China - A Note From Abby

Dear China,

Please rewind about 40 years and stop building.

Hugs & Kisses,

Abby

PS: stop spitting.

Welcome to the land of “special price for you”, endless tea shops, big and shiny buildings, overdevelopment, spitting at a constant rate, knock offs of literally everything imaginable (this includes cars and stores aka Wu Mart), smoking as if it’s going out of style and, last but definitely not least, mass pollution to the extent that you cannot see the mountains only 200 metres above you. Aside from all of the obvious things, an ancient and traditional culture continues to thrive – but only if you look hard enough. You have to venture into the small alleys and smoky shops filled with elderly mah jong players. If you can manage it, get out to the countryside where the last remaining traditional villages are located. It seems as if everything “traditional” or “ancient” was already discovered in China and it now resembles more of an amusement park. We continue to search for rural, but it is not easy. I once read another traveler’s opinion that China should be named after Disney. It would be more accurately named “EuroDisney, an amusement park that is ultimately a disappointment when compared to the real thing - Disney World”. That is the best description of most of China’s once-steeped-in-culture towns. Even though it seems that most of China is overly developed and aimed at tourists, it continues to be a place of fascination and discovery for us. People continue to stare or ask to take pictures with us and I am not sure where else you can order a sea horse on a stick. This country and its people are so very different from anything else I have experienced, making every day a true adventure. The people are generally warm and friendly, although they can border on rude and annoy you to your very core if allowed to do so. I believe that the last two descriptions are based on cultural differences. In America and most other countries I’ve visited, people don’t race to be first on the bus/train, as if it is the last bus/train out of Vietnam. The people border on frantic when it comes to transportation and queues. I get the idea of no personal space, but the franticness continues to amuse me. Somehow reminds me a little of Godzilla minus the Japanese.

Sometimes I feel that I am missing the “real” China, but if I try, it can still be seen every day. Like when I fly down the new mega highway in my comfy tourist class coach bus, I can spot a man walking on the side of the highway with a bamboo stick over his shoulder, balancing a load on either side. The old and new civilizations live side by side in China’s 21^st century. In fact, there are many paradoxes in China which one can ponder while observing everyday life here. For instance, how can you dress your pet dog in cute little sweaters, shoes and bows, yet *eat* dog? On a side note… Being an animal lover, I can’t stand to see animals abused. I realize it happens all over the world, but I can’t bear to see it. Most people in China abuse their animals, even though they spend all this time dressing them up so cutesy. It is something which bothers me to no end. Now back to my list of paradoxes. Chinese people are traditionally ‘healthy’, what with their mass consumption of tea, active and meditative lifestyle (kung fu, etc) and diet. Why, then, do they smoke SO much? I am telling you, I have never seen people smoke so much. I have visited many countries that have a large population of smokers and a culture which does not view it as a serious health hazard like they do in the States or Canada, but nothing compares to what I see in China. It is really incredible. I am most certain that our risk of lung or throat or whatever cancer has increased significantly during our time here.

Something that we did not realize before: China has a massive domestic tourism market. And they always travel in groups, usually wearing matching Burberry “styled” caps and following a guide hooked up with a mic and waving a flag. This can be quite annoying because there are so many of them, but it is also almost always entertaining.

newspaper delivery

We try the local foods in each city we visit. In Xi’an, where noodles are the famed fare due to the inland location of the province (rice is not easy to grow), we munched on the “longest noodle in the world”, a whopping 3.8 metres or 11 feet long. Xi’an also marks the spot of the end of the Silk Road. The Muslim community continues to thrive in the Muslim quarter of Xi’an. These Muslims are quite different from the Muslims of the Middle East, as they are not fundamental Muslims. Luckily, though, they still have their own unique food. We spent the better half of a day wandering around the Muslim area, sampling their foods and visiting their stalls/shops. Kunming of Yunnan province, the next city on our list, is famous for across-the-bridge or over-the-bridge noodles. This is a most interesting dining experience. You show up to one of these places (which looks more like a cafeteria) and line up at the first window where you point to something on the menu. We made our choice according to the price which we assumed represented the size of the dish. You pay and take a ticket. You can then visit the next stall (sometimes it is outside) and pick a few side dishes if you want. We chose spicy potatoes. You are then led upstairs to a dining area and met by a chef who places in front of you a bowl of steaming broth, a bowl of noodles, something resembling meat, an egg yolk and garnishes. The “chef” plops the noodles in the bowl, rubs the egg yolk over the meat and continues to dish that into the bowl of now steaming noodles. You can then stir in your side dishes (spicy potatoes for us). This was an interesting and fun experience, but let me give you a little background information. Because I chose a medical major during my first year in college, I experienced many labs where I dissected cats among other animals. Unfortunately, the meat served at the noodles place too closely resembled the cats I once dissected, so I refused to let the “chef” put the meat in my bowl. Vegetarian is the way to go! They must think I’m crazy, turning down meat which is expensive for them, but at least I can rest assured that I didn’t consume any cat that day. Igor wasn’t as lucky =)

And a side note about food. There are days when we can never seem to be satiated. Maybe it’s because we rarely get to eat fruits and veggies, something we just recently began to do again (we weren’t sure about the water). Sometimes we kind of run out of money for the day (because we’ve eaten three times that day) or can’t find anywhere to eat. This is when I turn to my new go-to food: Oreos. They call me Diabeto… I literally survived off Chinese Oreos and coca cola for a couple days. I picked up this habit during long bus rides or train rides during our travels when there is no access to food. Simple sugars can keep your blood sugar up for short periods of time. No, I’m not a fat Westerner, I’m just always hungry. I swore off Oreos the other day after I found myself in bed, surrounded by cookie crumbs and I wasn’t sure how I got there. I miss them.

