Our plan is to visit Beijing and then take the train to Kunming.

From Kunming we’ll try to get to a number of places in Yunnan, including: Heijing,Yunlong & Nuodeng, The Nujiang Valley,Tongcheng and around, Ruili (if it is possible to cross into Myanmar).

We still have a lot of material pending to put up on the blog, which we’ll do in October. I am not sure how much we can put up while we are on the road.

Whether you are leaving Guizhou Province from the West, or entering it from Eastern Yunnan, you’ll probably end up passing through Xingyi (see Map), a small town undergoing rapid development. To be honest, Xingyi is not the prettiest of towns, though we didn’t find it quite as grim as it was depicted in our guidebook. It is true that the town is entirely lacking in sights and has lost all its old neighbourhoods to the rampant white-tile and concrete construction that continues to proliferate in China. However, it’s a pretty laid- back place and its major sight, the Maling Gorge, just a few kilometres out of town and easy to reach, is truly spectacular.

Locals also recommend visiting nearby Fenghuang Shan (Phoenix Mountain 凤凰山), which they claim is another natural wonder not to be missed. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to check this out.
We arrived in Xingyi on a bus from Anshun 安顺. The journey took around six hours and passes through some of the most dramatic limestone scenery you are likely to see.

As in the rest of China, rapid changes are underway even in this remote corner of the country. The future cross-China East to West Highway, currently in the initial phases of construction, will eventually pass close to Xingyi. For the moment, it’s giving China’s civil engineers and architects a field day in designing immense and seemingly impossible construction projects to dominate this wild and spectacular landscape.

Witness the huge suspension bridge being built to span a gorge, a few kilometres after Huangguoshu falls 黄果树大瀑布 .

Revolting Peasants

However, this development comes at a cost. It was on our arrival in Xingyi that we first witnessed revolting peasants in action. We had heard about serious disturbances in Guangdong province earlier in the year (2007) and other rumours that violent protests against the authorities were taking place on an almost daily basis throughout the Chinese countryside, though mostly hidden from Western eyes and media. But suddenly, there we were, right in the middle of such a protest.

Our bus came to a grinding halt 15 kilometres outside Xingyi, where angry farmers had erected a road- block. Local farmers, whose land was about to be expropriated by the local authorities in order to build a new motorway, had cut the main road at a strategic point, right between the city and the train station. A depressingly huge pile-up of trucks, buses, and other vehicles, waiting hopelessly to be let through, was the result.

Our bus driver tried to sneak round the blockade, turning into a narrow and potholed back lane, only to find a line of pickets blocking the access to the main road, just when it seemed we were going to get through. Gridlock soon occurred as other drivers had cottoned on to our driver’s intentions and followed him, leaving no space for manoeuvre. We all got off the bus and stood around. Taxis on the other side of the picket line started demanding extortionate fees to take people to Xingyi.

I asked the driver why the police didn’t come and disperse the farmers, he replied that the peasants would probably lynch them if they even dared to show their faces. Tensions certainly seemed high and there were heated discussions between desperate drivers and intransigent farmers. Despite the inconvenience, most of the passengers, drivers and local people from Xingxi, actually expressed a lot of sympathy for the peasants’ plight.Nearly all put the blame squarely on the rampant corruption of the local authorities.

Just when it seemed we would have to cave in to the demands of the taxi drivers, our driver suddenly jumped behind his wheel, peasants began to dig a path through the mound of coal that they were using to block the road and … our bus was through! We quickly boarded and off we went. After us, other drivers made a dash for it as well, in case the peasants changed their minds and closed the gap again.

We have no idea why we were let through. Nobody wanted to answer our many questions. Maybe the driver bribed the pickets, or perhaps they were worried about the presence of two foreigners on the bus? It is still a mystery. Whatever the reason, our driver then made a quick killing by picking up any stranded passengers who had decide to start walking and triple- charged them for the trip into town.

XINGYI PRACTICALITIES:
Getting there and away: Getting to Xingyi from Anshun is quite straightforward; from Anshun’s main bus station there are hourly buses that complete the trip in about 6 hours. The scenery just after Huangguoshu is breathtaking, with huge Karst mountains rising from a deep valley. Travelling time will be reduced in the future, when the spectacular new bridge crossing an enormous gorge just after the falls, will be completed (2008/9).

