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October 28, 2005
Last day in China
(Day 251) "Hey, didn't I meet you before? On the Yangzi River?"
He looked at me for a moment, then his expression showed recognition. "Oh yeah...! How are you doing?"
It was Jack, one of three other Westerners that had been on my Yangzi river cruise over a month ago. Unplanned encounters with backpackers I've met before isn't uncommon: In Tasmania, I ran into the same Scottish couple four times in five days. In Cambodia, I also crossed paths with a guy for five days straight. Even more unbelievably, there was a German who, over the course of three months, I saw four times in four different countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia). But I never expected it to happen in China, where I didn't follow any of the Lonely Planet suggested itineraries.
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October 27, 2005
More Great Wall
(Day 250) Like I've said, the Great Wall fascinates me. I think it'd be really cool one day if I came back and visited every single section still standing. I could then buy one of those t-shirts and modify it so it read "I climbed the entire Great Wall." And then I'd really be a chick magnet.
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Routines
(Day 248) There should be a rule against people who snore occupying dormitory style accomodations. Normally, I can put up with some noise - Jon's snoring didn't bother me at all - but this guy... I've never heard anything like it before. It was like a foghorn with every breath. I don't think I fell asleep until he got up the next morning. Which goes to explain why I got nothing done today.
Posted by markyiin at 07:59 AM | Comments (2)
On familiar turf
(Day 248) I woke up as we were pulling out of Hohhot. Hohhot is the capital of Inner Mongolia, but Inner Mongolia has been thoroughly colonized by the Chinese, so any Mongolian characteristics would've been unnoticeable to someone just passing by.
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Posted by markyiin at 07:56 AM | Comments (1)
October 24, 2005
And now back to Beijing
(Day 247) I'd like to say I have all the time in the world - it'd be a catchy phrase for an globetrotting excursion. Visa requirements and time limits make it unrealistic though. If there were no such obstacles, I might've continued farther west, out to Xinjiang province, and maybe even Kazakhstan, but as I only have a few more days before my Chinese visa expired, it's back to Beijing for me.
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October 21, 2005
The Last Fortress
(Day 246) Borders are largely artificial concepts. Bodies of water and mountain ranges often serve as guidelines, but one only has to look at the recent histories of Southeast Asia ans Eastern Europe to see how fickle they can be. In past centuries, Chinese authority has expanded and contracted - nowadays reaching places as far west as Urumqi and Golmud - but it's here at Jiayuguan that traditionally, China ended and Central Asia began.
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Posted by markyiin at 10:23 AM | Comments (8)
A train ride to nowhere
(Day 245) Sometime during the night, we passed the provincial capital of Lanzhou and entered the Hexi Corridor deserts. Announcements and music began broadcasting over the intercom at 8:00am sharp; The kids below were up well before then. If left undisturbed, I could've slept a little longer - sleeping on moving vehicles isn't all that refreshing - but with them bouncing around like monkeys, I reluctantly climbed out of bed.
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Posted by markyiin at 10:03 AM | Comments (2)
Autumn Cleaning
(Day 244) I had a brief scare this morning when my laptop wouldn't start. Along with my passport and ATM card, they make up the three things I least want to lose. The machine itself doesn't ahve much monetary value - it'san 800 Mhz clunker useful for only the most basic tasks - but without it, I can forget about maintaining this blog.
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October 19, 2005
A flowery mountain
The five peaks of Hua Shan are supposed to resemble a the petals of a lotus flower. Last night, Gary and I ended up trudging through the darkness, with only the moonlight to guide us, before finally settling in a guesthouse atop the East Peak. This worked out well, as it left us in perfect position to see the sun blossom over the eastern horizon.
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A conflict between mind and body
(Day 242) I was going to cheat today. Instead of tackling Hua Shan by foot, I was going to take the cable car. I'd then spend the night at the summit, then walk down the following morning. But when the crowded bus dropped us off at the trail head, a few kilometers away from the easy way up, and I saw everyone else gearing up for the hike... Well, if no one else is taking the cable car, then I won't either.
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Posted by markyiin at 04:58 AM | Comments (6)
October 17, 2005
Bye Jon!
