Before
After
Saturday, August 29, 2009
We wanted an adventure, and we got one - Part 2
Having a car has been great - the flexibilty to spot, look and admire, to chat to people, to go where our fancy takes us has made me feel like less of a gawking tourist and more of a traveller. Having done the same in Australia we've now gotten into a familiar routine of cooking, cleaning etc. It's been a nice change from the "now that we've off the train we have to find a place to sleep / eat / shop" routine we had in Asia.
Even with all the well-meaning advice we've been given to get on the train, I think we've made the right decision. Some warnings have come true, such as unbelievably bad state of the roads (more on that later). But the dire warnings about the ethics of the road police have so far been unfounded. We've been stopped 7 times now, but each time they were just doing their job and let us go after checking our documents. It might be different in the European part of Russia, guess we'll have to wait and see.
One of the best parts of our trip so far has been picking up a pair of hitchhikers - Lesha and Lena, who stayed with us for 5 days. They've hitched their way across Russia, through Kazahstan, into China, and were now on the return leg of their journey. Since we have very similiar interests, such as travelling and camping out, it was cool having them along. Plus they were extremely useful when the car wouldn't start and required a helpful push every morning (more on that later). They showed us how to pick berries and mushrooms, but now that they are gone I can't find any berries and I am afraid to eat the mushrooms I find (in case I die :)
Having a car has been a freedom, but it has also been a resposibility. Out of the last 14 days on the road, about 10 of them we've had to stop at an auto-service or a tire place. Fist we hit a big rock (hidden in a rut on the road) and broke in half a metal rod that is part of our suspension. A helpful villager welded it together for us so we could get to an auto-service and get it replaced. Then we had to replace the starter motor, because we thought it was the reason the car wouldn't start. It took a few more visits to various mechanics to find the source of the problem - it was in the ignition. So we got that fixed. After that we had to replace the tube on our back right wheel - 3 times! Then our left mirror got broken (more on that later). Then two bolts holding our wheel fell out, and we barely made it to town, constantly fearing that one of the remaining two bolts would go and our wheel would fall off. Then Tim accidentally knocked out the tail light out... don't know what's going to happen next. Hopefully nothing.
As frustrating it this all has been, and even with the time and money we've had to spend, we still have no regrets. We are still driving, the car is fine now, and most of our problems have been caused by extremely bad roads (and in some cases no roads), the worst of which are hopefully behind us. Every time I look out the window and see a view like this, I still think it was all worth it.
The most unpleasant part of our experience however has been the night of Thursday 14th. We parked the car on the edge of the village, as we've always done so far, to get water from the well and food from the shop. Went to sleep as always. At about 2am, we were woken by drunken voices outside the car, knocking on our windows and shouting for us to come out. What followed was a fairly long converstion, lasting most of the night, but I will summarise here. Basically, it was a group of 5 teenagers, who, full of druken bravado and in a gang mentality decided to shake us down for some money. Their line of argument was that: "you are on our territory, come out of the car and give us some money, or we will puncture your tires, bash out your windows, drag you out and get the money anyway". My line of argument was that: "I have a flashlight, I will take photos of you (which I did), take them to the police tomorrow, and tell them that you attacked and robbed foreign citizens". The worst thing was that it was at that time the car wouldn't start, and we couldn't just drive away!
As you might imagine, it was quite scary at first, but once I saw that they were kids and not some criminal gang, I didn't think our lives were in danger, but we never came out of the car as we thought our odds of 5 to 2 were not good. Eventually, I talked them into leaving. But not before the drunkest of them broke our mirror. Now, we drive into the forest and camp there for the night.
Even with all the well-meaning advice we've been given to get on the train, I think we've made the right decision. Some warnings have come true, such as unbelievably bad state of the roads (more on that later). But the dire warnings about the ethics of the road police have so far been unfounded. We've been stopped 7 times now, but each time they were just doing their job and let us go after checking our documents. It might be different in the European part of Russia, guess we'll have to wait and see.
One of the best parts of our trip so far has been picking up a pair of hitchhikers - Lesha and Lena, who stayed with us for 5 days. They've hitched their way across Russia, through Kazahstan, into China, and were now on the return leg of their journey. Since we have very similiar interests, such as travelling and camping out, it was cool having them along. Plus they were extremely useful when the car wouldn't start and required a helpful push every morning (more on that later). They showed us how to pick berries and mushrooms, but now that they are gone I can't find any berries and I am afraid to eat the mushrooms I find (in case I die :)
Having a car has been a freedom, but it has also been a resposibility. Out of the last 14 days on the road, about 10 of them we've had to stop at an auto-service or a tire place. Fist we hit a big rock (hidden in a rut on the road) and broke in half a metal rod that is part of our suspension. A helpful villager welded it together for us so we could get to an auto-service and get it replaced. Then we had to replace the starter motor, because we thought it was the reason the car wouldn't start. It took a few more visits to various mechanics to find the source of the problem - it was in the ignition. So we got that fixed. After that we had to replace the tube on our back right wheel - 3 times! Then our left mirror got broken (more on that later). Then two bolts holding our wheel fell out, and we barely made it to town, constantly fearing that one of the remaining two bolts would go and our wheel would fall off. Then Tim accidentally knocked out the tail light out... don't know what's going to happen next. Hopefully nothing.