Getting from Xingyi to Yunnan is equally easy. There is a daily train to Kunming – originating from Guangzhou – which leaves at 9.45 am and takes about 7 hours. Xingyi train station is quite a way out of town, but there is a booking office in the centre, slightly hidden away down a small alley. Get someone to write down the direction for you, the helpful receptionists at the Rongjia Binguan did it for us. Don’t bother asking at the Panjiang Binguan, they will probably tell you that you can only buy tickets at the train station.
Additionally, there are buses to Qiujing and Luoping, just across the border in Yunnan, from where you can pick up connections to Kunming.

Incidentally, Qiujing and Luoping are trying to put themselves on the tourist map by claiming to be home to the most beautiful scenery in China (heard that one before?).

The train station is covered with posters of pretty looking waterfalls,  mountainous scenery and ripening rapeseed flowers made famous in the film The Road 芳香之路(2002, directed by Zhang Jiarui).

It would certainly give you something to do if you got stuck.

Accommodation: Apart from the beautiful Maling Gorge, the other redeeming factor of Xingyi was our hotel. We stayed at the brand-new Rongjia Binguan, virtually next door to the Panjiang Binguan. It is one of the best mid-range hotels we have stayed at, with large clean rooms and a very good buffet breakfast for 200 Yuan. Definitely a much better deal than the snooty, overpriced and run- down Panjiang Binguan.
Food: Eating options in Xingyi are not the best in China, or even in Guizhou. The Rongjia has a reasonable buffet restaurant and the restaurant of the Panjiang also dishes up some okay food. In town there didn’t seem to be much on offer, just a couple of small noodle shops, or we just didn’t find it.

You might be better off eating near the Maling Gorge, where there are a number of good places doing slightly more expensive but tasty food in nice surroundings.

Maling Gorge 马岭河峡谷

The Maling Gorge is a stunning limestone canyon with numerous cascading waterfalls thundering into a meandering river that cuts its way through the rocks at the bottom.

Although August is high season, there were very few other tourists around when we visited. The weather was beautiful, the sky clear and bright blue, and the early morning sunlight brought out the various shades of green that abound in this verdant landscape. There was just a wisp of autumn in the crisp morning air. From the entrance a path winds its way down the side of the canyon to the river, crossing under waterfalls and offering fantastic vistas of the gorge and the surrounding scenery.

The lazy will soon be able to whiz down the rock face in a lift that is currently under construction.

At the bottom of the gorge the path divides into two, allowing you to complete a circular walk. On the left side, the main trail hugs the rocks and follows the course of the river.

The other trail starts on the other side of a bridge and climbs up the side of the canyon, providing stunning views and plenty of opportunities to get soaked, as waterfalls and streams crash down onto flimsily built shelters.

The vegetation is incredibly lush with banana trees and huge ferns fighting for space with a host of other plants, in order to catch the few rays of sunlight that can penetrate this far into the gorge.

Along the way you’ll also pass caves with crystal clear pools that tempt you to take a dip.

The sheer walls of the gorge have been eroded by the waterfalls into leaf-shaped patterns, called Travertines. These amazing shapes are the result of the inter-action between the calcium-rich water of the falls and the limestone rocks.

The trail eventually returns to the river where there is a pretty suspension bridge that you can cross to rejoin the other path. At the end of the gorge the scenery is at its most awesome.

There, the huge cataracts that you have been admiring from a distance fall thunderously into a succession of pools. You are sure to get drenched if you go anywhere near them! The path comes to an end here and you’ll have to backtrack a little before returning to the entrance via the main path.

A Peculiar Sight

The peculiar sight we witnessed at the Maling Gorge was the shooting of a clip for a presumably famous Miao singer.

Dozens of Miao girls, dressed in elaborate and bright costumes, had to perch precariously on small pointy rocks over the fast flowing river, while the cameramen and director endlessly fussed over the best shots.

Cries from the director for the girls to relax were met with stony stares, as they tried to keep their balance and avoid plunging into the foaming waters.

The singer, who was wearing a rather old-fashioned black-lace dress with her hair done up in a bouffant style, posed and strutted around, oblivious to the discomfort of her entourage.

MALING GORGE PRACTICALITIES:
Getting there and away: From downdown Xingyi it takes about half an hour on bus No.1, or ten minutes by taxi (15 Yuan).
The entrance fee to the gorge is a steep 80 Yuan in high season and 60 the rest of the year. It’s definitely worth it though. Besides walking, there are also rafting opportunities, which you can arrange at the entrance.

