Shanghai

We reached the last stop, Shanghai, on our whirlwind tour of China after a relatively pleasant flight from Guilin. Shanghai was easily one of my favorite places in China. I can understand now why it is often referred to as “the New York of China”. It is extremely clean and seems to radiate modernity. It is also very Westernized due to the fact that so many Westerners came to live and establish themselves in Shanghai during the late 1800s and into the 1900s. There was even a large population of Jewish refugees in Shanghai during World War II!

The day after we arrived we visited the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. You can go almost to the top of the tower to get fantastic views of Shanghai and all of the boats going up and down the Yangtze River. The smog unfortunately made it a little difficult to see into the distance, however. From there I really got a sense of just how big Shanghai is. The Shanghai metropolitan area has a population of over 17 million! Despite this, I rarely felt like I was being smothered by masses of Chinese people; maybe I’ve just gotten used to it after being in Beijing for so long!

Oriental Pearl TV Tower:

Views from the Oriental Pearl TV Tower:

I've never seen so many people riding motor bikes!

These apartments buildings go on almost as far as the eye can see:

The next day we visited the headquarters of China Unionpay, which is a company that started five years ago, in 2002, and now controls all of China’s credit card and ATM transactions. In terms of the domestic market, it holds a virtual monopoly because there is no other company of its kind in China (although this probably won’t be for long). It’s hard to believe that in just five years the company has grown as large as it is, but that seems to be the nature of change in China!

We had a lot of free time between and after our day trips, during which we would usually go shopping or simply walk around to absorb the sites and sounds of wherever we were; in this case, Shanghai. There is so much to see, I can’t wait to come back. I especially loved the Bund, which is where you can find a great deal of old European style buildings because it is where most of the Westerners settled in Shanghai. One night, some of my friends and I ate at a pizza place on the Bund that overlooks one of Shanghai’s most famous cityscapes. It was gorgeous, and the weather was perfect – warm with a slight breeze.

Me on the Bund:

Some old European architecture on the Bund:

Browsing some markets:

View from where we ate dinner; Shanghai in the evening:

Our last day in Shanghai was a free day, so Katie and I walked around the city for a bit before stopping into a café to get access to the internet. As it turns out, the café had very clean, glass doors, and as we were leaving, I walked smack (and I mean, SMACK) into the door. Everyone in the store was stifling laughs as I was kind of dizzy for a bit and Katie guided me out the doors. I had a red spot on my face after that. We then went to a beautiful park nearby and walked around, taking pictures, until some Chinese college students from Xi’an randomly came up to us and, once they realized we could speak some Chinese, started asking us questions about America (this happened fairly often to us in China). We talked for a little while, and they then invited us to tea. Okay, here’s where I’m going to pause and offer some advice: never accept the invitation to go out for tea with some Chinese people unless you A, are willing to fork over some serious Yuan or B, know that they will pay for you. We accepted their invitation, thinking it would be quick because we had to leave in an hour to catch the night train back to Beijing. Well, it was not quick, and it was not cheap. Getting tea meant we had to go to a tea house and watch someone concoct some various types of tea and then do some various arm movements as they presented the tea to us. It was very interesting, but we were really pressed for time and it ended up being much more expensive than Katie and I wanted to pay. However, we grudgingly handed over our share of the check and booked it outside to find a cab, which was nearly impossible. When we finally did find one, we almost didn’t get back to the hotel in time because of the rush hour traffic. It was one crazy afternoon, that’s for sure. Fortunately, we made it to the hotel in time to meet up with our group to catch the evening train to Beijing.

Honestly, I really don't think those Chinese students meant any harm. They were legitimately interested in us, and soaked up everything we told them about life in America. I think there were just some cultural misunderstandings. I'm sure they wouldn't have asked us to an expensive tea house if we weren't American; I'm fairly certain they just assumed that all Americans are wealthy and can spend their money freely. After that, I learned to be more attentive to cultural perceptions - and misperceptions.

Guilin/Yangshuo

After several days in Chengdu we boarded a flight to Guilin, where we stopped briefly for a lecture and demonstration on Chinese calligraphy before departing for our main destination, Yangshuo, about two hours south. It is in the far south of China, near the Vietnamese border. With its lush green mountains and miles upon miles of rice paddies, it was the vision that always came to my mind when I thought about China back when I first became interested in the country.

Yangshuo is right on the borderline between large town and small city. It’s a very touristy kind of place. The scenery was gorgeous, the hotel was nice, and there were some cute shops, but the climate was a little too warm and way too humid for my taste. I don’t know that I’ve ever been in air that thick with humidity before, not even in Florida or the hottest days in the midst of Maine summers. I’m having a hard time placing my finger on what it was about Yangshuo that rubbed me the wrong way – maybe it was a combination of the humidity, the crowds of strange foreigners that too often included old white men coupled off with young, innocent-looking Asian girls, the mud and grime that coated the streets and sidewalks, or the fact that the main parts of town seemed to have lost their Chinese-ness in an attempt to woo foreign visitors. Whatever it was, I was glad that our stay in Yangshuo was short.

