Kina 2001

In autumn 2001 I went to southern China on a trip organised by Läs och Res. The trip was a gift to myself after my dissertation. After having read a book on China and studied a list on pronounciation according to pin yin I had a better feeling for what I was about to do, and it looked very promising! Five days prior to my dissertation Läs och Res held a seminar on China and the trip. More importantly I got to meet my travel companions, all 15. On the eleventh of october I went to Stockholm to get into the asiatic spirit at the East Asian Museum.

We arrived in Beijing at noon. All of us were a bit groggy after the flight. Almost immediately the smell of pit coal struck us. It was to be our companion in all cities we visited. We took a sorely needed shower and dashed of to the Palace of Heaven This huge park with temples was built so that one guy, the emperor, could pray for a good good harvest.

During our stay in Beijing we went for walkies around the neighborhood, which hasnÕt been torn down yet, near our hotel, we went to the modern shopping malls (with western prices, hence not many Chinese customers). Of course we made it to some of the more prominent spots like the Great Wall, Tian Men Square, the Summer Palace, the Ritan and Bei Hai parks, an acrobatics show and Beijing Opera.

For little over one and a half day we went by train down south west to Kai Li. In the cabin next to mine were a bunch of PhD students going to a conference on material sceince (my major at Uni) in Kun Ming (yet half a day away). Apart from our guides and some shop keepers in Yang Shuo these were the only Chinese in mainland China that I was able to have a conversation with in English. I had brought some maps and brochures on Sweden with me, of course they were in Chinese! They can be bought from the Sweden Bookshop.

Kai Li was our starting point for the trek in the Miao country side. Everywhere in China a road or a house or something else is being built, Kai Li was not an exception. Although the odour of sulphur was more prominent in Kai Li.

Those us with a fear of heights thanked the weather gods for covering the steep hills in clouds on our way up and down in a small bus and narrow roads on our way to the Miao country side. A lot of walking up and down, nothing too hard, although definitely not for couch potatoes. It was fairly obvious that foreigners arenÕt very common in these parts. The kids scream both afraid and delighted by the sight of those strange people, i.e. us. Many come up to us and stand next to us and compare their and our heights. IÕm 193 cm (6 foot 4) . We pass by rice pads, people carrying light and heavy loads, houses in different stages of construction and decay, markets where you can buy anything from vegetables to candy to lighters to kids unforms to piglets (in a convenient basket) to water buffaloes. Most of the people we meet and ate at and stayed at are Miao, one of the minorites in China. Although they are more numerous than Swedes in Sweden they are only a fraction of the Chinese population.

Rather pleased with our experiences so far we departed for Chong Qing, to enjoy hot pot and a river cruise along Chang Jiang. We only stayed for one day in Chong Qing and only had time for a very foggy outlook, but the this city is famed for its fog, and a museum were the guides rushed us past the exhibits and took us straight to the souvenir shop. Of course we also made time for an internetcafe to send away some emails.

On theriver cruise we went by secoond class. Third class is not to be recommended. When we didnÕt look at the sights we played mah jong under the supervision of some Chinese travelers. Althugh, they seemed to have a different approach to the game. Acording to them only mah jong counts, they didnÕt seem to bother about the other point you may collect. At least thatÕs what I gathered from they sighs, approvals and hand waving. They didnÕt speak English, we didnÕt speak Chinese.

The river cruise began in fog that changed into heavy rain during the night and ended up in sunny weather the last half day. When we reach Yichang we definitely feel tanned and eager to do some serious walking.

After some travelling by bus and train we reach Zhangjiajie were we spend the night before entering the national park Wulingyuan. After the dinner in Zhangjiajie we got photographed with a bunch of Chinese in all sorts of combinations. It seems that the proprietors of the restaurant and the nearby shops and massage parlors wants photos of us and them in front of their shops etc. But also some private photos are taken. Some Chinese guys seemed a bit reluctant to be photographed next to us tall guys, or were they just shy? Most of girls didnÕt have that problem.

The Miao country side appear almost flat compared to Wulingyuan. Huge differences in elevation, a lot of stairs and wodnerful views over the giant stone pillars that are characteristic to Wulingyuan. They are also referred to asGolden Whips as the Chinese sound for whip is similar to another erect word. The shy Chinese often use these paraphrases, e.g. aphrodisiacs are often given names such as "Double Whip Potion".