As frustrating it this all has been, and even with the time and money we've had to spend, we still have no regrets. We are still driving, the car is fine now, and most of our problems have been caused by extremely bad roads (and in some cases no roads), the worst of which are hopefully behind us. Every time I look out the window and see a view like this, I still think it was all worth it.
The most unpleasant part of our experience however has been the night of Thursday 14th. We parked the car on the edge of the village, as we've always done so far, to get water from the well and food from the shop. Went to sleep as always. At about 2am, we were woken by drunken voices outside the car, knocking on our windows and shouting for us to come out. What followed was a fairly long converstion, lasting most of the night, but I will summarise here. Basically, it was a group of 5 teenagers, who, full of druken bravado and in a gang mentality decided to shake us down for some money. Their line of argument was that: "you are on our territory, come out of the car and give us some money, or we will puncture your tires, bash out your windows, drag you out and get the money anyway". My line of argument was that: "I have a flashlight, I will take photos of you (which I did), take them to the police tomorrow, and tell them that you attacked and robbed foreign citizens". The worst thing was that it was at that time the car wouldn't start, and we couldn't just drive away!
As you might imagine, it was quite scary at first, but once I saw that they were kids and not some criminal gang, I didn't think our lives were in danger, but we never came out of the car as we thought our odds of 5 to 2 were not good. Eventually, I talked them into leaving. But not before the drunkest of them broke our mirror. Now, we drive into the forest and camp there for the night.
We wanted an adventure, and we got one - Part 1
We've been on the road for two weeks now, and I thought it was time for an update. We are currently in Ulan Ude (Siberia), having driven more than 4000km. On the way we've stopped at:
Vladivostok (obviously)
Khabarovsk
A relaxed city on the Amur river, I liked it. Lots of grand turn-of-the-century buildings in the city centre, like in Vladivostok.
Birobidzhan
It's a small town with no particular attractions apart from being the former centre of the Jewish Autonomous Region, when Stalin had the bright idea of resettling all jews in the Far East. My grandparents came here after the war, and my father was born here. However life in this "undeveloped swamp" (as it was then) was too hard, and they went back to Ukraine. I've always wanted to see it.
Chita
Maybe because we spent most of our time there running errands, and the weather was really bad, Chita did not really make an impression on me. But I will always remember it as the place where I got my cotton wool blanket. Ever since then, we've been nice and warm on those Siberian nights!
Vladivostok (obviously)
Khabarovsk
A relaxed city on the Amur river, I liked it. Lots of grand turn-of-the-century buildings in the city centre, like in Vladivostok.
Birobidzhan
It's a small town with no particular attractions apart from being the former centre of the Jewish Autonomous Region, when Stalin had the bright idea of resettling all jews in the Far East. My grandparents came here after the war, and my father was born here. However life in this "undeveloped swamp" (as it was then) was too hard, and they went back to Ukraine. I've always wanted to see it.
Chita
Maybe because we spent most of our time there running errands, and the weather was really bad, Chita did not really make an impression on me. But I will always remember it as the place where I got my cotton wool blanket. Ever since then, we've been nice and warm on those Siberian nights!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
My first car
Never thought I would be buying my first car in Russia of all places, or that it would be a van. Nevetheless, I am now the proud owner of a Toyota Town Ace 1990! I still cannot post photos for some reason, but it looks very similiar to this: http://www.jdmparts.ca/images/tamn.jpg, complete with the racy red stripe.
We have been in Vladivostok for the last 10 days, arranging the purchase of a vehicle that would take us the rest of the way through Russia. Our reasons, as we've had to explain to everyone here who heard our plan, are as follows:
1. We want to see Russia not just from a train window
2. Many places are remote and inaccessible unless you have your own vehicle (eg the Altai Mountains)
3. It would be an adventure
4. It's much cheaper than hop-on-hop-off the train and staying at hotels
We have been unpleasantly suprised by the prices here, on par with Australia or in some cases even more due to lack of options. We plan to sleep in the car and cook for ourselves as much as we can. It saved us a lot of money in Australia, and we liked it, so we thought "why not do it again".
Vladivostok is actually a really nice city, and not a bad place to spend 10 days. The central part of town was build mid-last century, and is very scenic. It's hot during the day (about 30C), and warm at night, which is somewhat a suprise. We've been looking forward to some cooler weather after China, but that hasn't happened yet.