View from the hotel room:

Yangshuo at night:

That said, quite possibly my favorite activity of the trip took place in Yangshuo. We all rented bikes and rode out of town, down country roads, past farms and rice patties and the lush green mountains to the Li river, which snakes between the mountains and jungle-like forests, where we boarded bamboo rafts. There was a raft guy (driver? navigator? I’m not really sure what to call him…) on each raft, which had two of us, who led us down the river quite a ways. It was gorgeous.

Biking to the river:

Me with Liz, Becky, and WooJung before rafting:

Scenes from Yangshuo:

Chengdu

After spending a free morning in Tibet, we flew from Lhasa to Chengdu, which, at approximately 10 million people, is the capital of Sichuan province. Most of us were expecting the flight to be quite turbulent, as the airport is surrounded by the large mountains that make up the outskirts of the Himalayas. Fortunately, save for some slight turbulence upon takeoff, the flight was relatively smooth.

Chengdu has easily become one of my favorite cities in China. I don’t know that I could ever live there because I’m not really partial to such a tropical climate, but it was a wonderful place to visit. There were times when I’d feel like I was in Florida. Downtown Chengdu is very developed, with large office buildings, nice restaurants and bars, and upscale shopping. However, it has still managed to retain a distinctly Chinese character. Some of my friends and I, after indulging in a huge dinner of spicy Sichuan food, bought some ice cream bars to cool off and wandered around the part of the city near our hotel. It was a superb evening – warm and humid but with a nice cool breeze. Most of the stores kept their doors wide open late into the night, and people were sitting out on the sidewalks chatting with each other, eating, drinking, playing mahjong, or just enjoying the pleasant weather.

Chendu city scenes:

A popular type of Sichuan restaurant in Chengdu is called hot-pot. A hot-pot restaurant has tables with a burner or two in the center upon which a pot of broth or a pot of spicy oil (usually both!) are placed. The waiter (fuwuyuan in Chinese) brings out plates of various meats and vegetables that you put in the boiling broth or oil to be cooked. When whatever you’ve put in the pot is done cooking, you take it out and eat it, either by itself or often with rice (mifan). It’s delicious!

As I toured the city, it became apparent that Chengdu is attempting to be one of China’s most environmentally-conscious cities. It is much greener than China’s other major cities, with many parks and squares and trees planted along the sidewalks and along roadways. We even came across a sculpture of melting glacier that is supposed to remind citizens of the dangers of global warming. It’s all very admirable, but despite seeing all Chengdu’s strides toward going green, I couldn’t help but keep in mind the fact that the Chinese government as a whole still has not taken the steps it could be taking to lessen their contributions to global warming.

Melting glacier sculpture:

Becky and I working out in an exercise park:

Our main group outing in Chengdu was to the Panda observatory. It was pretty cool. It was nice to see pandas in their original habitat, although I kind of felt like I was back in the States because there were so many Westerners there. All in all though, it was a good time. I’d really like to return to Chengdu someday.

Pandas sleeping:

I never even knew red pandas existed until I came to Chengdu:

Tibet!

I’m writing this right now from my (slightly gross) hotel room in Lhasa, Tibet, at an altitude of 11,975 feet! We’ve already spent a night and an entire day here, but it’s still difficult to believe that I’m actually in Tibet – one of the most remote places on earth. Before now, I don’t know that I’d ever even met anyone who had been to Tibet. It’s very surreal.

Tibet is one of the most extraordinary places I’ve ever been in my life. First of all, it definitely doesn’t feel like I’m in China anymore, even though I technically am. We took the new train to Lhasa from the city of Xi’ning, the capital of Qinghai province. The train actually wasn’t supposed to be completed until this year, 2007, but it was completed a year early. It’s a nice train, but outside of China (and I’m sure in private settings inside China) there has been much discussion of the controversies that exist surrounding the train. I’m glad it makes it easier for people like me to see Tibet, and I’m glad that it brings with it economic prospects, but at the same time, it really shows that what I like to call the “Chinafication” of Tibet is now in full swing (more on that later).

So after spending some time in Xi’ning, we boarded the evening train to Lhasa. It was the longest train ride I’ve ever been on – almost 30 hours! Like the train we took from Beijing to Xi’an, we all had hard sleeper bunks. Luckily, since this train was so new, the bunks were nicer than those in the train to Xi’an. We all went to bed pretty early that night because there really wasn’t much else to do, and they turn off all of the lights at 10 o’clock.