In Feng Huang we stayed at the cosiest hotel during this trip. A more traditionally styled house with a nice court yard. As we arrived one Chinese boy thought that a Chinese girl was tall (he stood next to her pointing) so I (193 cm - 6 foot 4) stepped up next to him and dwarfed him, he looked a bit embarrased. The girl smiled at me and the owner raised her thumbs. The old city core is if not entirely intact at least partly restored. Many nice little alleys too wander about on. One of the more internetcafe dense cities we visited. A lot of arts students come to this town to practise their arts, minly painting. We went to another Miao market, the Qiliang cave and to a local hospital with our guide Hua as a patient. ItÕs a bit odd that doors to the observation and treatment rooms arenÕt closed.

As we left Beijing we hardly saw any foreigners other than us. That ended when we came to Yang Shuo, appointed a back packers paradise by Lonely Planet. Thus it was full of tourist, both day tourist and people like us. The day tourists usually came by boat from Guilin stopped over for an hour or so for some shopping and then back with bus. I actually stepped out of the Chinese frame and had some pan pizza, almost embarrasing but good. Here they have built a street (the western street) for the sole purpose of accomodating all the tourist with souvenir shops and western style resturants.

We took a short boat trip along the Li-river. We made back just in time before the boat race from Guilin caught up on us. The trip on bicycle on the country side among rice pads, tile factories, sugar top hills, Moon Hill and a hand powered ferry was the best part of Yang Shuo. I made most of the shopping inYang Shuo. Although I might as well have done it in the other places we went to. Even though it was easier to haggle here, or rather they were more willing to haggle here. The starting prices was slighlty highe here. Although many things were so cheap from the start that it didnÕt seem worthwhile to haggle.

The boat we were meant to take to Kanton was cancelled so our guide Hua made other arrangements which meant that we got an extra half day in Hong Kong instead of travelling which was quite a good deal. In Kanton we had to say farewell to Hua since he wasnÕt allowed to go to Hong Kong with us.

We started by going to all the markets on Kowloon: Ladies market, aquarium (great fun), sports (shoes), birds (recommended), flowers, jade, electronics and night market (next to our hotel). We spent half a day on Lamma walking around. Rolf, Anna and I managed to get away from the cemented pathways and onto some small trails. On Lamma we had an excellent sea food meal. Back over to Aberdeen with some small shipbuidling yards, up to Victoria Peak, we missed the sunset by 10 minutes although it had gone down "in a sack" so we didnÕt really miss anything.

That was that, back home to Sweden again...

A few things (to bear in mind).

The Food
was very good most of the time. Most of the time we ordered in many different dishes and shared between ourselves, just as the Chinese do. Huge servings. Most of the timne the vegetables were crisp and good tasting, the egg plant was the groups favourite. Tender meat in all sorts of tasty sauces. The Miao didnÕt spice their food during cooking, their rather spiced it with a mixture of chili, garlic, spring onion and ginger after it was cooked. Add salt if you want to. You get used to the great variety of dumpling, with or without filling, overcooked nudles (they donÕt know about "al dente"), huge "pancakes" with egg and spices, shifan (rice gruel), soy milk etc etc. But congee (glutinous rice gruel served in Hong Kong) would take forever to get used to. ItÕs very bland and they donÕt fancy spicing either with anything but salt and white pepper.

We came across various sorts of rice spirits, none of them was any good tasting. Among the Miao ca 20% and in the stores arond 53 %. Some of it had a citrus taste to it that made more bearable. The last evening in Yang Shuo we tried a variety of bamboo liquour that had a more whole bodied taste. Although that also required getting used to. It tasted like a mixture of sherry and Swedish punch with a whiff of glue.

The beer was solely a light lager type and as such quite drinkable. Once I bought mentholated water. That was a strange feeling. After each gulp I felt a gush of mentol flavour. Anyways, make sure you drink at least 2 liter per day during the treks. In the really small villages you wonÕt find any bottled water, just beer and tea.

A breakfast costs betwen 2 and 5 yuan. Lunch and dinner betwen 10 and 30 yuan mostly below 20. If you eat where the Chinese "John Doe" eats.

Of course one has to try out the domestic candy. Everything didnÕt taste all that good. Soemtimes we got our hands on real toffee. Sometimes we found "white rabbit" a white milk caramel, sort of. My favourite was the sugared coconut pieces. We sampled quite a lot of sun flower seeds. One variety was salted and roasted (?), quite nice!

