen around 9:30. It’s divided into sections. There’s general seating with hard wood seats, which would be miserable on a trip of any length.

There are economy “hard sleepers,” with 6 berths each (3 on a side). The bottom bunks have about 3 feet of head space: enough to sit up, plus stowage underneath. The middle and top bunks don’t have the headroom to sit. We had 4 top bunks (the boys and me) and one middle (Judy). There’s some storage at the foot of the top bunks, and we crammed as much of our stuff in there as possible.

The elite “soft sleepers” have just 4 bunks to a compartment, with thick mattresses, padded backs on the wall so they can serve as sofas, and closing doors for privacy. Would’ve been nice, but we booked too late.

There’s also a nice dining car, open to those with sleepers but not to those in general seating.

The A/C in our car was inadequate but otherwise it was OK & the motion of the train rocks you to sleep. All our train shots are here: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172069167/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.

The bunk below mine & across from Judy housed a young Chinese woman who spoke English: she was leaving to study in England in mid-August. She & Judy struck up a conversation & ultimately she joined Judy & the boys in the dining car, where they played cards until 1:00AM. I had managed to cram our stuff (and myself) into a top berth, so stayed with the stuff & slept. It wasn’t bad, except for a period where they attached an engine at our end or the train (making us the front car instead of the back). The engine sounds its horn frequently. You don’t hear it when you’re the “tail,” but it’s loud when you’re up front.

8/3/07: Yangshuo Park, Green Lotus Peak, and eating out at night snacks

Adam, Chris, Judy & I got up and went to Yangshuo Park, which is free to locals and 9 yuan for tourists. We climbed Xilang Hill, another limestone karst with stone steps that must be centuries old. The footing is somewhat precarious and leads to 2 pagodas: one about 3/4ths of the way up and the other at the top. We must be sweating 10 gallons of water a day.

From there, we went to the Feel Magazine Café (we don’t get it either) for some iced coffee and milk tea. The menu items made about as much sense as the restaurant name. I was particularly intrigued by “Halogen chicken fingernails,” “Cause downfall of nation – the illusion" tea, “Pat the Cucumber,” and “Spain braised the food.”

We came back and found Dan, then went to the Belleview Café for lunch. Dan went shopping with Chris and helped him negotiate the purchase of a scroll at less than 1/3rd of its original asking price.

Judy & I went to Green Lotus Peak, which in addition to lovely walks and rock gardens has some art galleries and historical artifacts. Scenes from today's activities can be found at http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172069162/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.

The boys came back with Ice, and Judy put her to work negotiating the purchase of silk pajamas and fans. We’ve been treating her to meals & she definitely earned her dinners today.

In the evening, we ate outdoors at Yangshuo Plaza. The food was fresh, to say the least: other than the pork, it was alive when we ordered it. This included a chicken dish, which Judy ordered but then tried to switch to duck. Too late. The fuyuan indicated by signing a slash across her throat – and the boys confirmed – that the chef had already slit the chicken’s throat and was plucking it. He must’ve been good, because the meal of chopped chicken (including head and feet) arrived shortly thereafter. And again, I found lots of chicken bones and little meat. We also had beer fish, the local Yangshuo specialty. The food was much spicier than we’d had elsewhere, perhaps characteristic of street vendors. And the outdoor seating among the stalls was at least as crowded as any of the air-conditioned restaurants, despite the heat.

8/2/07: Gnats!

Today is officially the day that Yangshuo wore out its charm. Dan was off with Ice – the rest of us rented bikes from the hotel next door. A good deal – 20 yuan for the day for Specialized mountain bikes. We wandered southeast on Pantao Road, hoping to find a route along the river. We failed. We backtracked & turned southwest on Kangzhau Road toward Moon Hill, a natural arch carved by erosion into the top of one of the karsts.

Once we got out of the crazy traffic, it was pretty nice at first. We went through countryside with limestone karsts sprouting out of farmers’ fields. I got a picture of a farmer plowing the mud a wooden plow drawn by a water buffalo. Also saw a woman pumping water into a field with a paddle mounted on a tripod, basically sweeping water into the proper irrigation channel. As we crossed the Gonguang Bridge over the Yulong River, a flotilla of bamboo rafts were pulling in (see pics at top) & being loaded onto trucks to be dropped upriver for a new batch of tourists.

So far, so good. But as we approached Moon Hill, a peasant woman on a bike going the other way yelled “Hallo!” and crossed the highway to pull up alongside us. Judy muttered, “Oh God, she’s going to ride with us.” After weeks of hard-sell, we could feel a foreshadowing of doom.

