Christina in China

As of Friday afternoon, I finally finished being a teacher for the first semester and can now become just a regular laowai/backpacker again. I had been plugging away on check-marking about 600 papers, turning my scribbled notes on oral exams into actual scores, and then transforming all the other little scribbled check-marks into actual numbers. Then calculating the actual final grades, which turned out to be much more mafan than I imagined. But I finally got into a regular routine of punching away at the calculator, and lovely people like Eunice and Liu Chang Zhu, one of the headteachers in the department, whose given names incidentally mean “long bamboo,” helped me. The venerable and wonderful Ms. Xiao, getting up from her desk, said to me, “Tao Le, bu yong ji. (Tao Le, no need to hurry.) You see, I have not finished my scores either, and I have a meeting.” In exactly that combination of Chinese and English.

So yes, I’m finished. And it’s not a minute soon enough, as my energy has been waning. So what else to do but to…travel. Hugh is going to Hong Kong. “It’s just like San Francisco,” he says. He’s staying at the Kimberley Hotel, buying books and music at the HMV, and drinking good, coffee-snob-friendly steam-brewed espresso. Eunice decided she didn’t want to travel, so she’s going to have a spiritual retreat here in Jiangyou, at the various coffee shops across town, trying a new one every day. And up till a few days ago, I thought I was going to go to Kunming and Lijiang and then hike Tiger Leaping Gorge like every other foreigner that comes to southwest China. I realized this the most fully when I was in Chengdu with Josh for a day, staying at a backpacker place. Everyone was heading to Kunming/Lijiang/Tiger Leaping Gorge next, as if there was a chip in their head that told them when to go and where. Beijing –> Xi’an –> Chengdu to see pandas and fly to Tibet –> Tibet –> Chengdu –> Yunnan. After Yunnan, they go to Yangshuo. I know it.

But…I’m stubborn. And I don’t want to be like every other foreigner that comes to southwest China, and I have this unexpected vendetta against English menus and lots of tourists. So I’ve been living on Eunice’s computer and in my Lonely Planet and have decided to take the train to Guiyang in Guizhou Province, then another train to the smaller-than-Jiangyou city of Kaili, then various forms of transportation to the Dong, Miao, and Gejia villages in the area. It’s not a highly traveled area, and it may be cold. But it will be safe since Guizhou is, after all, south of Sichuan, and it’s the dry season. I was thinking yesterday, and I thought about what a great opportunity this is for me, what a unique opportunity. I’m in a non-English speaking country, but I have the advantage of being able to speak enough Chinese to get around with minimal difficulty in a country where it’s very hard for non-Chinese speakers to get around. In the future, I might be wandering around in countries where I can’t speak the language. So might as well stretch my legs and be brave here.

One of the villages I’m planning on visiting doesn’t have a bus there. You have to ride on the back of a horse cart or somebody’s tractor. There is no guesthouse that I know of–you have to ask one of the families and pay them to let you eat dinner with them and put you up for the night. I suppose probably a lot of people back in West Virginia would say I’m crazy, but one thing I’ve learned is to watch out for myself but also that you can’t live your life in fear. And that sometimes it’s freeing to depend on the hospitality of strangers.

I actually haven’t bought a train ticket yet. I have to get that in Chengdu, I think, and it could possibly be sold out. In which case, I’ll just buy a ticket to Panzhihua in south Sichuan and then catch a bus to Lijiang…because even though I’m slightly annoyed by English menus, I do like good pizza, and I’ve heard that it can be found there. I haven’t had pizza in five months. Eunice laughed tonight when I said that I had printed out the train times and information for two different places.

“It’s like Greek tragedy,” I told her. “On a much smaller scale, of course. Let the fates decide.” So however the fates decide, it should be interesting.

Regardless, I’ll be catching a train or bus to Yibin, where I’ll meet my student Joan (I don’t want to print their Chinese names online for everyone and his/her cousin to read) and hang out with her in the village in the Bamboo Sea National Park where she and her family live.

Then I’m returning to Chengdu, the place where all roads lead in western China, where I’ll meet other CEEers and fly together to Bangkok! Two weeks of warm, warm, warm places. I’m excited about taking off my long underwear for the first extended period of time in three months. Heck, I’ll even shave my legs for the first time since September. We’re staying in Bangkok for two days before our flight to Chiang Mai, where our CEE conference is. So I’ll get a whirlwind introduction to the chaos that is Bangkok and just shua (Sichuanhua for “hang out”) for a bit, see this big enormous golden palace, and eat a bunch of pad Thai noodles.

CEE’s paying for not only our flight to Bangkok but also the connecting flight to Chiang Mai. Yes, it’s a meeting, but it’s at a resort with a Thai restaurant and a swimming pool and Thai massage and an elephant you can ride. So it’s not a real meeting.

