Looming giants

We survived. We survived the train ride and were a little worse for wear. We arrived in Guilin and stayed for about an hour while we waited for the bus that was late. More people were taking pictures of us but at this point we were used to it. Ho hum, life of a superstar.

Our bus driver keeps falling asleep. I did not plan on dying this way. We tell Howard who gallantly sits up front and talks to him, keeping him awake for the rest of the hours drive.

We're driving among these limestone karst mountains and agriculture fields. It's foggy but freaking warm. Beautiful.

Our hotel is less than beautiful. It's confusing. The elevator is small but we're on the second floor, so it doesn't matter. We can take the stairs up. On the second floor the layout is a mess. The rooms are in no particular order and it's entirely possible the halls zig zag. Nothing makes sense. The rooms are also damp.

Tonight's activity is going for a float down the Li River. As I am not keen on boats, I opt out and instead choose to familiarize myself with the city. It's fairly tourist friendly; there are two main streets - one that runs the length of the city and is full of restaurants and higher end shops, and West Street (Xi Jie), which is full of restaurants and shops and people and racism. It is bright and colourful and loud. There is music and people and food everywhere.  There are signs all over the place that say, "No Japanese" or "We don't serve Japanese" or "20 yuen, 50 yuen for Japanese". No one is really able to tells us why there is so much blatant racism.

We learn here that you negotiate for everything that doesn't have a printed price. Tonight we only come away with silk wine bottle covers made like traditional Chinese clothing.

Our trip the following day took us on a bike ride through rice paddies.

My bike has petal pedals!

The scenery in these parts is absolutely stunning.
It's still foggy but it is very warm. It is also muddy. So much so that it is six months later and my shoes still have orange Chinese dirt on them.

The sphere in the middle is made from limestone. It was formed by currents and glaciers and rocks when this area was under the ocean.

 "Silence is beautiful and needs no explanation."

We came on an ancient (by Canadian standards, about 300 years old) water wheel. We knew Americans had been there because, as it is said, there is a sign for a reason:

 

 Ash from Team Australia tried to catch one. He wasn't successful. They ganged up on him.

After this we were STARVING so we went back to Xie Jie and ate and ate and ate.

 "What counts is the desire to transmit. As I would like to see your face delighted."

On a baby bottle full of yogurt.

We also shopped.
We used our best negotiating skills here and I think I won. I pulled the Cancer Card and got mom a North Face jacket that would cost $350 in Canada for $35. Take that, cancer.

Hi Nana!

Next: Damn that's fast!

not enough positive spin

Xian to Yangshou.
Eighteen and a half hours on a train. Nineteen? Long enough. Too long.
Once again I am super thankful for my air mattress.

Before each train ride, we make a swing by the grocery store for provisions as there are limited ones on the train; occasionally a cart will come by, and there's boiling water in each car. So we stock up on snacks. We have eaten many strange things including mango chips (potato chips that taste like "mango"), cucumber chips (that was a bad decision), Texas BBQ chips, all of the flavours of Pocky, so many flavours of Oreos, and every possible flavour of noodles.

In case you thought we were staying in luxury digs, I present to you the bunks. Yes, that backpack is all I took.  

 The train company provides a nice, clean, warm comforter and a way too soft pillow.

Team Canada and half of Team UK.

There is no entertainment on the trains unless you bring it. I have my tablet so I have books and games. I also have my charger. 

Team Germany has stopped by Innisfree and purchased  many beauty products including eye thingies and several masks. Team Australia is all over this. 

I will say the trains are a lot quieter than I expected. They sell about as good as I expected. You're not allowed to smoke in the cars, but you can smoke between them - and there is no physical barrier between cars. So all night long it smells like smoke. Others noticed bugs and stuff but with my sleep mask and air mattress I was out like a light.

Nineteen hours on a train is a very long time. We were looking up flights before we left the hotel and Team Canada was within minutes of booking them. They were fairly inexpensive. We opted not to because we didn't want to be the only white people in Barn In A Chinese Field Airport. This will stand as a regret. 