She began asking in broken English whether we were going to Moon Hill. She said we should. I pretty much decided at that moment that Moon Hill was a bad idea, and tried to ditch her by saying that we were trying to catch up with others who were ahead of us… which was true. Adam & Chris were well ahead. She smiled brightly and stayed with us, jabbering away. She stopped when we passed the entrance to Moon Hill. Safe!

Not.

The boys were parked 100 meters up the road. They were starving, and Judy had seen that the “Moon Hill Café” was just inside the admission gate. So we backed up, much to the delight of our peasant woman, who was still waiting for us. We coughed up 15 yuan each for admission, plus another yuan to “watch” our bikes (which had locks). Only after we were in did we discover that the “café” was just a cooler full of drinks.

It was then that we were accosted by 3 more peasant women – one for each of us, each carrying a Styrofoam cooler full of beverages as well as a fan, which they assiduously applied to us while hovering like so many gnats. I tried to ignore them and walk away up the hill, but they followed, jabbering “where you from?” & fanning like lunatics. I really wanted to be alone & asked my gnat how much for a water, hoping she’d score her sale and go away. She said, “5 yuan.” I said, “5??!! No, 2.” She replied, “No, 5 yuan.” I walked away. “OK, 4.” I kept walking, and she followed. I wheeled and told her I wanted to walk alone. No drinks, no fanning. She said, “OK, 3 yuan, I no bother you.” Deal.

I thought that got rid of the gnats, but the other 3 kept hovering around Adam, Chris and Judy. Judy had the one from the road and tried to brush her off, but she just smiled and said “No, I follow. Maybe you need water later.” Adam told his gnat that he had no money, but she didn’t believe him. So he took off up the strenuous climb at a brisk pace. His gnat urged him to slow down: “you get tired!” He said he was fine and kept chugging. She kept up. Chris likewise tried to ditch his, likewise to no avail.

So we marched (or in Judy and my case, slogged) toward the arch at the top, fanning gnats at our side. About halfway up, Judy’s gnat invited us to a “farmer’s dinner” at her village, which was just below the park entrance. She also said that she worked the farm 4 days and climbed the mountain to “help” guests on the 5th day.

The trek was long, steep and extremely hot, without a breath of breeze. By the time we reached the top, Judy & I were red-faced, hearts pounding and sweat running in rivers. The gnats were dry and kept fanning.

We sat down under the arch & the gnats produced their coolers. To Chris’ gnat: “How much?” Gnat: “10 yuan.” Me: “TEN??!! I got it for THREE!”

We pushed the bottles back at them. They protested. Me: “I’ll pay you five.” Chris’ gnat: “Two for fifteen.” Me: “no thanks.” Gnat: “OK, two for ten.” We bought. Judy and Adam held out, preferring a heat stroke to caving to the incessant pressure.

I thought that would pay her off, but no: the gnats stayed. Up further, to a scenic overlook beyond the arch. Back down the hill, still chatting & fanning furiously.

“I don’t want you to fan me!”

“No, it’s OK.”

“I’m not going to buy any water.”

“Maybe you need at the bottom.”

“I don’t have any money!”

(at this point Adam displayed an empty wallet).

“Maybe you get some money.”

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t begrudge poor, entrepreneurial farm women the right to try to liberate loose change from rich westerners. But when they refuse repeatedly to leave you alone after persistent requests, it’s extortion instead of a sale, and it was really getting to us. By the time we got to the bottom, Adam and Judy’s gnats were whining loudly. Judy’s, giving up on selling water, had produced stacks of postcards. I was ahead of the rest, frantically unlocking bikes in the hopes that if we could just get on our bikes we could outrun them. Judy followed with her gnat in tow, and the pleading in her eyes said “please get me out of here” more eloquently than words ever could.

At this point, I finally cracked. “Judy, you want some water? She did walk all the way up and back…” Judy settled for the postcards, overpaying at 15 yuan in order to be released. Adam stuck to his principles: I’m sure he was dehydrated, but even more pissed. His gnat had suggested that maybe his father would give him some money. When Adam said “no,” she came to me directly and whined, “I walk all way up, all way down. He no buy water!” We hopped on our bikes and high-tailed it away… stopping 100m down the road to buy 2 yuan water. It never tasted better.

