My China Odyssey

As Bin had stated earlier, the cab ride from the bus station to the school was indeed very short. Less than a mile I would say; if not for my albatross we could have easily walked. Upon arriving at the Kewen, pronounced K’win, I was introduced to Mr. Wang and Ms. Xie, the boss and manager of the school. The boss, stood slightly taller than me with black hair and dressed in all black. Appearing fairly serious as I entered, his look became much friendlier as Bin began introductions. Ms. Xie was about an inch or two shorter than the boss and gently smiled as we were introduced. Next I was introduced to Jill Gao, the first familiar face I had seen since landing in China. She had been my first contact with the school and we had remained in contact via Yahoo’s Instant Messenger. She was an English teacher at the school and acted as translator between the boss, manager and I. From our many correspondences I knew her written English was very good, though she had told me here oral English was lacking. With such a grasp of the written language I had found this difficult to believe. A few minutes into our meeting I realized she had been very modest regarding her speaking ability. I was very impressed by her grasp of English as she translated for the boss and I.

Within a few minutes most of the initial formalities had been covered and the boss suggested lunch. It had been hours since the morning buffet and my stomach made me aware it was indeed time to eat. Jill said she would be unable to go to lunch with us as she had a class to teach that afternoon. This left Bin, Ms. Xie, the boss and I to lunch together, at least Bin would be there to translate. I followed the trio down a flight of stairs and out the back door into a small, very crowded parking lot. We came to a stop beside a small white four-door car and Bin and I were directed to sit in the back. I assumed this was Ms. Xie’s car as she was the one that sat behind the wheel and drove us to a nearby restuarant. We traveled only a few blocks before reaching our destination. Though it was only a short distance from the school, it was great to be in a car since the temperature and humidity was very high. Exiting the car, I noticed the restuarant we were approaching had a very large neon sign above the door. The unlit sign was in the shape of a fish so I figured we were going to a seafood restuarant for lunch.

An attendant was standing at the door and held it open as we entered. We were guided upstairs and shown to a private room. The room, about ten feet by ten feet, had in the center a round table with eight chairs surrounding it. A circular piece of raised glass covered about three quarters of the table. In the corner stood an upright air conditioning unit that stood about six feet high. As we were taking our seats, the waitress turned the unit on. The boss must have been a regular, as he began ordering without the need of a menu. By the time he had finished the room had cooled down enough that the beads of sweat had disappeared from my forehead. Within minutes of taking our order, the waitress returned with a large bowl of cooked shrimp, heads and legs intact, and a dish of green leafy vegetables that appeared to have been stir fried. Both were placed near the edge of the glass circle that sat atop the table. Wielding his chopsticks like they were an extension of his hand, the boss took hold of a several shrimp and placed them in the small bowl before him. Using his free hand, he slowly turned the raised glass until the dish was in front of Bin who deftly acquired a portion of shrimp for his bowl. By this time, several other enticing looking dishes had been brought to us. The glass disc had been turned to place the shrimp and other fare within my reach.

Even though the waitress had brought me a spoon and fork, I was determined to use the instruments of my new home. Having used chopsticks a little in the past, I felt somewhat confident as I reached first for the shrimp. I was able to retrieve a couple of shrimp to my small bowl with little difficulty which caused me to smile with pride. Unsure of the correct dining etiquite, I had been observing my companions to learn the proper way to eat this meal. Picking up a single crustation, I placed it tail first in my mouth and bit very close to the head. Being sure to keep hold of the head with my chopsticks, I then lightly sucked the rest of the meat from the head portion and lightly spit the remaining pieces onto the small plate beside the bowl. From my observations, this was the correct etiquite for eating this kind of dish and was also sort of fun. The center piece had made several rotations which had given me a chance to sample all of the lunch items. I thought everything was very good, even the foods which were still unknown to me. Throughout the meal I was encouraged to eat my fill as the others talked amongst themselves to finalize the business at hand.

