ChinaTeacher

I “LOST IT” in a sports shop earlier today.  That’s right, it’s not all fun and games when you live in a foreign country.  You try not to let the little things get to you, but sometimes….!

I was waiting in line to buy something, noting how many of the local shoppers were cutting in front of one another; in fact, one couple even had the audacity to approach the Customer Service desk and insist they be checked out there!  As for me, my line was taking forever so I switched to another one.  By the time I got to the counter, the girl said “sorry, this is for Credit Cards only”.

I started to explain about all the lines and the couple at the Customer Service desk, but realized: she didn’t have enough English to understand, and I certainly didn’t have enough Chinese to explain it all.  So I moved away, planning to join yet another line.  But then… my anger erupted – I threw my purchases on a display, yelled my head off and stomped out of the store, shaking my head as I went.  I felt so much rage – in fact it took several minutes for me to calm down again.

Generally, I walk around with a friendly look on my face, one that encourages people to say hello.  But after that incident, when a guy said “hello” to me in a supermarket a little later on, I just glared at him.

I realized I was no longer in the mood for shopping.  In fact, I started feeling quite emotional, and started to cry.  Sometimes I find it so damn difficult getting myself understood.  At times like this I just want to pack it all in and head back to Canada!

It was then that I decided, perhaps I should just head home until I was in a better frame of mind.  It’s not easy for a foreigner to get away with making such a scene – we are so easily recognized.  Hmm, I wonder if that store will ever let me shop there again? 

This kind of situation has occurred before, but usually I manage to avoid making scenes.  I do, however, go through intense feelings of frustration and anger.  They usually pass, but it takes time.  Whenever this kind of thing happens, I usually hide in my apartment until I feel better.  As a result, my students all think I am happy all the time!  Little do they know!!!

I think this kind of thing must happen to most people who live in a foreign country.  I think things slowly build up to the boiling point and finally, one small thing can just set you off. 

I just got back from a wonderful holiday to Yangshuo, a picturesque ‘backpacker haven’.  It is located a 2-hour flight west of Shanghai in Guanxi Province, 1 hr. from Guilin City.  This was my third trip to Yangshuo, so obviously I really like the place.  I first fell in love with Yangshou when I visited China as a tourist in 2003 (during SARS). 

In fact, I used this trip to get in touch with a retired Canadian couple who had given me advice back in 2004 when I was getting ready to move to China to teach.  Turns out, they are still in Yangshuo!  So, one sunny afternoon I set out to find the school where they are employed.  Luck was definitely on my side: I ran into the woman as she was walking down the street to her home – one minute later and I would have missed her entirely!  She invited me home with her, where we spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and reminiscing about things we miss from Canada, and sharing common complaints about China!

Through the course of my week there, we had lunch one day and met up for dinner 2-3 different times with some of their teacher friends, including another couple from Canada.  By the time I left Yangshuo, I truly felt I was leaving some good friends behind.  But that’s what Yangshuo is all about.  This town is so small that you keep running into the same people.  So, you might as well say hello and get to know them!

There really is something for everyone in Yangshuo.  When I was first teaching in China, I remember persuading a young colleague of mine (24 year-old male) to go to Yangshuo with me for our one-week October vacation.  Obviously he doubted that taking a vacation with someone twice his age would be much fun.  However, we wound up spending 6 wonderful days in Yangshuo and even tried to squeeze in a little extra time, by booking the overnight bus on our very last day, rather than wasting the day travelling.  Our hope was that it would get us back to school just in time for classes the next day (it didn’t – we got held up assisting another broken down bus).  But, hey, it was still worth it!

My colleague and I met up most evenings for dinner, but apart from that, we went our separate ways during the day.  Early on, he made friends with a group of young people and spent most of the week with them, hiking, biking, rockclimbing, rafting and so on.  As for me, I spent the week socializing with people I met on the street (a lot of foreign teachers were around at that time), shopping, reading used English books in the cafes, biking in the countryside and so on.

This time around in Yangshuo, I decided to learn the fine art of Chinese ink painting, and master the game of Mahjong (hey, it’s not so difficult after all!).  I also enjoyed a few massages, and visited a small town in the countryside called Xingping.  The scene shown on China’s 20 RMB note is from there (see photo).

Most people are really friendly in Yangshuo, whether they are tourists or locals.  One evening I spotted a young fellow taking a photo of who, I thought, was his girlfriend.  As is my usual practice, I stopped and asked if I could help by taking a photo of them together.  Turns out, they were both solo travelers who had met at their hostel.  They had then decided to spend the day together.  The fellow, a sales manager from Guangzhou, said they were on their way for dinner, asking if I would join them.  The three of us had a wonderful time exploring the town for a suitable eatery, and finally settling on a barbecue restaurant set up in what is used, by day, as the town’s food market – they cleaned it up quite well for evening’s use, I must say!  We had great fun on West Street after dinner, shopping for a winter jacket for him and driving the salesgirls absolutely crazy!

