Notes for this section:
I injured my foot in Hangshou when I walked all over the temples in the wrong shoes. It plagued me until Suzhou (see below).
For Ken's section, keep in mind that he is terrified of heights.
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Thursday, September 20 (Mel)
We got to sleep in today. Woo hoo! And we started the day with Cocoa Krispies. It doesn't get any better than this.
We started our day with a massage from the blind massage place. I wanted a foot massage, and Ken wanted a body massage. There are three blind guys who do the massage, and a girl who collects the money. They started out by soaking my feet in flowers and herbs for 15 minutes, then started the massage. It really hurt at first, but he honed in on my hurt left foot. Ken liked his massage; they did a lot of work on his shoulders.
After the massage we went to lunch at a restaurant that posted "American food!" and "hamburgers!" in the window. Ken ordered a chicken sandwich, and I ordered a hamburger. Ken got a flattened piece of chicken from a roasted chicken, including the skin, on a bun. I got two tiny pieces of ham, with the lettuce, tomato, and onion, on a bun. Although we did not get what we expected, we did get what we ordered.
After lunch I went to the internet place, and Ken went to the park to work on the journal. Then we joined our group to head for the train. We're getting pretty good with the train. We know what to wear, and what food to bring. We were totally geared up. This trip is on a very nice soft sleeper, and the bathroom is even decent.
View of China countryside from train
We went to the dining car to play mahjong. By doing this, the train staff feels obligated to come by and tell us how to play. It started out with two guys helping me play. Then this woman came by, stood behind Ken and started yelling at him if he played badly. It was hilarious. Two guys helped Jon play and were "helping" me play, which led to Jon winning. Sitting in the dining car playing mahjong is a great way to meet people, and I'm glad we did it.
How we travelled throughout China (one
backpack in front and one in back)
Friday, September 21 (Mel)
The train pulled into the Luoyang station at 9:45am. We schlep to the bus, which took us to the Peony Hotel. Although Luoyang is a heavily industrialized city, they are known as the Peony Capital of China. They boast over 150 varieties of peonies, which are in bloom in April every year.
It was about 55 degrees, drizzly, and quite gray when we arrived. The grayness is from smog, not from the weather. From our hotel room we could see hundreds of smoke stacks. Some are from the factories, some are from the coal-burning power plants which exclusively provide power to the factories.
After a shower, we ventured out to the streets in search of lunch. We saw small restaurants, figured they wouldn't have a menu in English, so we opted for a small outside eatery. What attracted us to one particular place was watching the girl make these dumpling-like appetizers. We watched one guy stuff the dumplings, she put them in a huge round pan over coals, poured rice water over them, steamed them five minutes, then poured a small amount of oil, then steamed them some more. While waiting, they asked us to sit down at this small table with small little stools (child-size in the U.S.) with the factory workers. They gave us a bowl of rice broth, then brought the dumplings to us when they finished steaming. A little girl of about 9 years old watched us. While we were eating, she played her harmonica and smiled occasionally.
Girl making steambuns
We went to the Longmen Grotto in the afternoon. These are caves built in to the side of a mountain, with carved statues of Buddha. The smallest was a wall of Buddhas about 2" high, and the biggest was about 25 feet. With the exception of the bigger statues or the tiny ones, the other statues had the faces missing. During the 1930's the government sanctioned destruction of religious figures. It reminded me of the statues in Egypt, which were marred in 300 A.D. by Roman and/or Christian invaders.
Longmen Grotto
Caves
Mel and Ken in front of
Buddha
Best garbage can we've seen
(says "useless rubbish" on sign)
After the caves we went to the coffee shop for something rare -- french fries that were actually like the American ones. After a nap we joined the group for dinner, then rushed back to the hotel because we thought "The Matrix" would be on TV. Not to be. It was "Batman Returns". Grant and Ken got "banana splits" (which was made with mango, coconut, and some mystery ice cream with a slight dribble of chocolate syrup on top) after giving a 100 yuan deposit for the dishes so that it could be brought to our room. We watched Batman and ate ice cream.
Now Ken is watching BBC to find out if America is at war.
Saturday, September 22 (Ken)
(Missed Huangshan in the previous entry...)
Huangshan. The mountains of Huangshan are probably most akin to Yosemite National Park (although I'm basing this observation only on photos of Yosemite.) Most of the group took the cable car to the top, but Robert, Kitty, and I hiked up from the bottom. Robert and Kitty are in their mid-50's with legs not nearly as long as mine, but there were points where I was winded keeping up with them. We hiked up to the top area, did a long circuit around the top, and then took the cable car down the other side. Our hike was probably about 7 miles, the most exercise I've had on this trip. It was fairly cool and the clouds on the north side of the park were so heavy and low that we couldn't see anything from the vistas. But the clouds on the south side were broken up, adding to the beauty of the place as they drifted among the peaks. Robert, Kitty, and I climbed the tallest of the peaks, Lotus Peak, and passed Ted and Ivy on their way down. The mountains jut straight up, and are streaked with dark and light patterns. The paths are paved with flagstones the whole way, and steps are hewn into the slopes. In some of the nearly vertical areas, the handrails were so low that I was so freaked out by the sheerness and height that I had to either scoot down on my butt or climb down backwards on all fours, which Robert and Kitty thought was pretty funny.
The snow monkeys were funny and cute, but not nearly as promiscuous as told by Grant.
The public toilet in the market in Tangkou was probably the most disgusting one we'll experience on this trip, rivaling the one near the bus station in Edfu, Egypt.
Train from Suzhou to Luoyang. When I woke up in the morning, I pulled open the curtains and watched the countryside go by from my top bunk. It has rained and was very hazy. The countryside looked just like southern Illinois near where I grew up. Mostly cornfields, broken up by the rows, and coal trains on the tracks.