For me, it's nice to be able to communicate again for the first time since we left Australia, and so it feels very comfortable here. Lots of people swim in the port, but it looks very polluted to us so we haven't tried it. It seems all the self-respecting girls got ready for summer by tanning themselves in solariums, and are darker then the average Australian :)
The big industry in town is importing used japanese cars and transporting them across Russia, but that's now in jeopardy as Federal Government raised import duties last year. Enterprising Russians however have a solution - go over to Japan, pull the car apart, import it as "spare parts" and put it back together here. This is called a "constuctor", for which you separately have to buy documents for to prove its existence. If anyone is planning to buy a car in Vladivostok, let me know, because I am now an expert on all the required procedures and paperwork, and on all the dodgy things you can do to get around the rules (not that we are planning to do anything like that). It seems like everyone in Vladivostok owns a used Japanese car, even though the wheel is on the wrong side. But as a local explained to me: "once you know what quality is, you cannot go back to a Russian-built vehicle; you are used to better things".
In 99% of cases, people have been nice, friendly and extremely helpful to us. Ofcourse there are still people, mainly in supermarket-type jobs, whose faces haven't cracked a smile in the last decade. But they are firmly in the minority. As "naive foreigners with a crazy plan", we have gotten an enormous amount of help here from locals. Everyone we meet warns us about people out there who are going to cheat us / rob us / hurt us. But it seems to be just a general level of suspicion and paranoia towards others. So far our experience in Russia has been exactly the opposite.
We have been in Vladivostok for the last 10 days, arranging the purchase of a vehicle that would take us the rest of the way through Russia. Our reasons, as we've had to explain to everyone here who heard our plan, are as follows:
1. We want to see Russia not just from a train window
2. Many places are remote and inaccessible unless you have your own vehicle (eg the Altai Mountains)
3. It would be an adventure
4. It's much cheaper than hop-on-hop-off the train and staying at hotels
We have been unpleasantly suprised by the prices here, on par with Australia or in some cases even more due to lack of options. We plan to sleep in the car and cook for ourselves as much as we can. It saved us a lot of money in Australia, and we liked it, so we thought "why not do it again".
Vladivostok is actually a really nice city, and not a bad place to spend 10 days. The central part of town was build mid-last century, and is very scenic. It's hot during the day (about 30C), and warm at night, which is somewhat a suprise. We've been looking forward to some cooler weather after China, but that hasn't happened yet.
For me, it's nice to be able to communicate again for the first time since we left Australia, and so it feels very comfortable here. Lots of people swim in the port, but it looks very polluted to us so we haven't tried it. It seems all the self-respecting girls got ready for summer by tanning themselves in solariums, and are darker then the average Australian :)
The big industry in town is importing used japanese cars and transporting them across Russia, but that's now in jeopardy as Federal Government raised import duties last year. Enterprising Russians however have a solution - go over to Japan, pull the car apart, import it as "spare parts" and put it back together here. This is called a "constuctor", for which you separately have to buy documents for to prove its existence. If anyone is planning to buy a car in Vladivostok, let me know, because I am now an expert on all the required procedures and paperwork, and on all the dodgy things you can do to get around the rules (not that we are planning to do anything like that). It seems like everyone in Vladivostok owns a used Japanese car, even though the wheel is on the wrong side. But as a local explained to me: "once you know what quality is, you cannot go back to a Russian-built vehicle; you are used to better things".
In 99% of cases, people have been nice, friendly and extremely helpful to us. Ofcourse there are still people, mainly in supermarket-type jobs, whose faces haven't cracked a smile in the last decade. But they are firmly in the minority. As "naive foreigners with a crazy plan", we have gotten an enormous amount of help here from locals. Everyone we meet warns us about people out there who are going to cheat us / rob us / hurt us. But it seems to be just a general level of suspicion and paranoia towards others. So far our experience in Russia has been exactly the opposite.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
China Post #4
I just had some random observations about China I felt like sharing:
- Big price hike in China from SE Asia for things like transport and accommodation. Prices for tourist attractions are so dear I wonder how it doesn't exclude most Chinese (we are talking $25 - $30 AUD for foreigners and locals alike). On the plus side food is dirt cheap, and so good, that we never really had any cravings for western food.
- Western tourists are scarce here. They are outnumbered by Chinese tourists by a factor of about 100 to 1. It shows in accommodation options, with only a few hostels/hotels that cater for foreigners and have English-speaking staff. The rest cater for the Chinese, are perfectly nice, much cheaper, but not a word of English.
- With so few foreigners, I would have thought the locals would have more of a reaction to seeing us, but that's not so. People definitely notice you, but in a polite way. They give you a few discreet glances, but if you catch them looking they immediately look away. Much better than a torturous "Hellllloooooo Mister" accompanying you everywhere you go.
- The fashion here is really, really bad. It’s a combination of cheap fabric, lack of decent cut and as much writing / glitter / appliques / bows / lace packed on as possible. Even if I had the money to shop here, I wouldn't want to buy anything.
- Things are straightforward, people don’t really try to cheat you or overcharge you (unless you are shopping for souvenirs, in which case good luck). I have heard of many scams, but as a couple I don’t think we are natural targets.
- In a weird cultural twist, waitresses tend to stand over you until you order. I think it's impolite for them to walk away until you order. This stresses us out, ‘cos we need time to decide!