The feeling of being oddman-out was not so great as one might think. Even though I had little or no idea of what was being said, my new employer had put me at ease with the friendly greeting and gracious invitation to lunch. As the meal came to an end I was told that we would return to Kewen and retreive my albotross and take it to my new residence. The ride back to the school was as exciting as the initial trip, we drove through red lights and weaved around a couple of vehicles waiting to make turns. Up0n returning to the school, Jill told me that her and Ms. Xie would come to my apartment shortly after classes had finished for the day. They would then accompany me to one of the large local supermarkets to purchase any items I may need for the coming weeks. This being arranged, the boss once again led us to Ms. Xie’s car which would be our transport. I sat in the back with the rest of my luggage peering out the windows in an attempt to familiarize myself with the new surroundings. So amazed was I with the sights and sounds around me, I knew that attempting to try to memorize the route would be futile.

After settling in my seat and observing the surroundings I was pleased to see this bus was light years ahead of the bus station I had just left. Very comfortable reclining seats, air conditioning and a television mounted at the front of the bus. I was ready to sit back and enjoy a nice peaceful and leasuirely ride. Within minutes all passengers were aboard and we departed the station. It was about 10:33 in the morning and the streets of Shanghai were very busy, filled with cyclists, pedestrians and more cars than I had seen the earlier evening. The bus ride was very smooth, the cabin was cooling down and a movie with English subtitles began to play on the TV. I was becoming interested in the show when the sound of horns broke my concentration. Our bus was the loudest sound followed by adjoining volleys from the vehicles that passed. It seemed that most vehicles blew their horns to alert the pedestrians and riders of their approach. Very practical but somewhat noisy I thought. Looking out the window I was able to get a feel of the daily life in downtown Shanghai . I often wondered what the differing businesses were as the large lettered signs were of no help to me. Then out of the blue I spied an easily recognizable sign, I was very surprised and had to snap the shot through the bus window.

I relayed to Bin that one Pepsi slogan is “Pride of the Carolinas” because it was created in my home state, North Carolina. He found this to be interesting as he likes Pepsi better than Coke, though he said Coke was probably the most popular of the two in China. This made me curious to try them both and see if they tasted the same here as in the states. Within several more minutes we had cleared the congestion of the city and were headed down a four-lane highway at a good cruising speed. Without the distraction of the sights and constant horn blowing I began once more to follow the movie supplied for our entertainment. It seemed to be your average gang boss vs. hitman plot, common to many B movies I’ve seen. The funny thing about this Asian film was that it was filmed in Las Vegas, most of the ones I watched have been filmed in Hong Kong. Once again my concentration is disturbed by the sound of the bus horn, with no pedestrians likely on this highway I leaned forward to see what was ahead of us. A small car was about twenty feet ahead of us traveling in our lane and we were steadily gaining on it. In the opposite lane headed towards us were several cars traveling at the same rate of speed. All of a sudden we veered from our lane and into the lane of the on-coming traffic. I couldn’t understand what was going on, there were only about twenty yards between us and the oncoming vehicles.

The bus driver continued to blow the horn as he passed the car on a double yellow line and the oncoming traffic veered toward the shoulder of the road to avoid a head-on collision. I looked around and no one seemed to give this driving technique a second thought, my traveling companion had not taken his eyes from the screen the entire time. Okay I thought, maybe buses are given a little more latitude here. About that time, I noticed the bus was slowing down and pulling off to the side of the road. The only thing I could think was that we were being pulled over by the police for an unsafe move since there were no buildings or gas stations in sight. As we came to a stop the bus driver opened the door and on walked a young man who handed the driver some money. I was a little surprised as I had seen nothing to denote this to be a designated pick-up point. Within a couple of minutes we were back underway. Once again after only a few miles of travel I hear the familiar sound of honking horns. This time instead of passing the car in front of us on the double yellow line, we go to the right hand side of the road. To begin with I thought our bus driver was insane, but the more I watched the more I observed the same maneuverings from other drivers. After about three quarters of the way through the trip and several more inpromptu stops, our bus was more than full. Passengers were even sitting in the aisle, some on small stools supplied by the bus driver and the rest on the floor of the bus.

About this time, we turned off the main road and entered what appeared to be a large parking lot. At first, I thought, we were just making one more of many stops along the way. Then, I noticed we were forming a line behind several other cars, trucks and buses. This was interesting I thought and began to look around more intently. At this point, I saw a large body of water slowly appear as we crept closer. Within a few minutes we were at the edge of the Yellow Sea and about to board a very large ferry. Our bus was the next to last vehicle allowed on this particular ferry. I took the opportunity of our delay in shoving off to retrieve my camera from its bag. I hoped to take a couple of good shots through the now dingy and bug-splattered window of the bus. The departure was so smooth I did not realize the ferry had left the dock. The sea definitely lived up to its name. The color of the sea varied between warm yellow and a golden yellow, depending on the way the sun reflected upon it. Looking back toward the mainland I could see several ships docked, ready for loading or unloading as well as a very large electrical plant. Along the way we passed several large tankers anchored just off-shore as well as a few barges on their way to guide the large ships to port.