We pedaled back to town to meet Dan and Ice for lunch, then split up again. Judy did some more shopping, and the harassment that had marked the morning continued. One vendor followed Judy & Chris all the way back into the hotel lobby, leaving only after Judy went up to our room on the second floor.

Afterwards, we walked along Binjiang Road, following the Lijiang north. About a half-mile up the road, there’s a large stone quay where the Chinese go to swim. The water’s deeper here, and the stones are squared & terraced in a series of large landings all the way to the water. By 6:30PM (when we arrived), the boats had largely stopped & the river was full of swimmers, bathers, and people washing clothes.

We went out for rather unimpressive "happy hour" drinks, then down to the Belleview Café for a hassle-free dinner overlooking the water. Then up to Yangshuo Square, where we hoped we might run into Dan looking for night snacks. We picked up some lamb skewers and beers, then headed back to the room for a quiet evening of Spades.

8/1: cruising Yangshuo and the Lijiang River

We heard Dan get up around 7AM to go to the bus station. His friend “Ice” – the young woman who had worked at the 15th floor bar in Changsha – was supposed to be arriving in Yangshuo and Dan had offered to help her find a room. It turned out that she didn’t get in until closer to 11:00.

Chris, Judy and I went out to do some shopping. A bunch of stalls were set up along Binjiang Road, which runs along the Lijiang river. They sell everything from silk pajamas to hand-painted scrolls and fans to trinkets and trash. We discovered that once you’ve bought something, you are marked as a serious shopper and get mobbed by all the vendors. They follow you down the street, shouting lower and lower prices for things you never wanted in the first place. All starting prices are at least twice what you should pay. The most amusing example was a shoeshine guy. The fact that we were all wearing sandals or flip flops didn’t seem to dissuade him at all.

We walked along the river, where the view is truly spectacular: go to http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172069162/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539 for all our Yangshuo shots. There are a ton, enough to need to buy another memory card and video cassette. While sightseeing, we were approached by a woman hawking “bamboo boat” tours of the Lijiang, which sounded good. Judy talked her down to 40 yuan/head but explained that we would have to come back later, when they boys returned.

After shopping & walking around, we went to get Adam & had lunch at the Belleview Café, a scenic restaurant perched above a small waterfall overlooking the river, and just across the street from our hotel. Dan showed up as we were finishing up. He’d gotten Ice into a hotel and was going to bring her by.

We met again in mid-afternoon, this time with Ice, and all went down to the river to check out boat rides. The big cruise boats were 160 yuan each, which made the bamboo boats look even better. We went back to the bamboo boat lady and she got us two boats. The “bamboo boats” we rode in aren’t really bamboo, but rather tubes of aluminum – probably 8” in diameter, strapped together to form a floor. The ends of the tubes are bent up slightly. A few wicker seats, a slot for a beach umbrella, and an outboard motor attached a propeller via a 6’ shaft complete the boats. It wouldn’t be tough to make one of these.

We cruised upriver – Judy and I in one boat, Ice and the boys in the other. The view from the river is even more impressive than from the shoreline. We passed tourists and locals playing in the shallows, and within minutes were away from the city. Here, we saw water buffalo and real bamboo boats poled by fishermen… plus an unobstructed view of both the town and the natural beauty around us.

When we got back, more shopping, dinner, a pedicure for Judy (over an hour for 35 yuan), and everyone on their own for the rest of the evening.

7/31: buses to Guilin and Yangshuo

Scenes from Yangshuo

We got up a little after 6:00, showered, finished packing & crossed the street with breakfast with “the noodle people.” Dan had lunch here most days last year, and had told them he’d bring his family by to meet them. We had a delicious breakfast of noodles in broth before trekking to the bus station for our ride to Guilin (“Gway-leen”). Dan had warned that the distance was short but the trip long – 5 ½ to 6 hours. The first hour was on good road. Then it went away. Literally. They are apparently replacing the old country road with a bigger one, but in the meantime have demolished at least half of the old road without replacing it with paved road. So, much of the trip was crawling over marginally packed, rutted earth strewn with boulders, which I presume will be foundation for the new road (I saw a guy with a sledgehammer busting these… into gravel?!). Traffic was still heavy, as cars, buses, trucks, 3-wheelers & motorcycles threaded their way at random across the dirt, driving on the left & right of oncoming traffic to maximize the chance of passing slower vehicles.