- The Chinese love to queue. They will queue up to be first on the bus, first off the bus, to buy a coke, to get bags scanned, anything. They will queue up an hour early to get first onto a train they have designated seats for. They will push and shove to make sure they are first, and they will jump the queue if they can.
- Women have a deadly fear of the sun. They would rather sweat in a long-sleeved shirt in the middle of summer, with a hat and an umbrella to top it off, than expose an inch of skin to the sun. Even when on a bike an umbrella is deemed essential. Chinese women want to be white as much as Western women want to be tanned!
- Meanwhile, if the men are hot, they tend to roll up their t-shirts to just under their boobs. I have seen more flabby bellies this way than I ever needed to or wanted to. Is the belly really such a heat-producing part of the body?
- The pollution is pretty bad in some cities. Beijing air is apparently like smoking 70 cigarettes a day, and you definitely feel it. However on a positive note I think China has jumped onto the environmental bandwagon in some ways. Plastic bags are not used in supermarkets, you have to pay for them. I also see many electric bikes on the road, some just a normal pushbike with a tiny motor; haven’t seen that anywhere else. Plus, there are people everywhere collecting empty plastic drink bottles for recycling - guess you can make a living that way.
- Big price hike in China from SE Asia for things like transport and accommodation. Prices for tourist attractions are so dear I wonder how it doesn't exclude most Chinese (we are talking $25 - $30 AUD for foreigners and locals alike). On the plus side food is dirt cheap, and so good, that we never really had any cravings for western food.
- Western tourists are scarce here. They are outnumbered by Chinese tourists by a factor of about 100 to 1. It shows in accommodation options, with only a few hostels/hotels that cater for foreigners and have English-speaking staff. The rest cater for the Chinese, are perfectly nice, much cheaper, but not a word of English.
- With so few foreigners, I would have thought the locals would have more of a reaction to seeing us, but that's not so. People definitely notice you, but in a polite way. They give you a few discreet glances, but if you catch them looking they immediately look away. Much better than a torturous "Hellllloooooo Mister" accompanying you everywhere you go.
- The fashion here is really, really bad. It’s a combination of cheap fabric, lack of decent cut and as much writing / glitter / appliques / bows / lace packed on as possible. Even if I had the money to shop here, I wouldn't want to buy anything.
- Things are straightforward, people don’t really try to cheat you or overcharge you (unless you are shopping for souvenirs, in which case good luck). I have heard of many scams, but as a couple I don’t think we are natural targets.
- In a weird cultural twist, waitresses tend to stand over you until you order. I think it's impolite for them to walk away until you order. This stresses us out, ‘cos we need time to decide!
- The Chinese love to queue. They will queue up to be first on the bus, first off the bus, to buy a coke, to get bags scanned, anything. They will queue up an hour early to get first onto a train they have designated seats for. They will push and shove to make sure they are first, and they will jump the queue if they can.
- Women have a deadly fear of the sun. They would rather sweat in a long-sleeved shirt in the middle of summer, with a hat and an umbrella to top it off, than expose an inch of skin to the sun. Even when on a bike an umbrella is deemed essential. Chinese women want to be white as much as Western women want to be tanned!
- Meanwhile, if the men are hot, they tend to roll up their t-shirts to just under their boobs. I have seen more flabby bellies this way than I ever needed to or wanted to. Is the belly really such a heat-producing part of the body?
- The pollution is pretty bad in some cities. Beijing air is apparently like smoking 70 cigarettes a day, and you definitely feel it. However on a positive note I think China has jumped onto the environmental bandwagon in some ways. Plastic bags are not used in supermarkets, you have to pay for them. I also see many electric bikes on the road, some just a normal pushbike with a tiny motor; haven’t seen that anywhere else. Plus, there are people everywhere collecting empty plastic drink bottles for recycling - guess you can make a living that way.
China Post #3 - will post photos when I get better internet
Yangshuo
Our first stop in mainland china was Yangshuo, a beautiful valley surrounded by karst limestone peaks. It's actually on the back of the 20 Yuan note http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:20_yuan_note.jpg). We took a "bamboo" (well it was actually PVC pipe styled to look like bamboo) raft cruise down Li River, for me one of the highlights of our trip to China.
Chengdu
About 10km from Chengdu is the Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre, where I could gush over a panda to my heart’s content. The older ones are a bit dirty looking and lethargic, and won't pose for the camera even when the keeper tempts them with an apple. “It's a whole 1 metre away and I can't be bothered” was the attitude displayed.
But the little pandas look exactly like fluffy stuffed toys, and they play and eat and generally behave in an adorable fashion! It's such a pity - there are only about 1000 of them left in the wild, and although captive breeding programs have been very successful, every panda released into the wild has soon died.
Leshan
A day trip from Chengdu, Leshan is home to the largest Buddha in the world. I believe it obtained this title after the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas in Afghanistan. Here are the facts on the Buddha: he is 71m tall, his ears are 7m long, his big toe is 8.5m and each toe is taller than the average human.