The water looked a little choppy but the ride was very smooth. All of the passengers stayed on the bus but the bus driver took this opportunity to stretch his legs and smoke a cigarette just outside the bus doors. A few young boys walked from one vehicle to another trying to sell various items. They appeared to have anything from cigarettes and magazines to watches and radios. They had a few interested passengers and were able to make a sale or two it appeared. Only a couple of people ventured from their rides as it was a very hot day, even with the breeze from the sea passing by. The trip across this opening to the Yangtze River took about twenty minutes. Arriving on the other side, the departure from the ferry went like clockwork. In a short time, we were back on a major highway and within a few more minutes I could make out a city skyline in the near distance. After a few more miles of blowing horns and passing on whichever side the driver fancied, we entered the city limits of Nantong . Turning my head from left to right in order to see as much as possible of my new city, I was amazed at all of the new construction in progress. Within no time we pulled into the Nantong Bus Terminal, disembarked and once more I was lugging my albatross over new terrain. Bin said it would be just a short cab ride to the school where I would be teaching, Kewen.

I woke feeling very refreshed and looking forward to the final leg of my journey. Looking at the clock, I realized it was only 6:11 am. I think by sleeping so little on the plane I avoided major jet lag. Bin and I had agreed to meet around 8 am in the lobby, so I decided to take a short walk to view my surroundings. As I started out the door I grabbed my camera from the night stand. This would be my first opportunity to take photographs of China. The hallway was just as hot and humid as the previous evening. I made my way down and out of the hotel being sure to stop by a small shop and buy a couple of bottles of water. It had been made clear to me that you should not drink any water from a faucet unless it had first been boiled. This is not only true in China, but in most foriegn countries I have traveled. I downed the first one in a matter of seconds and placed the other in my camera bag to sip on as I walked. After disposing of the empty bottle, I turned to the right and walked toward what appeared to be a large intersection. There was very little traffic on the road I was walking, only a couple of cyclists out for an early morning stroll and a few men pulling wooden carts. Upon reaching the intersection, I came face to face with many large buidings and quite abit more traffic than I had seen on the walk up. Shanghai in the daylight looked nothing like the Shanghai I had experienced on my brief cab ride only a few hours earlier. No longer the city of lights, she looked like most large cities I have visited.

The only exception was I could not read any road signs or advertisements I came across. I really understood the saying, “It’s all Greek to me”, except it was all Chinese. I felt illiterate; at least during my time alone at the airport most signs were bilingual, Chinese and English. This feeling made me realize how much I would need to rely on Bin to get me to Nantong. I was very pleased to have him as my escort. This thought also alerted me to the time, so I concluded my wandering daydream and headed back to the hotel to meet Bin. Upon my return to the hotel I quickly showered, repacked and lugged my albatross, luggage, down to the lobby. There I found Bin; he had arrived a few minutes before me and had begun the check-out procedure. My 200 yuan deposit was promptly returned as Bin asked if I would like to join him for breakfast at the hotel’s buffet. My first thoughts were of China Eastern’s unappetizing fare, but it had been several hours since food had entered my body and I was very hungry. I consented to his request and asked that he help me choose from the buffet as most of the items appeared alien to me. We sat in a corner booth with large glass windows to my left and front. Several other guests were returning for their second taste of the buffet line. This eased my mind somewhat but I remembered the other passengers on the plane also hastenly ate their food. Bin had already taken several bites from his plate as I picked up a small portion with my chopsticks and brought it to my mouth. Not wanting to offend my new friend I was determined to eat all on my plate. As soon as the food touched my taste buds, I knew my fears were for naught. This dish and the rest I sampled were as good as or better than most breakfast buffets. As we ate, Bin asked if I was enjoying the breakfast; I told him that it was very good, much better than what I had been served aboard the plane. He thought this humorous and laughed slightly. After our fill was had, we once again hailed a cab and headed to the bus station.