(Day 241) Jon got up early (as usual) to catch the airport shuttle. I remember waking up briefly to mumble something to the effect of "Have a good trip," then returning to dreamland. Just like that, I was on my own again.
Posted by markyiin at 04:10 AM | Comments (5)
October 16, 2005
Buddha's Finger
(Day 240) It's beginning to get cold. The last few days, I've developed an itch in my throat; Jon's hacking was noticeably worse. Later I'd read that pollution may be the cause (the majority of Peace Corps workers come down with a cough their first few weeks of working here), but getting some warmer clothing was still a good idea.
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A Field Trip
(Day 239) I've never been a fan of history. From K through 12 - I never took it in college - it was tied with language arts (english) as my least favorite classes. My gripe was that it felt like we were covering the same events year after year, and the textbooks and lectures were mindnumbingly boring. Naptime, class. Please flip to chapter seven for today's discussion on the Civil War. The only thing it was good for was the occasional field trip, because after all, we never went to any museums for the sake of algebra.
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Posted by markyiin at 09:50 AM | Comments (5)
October 14, 2005
A light day in light rain
(Day 238) I woke up to the sound of someone typing. Huh? What's going on? Am I sleep-typing? I then remembered that I had made my laptop available so Jon could type up his botany report. I rolled over and went back to sleep...
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October 13, 2005
Upgrades
(Day 237) I didn't press the matter about the hard seat and soft sleeper. I had the feeling Jon would've taken it as an insult had I forced the better of the two on him ("What? You think I can't handle hard seat?!"), so I just gave him the cheap seat. But at least we could try to get him upgraded.
Posted by markyiin at 10:40 AM | Comments (4)
Leaving Datong
(Day 236) You could say Datong is an industrious city, though if you wanted to be blunt, you'd just call it dirty. The region nearby produces one-third of China's coal, and with two coal burning power plants nearby, every breath I took was probably costing me hours off my life. It was so bad that when I picked.. err, blew my nose, my snot was black. The sooner we left, the better.
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October 12, 2005
Not my day
(Day 235) Since I was pretty hard on Jon about his enthusiasm for plants (referring to him as a 'Veghead' and a 'tree hugger'), I agreed to give him an opportunity to say a FEW words about the subject. Little did I know how carried away he would get. Anyway, you've been warned! Here are Jon's comments with the usual stuff toward the end:
A brief history of botany
Posted by markyiin at 08:31 AM | Comments (4)
Hutongs
(Day 234) "[What does this word mean?]" asked a guy working at the hostel. I tried my best to explain what referendum meant. I didn't know the literal translation - that type of word isn't something I would've covered in my chinese studies - but I think I got the idea across. He then asked for translations for minority and rescinds; Eventually, he got the gist of the newspaper headline, something about Iraq rescinding a referendum due to minority opposition.
Posted by markyiin at 08:26 AM | Comments (0)
Signs
(Day 233) I've been scratching my head over what to do about the Trans-Mongolian thing. I was hoping to get the answer through some divine inspiration, though I would've settled for a cryptic message from a fortune cookie. In any case, the plan had to be in place before I left Beijing, and I was quickly running out of time.
Posted by markyiin at 08:22 AM | Comments (2)
October 08, 2005
A typical day
(Day 232) First order of business was booking our train ticket out of Beijing. The hostel provided reservation services, and not that I had anything against the girls working there (they were actually really nice and pleasant to talk to), but it really didn't make sense for me to pay the 40 yuan surcharge when I could simply walk down to the ticketing office and do it myself. Jon, who knew maybe three phrases in mandarin (and I'm being generous here), was dependent on my help and followed me like a good little puppy down to the train station.
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The Great Wall
(Day 231) First and foremost, I have to mention that the Great Wall is NOT visible from the moon with the naked eye. China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, laid to rest the myth in 2003 when he reported not being able to see the barrier from just orbit. If we consider how small the moon appears from earth, and realize that earth can't be that much bigger from the moon, it's a wonder how that legend ever survived for so long.
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October 06, 2005
The Forbidden City
(Day 230) "Some of the guys back at the office didn't think you'd last this long," said Jon, referring to the length of my trip.
"Yeah? What was the over/under?"
"They were giving you about a month before you'd get tired of it all."