Waiting in Xi'ning for the train to Lhasa:

The next morning, we awoke to some stunning scenery as we climbed further into the Tibetan Plateau. The entire way to Lhasa was through the mountains. It was then that I really appreciated just how remote Lhasa really is. I literally saw nothing but yak and tiny clusters of what looked like nomad enclaves the whole way to Lhasa. We would go for miles and miles without seeing any sign of civilization whatsoever when suddenly we would see a hut, or a small cluster of huts. When passing these tiny outposts of civilization, I would constantly wonder how it is that people can stand living in such remote areas. I guess they don’t really know anything different, so they’re simply accustomed to it. I’ve read about people living in yurts and whatnot, but I’d never really seen it on such a scale with my own eyes. At one point the train stopped in what appeared to be a small town (or at least a cluster of buildings that were not yurts), and we saw a woman walking across a huge expanse of grazing land toward the train station, wearing the colorful clothing that you see many of the native Tibetans wearing and carrying a baby on her back. It looked like she had walked from a tiny collective of huts which was nestled between several mountains far away in the distance. My friends and I simply watched her for as long as we could still see her before the train pulled away because she was so interesting – just a lone figure in such a vast area. We couldn’t help but wonder about her story. Where was she going? Why was she going there? Where did she come from? Needless to say, this was the most fascinating and visually pleasing train ride I’ve ever been on.

Scenes from the train ride to Lhasa:

We arrived in Lhasa at around ten o’clock at night, so it was obviously dark outside. However, one of the many strange things about China is that it has no time zones, so even though we are so far west from Beijing, we are still on the same time. This has thrown us all off because the sun doesn’t set until around 8 or 9 at night, so it feels much earlier than it actually is. As I’m writing this, the sun is just rising, and it’s almost 8 am! The altitude here has also thrown us off. As I mentioned earlier, Lhasa is almost 12,000 feet above sea level, so there is little oxygen here. I haven’t had too much of a problem with it, but some of my classmates have fainted or experienced altitude sickness. I will admit though, that I get winded after climbing to the second floor of the hotel, where our room is, or even when I’m turning over in bed! Running is out of the question – I think I would probably collapse! It’s good that I’m in relatively good shape because I haven’t had the same problems that others have had, but I definitely notice the effects of being at such a high altitude. I mean, we are in the foothills of the Himalayas, which reminds me: yesterday my friend Becky and I were walking down the street when one of those people who promotes bus tours, etc. approached us and asked us if we wanted to go to Mount Everest. We were taken aback at first, but then we realized that we’re actually not that far from Everest. It would take about three days to get there by van through some sketchy roadways, but it’s crazy to think we’re actually that close!

Like I said before, we arrived in Lhasa in the evening. Our hotel, the Xionbala Hotel, was ok, except for the fact that the second floor, where many of us stayed, looked (and smelled) like it had recently been flooded. I had to wear flip-flops the entire time I was in the hotel room. Also, our toilet didn’t work. Fortunately, I wasn’t expecting a four-star hotel in Tibet.

After an early breakfast the next day, we set out for the Potala Palace, which was built in the seventh century and has served as the seat of Dalai Lamas and the political center of Tibet. It really is a magnificent structure. It has almost a thousand rooms. We were only able to see a tiny fraction of those rooms, but that was enough to appreciate the grandeur of it all. Getting up to the palace was slightly difficult, as it is very tall and located on a hill. At sea-level, climbing to the entrance probably wouldn’t be too difficult, but it was a pain at such a high altitude. However, it was worth the climb – the views from the palace were absolutely breathtaking. I couldn’t get over the fact that I was standing in such a grand structure overlooking Lhasa, the heart of Tibet, one of the most remote places in the world. It was almost spiritual.

Me in front of the Potala Palace:

Monks climbing the steps of the Potala Palace:

View from the top:

Tibetan prayer flags:

We spent much of the rest of our time in Lhasa touring the city, shopping, and eating. Tibet has a lot of yaks, and you grow to appreciate the yak’s omnipresence in the area, as seemingly everywhere smells like yak butter candles, or serves yak butter tea (or just plain yak), or sells various products carved out of yak bone. We went to the Mad Yak restaurant one night and ate yak and watched a Tibetan dance performance. The yak actually tasted pretty good – it has the consistency of beef but a taste that is similar to lamb. I thought the yak butter tea was disgusting. On another note: Tibetan culture reminds me so much of Native American culture in the US. I was talking to my friend Kuong, who has spent time on a Navajo reservation, about this, and he says it's because Tibetans and Native Americans share the same Mongolian DNA - it's just that the Native Americans' decsendents crossed over the landbridge that used to exist between present-day Russia and Alaska instead of staying in Asia.