Occasionally, we would get short stretches of pavement and get out of the clouds of dust. And for the final hour, we were past the construction. We also saw a sight that I would have expected to see more frequently. A car had struck a woman on a motorized 3-wheeler with enough impact to rip the bumper off the car. She lay unconscious (or worse) under her vehicle, surrounded by a crowd of country bystanders. One at least was on a cell phone, presumably calling paramedics. Our bus – and all the other vehicles – simply drove around the carnage without stopping.

We arrived at the Guilin bus station around 2:00, exactly as Dan had anticipated. He had a craving for McDonalds, so we hiked a good ways with luggage in tow for sandwiches, fries and Cokes. Then a cab back to the train station, where Dan booked a sleeper car for our trip to Shenzhen and the Hong Kong border crossing. The earliest date we could get was the 4th (we had hoped to travel the night of the 3rd). Then a bus to Yangshuo. The scenery here is absolutely spectacular: like Jiuyi, but more so, with what Judy has been calling “Dr. Seuss mountains.” Karsts of limestone burst from the ground as if they had sprouted from the plain like cornstalks.

The town of Yangshuo itself is modest in size, and the center is a western tourist’s Mecca – in fact, the main drag of shops, hotels and restaurants is named West Street, and not for its geographic location. For all Yangshuo pics, click here: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172069162/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.

We tried to get into a place that Dan had stayed before, but they were full. So was the next stop, but the proprietor there made a call to another hotel where we could get two doubles for 180 yuan each, and she led us there. The other hotel is one of her properties, run (as far as we can tell) by her teenage kids, who mostly sit in the lobby and play on the internet. It’s called the Xi Ha Hotel, and is located on a back alley off of West Street and less than 100m from the Lijiang River. The rooms are nice, with balconies overlooking the alley: a good place to dry rinsed-out clothes.

After checking in, we went to dinner at a very western restaurant a block away. Nobody was very hungry: Judy got some spring rolls, Adam & I got dumplings, Dan a salad, and Chris had a small pizza. Afterwards, we wandered around and ended up getting some night snacks at Yangshuo Square, where (like most towns) street vendors set up food stands and tables in the evening.

To get a sense of just how spicy the food can be, a breeze that simply blew some wok smoke our way set all 5 of us coughing as our lungs were burned by the spice. Dan said that he’d got an open burn on his face once from smoke from a wok in Ningyuan.

We parted then – Judy & I to window shop at some stalls, and the boys to bar-hop.

7/30/07: day trip to Jiuyi Mountain

Clockwise from top left:
Jiuyi villager, Olver boys with Gandalf, cavern entrance, tea ceremony.

Today we were out by 8:00. Dan had persuaded Gandalf to stay & accompany us to Jiuyi (“Joey”) Mountain, which is actually a small village with 9 mountains and a variety of attractions. We took a few 3-wheel cabs (4 yuan each) to the bus station, then a 45 minute ride through rural countryside and mountains. The mountains look like the stuff you see on Chinese scrolls: karsts of limestone protruding from the plain & covered with scrubby trees. Pretty wild! Our pics can be found in the Ningyuan album, http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172067316/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.

We had a few options when we got to Jiuyi Mountain: (1) tour another temple, (2) go to Monkey Mountain, with the warning that the monkeys would try to strip us of cameras & wallets, (3) climb a mountain in 36˚C heat, or (4) tour a nice, cool cavern. We opted for (4).

After paying an entrance fee, we descended some stone steps to a concrete slab where tables had been set for tea. The proprietor – through Gandalf – explained that the tea was grown & dried on the premises, and the water came from a spring that fed the cavern. And probably helped create it. There were other tourists there, but we were the only Laowai and the only ones treated to the tea ceremony, at no charge.

The cavern was pretty cool, literally and figuratively. A guide narrated in Chinese, relating legends regarding the various formations which Gandalf translated as best he could. We were underground about 45 minutes. Afterwards, we got lunch and headed back to town.

The bus both ways is really “local.” As we passed by villages & farms, wayside travelers would flag us down & climb on. They’d also hop off whenever we drove by wherever they needed to be. I suspect that most had never seen Laowai on a bus. When we got back, we had another celebrity stint at “English Corner,” then a dinner of roast duck and blood duck at one of the better hotels in town.

7/29/07: Dinner with Jian & Frank... and the White Wizard arrives

We slept in & waited for Dan, who needed a new bank card. Although the bank has branches in Changsha, Dan had to come back to Ningyuan to replace his card because it was issued here. Welcome to China. Nancy went with him to help explain his dilemma.