A month?! That's all?! And here I am, in the middle of my seventh!
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Posted by markyiin at 04:26 AM | Comments (10)
October 05, 2005
Enter the Dragon
(Day 229) It's always nice to have a theme for the day, whether it's food, fatigue, or some other common denominator. It makes writing the blog more fun and enjoyable. Admittedly, I've even visited attractions in a particular order so as to make transitions easier. But sometimes, even after racking my brain for hours, I fail to see how a bunch of miscellaneous sights can relate to each other.
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Posted by markyiin at 11:01 PM | Comments (1)
October 04, 2005
National Day
(Day 228) I could feel the nervous anticipation yesterday. Almost like dread. As I've touched on in entries over the last week, the October 1st holiday, National Day, was steadily creeping up. Because the concept of paid time off isn't widely practiced here, everyone takes advantage of the three week-long government sponsored vacations, Labor Day and Chinese New Year being the other two, to travel. Guidebooks recommend against visiting China during these times, suggesting that if you did find yourself here, to hole up for a while until the rush died down.
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Posted by markyiin at 11:31 AM | Comments (3)
Squares and circles
(Day 227) Historically, Tiananmen Square has been the site of many demonstrations. Back in 1919, thousands gathered to protest unfavorable terms in the Versailles Treaty. In 1925, thousands more protested a British massacre of Chinese residents in Shanghai. 1976 saw demonstrations against leaders perceived as ineffectual, and a decade later, people assembled when requests for elections were denied. The most infamous of them all though, occurred in 1989, when hundreds of thousands came to voice dissatisfaction at corruption and lack freedom. Viewing it as a slap in the face, the Chinese government declared martial law and brought in the military. Quelling by killing, Tiananmen Square will forever be linked with the Tiananmen Square Massacre, at least in the minds of this generation.
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Posted by markyiin at 10:58 AM | Comments (1)
October 02, 2005
Indecision
(Day 226) By winging it most of my trip, I'm bound to put myself in some bad situations. In 99% of the cases, money can smooth things over. It's just a matter of whether I want to spend it.
I travelled to Beijing in style. Not only are trains on China's eastern seaboard more luxurious, I also had a soft sleeper berth. Because of the upcoming holidays, everything else was sold out, and it was the only one I could book. Gray clouds and light drizzle plagued my first day in China's capital, but like I've said, it's unreasonable to expect blue skies every day.
Posted by markyiin at 07:55 AM | Comments (13)
Mallrats
(Day 225) "You're wearing the same shirt as last time," I said. Though I really shouldn't be one to talk. I've worn the same clothes for days on end...
"It's been washed. Yeah, my rotation is a little off," explained Tim.
Posted by markyiin at 07:52 AM | Comments (1)
October 01, 2005
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower
(Day 224) To finish what was cut off two days ago by some unfortunate events, I wanted to head out to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, a mandatory pilgramage for any Shanghai tourist. Like the rest of Shanghai, the time to visit is at night, when the Bund is lit and the city's haze doesn't obstruct the view. To pass the afternoon, I worked on my blog and rested, hoping to finally be cured of my stomach problems.
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Posted by markyiin at 06:19 AM | Comments (3)
Suzhou's Gardens
(Day 223) Located only an hour away by train, Suzhou makes for an interesting day trip from Shanghai. Canals flowing through the city has earned it a somewhat ambitious name of 'Venice of the East', and for centuries it has been known for producing high quality silk, some of the finest in China. What earned it its UNESCO World Heritage listing though are its gardens, many of which have been restored and opened to the public. After brainstorming possible activities in Shanghai proper came up empty, I decided to head out and give this 2500 year old city a look.
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Posted by markyiin at 06:12 AM | Comments (2)
Another setback
(Day 222) I'm fortunate to have relatives in Shanghai, otherwise it'd be an expensive place to be while waiting for my visa extension. Because I'm stuck here for a few days, I haven't felt a sense of urgency to explore. As far as sights go, there aren't that many. (Except for the women, who are the best looking and best dressed in China.) What Shanghai does have to offer is takes place at night, so as to be out and about just as the city starts to come alive, I didn't leave home til late afternoon.
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Posted by markyiin at 06:06 AM | Comments (1)