I also made friends with Lisa, a girl operating the tourist information booth next to my hotel – this is also where I booked my tickets to Impression Sanjie Liu.  It is a show produced and directed by renowned film director, Zhang Yimou (of Beijing’s Olympics Opening Ceremonies, the Movies “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers”).  Lisa is a real sweetheart and would often call out to me when I passed by her booth.  Needless to say, I was always ready to sit and chat.  One evening, she was outside when I arrived; she asked me where I was going.  “Just for a walk”, I said.  She asked if she could join me since her shift was up.  We had a nice long walk and it was clear that she wasn’t using this as an opportunity to try to sell me something, simply a walk and conversation between two new friends.  That’s what makes Yangshuo so different from other places.  The pace of life is slower here and people seem content to simply enjoy life and make friends, rather than check tourists’ pockets.

I remember when I walked down West Street the first afternoon I got here, shoe shine guys approached me, one after the other.  I’m sure there were at least 8.  I always said ‘no’, but there was one guy who seemed really polite and not pushy at all.  I made a mental note that when I was ready, that was the guy I would pay to shine my shoes.  He approached me every single day.  One day, his eyes lit up when I said “Ming tien” – tomorrow.  So I made sure to say ‘yes’ when he approached me the next morning.  I had him do my shoes a couple of times that week.  On my last day, I gave him a nice tip and got him to understand that I was leaving.  I had really enjoyed meeting him each day.  A nice friendly fellow, making a simple living, and leaving a good impression behind.

Anyway, back to Impression Sanjie Liu – what a show!  Zhang does on water what he has done on film — creates intense emotion through colour, movement and sound.  The performance, with the natural mountains and water as the setting, has become a must for visitors to Yangshuo.  It is performed by a huge cast (over 600) of local villagers and fishermen, particularly local minority groups such as Zhuang and Yao.  However, the stand out performer is definitely the background scenery. The lighting of the karst mountain peaks is truly amazing and is a highlight.  Impression is like nothing else I have seen before. This show is actually played out on the waters of the Li River. 

One performance featured Hundreds of fishermen in straw cone hats piloting narrow bamboo boats into long bobbing lines, and then lifting 100-metre-long strands of red silk, which they undulate until the audience applauds this larger-than-life metaphor for Chinese women washing clothes in a river (see photos). At the same time, scores of spotlights crisscross the sky until it also ripples like a river.  Check out some of my photos.  This show is definitely worth seeing, so be sure to check it out when you’re in Yangshuo!

Yangshuo has a large number of English schools where many young Chinese business professionals spend months at a time enrolled in intensive English classes.  I emailed a young girl I had first met in 2004, to see if she and/or the school was still around.  Turns out, she’s now in Shenzhen, but the school in Yangshuo is alive and well.  Apparently it has also grown considerably.  She contacted a young guy there and told him to expect a call from me.  Long story short, I wound up leading a couple of English Corners (informal conversation classes) while I was in Yangshuo.  I made good friends with a number of the students there, which was great.  It meant I had a list of lunch and dinner dates whenever I wanted them too! 

I did come back with one terrible souvenir of Yangshuo – I caught a terrible cold!  You know, I may come from Canada, but I simply cannot get used to the cold weather in China!  Perhaps it’s the fact that most Chinese keep the doors and windows of their shops OPEN all day, so they freeze!  In Yangshou this was quite common, albeit most restaurants kept an open fire going in the middle of the room where the staff would huddle for warmth.  But trust me, it’s not enough.  I spent one afternoon learning Mahjong and by the time I left, I was frozen through and through.  I headed back to my hotel, had a hot shower, turned on the heating full blast, had the hotel get me an extra duvet, turned on my electric blanket to high, and guzzled gallons of ginger tea – it didn’t work!  I still came down with the worst cold I can ever remember having.   And, worse still it’s the third cold I’ve had this winter!  Each cold has lasted at least 3 weeks!  You’d think I’d be having an easier time of it, now that I’ve lived in China for 4 1/2 years now!

HOTELS – so, for those who wish to know, I stayed at two different hotels: 7^th Heaven Café & Hostel, and Lisa’s Mountain View Lodge.  There are tons of hotels Yangshuo so you don’t need to prebook before you arrive.  Take your time before deciding, you can afford to be choosy.

RESTAURANTS – Again, there are tons of restaurants in Yangshuo.  There’s lot of Chinese food around, but Yangshuo is becoming famous because of all the restaurants claiming to make Western Food.  But, it’s hit and miss at some joints.  Café China on West Street has my vote for the best pizza (over Karst and Red Star).  I don’t care what others say.  And my vote for the best American breakfast goes to Drifters on West Street.  You could stay in Yangshuo for weeks and still not hit all the restaurants and bars.

The last morning, I hired a taxi to take me directly to Guilin Airport rather than take 2 local buses and a taxi, as I had done upon my arrival.  In fact, I even paid extra to take the newly opened expressway which reduces travel time from 2 hrs. down to under 1 hr.  But that wasn’t the main reason I decided on the expressway – I heard that it passes through some nice areas.  I have to tell you: it was the most spectacular mountain scenery I have ever seen – highly recommended!