The Three Gorges
Rather than doing a 2 day cruise, we took a hydrofoil through the 3 gorges. I am glad we went this option - I don't think they are worth 2 days now, after being flooded by the dam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_gorges_dam). But interesting to see what the fuss is all about anyway.
Hangzhou
Probably the hottest place we've been to in China. Stepping out of the air-conditioned train, the heat is so intense you wonder if you ever really felt hot before, or everything was just mildly warm until now!
I was also amazed at the amount of money floating around the place. The streets are lined with swish restaurants, Ferrari and Porsche dealerships, and international high-end brands. I think they make their money from tea - if so, it's obviously a good business to be in.
Anyways, there are 36 lakes in China called the West Lake, but the one in Hangzhou is the original and the most famous. The lake was a getaway for the rich in imperial times, and has lots of gardens, pagodas and mansions around it. It's quite pretty.
I was really impressed however with the Buddhist carvings at Lingyn Temple. There are 470 of them, dating back to the 10th and 14th centuries. Obviously, we didn't see the vast majority of them. But the ones we did see some are just amazingly detailed in their execution and well preserved.
Shanghai
There are three main sights in Shanghai:
1) The Bund – a street the Europeans built in the 1920's and 1930's
2) Pudong - the new business centre, farmland just 15 years ago. Its home to some buildings of extremely dubious architectural value - notice the futuristic shocker (Oriental Pearl Tower)? The Chinese seriously regard this as a beautiful building.
3) China's golden mile - a frantic commercial strip fill of really bad fashion.
We were lucky enough to be in Shanghai in time (completely accidentally) for the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, complete darkness for around 6 minutes. Unfortunately it was rather cloudy and hazy in Shanghai, so we didn't see anything like this photo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_eclipse_22_July_2009_taken_by_Lutfar_Rahman_Nirjhar_from_Bangladesh.jpg.
What we did experience was day becoming night within a minute or two. It was actually rather unsettling, very end-of-the-world like. If I lived in times when such things were believed to be controlled by gods, I would scared shitless and buy whatever story I was being told.
Tongli
It was worth spending the time searching through people's feedback on Lonely Planet discussion board regarding which "water town" to visit. There are 7 of them around Shanghai, basically little picturesque towns build on canals. Some of them have become major tourists traps though, something we were keen to avoid after the Bangkok water market experience.
Tongli is not (yet) a tourist trap. It's been around since the 9th century, and many buildings have retained their traditional facades with whitewashed walls and black tiled roofs. It’s got little cobblestone streets, picturesque gardens and a maze of small stone bridges linings the canals – all very charming.
Xian
Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified China, centralized its government, standardised measurements, currency and writing and conquered 6 major kingdoms. He is best remembered though for the Army of Terracotta Warriors he built for his after-life rule.
Beijing
Due to unavailability of train tickets, we had to spend the entire night sitting up in seats that are basically two boards nailed together at a 90 degree angle. OK, maybe they are not as hard as two boards, but they are definitely very uncomfortable. In view of the fact that no one could possibly sleep in such conditions, the light remained on for the entire night as well. We were pretty tired when we got to Beijing!
We started our Beijing sightseeing with the Forbidden City, off limits to everyone by the Emperor, his women and his staff for 500 years. For security reasons he hardly ever left the place either. I wonder how he had any idea what he was governing. Despite being the best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China, it doesn't make as much impact as it should due to the slap-dash dulux-heavy restoration effort it has gone through. It makes it look and feel like the whole thing could have been built yesterday. But it’s still impressive for its size and history etc.
Similar Great Wall experience as well - we went to Badaling, the most photographed section of the wall, by virtue of being the closest to Beijing, and also the most restored. The restoration (carried out in the 50s and 80s) left much to be desired in terms of authenticity of method and appearance, but from a distance the view of the wall sneaking over the hills is romantic enough. After about 30 minutes on the wall we were overtaken by a heavy shower (umbrellas were useless as protection except for the spot on the very top of your head), and there wasn't much to do but walk back down and try to dry out at Starbucks. And we though the overcast was purely due to smog.
Tienanmen square and the pickled Mao - I have to say, even though I was 2 metres away from him at all times, and he was encased in a big crystal case, I sort of doubt his authenticity. He looks so perfect, exactly like one of Madame Tussaud’s wax statues. Surely even with the best preservatives in the world, the skin color would have changed a little in the last 30 years? Or maybe he is just wearing heavy make-up? I am suspicious whether we saw the real deal.
Haerbin
Haerbin was the first place anywhere in the world (aside from Russia of course) where my Russian language skills proved more useful than my English language skills. Usually when restaurant staff realise we can't read the menu or speak Chinese, they will produce someone (if available) who speaks a tiny amount of English. This time, it was someone who spoke a tiny amount of Russian! I guess it makes sense, being so close to the border etc, but its funny speaking Russian in China of all places. The place looks very European as well, due to the high number of Russian refugees who came here after the revolution.