Tibetan crafts (notice the girl in the foreground's cowboy hat!):

Eating lunch with Becky, Anna, Katie, and Kuong:

Browsing the markets:

Anna, Kuong, and I (on the right) just couldn't resist going back to the Potala Palace to dress up in some "traditional" Tibetan clothes:

One of the many striking things about Tibet is the significant Chinese military (PLA – People’s Liberation Army) presence that exists there. So far, I’ve been to a number of Chinese cities, and none of them had such a ubiquitous military presence. We were walking through the center of the market one day when suddenly five Toyota Land Cruisers with military plates parked right in the middle of it. Soldiers got out of the cars and simply walked around the market for a little while before getting back in the cars and driving away. Another time, I was eating lunch with some of my friends when we noticed about a zillion military cargo trucks drive past, one right after another. When walking around Lhasa, I would notice random military vehicles parked on street corners, in front of stores, or near restaurants. It was a little strange, but also intriguing, so I made sure to try and take a picture of almost every military vehicle I saw. Also, did you know that foreigners need to get a permit just to visit Tibet?

Those SUVs in the picture are all Chinese military vehicles:

As I mentioned earlier, the “Chinafication” of Tibet is extremely prevalent. The first thing I noticed about Lhasa upon exiting the train station and approaching the city were the flashing lights that characterize essentially every Chinese city. I’ve come to realize that so much about Chinese cities is just extremely flashy and gaudy. Now that access to Tibet is becoming easier and easier, Lhasa is no exception. Like every other city I’ve been to thus far in China, Lhasa seems to be totally under construction. I don’t know if I’ve brought this up before, but one of my Chinese friends told me, jokingly, that China’s national bird is the yellow crane – construction crane, that is! There were entire streets that seemed to be under construction – we even saw monks hard at work. The Chinese ostentation combined with all of the construction and the Chinese military presence showed that Tibet is, in fact, Chinese territory. However, despite all of that, Tibet still retains an atmosphere that is very un-Chinese. In fact, most of the time, I don’t even feel like I am in China. Rather, because the people and culture are so distinctly different from most of China, it feels like I’m in a different country.

One of many construction scenes in Lhasa:

Even the monks are taking part in construction!

I’ve really liked Tibet. As we drove outside Lhasa, we took roads that wound around the mountains of the Tibetan Plateau, and the sheer otherworldliness of Tibet became apparent. We passed many small farms and villages with Tibetan-style architecture. There are Tibetan Prayer flags everywhere. Sometimes, when you look up at these rock-strewn mountains, you will see prayer flags that had been spread out across the mountainsides to catch the breeze. I find myself looking up in amazement at the prayer flags that have been placed at the peaks of these mountains because it seems that it would be nearly impossible to get up there to place the flags. Tibet is such an amazing place and I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to visit.

Prayer flags on the drive to the airport:

Xi'ning

As I mentioned in Xi’an post, Xi’ning is the political, economic, scientific and technological, cultural, and traffic center of Qinghai Province, which is in western China. It’s a somewhat small city situated at the foot of the Tibetan plateau at an altitude of over 7,000 feet.

Xi'ning cityscape:

To get to Xi’ning we took a short evening flight from Xi’an. It was probably one of the most turbulent flights I’ve ever been on. The plane shuddered and rolled pretty much the entire time we were in the air. Fortunately, I was good about keeping my calm, unlike many other people. Near the end of the flight, one of the flight attendants came over the intercom to announce that we would be landing in about fifteen minutes. In fact, after about three minutes the plane made the steepest descent and hardest landing I’ve ever experienced on a flight. It was pretty crazy. Apparently, domestic Chinese flights have a tendency to be turbulent. Some argue that this is due to the fact that their planes are older and the pilots train differently and are not very adept at avoiding turbulence.

We only spent one night in Xi’ning. We arrived late that night and crashed after such a harrowing experience on the plane. The next morning, we attended a lecture at the hotel on Tibetan Buddhism by a Tibetan guy who is a professor of the subject back in Beijing. What I found most interesting about the lecture was the Q&A session at the end. There were certain questions we asked, such as questions regarding the Dalai Lama and the fact that he remains in exile, which the speaker couldn’t answer because of his concerns about being persecuted by the Chinese government.

Some of my friends and I after we tried to take a "jumping" picture on the roof of our hotel:

Before leaving on the evening train to Lhasa, we visited the Ta’er temple, which is a Buddhist temple. It was there that I began to perceive the otherworldliness of Tibetan Buddhism. I remember studying it briefly in high school and again at UMD, but I had never before seen such Tibetan architecture and witnessed Tibetan Buddhist rituals so close. It was remarkable.

Near the entrance of the Ta'er temple:

There were Buddhist monks everywhere: