This is an archived post from travels in 2003. Photos from this time are available at the original page.
My dear family, friends from home, and those I have picked up on the way -- welcome to the latest news of my travel in China. Once more I find myself writing a travelogue about one month after the last. While longer than I would like, it seems a rhythm that goes well with that of my travel. Please forgive the length of this mailing, but the last month seems to have been jam-packed with experiences worthy of the telling. Skimming is not only allowed, it is encouraged -- there's a summary at the end.
Before I begin, a note about currencies for newer readers. This message lists prices in Macau Patacas (currency symbol MOP) and Chinese Yuan RenMinBi (currency symbol CNY or RMB). At the time of writing, 1 USD = 8 MOP = 8.28 CNY, or you can use http://www.xe.com/ucc/full.shtml to convert to your local currency.
I write this message to you from Shanghai, which will probably be my last view of China for some time. Going back in time, I've visited HuBei, Hunan, and Guangzhou provinces, and the Macau SAR. Before that, of course, was Hong Kong and Taiwan -- but those have been covered already. I've got more pictures, some from Hong Kong and some from new places, but the film is still undeveloped. Perhaps in 2-4 more weeks they'll be posted; stay tuned. All of these places (since Macau, that is) have been difficult to visit. Finding the right accommodation at the right price, in particular, has consumed an enormous amount of my time and energy.
The story starts in Macau, but first a bit of geography and terminology is in order. "Macau" can refer to the entire Special Administrative Region of China, which is to say the former Portuguese colony. But "Macau", when used by the locals, refers to that portion of the region which is attached to the mainland, in contradistinction to the several islands in the area, the two most notable of which being Taipa and Coloane. In this newsletter I've mostly used the latter definition.
My plan was to stay at one of the two government-owned hostels on Coloane, but due to a late sailing from Hong Kong, it was 7 PM when I arrived in Macau and well after dark when I got to Coloane. A local Philippine had never heard of the "Pousada de Juventude", but took me to the nearby "Pousada de Coloane", which, it turns out is a large (expensive) hotel. I was wandering about, searching the area for the hostel, when I came upon a group of Americans. They directed (drove) me to the hostel, but it seems that one is required to check-in before 6 PM. This rule is beyond me, but the Americans (Timothy and Tobi) insisted that as a consequence I stay the night at their house. Wary of imposing, I wavered but eventually faltered, and enjoyed one of the nicest rooms I'd slept in for a while.
The next day I successfully checked in to the hostel. They were miffed that I had not made a reservation at the booking office in Macau, but eventually let me stay for M40/night. They told me, however, that I could only stay two days, as there was a tour group coming in for the weekend. I was the only resident at the hostel, at least while I was there -- unsurprising given the difficulty I encountered. Eventually, however, the appointed day came and I had to move once more. By this time I had found a (relatively) cheap hotel in Macau, which was only M50/night. This place was actually not as nice as the hostel, despite having a private room, but was much more centrally-located.
I should point out that in the interim I had been spending my time exploring the area; first Coloane, then Macau. I spent no small number of hours wandering around Macau's streets, which displayed much more foreign influence than in Hong Kong. While wandering about, I found a large number of liquor stores -- unlike Hong Kong, Macau does not have high liquor taxes, so when it comes time to buy expensive alcohol all the Hong Kong residents head to Macau. Consequently one can find lots of expensive and fancy cognacs, etc.
Perhaps it was this that lead me to visit a bar on Friday night, after I moved to my new hotel. Or perhaps I was merely feeling a bit lonely. Or perhaps it was the barmaid who enthusiastically invited me in. In any case, I spent a few hours at this semi-interesting place, and got a chance to observe Macau's bar scene in action. In particular, I met the "Hennessey girl", whose job it was to go to bars and get people to drink the Hennessey VSOP. She suggested mixing it with ginger ale or coke. (Yes, Hennessey recommends the use of their beverage as a mixer.) She was very friendly, perhaps because it was her job. It turns out that during the day she works at the Macau Tower, which holds the title as the world's 10th tallest building. It costs M70 to go to the top of the tower, but she offered to get me in for free if I came the next day. I followed suit and she fulfilled her promise, though at that job she had not time to chat.