Siberian Tiger Park - The mission of the park is to study, breed, release and ultimately save the Siberian tiger from extinction. It's not clear however exactly how the park is preparing these animals for the wild, when visitors are encouraged to purchase live chickens, goats or cows to throw to the tigers. It was pretty cool driving through the park to get an up-close and personal look at these magnificent animals. They are so cute when they are sleeping or scratching themselves, just like very big cats. You really feel like scratching them behind the ears or on the belly :)
We were however treated to a highly unpleasant spectacle of tourists teasing the tigers with a live chicken - with the staff's full encouragement and participation. I really felt the animals deserve more respect than jumping for the chickens for the benefit of a crowd of tourists. I guess the sign "don't tease or provoke the tigers" doesn't apply if you pay for the chicken.
Our first stop in mainland china was Yangshuo, a beautiful valley surrounded by karst limestone peaks. It's actually on the back of the 20 Yuan note http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:20_yuan_note.jpg). We took a "bamboo" (well it was actually PVC pipe styled to look like bamboo) raft cruise down Li River, for me one of the highlights of our trip to China.
Chengdu
About 10km from Chengdu is the Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre, where I could gush over a panda to my heart’s content. The older ones are a bit dirty looking and lethargic, and won't pose for the camera even when the keeper tempts them with an apple. “It's a whole 1 metre away and I can't be bothered” was the attitude displayed.
But the little pandas look exactly like fluffy stuffed toys, and they play and eat and generally behave in an adorable fashion! It's such a pity - there are only about 1000 of them left in the wild, and although captive breeding programs have been very successful, every panda released into the wild has soon died.
Leshan
A day trip from Chengdu, Leshan is home to the largest Buddha in the world. I believe it obtained this title after the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas in Afghanistan. Here are the facts on the Buddha: he is 71m tall, his ears are 7m long, his big toe is 8.5m and each toe is taller than the average human.
The Three Gorges
Rather than doing a 2 day cruise, we took a hydrofoil through the 3 gorges. I am glad we went this option - I don't think they are worth 2 days now, after being flooded by the dam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_gorges_dam). But interesting to see what the fuss is all about anyway.
Hangzhou
Probably the hottest place we've been to in China. Stepping out of the air-conditioned train, the heat is so intense you wonder if you ever really felt hot before, or everything was just mildly warm until now!
I was also amazed at the amount of money floating around the place. The streets are lined with swish restaurants, Ferrari and Porsche dealerships, and international high-end brands. I think they make their money from tea - if so, it's obviously a good business to be in.
Anyways, there are 36 lakes in China called the West Lake, but the one in Hangzhou is the original and the most famous. The lake was a getaway for the rich in imperial times, and has lots of gardens, pagodas and mansions around it. It's quite pretty.
I was really impressed however with the Buddhist carvings at Lingyn Temple. There are 470 of them, dating back to the 10th and 14th centuries. Obviously, we didn't see the vast majority of them. But the ones we did see some are just amazingly detailed in their execution and well preserved.
Shanghai
There are three main sights in Shanghai:
1) The Bund – a street the Europeans built in the 1920's and 1930's
2) Pudong - the new business centre, farmland just 15 years ago. Its home to some buildings of extremely dubious architectural value - notice the futuristic shocker (Oriental Pearl Tower)? The Chinese seriously regard this as a beautiful building.
3) China's golden mile - a frantic commercial strip fill of really bad fashion.
We were lucky enough to be in Shanghai in time (completely accidentally) for the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, complete darkness for around 6 minutes. Unfortunately it was rather cloudy and hazy in Shanghai, so we didn't see anything like this photo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_eclipse_22_July_2009_taken_by_Lutfar_Rahman_Nirjhar_from_Bangladesh.jpg.
What we did experience was day becoming night within a minute or two. It was actually rather unsettling, very end-of-the-world like. If I lived in times when such things were believed to be controlled by gods, I would scared shitless and buy whatever story I was being told.
Tongli
It was worth spending the time searching through people's feedback on Lonely Planet discussion board regarding which "water town" to visit. There are 7 of them around Shanghai, basically little picturesque towns build on canals. Some of them have become major tourists traps though, something we were keen to avoid after the Bangkok water market experience.
Tongli is not (yet) a tourist trap. It's been around since the 9th century, and many buildings have retained their traditional facades with whitewashed walls and black tiled roofs. It’s got little cobblestone streets, picturesque gardens and a maze of small stone bridges linings the canals – all very charming.
Xian
Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified China, centralized its government, standardised measurements, currency and writing and conquered 6 major kingdoms. He is best remembered though for the Army of Terracotta Warriors he built for his after-life rule.
Beijing
Due to unavailability of train tickets, we had to spend the entire night sitting up in seats that are basically two boards nailed together at a 90 degree angle. OK, maybe they are not as hard as two boards, but they are definitely very uncomfortable. In view of the fact that no one could possibly sleep in such conditions, the light remained on for the entire night as well. We were pretty tired when we got to Beijing!
