Smooth Entrance to China

Trip Start Aug 25, 2003
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Trip End Jul 18, 2004


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Flag of China  ,
Wednesday, March 10, 2004

As we are learning, things are a bit different here in China compared to other places. Things that we took for granted in other countries. Things like, I don't know, taking a long distance bus. In other countries we would assume that a long distance bus would take us from one bus station in one city to another bus station in another city. Not so in China, as we found out when we made it to Guangzhou. Our bus, for instance, took us to a hotel (not even a bus station!) that was off the map of any guide book we had. This is not actually that bad, Guangzhou is a large city, yes, but it has great public transportation and it was still morning when we arrived.

So there Sarah and I were, in full backpacker gear in some trendy looking area of Guangzhou. Our first mission was actually not to figure out how to get to the train station, but to get some money (Yuan) since all we had was Hong Kong dollars. Thankfully, Bank of China branches are everywhere (we knew this ahead of time) and our ATM cards work there. As it happens there was a westerner at the bank branch we were at, so being the resourceful travelers that we were we asked for some help. It turns out the westerner, John, was from the states. He got us straightened out as to which direction the train station was and even gave us a good tip on buying tickets. In fact, (after we got our tickets at a place just down the street) we bumped into John and his wife Jihua again. It turned out we had to spend one night in Guangzhou (the train was booked for that night) so Jihua arranged a hotel room for us at a discounted rate - she works for a nearby university that has connections with some hotels (I think). The room we got was the best room of the trip (if you don't count beach front scenery) and cost the same as what the local youth hostel was charging! OK, the youth hostel isn't exactly cheap in Guangzhou, but it's not expensive either. In addition to arranging the room, John invited us to dinner. This dinner started with sushimi and a crab and shrimp salad, and ended with steaks and veggies. With some plum wine and a local red wine, this was the absolutely the most complete meal we have eaten all trip (and yes, I had some steak for those wondering. It was steak with mushrooms and green pepper and it was great!).

Feeling fully satisfied, Sarah and I caught the train to Kunming the next morning. Our hard sleeper beds were yet another shock to us. We were used to hard sleeper in India. Hard sleeper in India means a train full of life. It means people selling things: tea, coffee, food, soap, combs - you name it. It means people performing for money and open windows for fresh air. It also means a nice hard bed, begging, and a potentially over packed train (although that part is already fading from memory). In China hard sleeper is something completely different: clean soft beds, blankets and pilliows(!), and even a little bit of privacy from those walking the aisles. Of course, food onboard is only what the train officials sell and only people with a ticket can get on. Train stations are also different. In China stations are not the seething humanity of people sleeping, selling food, and huddling in the cold, they are an almost sterile environment where, if we're lucky, a train platform might have one person at a stop selling some instant noodles. As you can tell, it's difficult for me not to make comparisons between India and China but I'll do my best to stop.
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