And after that, I’m probably going to head even farther south and fly to Phuket (pronounced POO-kit, for all you giggling smart-alecks), which is a beach town in the southwest with crystal blue water and seafood and banana pancakes and guesthouses where $25 will buy me a week of lodging. So I am going to do nothing but shua shua shua all day. Read a book, journal on things to update the blog with (so many things!), sleep on the beach, get a suntan so that all my Chinese friends will think I’m ugly…

After I fly back from Phuket to Bangkok, and Bangkok to Chengdu, I’m going to go to Sharry’s home and see her family for a couple days before coming back to do lesson prep, clean my house that will be inevitably dusty from being un-lived-in for a month, rest, and (maybe, maybe, maybe) work on getting moved in to my new host “family.” The latest possibility is that I’ll move in with Sister Yang from the church, the lady that sings off-key to teach the songs to the congregation, lives alone in a small apartment in the steel factory worker housing, works full-time at the church teaching literacy classes to the grandmas and leading Bible studies and doing those work-at-a-church sorts of things. Ms. Yang, who up till last week I thought was Ms. Tang, is one of those older ladies that dye their hair and squeeze people’s arms as a source of affection. She’s also trying to learn English…which I’m kind of leery about, since “trying to learn English” often means that someone wants me to teach them English. But it would be really nice to have someone who would just speak Chinese with me so that my two-year-old vocabulary could get better.

So yes. New possibilities. I only have 2000 RMB (about $250) to my name right now, plus $25 American that my Aunt Laura and Uncle Mike sent me, and I’m traveling for four weeks, though I might have to withdraw a little money from my American bank account. I have no final plans, no train tickets, no hostel reservations, and no real agenda. I’m taking a mini-backpack with an extra sweater, a bathing suit and sandals for Thailand, underwear, socks, a book to read, the scissored-out pages of the Lonely Planet for eastern Guizhou/Lijiang/Yibin, my digital camera, a small Chinese dictionary, pictures to show to strangers that I meet, a notebook to journal, a tiny Gideon Bible, my travel sizes of everything from anti-diarrheal meds to shampoo to earplugs, and a plastic bag of food for the train. I’m just going to buy a couple cheapie Thai batik shirts and pants/skirts when I get to Bangkok and keep them for souvenirs.

I love the way I can travel now, layering on all my extra clothes on my body, wearing the same sweater for a week before washing it, carrying a tiny bag. I’ve got no super-Christian complex, but I love that I can kind of understand what Jesus said when he sent out the disciples, two by two, when he told them to take only a small bag with them and to go to whatever town would receive them. It’s about simplicity, about the freedom that comes from taking a day at a time, about not being fanatical about being well-dressed or even a bit smelly. But mostly about trusting God and about learning how to accept hospitality from other people–to empower them by letting them take care of you.

I’ll update at least one time in the next month, but until then, zaijian!

Where to go, where to go…

I use these sentence fragments often, and I’m trying to remember if I used them before I came to China. Eunice says I’ve been picking up really bad Chinese grammar. The other day, I said, “How to say…” in a kind of reflective way, but she thought I was saying it as a question. She was, understandably, horrified.

As if I wasn’t a little bit unfocused enough, with giving students final exams next week, Christmas this weekend, doing Christmas plays in class this week, having Josh coming next Tuesday, finishing work next Friday, and feeling slight teacher/student/China burnout, now I keep thinking about where I’ll travel. So I thought that I would tell you, loyal blog readers, and have you give me your opinions about where you think I should go.

With Josh here, we have to spend some time in good ole Jiangyou, but then we have time to travel to maybe one more place that’s not too far away. I was thinking Xi’an, the city with the Terracotta Warriors and the old capital during one of the forever-ago-dynasties. Since Josh is not going to get to see the Great Wall (his fault, not mine, ha), I figured I should take him to see something terribly historical and important in China. If I have time, I’ll take him to see some pandas in Chengdu because pandas are cute and fun and basically do nothing but sleep and eat bamboo.

But even with my trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, paid for by CEE, staying at a nice resort hotel and then a week going somewhere else in Thailand (don’t know where yet), I still have three weeks! Unbelievable. I’ve decided that I want to visit some students. One of my students, Joan, lives inside the Bamboo Sea in southern Sichuan, a place that I really want to visit. Basically, the Bamboo Sea is this enormous bamboo forest and not-incredibly-visited national park, where some scenes from Wo Hu Cang Long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ) were filmed. I also have an invite from Iris, one of Eunice’s sophomores, who lives near Joan, and from Sharry, who lives near Chengdu. I have many more invites, but Eunice and Hugh inform me that after a couple days of playing ma jiang and cards, sitting around the fire, watching Qing Dynasty soap operas on TV, and being forced to gorge yourself with more food than humans should eat, you’re kind of ready to just go somewhere else without so much hospitality for the rest of your vacation. I’m really looking forward to it, though. For the glimpse of average, non-city life and also for the chance to spend time with some wonderful students.