We started our Beijing sightseeing with the Forbidden City, off limits to everyone by the Emperor, his women and his staff for 500 years. For security reasons he hardly ever left the place either. I wonder how he had any idea what he was governing. Despite being the best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China, it doesn't make as much impact as it should due to the slap-dash dulux-heavy restoration effort it has gone through. It makes it look and feel like the whole thing could have been built yesterday. But it’s still impressive for its size and history etc.
Similar Great Wall experience as well - we went to Badaling, the most photographed section of the wall, by virtue of being the closest to Beijing, and also the most restored. The restoration (carried out in the 50s and 80s) left much to be desired in terms of authenticity of method and appearance, but from a distance the view of the wall sneaking over the hills is romantic enough. After about 30 minutes on the wall we were overtaken by a heavy shower (umbrellas were useless as protection except for the spot on the very top of your head), and there wasn't much to do but walk back down and try to dry out at Starbucks. And we though the overcast was purely due to smog.
Tienanmen square and the pickled Mao - I have to say, even though I was 2 metres away from him at all times, and he was encased in a big crystal case, I sort of doubt his authenticity. He looks so perfect, exactly like one of Madame Tussaud’s wax statues. Surely even with the best preservatives in the world, the skin color would have changed a little in the last 30 years? Or maybe he is just wearing heavy make-up? I am suspicious whether we saw the real deal.
Haerbin
Haerbin was the first place anywhere in the world (aside from Russia of course) where my Russian language skills proved more useful than my English language skills. Usually when restaurant staff realise we can't read the menu or speak Chinese, they will produce someone (if available) who speaks a tiny amount of English. This time, it was someone who spoke a tiny amount of Russian! I guess it makes sense, being so close to the border etc, but its funny speaking Russian in China of all places. The place looks very European as well, due to the high number of Russian refugees who came here after the revolution.
Siberian Tiger Park - The mission of the park is to study, breed, release and ultimately save the Siberian tiger from extinction. It's not clear however exactly how the park is preparing these animals for the wild, when visitors are encouraged to purchase live chickens, goats or cows to throw to the tigers. It was pretty cool driving through the park to get an up-close and personal look at these magnificent animals. They are so cute when they are sleeping or scratching themselves, just like very big cats. You really feel like scratching them behind the ears or on the belly :)
We were however treated to a highly unpleasant spectacle of tourists teasing the tigers with a live chicken - with the staff's full encouragement and participation. I really felt the animals deserve more respect than jumping for the chickens for the benefit of a crowd of tourists. I guess the sign "don't tease or provoke the tigers" doesn't apply if you pay for the chicken.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
China Post # 2
China has been a surprise to me. I was expecting something like Indonesia in terms of development, but it has left Indonesia in its wake long ago. I can see why the Chinese are so fiercely nationalistic and proud of their country. Aside from the propaganda / censorship / arbitrary laws and lack of human rights, China has definitely made some very substantial economic achievements. Granted, we travelled mosty in Eastern China, and I know Western China lags behind, but it is much more developed and less dodgy than expected.
A note about propaganda – not sure if people have been following this story (http://www.theage.com.au/national/chinas-new-film-threat-20090807-ecxz.html), but basically there have been some protests here by the Uighur minority group. The Uighurs have presented their side of the story in western media, and made some accusations against the Chinese government. They have been labeled as terrorists by China, who are right now trying to pressure the Melbourne International Film Festival into canceling the planned screening of this film: http://www.uhrp.org/articles/2344/1/THE-10-CONDITIONS-OF-LOVE/index.html.
There is a Beijing TV channel presented entirely in English when we could. I think the intended audience is western expatriates and tourists, as most programs are travel-related. We are mostly interested in the news. Basically, according to Chinese media, the riots were "masterminded from overseas"; no local grievances have been mentioned. Bizarrely, Uighur community leaders interviewed by journalists are busy complimenting local government officials for their "quick and effective action" in subduing the riots and arresting those responsible. There are 200 casualties reported by China, as opposed to the 800 reported by The Age. And everyone stopped on the street for a “random” interview – from schoolkids to shopkeepers to teachers etc – have condemned the protests and are most concerned about “social cohesion” and “ethnic unity”. I've lost count of the number of times I heard these two phrases, or variations of. It is apparently the most important thing for a country, because "no one can be happy or prosperous without it". So the riots, as undermining social unity, are a bad thing for everyone. But make no mistake about it, the situation is “firmly under control”.
Another good example is the arrest of 4 Riot Tinto executives for corruption and espionage which came coincidentally right after Rio Tinto and Chinolco (a Chinese government-owned steel producer) talks failed. Chinolco wanted to take a 40% stake in Rio Tinto, and many people had objections to this plan, one of them the Australian Government. So the plans collapsed, and 4 people have been arrested (http://www.theage.com.au/national/china-tells-australia-to-butt-out-20090716-dmxi.html). Interestingly, I first learned of this in the Australian media, even though we’ve been watching Chinese news almost every night. When it was finally mentioned, the story was a farce. The only information it gave was that “4 executives have been arrested on suspicion of corruption and espionage, and more are being investigated”. This took about 10 seconds. The rest of the story discussed only China’s requirement for steel, its need to import steel, and the high price of steel. The story was a really pathetic excuse for independent journalism.