Upon leaving the bar on Friday night, I found that I had not enough cash to pay the bill (I did try the Hennessey with ginger ale, but it turns out the thimblefull the bartender poured cost M38) -- but the manager kindly allowed me to return the next day and pay my debt. This I did, and discovered a second new position. Namely, a woman -- in this case, overseas Chinese from Los Angeles -- who acts friendly with the clientele in an effort to get them to buy drinks. Unlike the Hennessey girl, she is in the employ of the bar, and invites patrons to buy her a drink. In reciprocity she will sit at the customer's table and "look pretty". Much to her chagrin, I did not partake of this service -- when she asked me to buy her a drink I explained that I give generously to charity, but make every attempt to direct those funds to those in need -- a group from which she was excluded. She was not happy to hear this, and shortly made her way elsewhere.
Having written far too much about Macau, let me then proceed to mainland China. I had to return to Hong Kong before proceeding to Guangdong, because the mail I mentioned at the end of the last travelogue had not yet arrived before I left for Macau. After collecting my mail, however, I did take the train to the border, and while I had a later departure than I had wished I did manage to leave by the early afternoon, arriving in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) around 4:00.
It took some time to go through immigration formalities, but eventually I made it. It then took a bit of orientation to find the train station, but that too was eventually done. Unfortunately, the smoothness ended there and was not to be restored for some time. You see, I had not enough Renminbi (different from Hong Kong or Macau dollars) to buy my train ticket. What then? Well, I headed in search of a bank and eventually found the China Construction Bank. Alas, when I gave my ATM card to their machine, I was helpfully instructed that my card was expired. This seemed odd to me since the card says on it that it expires in 2007. But it was a new card (gotten in the mail I picked up), so it seemed at least possible that my bank was in error. Alas, I had already destroyed the old card. What now?
The solution seemed twofold to me: I should head to the Bank of China, where I could change a traveler's check. And I should call my bank. The Construction Bank, in case you were curious, does not cash traveler's checks. Unfortunately, it took some time to find the Bank of China, and by the time I had done so it was closed. Furthermore, international toll-free calls are apparently not allowed from Shenzhen. The Bank of China ATM was also closed, and a nearby bank's ATM gave me (in Chinese) some excuse about why it could not give me money, and returned my card.
At this point I began to become rather distressed. I might have to find a hotel in Shenzhen that would take American Express -- an expensive proposition in an already-expensive city. As fate would have it, at that particular point in time a passing prostitute (by no means the first) asked if I would like a "massagie". Of course, I said "No, what I really need is an ATM." Surprisingly, however, she lead me to the ICBC ATM, which fortuitously did my bidding, and I soon found 500 Yuan in my hands. I kissed the bills (not the prostitute) and expressed my adulation, when a pair of Canadian women remarked "You must have gone to the Construction Bank." Evidently the treatment I received is standard there.
They invited me to a local bar, and the peace (if not the liquor) was amenable to my condition, so I agreed. Coming into China was enough of a culture-shock without the other concerns, so it was nice to go to an American bar -- this place seemed to be designed to make one forget that one is in China, with (alas) prices to boot. They, it turns out, were on a shopping tour of Asia -- 6 countries in 2 weeks. Shenzhen was about the silk and the watches -- they were here to buy fake Rolexes and silk bedspreads. After two drinks (happy hour) and some nachos, I said my adieu to them and continued to the train station, feeling pretty good about my condition. (or was that was the liquor?).