Shopping
On the Great Wall each of us was followed / harassed / accompanied by a pedlar for the entire walk. I managed to get ride of mine, but soonI "got" a new one. Postcards are not easy to come by in China, if you donÕt want to "use" a pedlar. When we returned to Beijing we soon realised that it would have been a lot cheaper to buy postcards and t-shirt from the vendors at the wall compared to the ones that assaulted (sic!) us outside the temples in Beijing.

Not in all shops was it possible to haggle, i.e. in Feng Huang that was difficult, whereas in Yang Shuo it was easier even though the starting prices was slightly higher there. You should "easily" be able to manage to cut the price in half, at least. ItÕs better, for you, to haggle on one item and then decide to buy many. They donÕt understand the concept of bulk discounts, they only think you are more eager to buy if you come with many items. Thus more willing to pay a higher price for each item.

Travelling
Most of the time that was not a problem at all since our guide Hua made all the necessary arrangements. So the only thing we had to do was to tag along. Only one serious time delay, 5 hours waiting for a train. Once the train departed 15 minutes earlier! The most unpleasant was the sleep coach to Guilin, the "beds" were much to small. The trains on the other hand were very well kept, the personel folded the towels, arranged the shoes under the beds, and cleaned the floor every once in a while. The lights are out at 22:00 and after that its very quiet. The restaurant food on the train was as good as anywhere else. Although the food that was served by the ambulating vendors on the train looked a bit odd at times.

It can be a bit of problem to get anywhere if canÕt communicate with the taxi driver etc. Buses, taxis and the underground (in Beijing) are very cheap in main land China.

Accomodation
Apparently foreigners are only allowed to stay at designated hotels. The standard is higher than usual according to people that have travelled to other places with Lä och Res . In Beijing we met a bewildered guy who wasnÕt allowed in the Chinese hotels. We directed him to our hotel. Next time we saw him looked a bit fresher so he probably got accepted at last. The hotel rooms was quite similar all over China. Some times with water damages and no hot water. The beds are rock hard.

On the country side trek among the Miao we got ordinary beds, sometimes thin madrases over a layer of hay. The quilt were usually quite thick so sleepings bags werenÕt that necessary to bring. Although nowadays one can get really good low weight sleeping bags to a reasonable price. Gifts to the people we sleep or ate at are of course always welcomed. I had brought maps and brochures about Sweden in Chinese, and some Swedish coins. Maps and postcards etc seemed to be very popular because they were put up straight away. The stamps that you get on the envelopes from Lä och Res could probably also have been to be good gifts.

Internet
The internetcafes are rather abundant in mainland China and also very cheap, about 5 yuan for an hour. In Hong Kong they are very scarce. You may find an ordinary cafe that have internet connection as a service to their customers. So buy a beverage and a cookie and off you go...

Laundry
Was often done by the hotels. Albeit it may take a few days. So usually it was a good idea to hand in a laundry bag before you went out on a trek and just pick up the clean clothes when you return. If you try to do your own laundry you should allow a couple of days for drying because of the high air humidity. Thin clothes are thus preferred.

Weather
We rarely had temperatures below 10 C, except for a few chilly mornings in Beijing. Because of the high humidity it may still be a bit chilling. Otherwise we had 15 C and upwards, essentially good hiking weather. In Hong Kong the temperature hit 30 C. For most of the journey it was either cloudy or foggy. Only a few sunny days. Not much rain at all, just a few rain drops, only heavy rain three times. An earlier group apparently had rain throughout the journey, so be prepared.

Clothing
Thin fabric clothing, 3-5 changes of underwear will suffice. I brought sandals and light hikingboots, which was enough. You will spend a lot of time walking so bring comfortable shoes. A light rain coat or a poncho (about 20 yuan) or an umbrella (10 yuan) should also come in handy. Since it is so moist ordinary rain clothes will make you sweat a lot!

Appraisal
I was very pleased with the trip, and I still am. It was well paced, since you could always choose your own pace. In most instances we had a couple of days in each town to spend at our own leisure. The guide is there help you, not to drag you along in each town. If you want to see a lot of China without to much hassle this is a very good way of doing it.

As usual, if a cliché is allowed, a good mood is the best travel companion.

Johan Benesch, 2002-03-25

This is a so called "name chop" (seal). In the old days this was used to authenticate important papers and pieces of art, e.g. calligraphy. All artists had their own seal, often quite elaborate. The Chinese characters in this seal is supposed to make the sound "Johan" (pron. Yohan in English).

Last updated 2002-03-25 by Johan Benesch.