Also near the entrance, there is a small cluster of hotels (both expensive and cheap) and restaurants, should you prefer to stay out here. You can also buy drinks, snacks and sweets here.

Cursos de Chino en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid

CURSOS INTENSIVOS DE 60 HORAS
DEL 5 AL 23 de JULIO

MATRÍCULA HASTA EL 25 DE JUNIO

MATRÍCULA: CENTRO SUPERIOR DE IDIOMAS MODERNOS
C/ Donoso Cortés, 63 – pl. baja
Horarios: lunes a viernes: 9.00 a 15.00 h
Para matrícula online consulten: www.ucm.es/info/idiomas
PRECIO: 256 € (alumnos y personal UCM) / 366 €
Consultar la página Web para otros descuentos.

INFORMACIÓN: www.ucm.es/info/idiomas

E-MAIL: csim@rect.ucm.es

TEL.: 91.394.64.41 / 25.21

CURSOS DE VERANO – JULIO 2010
UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID

NO SE PRECISA SER UNIVERSITARIO

CENTRO SUPERIOR DE IDIOMAS MODERNOS
CURSOS INTENSIVOS DE 60 HORAS
DEL 5 AL 23 de JULIO
De lunes a viernes: mañana (9:30 – 14:00)

NIVEL: INTRODUCCIÓN I
RECONOCIMIENTO CRÉDITOS
DE LIBRE ELECCIÓN DE LA UCM

Haz click aqui para ver el cartel:POSTER CIV CHINO 2010

One of the easiest places you can get to from Chongqing is Ciqikou, a traditional village of late-Ming dynasty houses, set on the shores of the Jialing River, about 10 kms from downtown Chongqing.

As we approach Ciqikou, and comment excitedly on the many traditional dark wood and white plaster houses we can see, our taxi driver shrugs his shoulders and says: “Still so many old houses, but what can you do?”.

When Adam tells him there are a lot of old houses in London too, he asks incredulously: “Why? Is London not developed then?”
Ciqikou’s main drag promises to be the usual tourist circus (think Pingle, think Luodai), full of souvenir stalls and junk food,

Mao-on-Sale

so we quickly dive into the side streets.

These are still really nice, with plenty of those half-timbered buildings, some housing government offices, a small police station, local stores and small-scale businesses, artists’ workshops, a couple of trendy-looking bars (closed during the day) and plenty of local residents going about their business, sitting in their doorways, chatting to neighbours…

Unfortunately, while exploring the area to the left of the centre, we discover that most of those buildings we have been admiring have been earmarked for demolition, as the red character … demolish…拆 daubed on their white walls indicates.

When we ask a local shop keeper, he confirms the imminent demolition and says resignedly that there is nothing the ordinary people can do. However, we also come across several houses decked out in banners and slogans asking: “What kind of development is this?” and demanding justice and proper compensation.

Luckily, the area to the right of the centre seems to be safe, at least for the time being. Here we discover a couple of delightful old inns and teahouses, close to the river. In one of them we are served a couple of ice-cold beers on the first-floor veranda, where the owners’ family are having lunch.

After lunch, for which we do return to the main street, we decide to continue our excursion and visit nearby Gele Mountain.

Gele Mountain Martyrs Memorial

On this mountain, the Kuomintang once held hundreds of Communist civilians captive as political prisoners in its infamous jails; that is all we know about the place and we won’t learn much more during our lightning visit. We have just enough time for a quick look at Zhazi Dong, the largest of the prisons. We walk through the small, dark rooms and stare at the sad photographs, wondering what became of those prisoners. Most of the captions (in Chinese only) feature the year 1949, but was that when they were released, or perhaps executed? The prison reminds us a lot of the Hanoi Hilton, where the French first held Vietnamese, who later held American pilots…

Practicalities Ciqikou and Gele Mountain

Getting to Ciqikou: you can take bus 503 from Chaotianmen, bus 215 from the Liberation Monument, or simply hop in a taxi. Chongqing traffic is surprisingly smooth (in the direction of Ciqikou) and taxi fares are cheap.