Upon arrival in Guangzhou, however, that feeling parted. It turns out that at the time of my arrival, the China Exports Fair was in progress, which twice yearly fills Guangzhou hotels to the brim. I was unable to find a room for myself, so I turned to one of the many hotel touts near the train station. I followed them around for around 2 hours, and when they were unable to find a hotel they turned to homestays -- renting an extra room in somebody's home. The first such homestay they showed me was Y100, and in retrospect I ought to have accepted it. But, in trying to get a better price I said "no", and that was that. The next place was acceptable and also Y100, and I agreed. But just as I had got my clothes off, the homeowner changed his mind and said I had to leave. I'm not entirely certain, but I have a suspicion that grandma had been kicked out to make room for the American's money. In any case, my ex-landlord found me yet a third home, which was rather nice and Y120. I agreed, and spent the night.
The next day, I contacted the two hostels in my book. The cheaper one said dorm beds were Y150 due to the trade fair, but the other said they could provide a single room for Y100. The room was better than the homestay in every way -- except the bed, which was hard and uncomfortable. I thus considered it a wash and asked my host family if they would take Y100/night, a price they quickly accepted.
That same day, while having lunch near the train station, I met a man and a woman from HuBei province, further north. The man seemed interested in the woman but not in me, while the woman seemed interested in me but not the man. We conversed a bit through the phrasebook, then said goodbye. The next day (I imagine through coincidence) we met again, and they asked me to come visit them in HuBei. I was not planning to visit HuBei, and I told them so. But more about them later.
After traipsing around GuangZhou for a few days, I decided my lungs had had quite enough pollution, and headed for ZhaoQing, famous for its natural beauty. Again I had a late afternoon departure -- there are not very many trains from GuangZhou to ZhaoQing, and mine got in around 6 PM. I had a hostel picked out (from my book), but there is no public transportation there and I had resigned myself to taking a motorcycle taxi. Consequently I walked around the city for a bit and had dinner before heading for the hostel. Alas, when I got there I was told the hostel was no more. Sure, there were people staying there, but I wasn't allowed to. I never fully understood the explanation, but in any event there was no bed for me. My book didn't list any other cheap places nearby -- there was one far away but no answer on the phone. Eventually I resigned myself, and stayed at a 3-star hotel for Y188. That was nice, though naturally far more than I wanted to pay.
The next day I sent out to find cheaper dormitory accommodation. My hotel directed me to a place, but it turned out to be an upmarket hotel. I was sitting on the steps of this place, trying to decide what to do next, when a friendly Nigerian approached me and asked if he could help. He had an Army friend, and they took me to an Army hotel. It was impressive to see the inside of the army base -- it was incredibly nice, with fountains and landscaping -- clean and well-maintained, in contradistinction to nearly everywhere else in China. And while they said I could ordinarily stay there, there would be some important folks coming in the next day who might shake the boat if they saw me there. But, they found me a cheap hotel room for Y65, where I stayed the rest of my time in ZhaoQing.
The most famous landmark in ZhaoQing is the seven-star crags. These crags are impressive but commercialized, and admission costs Y50. Instead of entering, therefore, I wandered around the periphery, and had another phrasebook conversation with some locals. The next day, I headed for DingHu Shan, a nearby nature reserve that also had a Y50 admission fee. Unlike the crags, Dinghu Shan was worth it. It did me well to get away from the congestion of the cities, and there were some nice waterfalls. Some parts were touristy, but others were deliciously empty -- I visited on a weekday. A group of college students befriended me in a more-developed portion, but after some picture-taking they had to go.
I hoped to revive my spirits by seeing some stars, so I stayed in the reserve after nightfall, having previously checked that the bus ran until 11 PM. Unfortunately, the night was not clear and even here I could only see a few stars. Indeed, I have still not seen a fully starry night since Taiwan. Eventually I decided to go, but somehow I found myself in a temple (with restaurant!) and couldn't figure how to get out. I asked a passing resident/employee, but they were not content to provide the answer -- this was a major issue, requiring more consideration! Somewhere in the vicinity of 10-15 people subsequently devoted themselves to resolving the problem of how to get me back to the entrance of the park. They were enormously hospitable, providing food and tea -- I tried to pay but they wouldn't have it, and at one point they were ready to offer me a place to stay on the mountain. It was only a 30-minute walk to the entrance, but apparently most of them thought it wholly unsafe -- "very black", they said. I disagreed (the moon was perhaps 2/3 full), but eventually they summoned an Army motorcycle ride, and that ended the argument. The soldier took me all the way to the bus station, and I returned to my hotel room.
Now, my original plan had been to go through GuangDong, FuJian, and ZheZhiang provinces, before going to Shanghai. But it turns out that there is no train service from GuangDong to Fujian. And I had not chosen these provinces for anything other than geographical convenience anyway -- one of my main purposes in including FuJian was to see out-of-the-way China. Given these considerations, I decided to change my plan and instead see HuNan and HuBei -- the former famous, the latter at least as obscure as FuJian. And this way I could visit the friends I had made in Guangzhou. I thus set out for Shaoshan, the capital of Hunan, taking a night train from GuangZhou to ChangSha, the capital of HuNan.
ShaoShan is the childhood home of Chairman Mao, and famous for that reason. But it is also a semi-remote village, which is remarkably unchanged by the march of tourism that covers the land, even on weekdays. In this area it was not too difficult to find a place to stay, and indeed I got a room with three beds for Y20 -- the cheapest (non-free) accommodation to date on this trip, indeed, perhaps in my life. Unfortunately, the bedding gave me a fierce allergic reaction.
My first full day in Shaoshan, I visited Shao Peak -- though I took a rather roundabout way to get there, walking through some rarely-traversed hills. I ran into some farmers, though our conversations were short due to limited Chinese literacy on both our parts. Shao peak was interesting too, though on my way down it suddenly became very cold and very windy. I was happy to return to bed.
Unfortunately, on the second day I found that the entire town had become cold and windy. I had no cold-weather clothing (expecting a more gradual drop in temperature), and there was nowhere in Shaoshan to buy it. Thus I made a new plan to visit the Mao museum and Mao's childhood house in the morning before getting a bus back to (hopefully warmer) ChangSha. Alas, by the time I was finished with Mao I was very cold, and it seemed foolish to go back in my unheated room -- I might catch a cold. Instead I headed for a restaurant, though it turned out to be just as cold. And even more unfortunately, by the time I got back to my room, it was too late to go. I thus stayed one more night under the warm-but-allergenic covers.
The next day I arrived in ChangSha, but it turned out that this city had the same weather as ShaoShan -- warm before, cold now. I went in search of a jacket, when I was adopted by some college students from the Hunan Mass Media College, who helped me to buy a warm and lightweight piece for Y60. Then they helped me look at train tickets to HuBei -- it turned out that no tickets were available until the next day. Happily, the students said they had an extra bed in their dormitory. I was excited at the chance to see a Chinese college, and agreed -- they took me to the school, showed me the dining hall and the dorms, and the next day I even got to sit in in some classes. The classroom surprised me, because while I expected the droning teacher I did not expect the students to be sleeping or reading the newspaper. Around noon we said our goodbyes and I took a bus downtown.
My train did not leave until midnight, however, so, in true Maoist spirit, I headed for the Hunan No. 1 Teacher Training School, where Mao studied and later taught. This school was interesting. The school is over 100 years old, though most of the buildings are newer. Curiously, the computers were in one of the oldest buildings. Anyhow, I eventually came across an elementary school inside the university -- presumably for teachers-to-be to practice. I was walking down a corridor when suddenly a bell rang and more children than I can count appeared from nowhere. A group said "hello", and when I replied I found that I was the most interesting thing on the playground. Soon thereafter I found about 150 10-year-olds trying desperately to be the one to shake my hand. Feeling like a popular politician, it was also a bit disturbing. Fortunately, I was soon saved by the end-of-recess bell.
An onlooking student (not a training teacher, just a wanderer like me), having seen the spectacle, befriended me and took me around the school. Eventually he showed me to his dorm, and introduced me to some more friends. One of them asked me to join their "English Corner" at 7:30 PM. I had other plans for the day, but was still feeling rather starved socially, so I agreed. They treated me to a Hunanese dinner at the dining hall, then we went to the Corner.