When he got back, we had lunch at a hotel along the river. When we paid up, we were given a discount as their “foreign friends.” We then walked through the Wet Market, which sells everything from light bulbs to vegetables and live ducks, chickens, fish, eels, cats & dogs. None are for pets. A woman was skinning a cat next to a cage full of morose live ones as we walked by. Then back to the apartment to cool down.

While there, Gandalf arrived. He had come to visit us from his home, which translates as Big Bridge in Blue Mountain County. A good place for someone named “Gandalf” (after the wizard from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings) to be from.

Gandalf had errands to run and we had social obligations with Jian. Dan was pretty put out – he doesn’t think much of Jian – so while we tried to make nice over dinner, Dan didn’t try very hard. “Frank” was the first to arrive – an English teacher who Dan genuinely likes, and one of the rare Chinese teachers who has been outside of China. Frank studied in England for 4 months. He toasted each of us one-on-one – apparently, that’s how you do it. And if you say “Gambei,” you’re each expected to down the entire glass. Fortunately, it’s 3.1% beer & the glasses aren’t much more than shot glasses. Also fortunately for us, we’re American, and Chinese tolerance for beer tends to be low. Many (including Jian) get very red in the face after a couple of “Gambei”s. I’ve been told that many Chinese are slightly allergic to something in beer & that other forms of alcohol don’t have the same effect, but I can’t swear to that.

After dinner, Irvin & Gandalf met us at a café in town, where Irvin was indulging his longing for home with a steak and french fries. Judy & I left the kids & came back to the apartment to finish “Pirates of the Caribbean III.” The boys went out for night snacks.

7/28/07: On to Ningyuan

Dan is the first up & out, taking more stuff to Steve’s place before we check out a little after 9:00 and catch cabs to the bus station. Our cabbie spoke some English & tried to get us to sell him some U.S. currency. We didn’t.

The Changsha bus station is not a fun place. It was packed and hot, and we were the only Laowai – the target of stares as well as an army of beggars who get in your face with a hand under your nose & stand there for 5 minutes before going away. It was a joy to get on the bus.

The first part of the trip was pretty good – on a good highway, with a novel on the battle of Thermopylae to keep busy. Over time, the highway gave over to a 2-lane road that while paved had seen much better days. I gave up reading. A little kid (maybe 10 months) was screaming as his mom alternately cuddled & swatted him to get him to shut up. Chinese infants & toddles don’t wear diapers but have crotchless pants. When they have to “go,” their moms just hold them over the aisle of the bus, so there was a stream of urine at my feet.

I was ready to get off the bus when we pulled into Ningyuan around 5:00. For all Ningyuan pics, click here: http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=172067316/a=102868539_102868539/t_=102868539.

We had a good hike to the bus station – there are no cabs in Ningyuan, just 3-wheel motorized carts – and Judy’s suitcase wheel broke so I had to haul that on my back up to the school. We were met by Jian, Ningyuan #1 Middle School’s foreign liaison, who offered us water & wants to take us out with the important people of the school tomorrow. Today, though, we went to English Corner. Kids at the school go to class from 7AM to 9PM every day except Sunday (when they still have classes, but not as long). They have a break roughly from 5:00 - 7:00, and that's when English Corner takes place. Dan & the other American teachers meet those who are interested at a gazebo near the dorms. It's a chance for the kids to practice their English in a casual setting.

When we showed up, we were mobbed by scores of kids, many of whom wanted to practice their English on us, and more who just wanted to gawk. Most memorable were Nancy, Dido, Jordan, Clever, Magnolia, and O’Keefe. O’Keefe was particularly earnest and wanted to know how to get into a U.S. university. I wish I had an answer. Clever wanted to know what I thought of Heaven, and I wasn’t sure what to make of that or what I could say without getting him (or me) into trouble. Nancy is a chatterbox with a constant smile and a pose, and literally hopping instead of walking. She’s graduating and can’t be more than 4’8” and 80 lbs wet. She is clearly a favorite along with Gandalf, who is no longer at Ningyuan #1 Middle School after running off to Shenzhen to try to work in a factor. He returned but the school has not taken him back, so he’s taking classes elsewhere. He’s been texting Dan since we got to China, so we hope he’ll catch a bus to see us.

We also met Irvin, Dan's only remaining WorldTeach colleague in Ningyuan, and he’s leaving tomorrow. He’s a Northwestern grad, an accomplished classical musician on violin, piano, and organ, and is fluent in Mandarin. He’s going to study in Beijing next year.