Family dinner

Anyways. We are now in Lijiang, further north in Yunnan province. We are as close to Tibet as we’ll get on this trip. I have been dying to get to Tibet, but we have to shelf that idea for a later time. At least there is Tibetan food on offer around here. Many Naxi people live here, also. They look like Native Americans and have a completely different culture and way of life from the Han Chinese. They also have their own style of food and cooking. They seem to specialize in types of breads, dried or jerky meats and more insects. They also have cool soups, cheese and different forms of potato. Noodles are still big here as they are in most of Yunnan province, but they are rice noodles aka noodles made from rice. Pretty tasty.

Something I don’t want to forget to share. The babies here are adorable. They are just so cute and sweet. People here seem to cherish their kids for the most part. It’s nice to see. I think it’s the whole one child policy thing. I noticed this especially in Beijing, where they really push (even advertise) giving preference to children and pregnant women, such as giving a child or prego your seat, etc. It seems that the whole family shares in raising the child. Many times I see the Grandpa or Grandma tending to the kids, cuddling them or playing with them. For as much as a developing country that is China, this is really refreshing.

The big sights in China have been pretty underwhelming. I think the countryside or nature is so much better. Beijing’s Forbidden City, Tianamen Sq, Summer Palace, Lama Temple and so on were cool to see, but really not breathtaking. Similarly, the Terracotta warriors were pretty neat to see in person, but just not amazing. However, the scenery here is stunning. We visited Mt Hua Shan, which is just a 2 hour bus ride from Xi’an. Wow. Amazing mountain with lots of ancient Taoist temples nestled throughout. We hiked for about 5 hours up and down the peaks, reaching over 2,000m in height. The views were lush. Our drive from Lijiang’s airport was also beautiful. I think it’s the mountains. Or maybe it’s the people tending the rice fields with baby’s strapped to their backs. Or perhaps it’s the combination of the two. Either way, the scenery is intoxicating and we are looking forward to taking in more of it when we visit Dali, Guilin, Shaxi, Yanghsou and other “green” places.

Hua Shan

Oh and about Mt Hua Shan. It is the famed “most dangerous mountain in Asia” where many Chinese have died attempting the hike. Luckily the safety measures have improved and we didn’t see any real issues while climbing. But Igor did break a toe or two after jumping off a rock and landing on another, not so even rock (I slid down this rock because I am not crazy). The force of the impact must have done it. Luckily, it’s not a displaced fracture and it only needed some ice, elevation, random Chinese medicine and rest. We visited a Chinese pharmacy in search of something to rub on the toes. We ended up with Igor taking his shoe and sock off and showing it to a pharmacist and some curious onlookers. We left the store with what we later determined to be anti fungal creme. Looking at his two or three toes which were then solid purple and swollen, they must have thought he had some sort of crazy infection. The toes are continuing to heal and the swelling has left now. We even purchased traveler’s insurance two days prior to the incident, just in case. I’d say that was a good move :]

On a more personal note. The hubster and I began our relationship while traveling together, so we are not entirely unused to this way of life. And we share a passion for travel and discovery. But that does not mean it is always easy. When you’re exhausted, hungry, uncomfortable, a little freaked out, suffering from indigestion or maybe a little homesick or maybe all of these at once (it happens), it can be tricky. But at the end of the day, we are living out our dreams with our soul mate and it is really amazing (yes yes, as corny as that sounds). Even if our double en suite is an open en suite aka no bathroom door. Just means we know each other a little better now. I am really thankful for this special time together, getting to enjoy each other. And we have so much fun together. What a great way to spend our first year of married life. Life is good and we are truly blessed.

So back to the culture, society, people… There’s a lot of spitting. Just hacking up a loogie, so to speak. I’m pretty sure that’s not even a word, but I have no idea how else to explain this. It has taken some getting used to. Also, the babies don’t wear diapers. Instead, they have a huge slit down the crotch of their pants and their little bums hang out. I guess if they need to go, they just go. Right on the street or whatever. Different. Also, the women here sit like they’re about to do bicep curls. And the men carry purses, usually a variety of faux Louis Vuittons. We have also become very good with sign language. Well, mainly Igor has become very good with sign language. Like telling the taxi driver that we want to be driven to the airport with a swoosh of a hand and the sound the plane makes when it takes off. Or when we want to look at a menu before sitting down at a restaurant. Many people surprisingly do not know the word “menu”, so we make eating motions with our hands. Our English has become ridiculously basic as we mainly communicate with other people in incorrect English, such as “I want tea” while making drinking motions, or “take to train station”. Sometimes, this whole process is simply exhausting and I crave Cracker Barrel and America. But it is totally worth it.

We have adjusted to many of the cultural differences and the way of life in China. It was a bit of a learning curve at first, but once you adjust and accept, the real love affair with this country begins. Or at least that is how it happened for me. I can’t pinpoint the exact reason why I have fallen for this country. My hope is to identify this by the conclusion of our trip here, but if I can’t, it just means that we must return soon. 

 

Chinglish

While we may have visited too late in order to see much of the “real” China, I am thankful to have visited before every last inch of this beautiful country becomes completely entrenched in tourism and development and before each one of the 1.6 billion (and growing) Chinese have personally seen a Westerner. There is still much to be discovered in China and I have no doubt in my mind that it will soon be discovered, the local ethnic people will resort to peddling “minority goods”, performing their traditional dances for the loads of tourists and five star hotels and airports will be built on top of the original village. The new village will of course be reconstructed to resemble the previous, signs in Chinglish will be posted and shops selling $5 cups of coffee will appear.