Accommodation and Food: the Lonely Planet recommended Perfect Time Youth Hostel is situated at the end of the main street, overlooking the Jialing River. We also saw a couple of other simple places as we wandered around. As for food, the main street is lined with unpretentious little restaurants, most of them specialising in fish.

Getting to Gele Mountain and back: following the instructions in the Lonely Planet, we got on a bus 808, which was supposed to connect Ciqikou with the mountain. However, when we were told to get off the bus, the mountain still seemed a long way away. We eventually picked up another, smaller bus that dropped us at the entrance. Here we bought a couple of 10 Yuan tickets that included the entry and the bus fare to Zhazi Dong.
If we had had more time, and more information (everything on the mountain is in Chinese only) we could perhaps have explored the mountain a bit better. There is another prison, Baigongguan, as well as a number of scenic spots and it is possible to make your way from site to site, bussing or walking.
To get back, the mini buses that leave from the sites and from the entrance can all drop you off near the main road into central Chongqing.

Chongqing at Night

A smooth two-and-a-half- hour train ride has taken us from Chengdu to Chongqing. As our taxi emerges from the modern station building we are amazed at the panorama in front of us: we can see a labyrinth of motorways and overpasses and a whole forest of gleaming tower blocks.

Chongqing at Dusk

Nothing we even remotely remember from our previous visit in 1991; that time we arrived in Chongqing by boat, all the way from Shanghai. Though we didn’t stay long, we did like the city. We still have fond memories of its steep, stepped streets, its colourful vegetable markets which invaded all the pavements, and its plucky women, defying the grey winter weather with their vivid outfits.

A Street Market in Central Chongqing 1991

This time, we will retrace our steps and leave Chongqing by boat, going downriver as far as Yichang, to check out the changes the Yangzi has undergone since the construction of the controversial Dam. But first, we’re planning to have a good look at the city itself.

The Green Fields in the picture are now the major highway along the Jialing River

Surprisingly, given the immense size of the city, the traffic is smooth. In fact, there are hardly any cars on the brand-new multi-lane motorways. In no time at all our taxi driver drops us at the Number Nine Hotel, conveniently located in downtown Jiefangbei district, close to the place where the cruise ships dock.

A bit of sightseeing

The Guildhall's Fantastic Eave Roofs

After a clean-up, we venture out into the scorching hot streets of Chongqing and head for its number one attraction: the Huguang Guild Hall. To our surprise, the most direct route to this AAAA site is down one of those steep, stepped streets that we remember from nearly 20 years ago, past a row of insalubrious, dark, dank hovels.

This is one of the first things that strike us about the centre of Chongqing: the co-existence of those modern tower blocks we saw on arrival, with pockets of decrepit and decaying houses and flats that wouldn’t look out of place in a slum.

An Old Photo Of Chongqing (A photo of a photo)

Fortunately, the Guild Hall is quite impressive; it’s a rambling collection of buildings that combine the typical up-surging eaves of Southern architecture, like the ones we saw in Fujian,

with more rounded forms on the outer walls. There are several theatre stages, all with intricate wood carvings, some displays of ancient customs represented by life-size dolls, and a hall with a large collection of wooden tablets, beautifully painted or engraved with calligraphy.

Next, we drag our overheating bodies over to the Luohan Si temple, virtually the only other sight near the centre, only to find the place half-closed, due to restoration works.

The famous 500 Luohans are all wrapped up in plastic, while some finishing touches are being made to the hall that houses them. It looks as if the temple is going to be a nice place once it’s finished, but for the moment there is little to see.

After this, we almost give up on sightseeing, but in the end decide to carry on to the Liberation Monument, a rather disappointing little tower, surrounded by sterile shopping streets and malls.

There are plenty of expensive international brands on display in the windows, such as Cartier, Todds, or Armani, while fast food chains like McDonalds, Starbucks and Pizza Hut offer refuge to tired shoppers. Suddenly, we are thrown back in time: sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb among the glitzy shops are those skinny men with bamboo poles, carrying heavy loads, or standing around dejectedly, hoping to pick up another commission, just like all those years ago!

Lost in the urban sprawl

By now, we are absolutely knackered and dying for a nice terrace and a cold beer, preferably somewhere by the river, to catch a bit of a breeze. Unfortunately, it seems that there are no terraces in Chongqing. At one point we spy a multi-storied building, made to look somewhat like a temple, which seems to hold some bars, gaming rooms and internet café’s, so we rush up to its flat roof excitedly, hoping to find the elusive terrace. Alas, we are disappointed again, though the piled up chairs and tables suggest that there may be some at night.