Back to Shanghai. Our hotel was right by Nanjing Lu, the main commercial avenue in Shanghai, which is closed off to traffic. With all the trendy Western establishments and the bright lights, it was like Michigan Street in Chicago.
The sex museum wasn't nearly as informative as it could have been, but it was about what I expected. There were some amusing displays, such as the "implement used by widow, useful at both ends" -- it was a back-scratcher (shape of a hand on one end) and the other end was a dildo.
Shanghai was probably the most Western place we've seen here, which made it the least interesting to me. However, we did appreciate the change with some more western food -- KFC (again), Subway (I even got my sub stamp, but they were missing the pepperocinis on my sandwich), Hard Rock Cafe (Guinness and a real hamburger), and Starbucks.
Train from Suzhou to Luoyang to Xian. I've noticed several things as we've progressed on from Shanghai, specifically on the train:
Rice fields have given way to corn
and other seasonal crops.
The trains are newer, cleaner, and
the attendants are better dressed and more attentive to their jobs (we
surmise it's because we're getting closer to Beijing).
The weather was noticeably cooler --
partly I guess because of the onset of Autumn, but also because we're
heading inland and north.
The cities are more industrial, lots
of smokestacks, huge factories, and cooling towers.
More coal transported by trains, coal-burning power plants, and even steam engines in use on the railroad.
Open Grass Fields. Open grass is rare here, and where it exists, it is off-limits. Usually there are oddly-worded signs telling us to stay off. When Mel and I walked through the university in Suzhou, a bunch of students were playing soccer on a patch of bare dirt, but there was nobody on the grass in the quad areas. When I climbed the pagoda in the Zhouzhang, I overlooked a grass field in a primary school, where kids were actually using it for soccer. I had brought a frisbee with me in the hopes of throwing around with my fellow travelers or even better, one of the Chinese, but there's no place to do it.
Zhouzhang and Suzhou. Zhouzhang's canals and cobblestone streets (in the old city) were unique and scenic, but the place was unfortunately hyper-touristy. The streets were lined with stands and vendors, pushing useless junk in our faces. The place we stayed in Zhouzhang was the best part -- an old-town traditional residence now in use as a guesthouse. Dark wood, creaky old wood floors, and a small quiet courtyard. Leaving Zhouzhang, we took a boat for the first hour, got to see some of the working waterways, fish farms and barges.
Suzhou was just a large-city version of Zhouzhang.
On the train from Luoyang to Xi'an. A vendor just walked into our carriage selling socks. I took one look and thought "there's no way I'm buying socks". He proceeded to do his demo, which included running a needle up and down through them, igniting a cigarette lighter through them, and having me do a tug-o-war with him. He nearly yanked me out of my seat. He was such a great salesman that I ended up buying a package (three pairs) of these socks.
Saturday, September 22 (Mel)
The most expensive item in our hotel room is the wall-mounted hairdryer. It's 800 yuan ($100 USD). The hotel provides a list of items and their replacement costs. Apparently theft is a problem in Peony Hotel.
Because there was a wall-mounted hairdryer in this hotel, I celebrated by wearing lipstick to spite Ardith. I met the group for breakfast in the Western dining room. The highlight of the buffet was the hotdogs cut into a shape of a clover and labeled as "bacon".
We went to the Luoyang Museum and saw a shadow puppet show. On the way to the cave house, Ken realized he left our passports at the hotel (we checked out this morning), so he took a taxi to the hotel while we went grocery shopping for snacks for the train.
Behind stage of shadow puppets
We got to the cave houses to visit a 90 year-old woman who moved to a cave house after she was married, raised 6 sons, and celebrated her recent birthday there. She is even a great-great grandmother. Her feet were bound and are no more than 6 inches long. She looks remarkably well, has her hearing and eyesight, and takes care of herself with little help. The house has a courtyard and eight rooms (2 on each side). It's dug about 25 feet into the ground. The steps go from ground level down to the courtyard. She was friendly, enthusiastic, and happy to have visitors.
90 year-old woman at cave house
(notice her feet were bound)
Now we are on the train to Xi'an. (Don't know why the apostrophe is in the name...) It's a 5.5 hour trip, I just finished reading my funny book and Newsweek, and now I'm in a panic for reading materials, since I've already read all the books I brought with me. If I get desperate enough, I'll dig out the Chairman Mao Red Book.
After checking into the MenShing Hotel in Xi'an, the group ventured out for dinner. Our hotel room, by the way, smells like wet carpet and mildew. There's no point in changing rooms, since they all are like that. Anyway, we walked around looking for the Muslim district of Xi'an, but struck out. The group split up, and Ken and I went our own way.
We struck paydirt! We went south while the group went west. We found the entrance, and it was a different world. Imagine Muslim and Chinese traditions combined. Women in Chinese dress but Muslim headscarves. Men in Chinese dress with a white prayer hat. And the food! We feasted on beef skewers grilled in Middle Eastern spices. We sat near the window and watched the people go by. The food was very different from any we've had in China. Xi'an is on the old Silk Road; in the 8th century Middle Eastern merchants settled in Xi'an, thus bringing their religion and customs. We didn't hear any call to prayer, but we'll go back tomorrow to find out if it's in Chinese or Arabic.
We found our mahjong set! It's also bamboo and bone, but very dusty. I'll have to wash it carefully when I get back home. Ken found another painting and I indulged in getting a Chinese signature stamp for myself. It has my name in Chinese, and the woman was really sweet. Now I have my own signature stamp!
Did I mention that a typhoon followed us almost our entire trip?
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Next segment:
terra cotta warriors,
the mosque,
the Forbidden City...
mkadenko/01.01.02