A note about propaganda – not sure if people have been following this story (http://www.theage.com.au/national/chinas-new-film-threat-20090807-ecxz.html), but basically there have been some protests here by the Uighur minority group. The Uighurs have presented their side of the story in western media, and made some accusations against the Chinese government. They have been labeled as terrorists by China, who are right now trying to pressure the Melbourne International Film Festival into canceling the planned screening of this film: http://www.uhrp.org/articles/2344/1/THE-10-CONDITIONS-OF-LOVE/index.html.
There is a Beijing TV channel presented entirely in English when we could. I think the intended audience is western expatriates and tourists, as most programs are travel-related. We are mostly interested in the news. Basically, according to Chinese media, the riots were "masterminded from overseas"; no local grievances have been mentioned. Bizarrely, Uighur community leaders interviewed by journalists are busy complimenting local government officials for their "quick and effective action" in subduing the riots and arresting those responsible. There are 200 casualties reported by China, as opposed to the 800 reported by The Age. And everyone stopped on the street for a “random” interview – from schoolkids to shopkeepers to teachers etc – have condemned the protests and are most concerned about “social cohesion” and “ethnic unity”. I've lost count of the number of times I heard these two phrases, or variations of. It is apparently the most important thing for a country, because "no one can be happy or prosperous without it". So the riots, as undermining social unity, are a bad thing for everyone. But make no mistake about it, the situation is “firmly under control”.
Another good example is the arrest of 4 Riot Tinto executives for corruption and espionage which came coincidentally right after Rio Tinto and Chinolco (a Chinese government-owned steel producer) talks failed. Chinolco wanted to take a 40% stake in Rio Tinto, and many people had objections to this plan, one of them the Australian Government. So the plans collapsed, and 4 people have been arrested (http://www.theage.com.au/national/china-tells-australia-to-butt-out-20090716-dmxi.html). Interestingly, I first learned of this in the Australian media, even though we’ve been watching Chinese news almost every night. When it was finally mentioned, the story was a farce. The only information it gave was that “4 executives have been arrested on suspicion of corruption and espionage, and more are being investigated”. This took about 10 seconds. The rest of the story discussed only China’s requirement for steel, its need to import steel, and the high price of steel. The story was a really pathetic excuse for independent journalism.
China Post # 1
Hong Kong
We started our Chinese adventures in HK, a place of rampant consumption. I have never seen such concentration of high-end fashion brands in one place. Do people really need three Armani stores within a 500m radius? In HK, it seems they do. Work harder, longer, buy more, and if you don't have time to organise your life get a maid. That's what HK culture appears to be about to me. Otherwise, it's quite a livable city, with easy access into the countryside. And there is a real winter for those who crave it, unlike always hot Singapore. But it would be just too stressful for me to live in.
Macau
A former Portuguese colony, it has a very beautiful central square and a great museum exploring its colonial past.
The rest of it however is dominated by giant and mostly very tacky casinos.
Gambling in illegal in China and HK, but legal in Macau - this makes for a very big market. We went to the Grand Lisboa and MGM Grand, but they were nowhere near as exciting as they sound. Actually they were just like the Crown - filled with poker machine and gambling table, just a larger floor area. Certainly nothing like that "Casino" show; no hot girls or good-looking rich men.
If you are ever there and want to see true opulence, The Venetian is where it's at. It's got 3 canals (INSIDE the building), complete with opera-singing gondoliers. Le grand tackville factor is all happening, but in a fun way. Yes the frescos look like they were painted yesterday, but they are big and there are lots of them, so what more do you need?
We started our Chinese adventures in HK, a place of rampant consumption. I have never seen such concentration of high-end fashion brands in one place. Do people really need three Armani stores within a 500m radius? In HK, it seems they do. Work harder, longer, buy more, and if you don't have time to organise your life get a maid. That's what HK culture appears to be about to me. Otherwise, it's quite a livable city, with easy access into the countryside. And there is a real winter for those who crave it, unlike always hot Singapore. But it would be just too stressful for me to live in.
Macau
A former Portuguese colony, it has a very beautiful central square and a great museum exploring its colonial past.
The rest of it however is dominated by giant and mostly very tacky casinos.
Gambling in illegal in China and HK, but legal in Macau - this makes for a very big market. We went to the Grand Lisboa and MGM Grand, but they were nowhere near as exciting as they sound. Actually they were just like the Crown - filled with poker machine and gambling table, just a larger floor area. Certainly nothing like that "Casino" show; no hot girls or good-looking rich men.
If you are ever there and want to see true opulence, The Venetian is where it's at. It's got 3 canals (INSIDE the building), complete with opera-singing gondoliers. Le grand tackville factor is all happening, but in a fun way. Yes the frescos look like they were painted yesterday, but they are big and there are lots of them, so what more do you need?
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