Reluctant to give up the search, we lean over the balustrade and peer down. From our vantage point on the roof we can just about make out a small, simple terrace way below us, right by the river. We can also see a steep flight of stairs and the beginning of a path. Surely, it must be possible to take a short-cut and end up at that terrace?!  We set off down the path, only to come up against the concrete wall of an ageing apartment block. After asking several locals if there is a way around this, a friendly man takes charge of us and leads us into the building. In a state of shock we follow him through grimy corridors, down some steps, into the heart of darkness. Experienced from the inside, the apartment building is an urban nightmare come true: there are dark and dank interior courtyards, crumbling bits of plaster, walls stained by humidity to the point of sprouting fungus, claustrophobically bulging ceilings and piles of rubbish everywhere. Can this place really be considered fit for human occupation?!

They look good on the outside but ..........

Our journey ends at a creaking lift, which our guide indicates we should take, as we’re still 16 floors above the river front. Adam and I throw each other a worried look and gingerly step into the lift. I keep my fingers crossed and just pray this dodgy piece of sub-standard machinery won’t crash. We both heave a sigh of relief when we emerge into the sunshine, right by our little terrace.

After a couple of well-deserved beers and snacks to cool off and recover from our little adventure, we head back towards our hotel, along the river. We pass a couple of other small terraces, half-hidden in the dusty shrubs,

each one even shabbier than the previous one, and then there is nothing but pavement.

It amazes us how precisely this valuable riverside land has not been developed here in downtown Chongqing: here you can still find derelict apartment blocks, ramshackle old houses, demolition and/or construction sites, or even stretches of waste land, whereas the hills and slopes have been built up with unstable- looking, gleaming high-rises.

Somehow it doesn’t surprise us that they have just uncovered a top-level corruption scandal here, involving administrative, police and judicial circles: this city reeks of corruption and speculation! To us, the new Chongqing with its total lack of people-friendly development seems an inhuman, impersonal and daunting place.

Closer to the harbour, still hugging the river, we spot a weird leisure complex on the other side of the road: it’s a large, multi-storey block of would-be ancient buildings with wooden decorations and trappings; housing bars, restaurants, clubs and such. There is a fake cave with colourful figures of pirates and skeletons, an artificial waterfall and even half a ship, sticking out of one of the façades – but nowhere safe for pedestrians to cross over and take a closer look at the place…

View over Chaotianmen

We end our day on the large, bustling Chaotianmen Square, right by the waterfront where the cruise ships dock, and from where the brightly-lit party boats that take people round at night depart. We don’t linger though, as we are being pestered by an endless stream of hawkers, touts and vendors, trying to flog us “Yiengliesche mappe”, boat tickets, fans, bottles of water, fruit, etc., etc.

As we can’t see anywhere good to eat, we just retire to our hotel room with a couple of beers and some snacks. We are not enjoying Chongqing very much at the moment; that much is obvious. On the bright side, the views from our room are rather spectacular: lots of neon lights, colourful party boats, and there is even a building on the other side of the river whose façade projects images of tropical fish, divers, and so on.

Chongqing Practicalities:
Getting there and away: we arrived at Chongqing’s shiny new railway station on a fast train from Chengdu, which took a mere two-and-a-half hours. We left again on a cruise ship that took us down the Yangzi, as far as Yichang.

Accommodation: we stayed in the No 9 Inn, a newish, twenty-storey hotel, near Chaotianmen Square. Here, a spacious, comfortable double with a large window overlooking the Jialing River, cost 180 Yuan. A simple buffet breakfast is included.

Food: as real ‘Huo Guo’, or Hotpot, lovers, we had been looking forward to our Chongqing visit, as this city is considered the cradle of the Huo Guo, but again, we were slightly disappointed. Firstly, though we searched high and low, we couldn’t find the famous Huo Guo restaurants of Wuyi Lu, or Huo Guo Street.

There was a lot of building going on in the area, so perhaps the restaurants had simply been cleared. Secondly, when we did have a Huo Guo, in a modern, soulless establishment on one of the pedestrianised shopping streets around the Liberation Monument, we were only given a heavy oily dip to dunk the cooked ingredients in, not the nutty, thick sesame sauce (quite common in Sichuan) we had been looking forward to. However, we must admit that we never made it to Nan’an Binjiang Lu, the restaurant area on the other side of the Yangzi, highly recommended by Lonely Planet.

The also recommended Food Plaza, on the 6th floor of the Metropolitan Plaza, a shopping centre near the Liberation Monument, was quite good fun. The place has an excellent selection of Chinese food, as well as a couple of Korean and Japanese stalls. They also do fantastic Baobing here (Shaved ice with various toppings).

Baobing or shaved ice dessert

Before ordering, you need to buy a plastic debit card to pay for your food. If you can’t spend the full amount on your card, they will return your money.

The Slow train to Hefei was indeed slow. We left had Chengdu on the 28th of August some 47 hours earlier.

Hefei station was modern but had a sleazy feel to it at night. We immediately got hassled by a guy about taxis and hotels. Adam decided to enquire about tickets first – the hassle guy followed – I was watching him / and Adam’s money belt like a hawk. Next thing you know, Adam has bought 2 hard – sleeper tickets on a night train to Tunxi – now renamed Huangshan City: our third consecutive night on a train without a proper wash or a change of clothes! A record.

A friendly young man who studies in Chengdu helps us find our waiting room: there are several beggars and peasants who really stare at us and make comments. This is the first time it has happened on this trip.

We seem to have the only 2 free berths on this packed train which is going all the way to Xiamen. They are uppers unfortunately, it’s quite a  long steep climb up and Adam barely fits in. The train is actually cleaner and better, the little mattresses and white sheets are back. Anyway, I’m off to sleep immediately.

Up at 6.00 a.m, Adam precautions so as not to miss our stop, which is at 7.30 by the way! Manage to change my undies in the toilet, feel quite clean.

At Tunxi / Huangshan City station we get approached by a taxi-driver who offers to take us all the way to Tangkou for only 30 Yuan! We are a bit suspicious but figure out that he’s probably in a hurry to get back there. The landscape is gorgeous: prosperous – looking villages with tiled roofs with eaves, patchwork fields, a clean river with wallowing water buffs and ducks. All surrounded by woolly green mountains.

We pass a buffalo and a cow market and see lots of people taking there animals there.

Since the taxi-ride takes over an hour and the driver’s been very nice to us, we feel guilty about having haggled him down from Y40 to Y30 and actually pay him Y40! Are we mugs or what? Anyway, he helps us explain to the rather stupid receptionist at the Tangkou hotel what we want: to reserve and pay for a room for tomorrow and leave our backpacks there. In the end we manage.

We put on our mountain gear, get shoved into another minibus that’ll take us from Tankou to the actual mountain. There are the usual tacky souvenirs, raincoats, sticks ans maps for sale, but no food! You have to haggle for everything, even you water. Entry to the mountain is now a steep Y80! (Even more now).

Well, by 10 o’clock we’re actually climbing. How’s that for efficiency?! There are very few other walker, lots of porters. Those we do meet are all going down – probably took the cable-car up anyway.

After Emei Shan the Huangshan eastern slopes are a breeze. For once, L.P is right, they can comfortably be climbed in 3 hours, less in fact. The weather is good, it’s green and lush, there are some peaks but I wouldn’t call it spectacular.

Once at the top we first try the big Beihai Binguan for rooms. They offer us beds in dorms for about Y100 each. Nobody seems interested in showing us the dorms, we wander around aimlessly and see a rat go into what might be one of them… no way, not after 3 days on the train!. We continue to the Xihai Binguan, the supposed real mountain hotel.

Adam bargains a room down form a ridiculous Y980 to a still ridiculous Y700! Just buy asking for a discount. The good news is, we can pay by credit card: Amazing really (not so common in 2001)!

The rooms are quite nice and comfy and we finally get a nice clean up. From our window we have views from time to time, depending on the mist / clouds.

Later we embark upon a walk around some of the peaks. Cloud Dispelling Pavilion honours its name and offers us some nice views on the pointy peaks and deep valleys.

The railings are full of locks again. We try to avoid the flag- following tour-groups and enjoy a private (extortionate at y10) beer in a corner. Our path is actually quite demanding and scary at times: it goes between big boulders, through small tunnels, along steep abysses, over wooden walkways, down incredibly steep steps.

