Ni Hao from China - March 20, 2007
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
3
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Zhongshan, China,
China
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
On New Years Eve and all day there was the constant noise of firecrackers. When the Chinese set off firecrackers, they don't set them off one at a time, they set them off a whole string at a time. The idea is to make it as loud as possible to scare away any angry spirits.
We were in contact with some of the other teachers trying to find out where we would be able to go and see a traditional Chinese New Year's celebration, but as it turned out, they didn't have any festivities here in Zhongshan. It seemed like we would have had a better chance of seeing a parade or fireworks display at home! Lisa and I were sitting at home talking about what we should do, and then all these fireworks started going off outside. Lisa and I ran up to the roof of the building and saw all kinds of fireworks displays for free! Apparently firecrackers/fireworks are not allowed in the city center, but they are allowed in the 'rural' areas. I guess Bi Hua Li is considered rural. Later on, we ended up meeting some of the other teachers at a restaurant downtown, then they all went out to a karaoke bar after that. One night of karaoke was enough for me, so I just went home. Just like at home, I wasn't able to make it to midnight for New Years, so I went to bed, but I wasn't able to sleep! There were firecrackers going off all night. A white haze covered the area, and the smell of gunpowder permeated the air. The good news is that there won't be any angry spirits hanging around Bi Hua Li this year!
The next day Lisa and I went to a shopping center close by our apartment. As I've said before, you can buy anything in the grocery stores in China, but I wasn't prepared to see what we saw. On one of the tables, there was no doubt that what we saw was an actual dog's leg. We knew it was a dog's leg because you could see the pads on it's paws. I've heard lots of talk about eating dog, but seeing it like that was a little unsettling.
On Monday, Lisa and I went to Guangzhou. We caught the bus from the Kings Hotel at 8:15, and were in Guangzhou by 10:15. When we got there, we took a taxi to the World Peace Mall. Just as we were getting out of the taxi, there was a show going on with those dragons that you see on TV whenever you see something about China. From what we could tell, it was a show put on by one of the department stores to welcome in the new year. We looked around the mall for a bit, but most of the shops were closed. Besides, they were all high end stores, and a little too rich for our Chinese budgets. We left the mall and found a Starbucks! I had my usual Starbucks latte, and a piece of real blueberry cheesecake! After drinking packaged 'coffee' for the past 6 weeks, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. After our treat at Starbucks, we went wandering for a bit, but not much was open because it was New Years. We stumbled across a Turkish restaurant and had a wonderful Turkish meal. It was so nice to not have rice or noodles for a change! We then took a taxi to Beijing Lu, a street packed with shops. It was packed with people too - exactly what I thought China would be like. There were lots of different shops, but it got so frustrating because of all the people. After looking around Beijing Lu for a few hours, we ended up going to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. It wasn't the kind of Mexican food that I know and love, but it was edible. After dinner, we went back to the bus station to catch the bus home. We were treated to fireworks displays the whole way home.