For a portion of the trip, we are asleep. This is a great portion. This was probably the best part. The rest? Wide awake. Daylight. No sleep. And this was a long ass time, probably half the trip. We did not anticipate this so when we disembarked, we were all a bit punchy.

Next: Would you like good news or bad news?

Sipping on whiskey

Today is the day that Leonard Cohen died.
Team Canada is more upset about this than Team Rest of The World.

It is very warm here, almost too warm for jeans. I did check the general forecast before I left but didn't bargain on bright ass sun for the majority of the trip.

Shanghai is a lot more "western" than the rest of China. We're not photographed near as much here. Not a complaint, simply an observation we all made.

Team Canada ventured to People's Park to experience the Marriage Market.
The Marriage Market is where parents of unmarried young adults - those 25 year old spinsters - gather to find spouses for their children.

There are literally thousands of people here.

All of them are serious about finding a suitor.

We are the only white folk so we stand out.
They don't like you taking pictures so we had to get creative.

 

 For example, this is not a picture of umbrellas with marriage resumes on them. Nope. It is a picture of Sonya and a really nifty pink metal sculpture.

On each umbrella is a resume listing the ancient spinster's age, date of birth, education, occupation, Chinese zodiac sign, height, family values, and contact information. Some of them have pictures.

There are literally hundreds of these, possibly a thousand or more. It's amazing. The parents walk around and meet with other parents and see if their aged and decrepit children in their early-mid 20s will be matches.

We returned to the group for a walk along the Bund River with views of downtown Shanghai.

Downtown Shanghai is not older than me, which is very strange. All the buildings are very modern.

The building that looks like a beer bottle opener is a big Fuck You from the Japanese who designed it. When the sun rises, it comes up exactly in the middle of the rectangle, creating the Japanese flag. Apparently rivalries are a big deal in the far east.

There is a building deigned to look just like the Empire State Building in NYC.

I can see it.

Next: Trains and regret.

Don't talk to the weirdo

We arrive at the train station and are greeted by a "weirdo", as Harold put it.
He was very animated and insistent on talking to the white people though Howard was having none of it. "Don't talk to the weirdo, get your bags let's go!!"

We overnight trained to Shanghai.
Arriving mid-morning was something spectacular. The sky was blue, the buildings were magnificent and the taxi-drivers were abusive.
Team Canada got into a cab and Quebec handed the driver (who had already spoken with Howard) a piece of paper with the hotel address on it. He wouldn't take it. She pointed to the meter to indicate we would pay by meter and he slapped her hand away. Okay then.

The cab took a turn into a sketchy neighbourhood and we thought we'd been taken for a ride because of Quebec's actions. We're talking plastic sheeting over bamboo scaffolding on unfinished buildings, in what looks like an outskirts of downtown businessy kind of place. High rise office buildings, car parks, nothing to indicate anything touristy. We pull into a high rise office building and stay in the cab because of the whole "not speaking the language" thing in case we were in the wrong spot. Nothing about this seems right. We're about to use precious mobile data to call Howard when another team pulled up behind us, and another.  Okay. Apparently we're staying in an office building.
We learn it is not uncommon for companies to have hotels attached to their office buildings which tells me a lot about the work ethic. We also learn a lot about how much companies care for their employees via a sign in the lobby:

A kind rating.

We spend the day shopping on Nanjing Road. There are several major brands here and a LOT of people. We make our way to the Pearl Market, which is inside a building and full of shops with little more than pearls. Every shop has many of the same things but I managed to find one unique ring for Mom. They will even custom make you things but I opted to go with what I had. Everything is negotiable here and we spent a little money on a lot of product.

James got in on it too.

We spent the rest of the day walking around and enjoying Shanghai. We were photographed a lot less and there were more white people.

Next: Shanghai Day Two!

Boy Horses and Girl Horses

This is Harold. He's been our guide and he's awesome.

