Christina in China

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!