The next day, Christy, Alice and I went to Macau. We had originally intended to spend the day in Zhu Hai and possibly head over to Macau later in the day, but once we got to Zhu Hai, we decided to go straight to Macau, and it's a good thing we did. We left Zhongshan at 9am, and took a 50 minute bus ride to Zhu Hai, where you cross the street to enter Macau through Gong Bei Port. Although you don't need a visa to get in to Macau, you do need to show your passport. I couldn't believe all the people when we got there. It was the last day of Spring Festival, and I knew it would be busy, but I had no idea that it would be this busy! First of all, we had to get in to a line up for foreigners, and non-residents of Macau. In true Chinese style, people were pushing and shoving and butting in. There were so many people, that they had to hold the crowds back and only let a small group of people go in at a time. Instead of having fixed security cameras, they had security guards walking around videoing the crowds. Once we got through the first check point, we went inside a building where we had to line up in one of 27 lines. Thankfully, there was a line just for foreigners, so it wasn't as chaotic as it was outside. There must have been at least 100 people in each line up. I had never seen anything like it before - not even in Disneyland! After waiting in the line up for an hour, we were relieved to finally make it through. However, as we walked further to the exit, we realized that we had to go through a temperature screening device (?) and another lineup. After spending another hour in a second line up, we were finally in Macau. We exchanged some money, then wandered in to town and took a bus to the city center. We came across a square rich in Portuguese architecture that had restaurants, shops, and a Starbucks!! We had lunch in a western restaurant, then went to Starbucks for our fix afterwards. Two lattes in two days! After that, we wandered around the shops, then headed out to the main road. Macau is known for gambling, and we wanted to go and have a look at the casinos (and maybe have a bit of a pull!). We came across the Wynn Casino (Steve Wynn has a very posh casino in Las Vegas as well), and decided to go in for a look. I couldn't believe the crowds of people pouring in to the casino. They seemed to never end and I wondered how everyone fit in! We each put in 20 Hong Kong Dollars (it felt like playing $20 in Vegas, but was the equivalent of about $3 Cdn), and just as in Vegas, the money was gone in no time. We slowly wandered out, people watching all the way, and started to make our way to the bus. We hopped on a bus back to Gong Bei Port, and got there about 6:00. We had to go through the same line ups, and although it seemed to go faster, it seemed much worse. People were pushing so much that I swear it felt like I was being picked up and moved through the crowd. When we got to the second line up, we ended up talking to a young Portuguese guy who is a journalist and lives in Macau. He said that although there were lots of people because of Spring Festival, it is usually busy at Gong Bei Port, and the best time to go is during the week. He said that the day before was especially busy because it was the last day of New Year's, and people feel it is lucky for them to gamble on the last day. When we got out of the Port it was dark outside, and the neon lights of Zhu Hai made it seem like a happening place! We walked over to the bus station to get our bus tickets back to Zhongshan. We lucked out, as there was a bus leaving in about ten minutes, so we bought out tickets and got on the bus. As we drove through Zhu Hai to head back to Zhongshan, I decided that I definitely wanted to go back and spend the day there. I will also definitely go back to Macau as there is so much more to see, but I will have to try and go during the week.
On Wednesday night, Christy and I, along with two of her friends visiting from Australia, hopped on an overnight bus to Guilin. It was so cool, as it was a sleeper bus, equipped with blankets and pillows. There were three rows of beds across the bus, an upper and lower bunk in each row. We all took the obligatory pictures, then snuggled in under the blankets. The novelty of the bus soon wore off as headed for Guilin, and I hardly slept at all. Being on the upper bunk, I got tossed around all night.
When we got to Guilin, it was raining, and we started to wander around, looking for a place to have breakfast. There was a coffee place that was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide book, so we decided to try and find it. After wandering for quite a while, we decided to take a break. Although Christy and I only had overnight backpacks, her friends had large backpacks, and we didn't think it was fair to make them wander all over town carrying their packs. As luck would have it, we ended our search at the Sheraton Guilin. We knew it would be expensive, but we decided to go in and treat ourselves to a nice breakfast, and what a breakfast it was! We all ended up having pancakes and real syrup! The best part was that there was a piano player serenading us as we feasted on our meal. Christy's two friends were heading to Yangshou that day, but Christy and I were going to stay in Guilin for the night. We started fantasizing about staying at the Sheraton, and it didn't take long before we had talked ourselves in to splurging for the night and staying. Even though I was able to use some of my frequent stay points to get a discount, it still ended up being quite expensive for our Chinese salaries. I didn't mind though, it was worth every yuan!