He has been as concerned for James and his comfort and enjoyment as he has for everyone else's. He wanted a selfie with him to send to his wife.

Today, we are at Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses. We have recovered enough from our dumpling binge to be able to walk. Somehow.

In 1974, farmers in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province were digging for a well. What they found instead was an entire army to protect Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. There are thought to be more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses.

I don't know what the camera is looking at.

 The sheer size of the place is overwhelming. There are four pits (so far) where the army has been found.  Inside each one are rammed earth walls creating corridors where the armies stand in formation.

Inside each pit it is crowded. We're almost the only white people there. Chinese tend to see China first and then travel to other countries. I like that idea. 

The pits all spell damp and earthen. Despite the crowds, it isn't very noisy. There are people trying to hustle you in to buying things at the entrances but they go away if you ignore them.  There are signs along the way talking about the history of not only the army but the archaeological dig as well.

Not even sorry, China.
 

 

Each warrior is hand carved; the bodies are all the same depending on their rank but each face is different. Theory states that the carvers started by modelling them on the guy next to him, then on family members, that one guy in town, the grocer, and so on. Many of them held wooden and metal weaponry which has since either been collected (metal) or biodegraded (wood). 

This is where science happens! In the spring and summer, archaeologists and students continue to dig and study the figures. This is very much an active site.

"There are boy horses and there are girl horses," says Sonia, mother on Team Canada, after reading a sign.

"How do you know which is which?" asks her daughter.

"Well," I reply, "Boy horses have tails. Girl horses do not."

Pits two and three are less developed than pit one. They show a better idea of the architecture of the funerary tomb and the destruction that centuries have caused to the warriors.

The site covers a very large area and is mostly undiscovered. This diorama gives an idea of what they've found and how they think the rest of it looks.

To the surprise of no one, the area is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Of the numerous UNESCO sites I've been to, a) this was the first one I've been to on purpose, and b) this one is the most done up. In this area was a museum with more artifacts and information. And western toilets! This part was very exciting. As we waited for the others, half of Team Canada gave the other half of Team Canada a lesson in squat toilets and how to use them.

We returned to Xian proper and walked around. It is a very lovely, very busy city.

We went to the Bell Tower and I can admit to losing my patience - we were on a time limit and some people didn't respect that, all in the name of getting a good picture.

Beautiful? Yes. Worth the anxiety over nearly missing our ride to the train station? Maybe.

Next: Shanghai!

Of dumplings and odoriferous regrets

Over night on the train on my comfortable (and enviable) air mattress and we are in Xian, China.
Xian is a beautiful walled city that also happens to be the home town of our guide.

After checking in to the hotel, our first order of business is a walk in the Muslim market.

The market is full of smells, people, food, and merchandise. All manner of Things can be bought here but we choose to stick with the food. So much food was consumed from persimmon cakes to so many dumplings and so much meat on a stick. I don't know what half the meat was but since it was from the Muslim market I know it wasn't anything strange or what we would keep as a pet. Everything was cooked right in front of you over open flame/in hot oil. It was fresh, fast, and cheap. And delicious.

It also smelled.
Hundreds of stalls cooking hundreds of dishes over open flame/in hot oil, some smog, and a lack of garbage cans, plus the fact that everyone here in China smokes, and things smell. I regret not bringing a Safeway bag to put my clothes in. The clothes I wore this day managed to stink up everything else in my bag.

We discovered an interesting cross-cultural translation.
Washroom.
Team Canada needed to find a washroom as we were making our way back to the hotel.
A member of Team Australia overheard and asked if they could put some clothes in too.
Team Canada wanted to pee.
Team Australia wanted to do laundry.
Only Team Canada came out as winners on this day.

Our group split up at night. 2/3 of Team USA, 1/2 of Team Canada and 1/4 of Team Australia went to a cultural show.
There were dumplings.