Having ridden the buses in America and not being overly impressed, I was a little dubious of what our transportation would be like. Upon our arrival at the Shanghai bus terminal, my fears did not abate. It reminded me of a bus station I had been in in the middle of nowhere USA. There was no air conditioning only an old three-blade fan that slowly circulated the hot moist air throughout the waiting area. The seats were faded blue in color and made of hard plastic which set low to the ground. A few passengers were stretched out on the uncomfortable seats while the rest talked amongst themselves or stared intently at me. The latter I had already become accustomed to; it seemed most everyone I had passed wanted to get a good look at the fair-skinned stranger. According to Bin, we had about a twenty-minute wait until our bus boarded, then it would be a three-hour ride to Nantong. After so long in flight, my thinking was that I could the final leg standing on my head, which would be preferable to the crowded bus with no a/c that I was envisioning. Bin asked me many questions of my home state and family; this seemed to make the time pass much quicker. Before I knew it, an announcement rang over the loud speaker and Bin said that was our boarding call. I grabbed my albatross and followed him outside where about eleven buses were parked side-by-side. There appeared to be two main bus lines departing from this terminal and we entered one of the blue and white fleet. As we settled into our seats, the first two on the right hand side of the bus, I was pleased to see air vents above my head and a color television attached to the ceiling in front of us. Maybe this ride would not be as bad as I had feared.

The cab came to a stop in front of our hotel. Bin exited the car first and I followed. It was a short walk to the lobby but the humidity had me sweating before we entered. If the lobby had air conditioning it was either turned off or on very low as there was little difference between the temperature outside and in. While arrangements were being made for our rooms, I looked around with much curiosity and anticipation. After about ten minutes, I was asked for my passport. Not only had Bin been getting our rooms, he had also made arrangements to have my Chinese Visa changed from type L to type F.

This would change my status from tourist to teacher. I was told it would be mailed to me at the school in about a week. I felt a bit uneasy surrendering my passport but I felt Bin to be very trustworthy. Also I had made a couple of copies of the passport before I left the states. I was then asked for three hundred and sixty yuan, two hundred of which was a deposit for the room and would be returned in the morning. Upon paying the deposit I was handed the key to my room, number 223. We departed the lobby and headed to our separate rooms in an adjacent building. My room was on the third floor, luckily there was an elevator since I didn’t want drag my luggage up three flights of steps. Stepping into the elevator the vision of a soft pillow and comfortable bed ran through my head.

Leaving the elevator, I looked for a sign to point me in the direction of my room. I only had to walk about twenty steps which was a good thing as there was no air conditioning in the hallways. The windows stood wide open at each end of the hallway allowing the muggy air from outside to fill the corridor. My energy had drained so that I believed I could fall asleep standing up. The thought of sleeping in a sticky, humid room threatened my restful night’s sleep. But as tired as I was, a quick shower might cool me enough to sleep. I set my bags on the floor as I retrieved the key from my back pocket. I inserted the card-key and the door opened gently so I grabbed my luggage and awkwardly made my way into the room.

I used the first bed I came to as a temporary luggage rack and then began to inspect the room. The room was cooler than the hallway for which I was very thankful. I spied what appeared to be a small heater attached very high on the wall opposite of the beds. Searching for the remote to turn the TV on, I found a second remote control. It was the same color white as the object on the wall. I hoped that not only would this be a heater, but an air conditioner as well. After pressing a few buttons which were labeled in Chinese, I found the one that turned it on. To my surprise and relief first cool, then cold air began flowing from the vents. I was extremely pleased. At this point, a quick shower to wash away twenty-four hours of grime would be in order, giving the room time to cool down before I would go to sleep. The welcomed shower made me that much more relaxed and sleepy. I fell onto the bed and spent only a few minutes scanning the TV channels before I succumbed to the soft pillow which had been in my thoughts for so long.

The smile that had crept upon my face during landing was still there as I disembarked the plane. The leg of the journey that began almost twenty-four hours ago was drawing to a close. But, the journey I have dreamed of for more than fifteen years was about to begin. I was so absorbed in thought that I barely remember exiting the plane and going through customs. After passing through customs I began looking for my contact in the People’s Republic of China, Bin Xu. I passed a few greeters holding signs with names printed in English but my name was not to be seen. Since my flight was about forty-five minutes late I figured Bin would be one of the first in line waving a sign. I had no idea what he looked like so the sign was my only link. While circling the greeting area I spotted what appeared to be a fellow American in the same predicament. Having some time to kill, I decided to walk up and start a conversation.