We’re staying in the apartments Dan and Jackie lived in. Definitely the worst digs we’ve had. There’s nominal A/C in the bedrooms, but the places our filthy. The bathroom has a shower nozzle coming out of the wall, but no shower stall. You just spray yourself down and the soap & water drains below the toilet. I guess it makes for easy bathroom cleanup.

We went to a restaurant where Dan was a “regular” last year & had another great meal. Then down the street to a department store to get some towels (none in the apartments) & extra batteries. The street along Ningyuan’s river comes alive at night – street vendors, night snacks, Karaoke. The place is packed with people, many yelling “hallo” at us or just staring. Some kids (and their parents) wanted pictures taken with us. We didn’t mind – actually, it was a hoot – but I can see how it could get really old over time.

Dan bought “Pirates of the Caribbean” II and III for 5 yuan each at the local video store. He'd had a pile of videos but Irvin left the apartment door open one night and his stash got looted. The boys stayed up to watch, but it was hot & only the bedrooms had A/C so Judy and I retired there.

7/27/07: Changsha redux: hot pot & Ice

Steve chatting up the locals in downtown Changsha

The boys slept in, and so did we – at least until it was too late for breakfast. We wandered around looking for a bakery without success, but discovered a coffee shop in the hotel and ordered some. I have never seen coffee prepared this way. They lit a small alcohol lamp and put it under a glass globe of water, suspended from a metal stand. When the water boiled, they put a glass percolator on top, with fresh-ground coffee in a glass globe with a glass pipette extending into the boiling water. The water boiled up the pipette, filtered through then ground coffee, and dropped back into the lower globe. Just like an old-fashioned metal percolator, but it looks a whole lot more like a 7th grade science experiment. I like the aesthetics.

When everyone was finally up, we went to another excellent restaurant some distance from the hotel. And we finally passed a bakery – Judy loaded up with stuff for our trip to Ningyuan the following morning. It was another really hot day – we were all drenched & red-faced by the time we got done. Adam had it in his head that he would get a Mah Jong set to try on our table, so we hiked down to Carrefour, a relatively small-scale “hypermarket” based out of Europe that combines department and grocery stores. We found several sets but they were really heavy & upon consideration Adam decided to wait. We did pick up some ice cream and drinks. Then back to the hotel to cool down before another night with Steve.

Dan decided to take us to Changsha’s walking street, with multiple warnings to really watch our stuff. Steve was supposed to meet us there with more of the WorldTeach gang, but (1) he was late himself, and (2) he forgot to call the others. When he arrived, we went to a Hot Pot place, which Dan had been pushing for. It’s kind of like Japanese Sukiyaki or Shabu Shabu, except you pick all the ingredients. A 2-compartment bowl in the center of the table holds two broths – on mild, one spicy. You dump ingredients – meats, noodles, veggies, etc. – into whichever side you want, then fish them out when they’re done. Meat is done instantaneously. Veggies, dumplings, meat/fish/shrimp balls take longer. It was fantastic, and a great break from all the grease you get when everything you eat is fried in a wok.

While there, we were met by Steven (not to be confused with Steve), a 40-ish Londoner who had abandoned a consulting career with BearingPoint to come to WorldTeach last year. He’s staying in China for another year, but with a private school that pays better. With him were two lovely girls in hot pants – Shari and someone who’s name we never got. Steven was teaching a summer class for underprivileged kids (I think). The girls were in broadcasting and were doing a story on the class. He was trying to set Shari up with Steve. Or so he said.

Anyway, afterwards Shari and friend left. Steven joined us at the 15th floor bar. During and after dinner, Steve had been on the phone with “Ice” (yes, that’s her English name) trying to get her to join us. She is a Chinese woman who had worked at the 15th floor bar (where she met our boys) and for whatever reason thought it would be uncomfortable to go there as a patron. After one more phone call, Steve excused himself to go meet Ice. Natalie, the 2 Amys, and Rick showed up, and then Dan got a call from Ice and left. For the next hour or so, it was the remaining Olvers with a bunch of WorldTeach folks. As midnight approached, we debated leaving – Steven had offered to help us get a cab back to the hotel – when Dan finally came back. While out looking for Ice, he got sidetracked by a Big Mac. I think the kid has a tapeworm.

Steve showed up as everyone was preparing to leave, to much laughter (apparently, attention to time isn't one of Steve's strong points). He accompanied us back to the Hua Xia Hotel, leaving with a couple of bags of stuff we’d brought for Dan. He’s a great guy & I’m glad Dan has him for a friend in the coming year.