So many dumplings.
They were served with a traditional alcohol I didn't get the name of. It was warm, smelled like yeast but tasted like cider. I think it could also cure blindness.

We were treated to several acts of dancers telling the story of the Tang dynasty, ancient rulers of China in the ancient capital of China. It was very well done. The screen behind the performers was an LED screen and kept changing with each story.

Next: Well, there are girl horses and there are boy horses....

Animal killing room

After Forbidden City, we took the Metro in Beijing for the first time.
If there is anything I love, it is an efficient transit system. Beijing has this in spades. It is clean (remarkably so), safe and not near as crowded as you would think. Signs are in English and Chinese and the maps are clearly displayed with obvious YOU ARE GOING THIS DIRECTION marks on them. On the actual trains, the stops light up on maps above the doors so you know what the next stop is. There are many hand straps to hold on to (you're probably not getting a seat unless you're old or pregnant).

We are lead to a Peking duck restaurant. I've never had any kind of duck so I don't know what to expect.
Inside the restaurant, we're lead further and further back, through at least three hallways and up a set of stairs. Initially I think they're putting us in the back because we're a large group but all of the rooms we pass seem more than capable of holding large groups. It dawns on me that we're being put in the far back because we are a large group of white people. Interesting.

In case you're wondering, yes that is the head of the duck on a plate in front of me. Brains, beak and all. Can you guess what I did not eat?
The meal was an excellent birthday meal. I may or may not have duck again.

The Temple of Heaven is very crowded.
In China, the mandatory retirement age is 60 (55 for women). That's still very young and people are left with nothing to do while they receive their pension. You can't go back to work, or do any kind of work (go to the family farm, for instance). Old people are left to gather wherever they can in order to pass the time.

Lining the path leading to the Temple grounds, people gather to play card games, dominoes or any number of games. There are a lot of people, everyone happy and having fun.

 We arrived a couple of hours before sunset. I've never really understood why it is called the "Golden Hour" until this trip. Not just because of how the sun reflected off the copious amounts of gold paint used, but how the light made the other colours pop.

In a lot of the parks/public places we go, we see people practising Pai Da, a form of Tai Chi. This is really interesting to watch - there is some kind of chant element to it and the tapping. It reminded me of line dancing!

Tonight we get on an aptly named night train.
I had done my research ahead of time to understand what "hard sleeper" meant. Me not getting a good night's sleep affects everyone. I purchased a Sea to Summit UltraLight Mat and I am glad I did. It blows up and deflates quickly, is very comfortable and is basically an inflatable  spring cell mattress. It rolls up to the size of a water bottle and weighs almost nothing. (I'm not being paid by them, I just really love the product).

On the train we are divided in to compartments. Howard divides us up into teams and does his best to keep people travelling together, together.
Sonia, Renee, Jackie and I are put in one car and are called Team Canada.
Ash from Team Australia remarks that we can talk about bacon and maple syrup all night. I reply that Team Australia can throw another shrimp on the barbie.

Team Canada does not talk about bacon and maple syrup.
After we stack our snacks on the table in the compartments (there are six bunks in a compartment with three bunks. The top bunks are occupied by Chinese travellers who basically ignore us. I don't know how this is possible because we are rather loud! Everything is funny.
The trains have an aisle with folding tables on the wall. People are sitting here and texting, doing whatever on their phones, reading, writing, and so on. The compartments don't have a lot of floor space, so Jackie is sticking her ass in the aisle each time she gets something out of her backpack (frequently for the first half an hour). There is a Chinese guy checking out her ass each time and we're laughing about it.
At one point, there is a hunt for a western toilet. One is found but the sanitary conditions are not ideal. Jackie asks her mother for the wipes for her face, "and also for your genitals". Apparently, the ones for your face cannot be used on your genitals because they say "face" on them and not "genitals". The genital ones don't say "genitals" either but that's not the point. Over the course of our laughter, genitals turns to "petunia" and stay there for the rest of the trip.

16 hours later, we arrive in Xian, China.