I had deduced correctly; he had arrived about an hour early and was still waiting on his contact. For some reason this made me feel a little better about my current situation. He was from Portland, Oregon and in Shanghai on business for the next couple of weeks. We chatted for several minutes discussing the experiences of our long journeys. I found that our intitial experience with China Air’s food was very similar. With one exception, he spit the food out of his mouth without a second thought. After a few more minutes of comparing our adventures, we decided to look around once more for our missing greeters, being sure to alert the other if we came across missing greeters. During my second pass, I heard what I thought was my name being spoken. I turned to see a man about five foot tall wearing glasses and dressed in all black. I was unsure if this was Bin, or if I had just imagined hearing my name. Just then he spoke once more with an unsure smile on his face, “Johnny White?” .

I smiled and answered, “Yes, you must be Bin.” He nodded. Even though I had not been very worried, it was a relief to know I would not be sleeping in the airport. He told me his arrival had been delayed as well and apologized for the inconvenience. After exchanging pleasantries we made our way to a group of buses just outside the terminal. Bin directed us to the one that would carry us to downtown Shanghai . The bus was nearly full but we were able to find two seats just across from one another. As we chatted Bin told me we would be staying at a hotel in Shanghai for the night and take a bus to Nantong in the morning. As much as I was looking forward to arriving in my new town, I was pleased we would not be traveling any further this night. The soft pillow that had been dancing around in my head for the pass several hours would soon be a reality. I guess that the rigors of my trek had began to take a toll on me, at some point during the bus ride I nodded off. The next thing I know Bin is tapping me on the shoulder and directing me off the bus. From there we jumped into a cab. The air conditioner was blasting away which was great as it was a very muggy night. As we drove my eyes were drawn to the many sights around me. I’m not sure how long the cab ride took as I was transfixed on the beauty of Shanghai at night. Before I knew it we were pulling up to the hotel that would be our home for the night.

As the boarding of China Eastern 522 to Shanghai was announced a smile crossed my face. I knew I was only a couple of hours from Shanghai and that much closer to a soft pillow. The boarding took place in a very orderly fashion and much quicker than I had expected. No sooner had I fastened my seat belt than we began to pull away from the terminal. As I had suspected, the airliner was near capacity. But luckily I had an isle seat and noone seated beside of me, giving me much more room than on the previous flight.

Shortly into the flight a chime went out through the cabin speakers, this indicated that the pilot or one of the stewardesses were about to speak. This time a female voice spoke, first in Mandarin, then in English. She told us that a meal would be served very soon. Never being a fan of airline food in America, I was very curious if not wary of the food to be served. Shortly, the attendants went through the cabin giving each passenger a covered dish and a pair of chopsticks. Upon opening the dish, there was what looked like sliced beef with noodles, white rice, a green cooked vegetable and an almond cookie.

I noticed my fellow passengers wasted no time in digging in, so I thought it must be very tasty. After all I thought, this would be the first sample of what I would be eating for the next six months. Placing chopsticks in hand I picked up a sizable portion of the beef and noodles. As soon as I put it in my mouth I wanted to spit it out, but I refrained and choked it down. I’m not sure if it was the preservatives or the way it was prepared but it ranked right up there with some of the worst airline food I’ve ever had. The rice and vegetables on the other had weren’t too bad so I ate them while pushing the beef mixture away as not to taint the rest of the meal. The almond cookie was very good and helped to cleanse the initial taste from my palate.

I noticed my fellow passengers didn’t feel the same as me about the beef concoction as they had quickly finished everything on their tray. The thought now racing through my head was “Is this what my food is going to taste like for the next six months ?”. My thoughts were interupted by another chime from the loudspeaker, this time it was the pilot. Again in Madarin first, then English, he stated that we would be arriving in Shanghai in about forty-five minutes. My journey was nearing completion. Shortly after the announcement the stewardesses came through the cabin removing the remnants of our meal. I had replaced the cover on mine, not wanting to show how little I had eaten. As they made their final pass through the cabin collecting any remaining trash I heard the now familiar chime.

