My China Odyssey

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 ... [Continue reading this entry]

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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 ... [Continue reading this entry]