So, loyal readers, where do you think I should go in my other two weeks? This is something new, an interactive blog. I’m going to let you help me decide. Here are the choices, in no particular order:

1. Hong Kong. Here’s a picture of the famous skyline and the harbor. I actually know a girl from SALT Orientation who is working with a Hong Kong-based human rights documentation group who has graciously agreed to let me stay on her couch if I wish. Pros: Dude, it’s Hong Kong, one of the biggest cities in the world. That skyline is gorgeous. People speak English. There are tons of things to see: city stuff, temples and cultural stuff, hiking on the other islands, etc. Trisha has been living there for four months and would know way more about the city than I would. There would be good coffee and international food. There would be Chinese food that’s different than chuan cai (Sichuan food). It would be warmer than here. Cons: Dude, it’s Hong Kong, and Hong Kong is expensive, even with no housing cost. Not exactly a peaceful getaway. Lots of tourists. Even with discounted plane fares, it would put me back over 1000 kuai (a month’s salary for me) just for the airplane ticket, and a 30-ish to 40-hour train trip does not sound fun to me.

2. Yunnan Province – Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge, and Kunming. This is one of the favorite haunts of backpackers and English teachers in China. Yunnan, although not Thailand-warm, is still warmer than northern Sichuan this time of year. Kunming is apparently one of the coolest mid-size Chinese cities–I’ve heard that it’s clean and not the dump that some cities are. From there, I could go to Lijiang, along with every other Chinese backpacker. Lijiang is apparently one of the most worth-it touristy places in China, though, I hear. A bunch of the city was hit by an earthquake, and (surprise, surprise), the cheaply built concrete buildings were all leveled to the ground. The ones that survived better were the ones in the Old Town. But the town has pumped a lot of money into reconstructing these old buildings, cleaning up the trash, making it feel tranquil and peaceful and “old” to encourage tourism, which might feel fake. Lijiang is the home of the Naxi minority people. Pros: Naxi (non-Han Chinese) culture. Different food. A pretty canal and wooden buildings. Western conveniences. Cafes to sit in and journal or reflect or study Chinese or read all day if I want to. Not TOO far away. Warmer than Sichuan. Tiger Leaping Gorge is supposedly beautiful and a hard hike, though not impossible, says Eunice. Cheaper than Hong Kong. Cons: All those other laowai. Feeling kind of like you’re in a fake place, that people are milking the “minority” thing for tourist money, whether Chinese or Western. Not seeing “real life.” The danger of just hanging out with Americans, Canadians, and Brits the whole time. The strange feeling I get when I think, “Wow, how quaint! You wear cool clothes and speak a different language! Let’s take a picture!”

3. Guizhou Province – villages around Kaili. This is the off-the-beaten-path choice, although not completely off-the-beaten-path, since it does appear in the Lonely Planet. So other people have been there. But these places are some of those places where there is one guesthouse, no showers, and little English spoken. And no banana pancakes. But Guizhou is cheap, it is isolated and apparently really pretty, you can see many different peoples (Dong, Miao, Yao, Gejia, etc.) and their customs without a minority “theme park” feel, from what I’ve read. Pros: Beautiful, isolated scenery. A chance to see how life is like outside Chinese cities. A chance to see how non-Han Chinese people live. Cool buildings like this drum tower. That weird feeling of accomplishment you get when you go somewhere without flocks of tourists. Riding on a crowded bus on a rickety road with chickens in the aisle. Way cheaper than Hong Kong, cheaper than Lijiang and Kunming. Cons: Being cold. Not having a lot of conveniences that I have here in JY. The risk of eating dog meat. Farther away than Yunnan (though not as far as Hong Kong or Guangxi). Riding on crowded bus on a rickety road with chickens in the aisle.

4. Guangxi Province – Guilin and/or Yangshuo. Guangxi Province is really famous for these karst mountains that look kind of like something out of a dream or a kids’ picture book. The wonderful Lara visited Yangshuo with her sister Kristin and Kristin’s friend last year and thought it was one of her favorite parts of China. Guilin is more of where the Chinese tourists flock to, and Yangshuo is where the Western backpackers flock to. There are all sorts of backpacker cafes and hostels and souvenir shops. Apparently, they have a street called West Street, named for all the laowai that hang around there. But apparently, it’s easy to rent a bike and get out into the countryside to see the Li River, the beautiful mountains, villages, and the fields. Pros: Beautiful, different scenery. Chance to get out and ride a bicycle in the fields. Warmer than Sichuan (I think). Coffee, banana pancakes, and laid-back atmosphere. I could either hang out and do some thinking about China and life in general or rent a bike and see stuff. Cons: Coffee, banana pancakes, and (ai yo) all those other laowai, who tend to tick me off when they complain about stupid stuff like Chinese bathrooms. Pretty far away. People thinking they can gouge me because I’m in tourist country.

5. Guangxi Province – villages around Sanjiang or Longsheng. This is another not-quite-so-visited place. This is another village area, where you ride some sketchy buses but get to see rice terraced hilltops and a different way of life. Pros: Guangxi’s Zhuang people. Feeling like I’m actually in China, not Americanized China Disneyworld. Village life. The neat architecture, like this bridge. Cheap. Cons: Not so relaxing. Not so easy or convenient. Pretty far from Jiangyou. Not tremendously warm but warmer than Sichuan (I think).

I could probably combine a couple of these — Guizhou with Guangxi…or Guangxi with Hong Kong…or Guizhou with Hong Kong.

So, chums, what do you think? If you were me, where would you go? What would you do? Post a comment and let me know!