Christy and I went out exploring that day, then came back to a coffee shop close by the hotel. We treated ourselves to iced coffees, and of course, dessert! After that, we headed back to the hotel where I ordered a hamburger through room service. Boy was it good! That night we did a 'Two Rivers and Four Lakes' cruise on the Li River. We were originally going to do the cheaper cruise during the day, but we opted for the night cruise, and are we ever glad we did! It was absolutely beautiful. There were flood lights everywhere, and it seemed like there were miles and miles of walkways along the rivers. Two times during the evening, we went through locks. One of the rivers is higher than the other, so we had to first go through the locks to bring us up to the same height, then go through a second time to take us back down. After we finished the cruise, we started to walk back to our hotel, but ended up getting lost. I guess it wasn't so bad getting lost, as we were treated to a gorgeous display of fireworks that we wouldn't have seen had we known where we were going. We also came across English First, a company who hires English teachers for Guilin. I absolutely fell in love with Guilin, and if I hadn't signed a one year contract, I definitely would have considered doing a six month contract in Guilin.
After a wonderful night's sleep on a soft bed, Christy and I got up in the morning to go for a walk along the Li River. It was quite early in the morning, but the river was a beehive of activity with all kinds of people getting in their morning exercises. We came across an older gentleman who was warming up his vocal chords. There was a group of people marching with their arms swinging in time, and their legs kicking high in the air. We saw a young guy on the monkey bars, and we both commented that we thought he was showing off for us. I was surprised to see that there were lots of swimmers. We saw one woman who was doing the front crawl, but going nowhere - the current must have been quite strong. At the end of the walkway was a bath house where people were getting changed after their morning swim. We turned around, and went back up to the walkway where we saw joggers, dancers and what appeared to be tai chi line dancing! As we were hoping to catch an early bus to meet the girls in Yangshou, we headed back to the hotel so we could check out.
When we got to the bus station at Yangshou, Christy's friend Soey was there to meet us. We walked back to the hotel where they were staying, as we wanted to look in to bus tickets home. There was no space available on the bus that night, so we had to stay the night in Yangshou . We checked in to the same hotel, then went out to do a bit of exploring. I couldn't believe how much the main street reminded me of the main street in Kathmandu. One store was even playing 'Om Mani Padme Hom', a Tibetan chant that could be heard all over the streets of Thamel, in Kathmandu. We went down to the Li River to take pictures of the beautiful scenery, and the locals were taking pictures of us! After wandering around for a bit, we stopped to have lunch. There were many flutists wandering the streets of Yangshou playing songs and trying to sell their instruments. One guy played everything from Red River Valley, to Freres Jacques to Jingle Bells!
That night we went out for a western meal, and to another café for dessert. While we were sitting there, a young guy came along with a dragon that was made out of corn syrup and cane sugar. The dragon was unbelieveable - it was so ornate. He offered it to one of the girls, and they kept refusing it. He explained that if they didn't accept it, his friends would think that he wasn't handsome, so they finally accepted it. We weren't the only ones who took pictures of 'handsome boy' and his amazing dragon before he moved on.
Later that day we rented bikes and went out to some caves. I have already seen caves before, so I went just for the bike ride. Our guide, Benny, was very good at helping us navigate out of town on our bikes. I rode on his tail the whole time. After my first experience of riding a bike in China, I'm not sure if I want to get my own here in Zhongshan if I'm not going to have Benny guiding me!
The next day we went on a Xing Ping River cruise. There was a young couple from Germany with two kids, as well as two Chinese couples on our boat. The river was packed with cruise boats. Some were very basic, like the one we were on, and some had kitchens in the back, and were serving meals. The cruise lasted for a couple of hours, then we headed back in to town, and went for lunch at the Hard Seat Café.
Christy and I took the overnight bus back to Guangzhou, then had to catch another bus from Guangzhou to Zhongshan. The bus station was packed with people trying to get back home after Spring Festival. Buses were running every ten minutes, and they had a handful of guys working crowd control.
Originally, I wanted to go to the Philippines for Spring Festival, but left it too late and was unable to get a flight. I was mad at myself that I hadn't gotten it together sooner to make plans for ten days off. However, I'm really pleased with the way my holidays worked out. After going to all these great places, I got home on Sunday, and still had one more day left before I had to go back to work. Good thing, because I didn't get much sleep that last night. I was kept awake all night by a barking dog. As I lay there wide awake listening to the dog bark, I couldn't help but wonder if it was somebody's pet, or if it was destined for the dinner table.
Until next time,
Gaye
