A few observations from the trip. First and fore most, all the people we met were very friendly and helpful. This was manifest in many explicit and subtle ways, for example:
- The taxi driver, queued at a taxi stand, who tried to convince us to let him drive us to our destination. We declined telling him we wanted to walk; to take a trail through the woods. He did try for what seemed several minutes to sell us his service but finally he gave in and returned to his car. We walked on and he watched. When we were about half a kilometer away he drove up to us to tell us we were going the wrong way, that we had missed the turn off. He pointed us in the right direction. To do this he had to leave the spot where he was parked, thus loosing his place in the line of cabs.
- As we walked down the trail we bumped into a local resident; a woman in her mid-to-late thirties. She walked the trail twice a day, once going to work and the other to return home. She stayed with us the entire remainder of the walk. We told her we were OK; that we didn’t think we would get lost but she stayed with us saying she would enjoy the company. We thought she might ask for something, but she never did. When we got to the bottom, she and her friends helped us find the right bus to take us to town.
- When we arrived in Hangzhou we spoke to the hotel concierge about local tours. But none of the packages fit with our interests. The concierge suggested hiring a driver so we could tailor our route. The charge was to be 200Y (about $30CND) for about 4 hours of work. We described our plans to the driver and he said we would be just as well off taking a cab and it would be cheaper.
- Linda and I did a lot of walking. Very often as we walked down the streets people would say “hello” to me, with a big smile and a laugh. I think it was a bit about being friendly mixed with a bit of saying something in English. A couple of times, people asked to have me in their photographs.
You can, assuming you speak the language, ask anyone for directions, but more often than not the answer is “over there” with a hand waving in some direction. Over there being a general direction or vicinity. Once you get over there then you ask again. Reaching the end point can involve asking many people along the way. Not necessarily a bad thing.
Internet access was widely available. Most of the hotels we stayed in had broadband access. Wireless access was often available in airports, sometimes for free. Starbucks had free wireless access. I used wireless because I carried my iPod with me to upload posts. Interestingly, I was able to post to my blog, but I was not able to read it: blocked by the Great Firewall of China.
We saw a job posting for an accountant. 850Y/month. That’s about $130CND/month. My son says the Chinese teachers in his school are paid 1,500Y/month which is about $230CNS/month. If you want to live a western lifestyle in China (e.g., big car, coffee at Starbucks, live in a condo in a major city) such salaries will be insufficient. If you want to live according to local custom then it is sufficient.
It seems most people have cellphones and they use them quite extensively, if not for talking, certainly to play games. On the bus ride from Huangshan to Hangzhou the were two guys speaking almost constantly, at first alternating but sometimes in competition. But they weren’t the only ones, just the loudest ones. I look forward to the day when cellphones are permitted
on airplanes.
We rode a local bus from Huangshan Mountain Park to Huangshan City. The bus would probably not be considered road-worthy in Canada, but it didn’t go too fast so any mechanical failure would likely not be catastrophic. I’m not sure if there were formal bus stops, it seemed most people just waved and the bus stopped. At one point along the way the bus pulled into a gas station. I thought to myself that the bus must need a fill. When it stopped, three of the women on the bus ran out towards the lady’s. The bus stopped at various points along the way, picking up packages, dropping things off, acting like a local courier service.
There’s something in Chinese thinking that causes withholding information. This was most explicitly driven home to me by the maps on Huangshan Mountain. They covered only a limited range, may be a couple of kilometers, not the complete route. If you were looking for a spot beyond the radius of the map you had to ask for directions. More often than not the answer was “over there” but no information about how far, etc.
A couple of our guides commented on the Chinese ability to see the images of various things (usually horses, dragons, and turtles) in natural scenes, such as mountains, cliffs, etc. This ability was attributed to a well-developed Chinese imagination. When the tour guide tried to point out these images, I rarely could see them. If I did see the image of anything it would be of a cathedral, skull, or cardinal. Must be a cultural thing. But I did wonder if this well-developed Chinese ability might have something to do with their written language, basically being hieroglyphics.
Our guide in Beijing said there were four famous Chinese foods: shark’s fin, bird’s nest, bear paw and camel hump. Unfortunately, we were offered none of them (although I have previously enjoyed the former two). Camel hump struck me as being interesting just because many years ago I read James Fenimore Cooper’s novel Prairie. In this work the protagonist, Natty Bumppo, comments that buffalo hump is the tastiest part of the animal. I’ve always wanted to try it but have yet to find it on a menu.
One of our guides apologized for some shoddy service and then commented that people from the south are lazy. She of course was from northern China. It caused me to think that many people from “northern” countries consider their southern neighbours lazy. I’ve heard people from northern Spain refer to their southern citizens as laid-back. Northern Germans look at southern residents as farmers. In the US the story seems to be told in reverse: the north is industrious, implying of course the south is not. I presume this works because unless you live in Tierra Del Fuego there’s always someone south to benchmark.
We were told by one guide that they are expected to include a cultural aspect to the itinerary. Apparently going to some historical site, such as the Great Wall, The Forbidden City or a site of natural beauty is insufficient. The way this requirement is fulfilled is by taking you to various displays/tutorials. For example, we visited a couple of jade factories, a silk factory, a Chinese Pharmacy and a Cloisonné factory. They all have the same format: the tutorial provided by a local expert followed by a store where you can buy something. The tutorial part is usually geared to a vacationer’s level of interest (that is it’s not university-level instruction and it’s usually over in less than 10-20 minutes). These learn & buy sessions are one big reason to avoid tours; the learning is questionable and the buying gets tiresome.
In retrospect, the more interesting experiences happened outside the tour. While we had arranged a private tour–which offers more flexibility and control than the regular tours–certain “rules” continued to be in play. All transportation was done by the assigned driver; preselected “tourist”restaurants were the only ones we went to, etc. In many respects these tours insulate one from the real world of China. How much insulation the visitor needs is will depend on a number of personal preferences and goals.
Bus ride from Huangshan Mountain Park to Huangshan City. The bus was rugged but it got us to our destination.
Map posted along the trail in Huangshan Mountain Park. While it looks detailed enough it was hard to find a map that provided a complete view of the Park. This view is limited to about a two kilometer radius around the centre point. If your destination is beyond that you don’t really know where to go.
Staff at front desk trying to help us find a spot on the map. The staff spent quite a while looking until we finally went over to the travel desk.
The cliff-face in this mountain is suppose to hold the images of 11 horses. It takes some imagination to see them.
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