This time it was one of the stewardess addressing the passengers. We were instructed to return our trays to their original position and bring our seats to the upright position. Since we weren’t experiencing any turbulance, I knew this could mean only one thing. We would soon begin our decent to Shanghai. Once again a smile crept across my face, I was very excited, for very soon a dream of many years would be realized. I would be stepping foot in a country whose culture and history I had long admired. I would be in the People’s Republic of China.

“Your connecting flight has been delayed” these words reverberated through my head as I walked towards my gate. So much for a quick two hour layover. Having heard these fatal words before, I knew the delay could be anywhere from twenty minutes to three or more hours. On top of that, all I had for money was travelers checks which were completely useless in this airport. All of the drink and snack machines required Yen for purchases. Luckily for me, there were fountains with drinkable water.

After quenching my thirst, I decided to stretch my legs by walking the length of the concourse. It felt good to walk about unincumbered and get the blood flowing freely once more. As I walked, I spotted a large TV near the end of the concourse. This would be a great way to pass time I thought. Being deprived of news for almost twenty-four hours, I figured even news in Japanese was better than no news at all. To my amazement, CNN International was on and in English no less.

As I eagerly caught up on the news that had passed me by, another announcement rang out ” China Eastern 522 to Shanghai will be boarding in thirty minutes”, I was amazed. The delay had only lasted forty-five minutes. I gathered my carry-on luggage and headed back. Upon arriving at my gate I realized the number of waiting passengers had more than tripled since I left. Unsure of the size of the plane I would be on, I feared we would be packed like sardines in a can. But after the multi-hour trek across the Pacific I felt I could do the two hour flight to Shanghai standing on my head. As I sat waiting for the boarding call, I began to observe my fellow passengers. This time I was the only forienger in the group and had began to attract some very curious stares. I thought this was very humorous.

Most of the other passengers chatted amongst themselves, a few played an unfamiliar card game and one lightly strummed on his guitar. They seemed to be a very diverse lot, a few businessmen, students of varying ages and what appeared to be quite a few families traveling back home. By now there was only ten minutes until the new boarding time, but no plane was in sight. Then I heard the familiar chime alerting me of a new announcement. Once again a familiar anxiousness started to creep over me. I had a feeling they relay to us that there would be another delay. However, the China Eastern jet came rolling up just as the speaker was finishing the Mandarin portion of announcement. Then came the English translation, “China Eastern flight 522 will be boarding in five minutes”.

I have flown many times in my life, up and down the east coast as well as criss-crossing America. I’ve even flown to Europe and the Middle East, but none compare to the flight from the east coast of the United States to the People’s Republic of China. The short flight from North Carolina to New Jersey was a minor prelude for the nineteen plus hour flight that laid before me.

In Newark I boarded a Boeing 777 that was nearlyfilled to capacity. The passengers ranged in age from children, of two-three years to the elderly, of seventy plus years. Most appeared to be Chinese nationals returning home, while the others seemed to be tourist and businessmen with a few American servicemen returning from leave. Even though the flight was almost completly full, there was ample room to move around. Many people, as well as me, used the isles as a place to stretch their legs. A few passengers performed some Tai Chi movements to help revive their muscles.

I spent most of my time observing the other passengers. The rest of the time was spent watching reruns of CSI, the movies Robots and Guess Who?, which I had seen at least once. I was only able to nap briefly, each time be awoken by a stewardess whose backside hit my shoulder every time she passed. She never once smiled or acknowledged any of the passengers during the entire flight. I believe her love of the job, if there ever was any, had long since faded.

Unable to sleep, I passed the remaining couple of hours of the flight observing the plane’s telemetry on the small screen in front of me. It is no wonder that the wings of a plane have a tendancy to ice-up. At 48,000 feet the outside temperature is -56 degrees fahrenheit. As the nineteenth hour of flight neared, we began our decent into Tokyo International. Once on the ground, we had about a seven minute wait before we could disembark.

I was surprised that after such a long flight there was no pushing and shoving to escape what had been our home for nearly a day. It was a joy to be able to fully stretch and move about without bumping into anyone. As I was relishing my new found freedom I heard the words most travelers dread, “Your connecting flight will be delayed”.