As it turns out, most of the people who study English in China do it in order to teach English later on. Furthermore, most of the people who plan to teach are women. So I now found myself surrounded by around 40 co-eds, who showed all of the curiosity of the schoolchildren, at least tempered by a bit more restraint. A graceful woman asked me to dance, but I'm afraid that with my addition it was a terrible and clumsy performance. Overall, the English corner was quite a unique experience. I think I was asked if I had a girlfriend a dozen times. Eventually, however, it got old and I escaped from the corner back to the dorm room. There I played 5- and 3-card poker with my original friends before heading for the train to HuBei.
My destination in HuBei was JingMen, an out-of-the-way city in an out-of-the-way province. With the assistance of the students at the Mass-Media college, I had already gotten ahold of my friends, CaoSong and YeXuan. When I arrived in Jingmen I gave them another ring and they showed up by taxi. They took me to a guesthouse, for which I paid Y45. YeXuan said many times that the next day we would go to her home. That night we went to a nightclub, and danced several hours. As the club filled up, however, the cigarette smoke thickened, and around 11 I gave up and asked to go. At this point I became a little confused, because CaoSong and YeXuan stayed the night in the room I had purchased. I was confused because in Guangzhou YeXuan had told me they were from Jingmen -- where did they usually stay? Before this curiosity came up, CaoSong asked if I had any US dollars -- I attributed this to curiosity and showed them my US1, US20, and US100 bills. Probably it was rather dangerous at this point to sleep in the same room. But both now and in Guangzhou, the two of them had been well-dressed, with YeXuan carrying makeup and an expensive handbag. They did not seem the sort to need my money. Even so, YeXuan asked for me to give her the US20 bill, which I refused. In preparing for sleep, YeXuan said "I love you". Thinking she did not understand what she said, I replied "I love you too", and killed the lights.
The next day, as promised, we went to YeXuan's home. What I did not understand prior to this is that their home is actually in a small village (Yen Men Co) politically attached to an insignificant town (Jing Shan) quite literally in the middle of unimportant HuBei. The trip from Jingmen took about 2 hours, and it was the least-significant place I've visited so far on this trip, though strangely still equipped with an internet cafe. On the bus I got a few new revelations -- it turns out YeXuan is 17 and CaoSong is her brother. Their house was on an unpaved road, but inside was a nice three-story building, well-equipped with quality furniture, flooring, nice banisters, etc. It was not a poor family's house, nor was it unlived-in; there were plenty of things everywhere. Their mother greeted me with fierce hospitality, having prepared a huge meal to greet my arrival. They gave me a bedroom with an enormous bed, but I don't think I was displacing anyone. At the same time, the house was confounding in its lacks, with no climate control (a concern given how cold it was), no hot water heater, no washing machine, no shower, and a bathroom with no light. When I asked to bathe they filled the bathtub using a teakettle, though they did not tell me at the time.
This first day I had the misfortune to catch a cold. I suspect it's a disease that had been hovering over me since the temperature drop in Shaoshan 4 nights previous, but on November 12 I finally succumbed. Their hospitality was certainly up to the task, and I was given lots of bedding and warm water. I was told that the next day we would visit another brother and sister, who speak English.
Now, on the bus ride to Yen Men Co, CaoSong said, as a test, "I love you". I gave him the same response that I gave to YeXuan, which seemed to confuse them both. Later, when I was in bed, they came again and asked for the US100 bill. Keeping in mind that no-one had good English skills, I think the gist of things was that if I loved YeXuan I should pay her US$100. I thought the whole thing was rather comic, especially given her age. But that night, I woke up to find YeXuan in my bed. I think this was to secure my love (though seduction), not to steal from my money belt. It was, however, quite disturbing.
The next day we went, as promised, to see another brother and sister. I hoped that their English ability could clear things up. YeXuan's sister was an English teacher, but her English was in fact quite lacking. Nothing could be done with her. She accompanied us to their brother's school, where he said "hi" for 5 minutes between classes. Then we dropped the sister off and went home.
That night, YeXuan asked me to give the US$100 bill to her mother. I again refused. Then later she suggested using the Internet (to me, a staggering possibility given our remoteness). I agreed and took advantage of online translation software to explain in no uncertain terms that I wanted neither sex nor divestment of my US dollars -- though I was happy to repay their hospitality. She didn't read the whole thing, but this would nonetheless seem to confirm any lingering doubt that this was about money, for the next morning I was put on a bus to WuHan, HuBei's capital. I felt of mixed mind about giving something in return for the excellent treatment I received, but in light of evidence about the family (or at least YeXuan's) motivation, I gave cigarettes (5 packs) instead of cash. They are valuable (for smoking or for selling), but not to me. As my book suggested, I had bought a box of cigarettes to give away as diplomacy -- but a box was way too many, and even now I have some cigarettes left.
In WuHan, I set myself to recovering from my cold. I found a room with shared bath for Y35/night, and when I felt well enough to travel I bought a night-train ticket to Shanghai. I went exploring, taking a ferry across Chang Jiang (AKA the Yangtze River) and visiting some bookstores. I picked up a Chinese (printing, not language) edition of "Invisible Man" for Y20, and a Y1.6 pen. I allowed 1 hour and 50 minutes to get to the train, but it was not enough -- the checkout procedure was insanely complicated (because of the pen, not the book), which required me to wait in line 4 different times. Even so, I had more than 90 minutes left when I got out. But in WuHan's strange transportation world, it was not enough to make the 6 kilometers to the train station, and I missed my train by perhaps 80 seconds. (memo to self: China Rail runs about 2 minutes fast.) Worse, as a result of running for the train with my 15kg pack, I managed to restore my cold. Moreover, I had to pay Y109 to the rail company for my irresponsibility.
Distracted by my newly returned cold, I foolishly booked a train the next day. In fact, it would have been wiser to recover (again) before heading to Shanghai. Alas, by the time I thought of this, the railway had tired of me and would allow no more changes. Fortunately, I found a very comfortable hotel with private bath for Y50, that allowed me to stay in bed until my afternoon train.
I thankfully arrived in Shanghai in the morning, for it took me quite a long time (partly because of my condition) to find a place to stay. Eventually I ended up paying Y130 for a single room with private bath at the foreign students' housing at a Shanghai university. That was good for recovery and one of the cheaper places in my book, but by chance I came upon a very well-furnished (and new) hostel that had dorm beds for Y50 (if you have the IYHA card). Once I felt well enough I moved to the (fully booked) dorm, where I stay now.
Somewhat surprisingly, Shanghai has been rather uneventful. Sure, I've spent lots of time sightseeing and had a good time, but I haven't picked up many stories to tell. This feels rather ironic to me, but it feels good to be here. The most I can report is having bought new shoes and gloves.
To summarize, China was a very difficult place for me to visit. It took a lot of time and effort to find budget accommodation, and transportation and food were not trivial either -- though for the most part not worth writing stories here. China would have been much easier and cheaper to visit with a traveling partner, partly because I often had to purchase a multi-bed room anyhow, but partly because the stress of dealing with everything at once was often unpleasantly high. Not very many Chinese speak English, and there's only so much you can say through a phrasebook. People were very often unsupportive. So despite the strange social occasions you might see here I was frequently lonely.
I feel much better about the next two countries, Korea and Japan, because I have lots of contacts in both. I'm not sure about Southeast Asia, but I think I'll definitely want a partner for Cambodia and Vietnam, at a minimum. If you're interested in having a few adventures together, drop me a line. My schedule is mildly flexible.
Even if you're not up to joining me on this trip, drop me a line anyway. Stories from home help me deal with being so far away, so send 'em on over. Soon (perhaps tomorrow) I'll leave China for Korea, so if you're a friend I picked up on the way, your stories are valuable too.
In any case, Thanks for reading.
-Ian