Nature, in the sense of beautiful gnarled pines, bamboo plants and flowers, is incredible. The path itself is incredible and everything again immaculately clean! The views however are only moderate, a mist has come rolling in. To me it doesn’t matter but Adam keeps pining after his peaks.

On curious cultural note . A young man, wanting to practice his English, asks us to join his tour group and listen to their guide explaining the stories surrounding the naming of each of  Huangshan’s most famous peaks in.

When Adam points out in Chinese that we can’t see the peaks due to the mist, the unperturbed young man replies that  it doesn’t matter, the guide will point to where they should be and describe them. We decide, much to the young mans disappointment, to continue on by ourselves.

After the walk we try to identify some cheap eats in this overpriced place. We find some lovely little sesame buns with pork and mushroom ( for me obviously). Then we get some supplies of pot noodles and beers in a little shop opposite our hotel – por si acaso (just in case). Finally, we – and all the tour- group Chinese – eat in a canteen like place below the hotel. Unfortunately, Adam doesn’t specify that we want our noodles fried and we get soup – again! After 3 days on the train!

When we ask the receptionist what time the sun normally rises, she just says “meiyou没有” – tomorrow apparently “meiyou sunrise没有日出” because it’s going to rain…..

The beds are comfy anyway……

Huangshan

Friday August 31st
2001

Huangshan in the Rain

The night before the receptionist at the hotel had said that “mingtian meiyou”. What she was saying was that tomorrow there would be no sunrise as it was going to rain.

Adam wakes me up just before six because he thinks he can see some light. We leave the hotel in a light drizzle, getting heavier. Everything is shrouded in thick mist. We carry on to ‘Refreshing Terrace’ anyway, you never know  – nada (nothing)….

After a refreshing hour’s walk in the rain we have breakfast in our room with pot noodles and a “pi jiu啤酒” (beer). All right, it’s getting only 8 o’clock but we’ve already been up for two hours. The rain is getting heavier out there….

Anyway this is our opportunity to try out our rain capes. I wear mine over my actual raincoat. I hate getting wet. We are not the only mad people going down the longer more difficult Western steps in the rain. In the beginning I actually find it quite beautiful and mysterious. From “Bright Summit Peak” onwards however, we keep coming across groups of “screaming binliners” (Chinese tour groups wearing plastic bin liners as their raincoats) who really know how to shatter the peace. At the summit a group of yellow binliners actually get into a fight – perhaps over queue jumping for the inevitable photo.

It doesn’t cease to amaze me how unprepared some of the people are: e.g an extremely overweight women in a pink shiny dress with little panty-socks and high heels in a flimsy bin liner! They must be so uncomfortable! One thing to be said in their favour: they remain cheerful and uncomplaining, everything is “piaoliang” (beautiful) even though you can’t see a f……g thing!

This western walk is really quite demanding, you have to go up a lot before you finally can go down. We admire the ‘steep and exposed’ stairway to yet another invisible peak from  a safe distance but decide to give it a miss.

Then the path really starts to go down, at a little shop the clouds lift for a moment, offering a glimpse of walls of sheer brownish rock with trees tenaciously clinging to them. We can see little cable cars go by threes. We manage haggle a beer down to 7 Yuan. Now our peace is only disturbed by a group of shouting louts making their way up. Especially obnoxious is a fat guy who keeps slapping his naked belly and hawking. Then they’re off…

The rain which had relented for a while is back with a vengeance and won’t leave us anymore until the bottom. It’s down, down and down, through dense greenery and along a river. Little waterfalls appear here and there. We bump into a group from northern China (Harbin) complaining and joking about how wet they are and how much their legs hurt. Not all Chinese have legs made of elastic, thank god. By the time we get to Banshan Si temple – we’ve had just a few steps too many and are beginning to get pretty wet! The temple is now a shopping centre where they show a video of what Huangshan could / should look like in all seasons. They get snow in winter apparently, that looks pretty good. Must get Adam out of here before he starts pining after his invisible peaks again.

Outside, we spurn the 15 Yuan minibus leaving immediately and stubbornly sit on the normal 10 Yuan one. The Conductor – lady only has to hassle u 10 more passengers. Once our group of northern friends arrives, things start moving quickly. As soon as a Chinese bus looks as if it’s ready to leave, passengers suddenly appear out of nowhere. This seems to be the golden rule.

Our reserved hotel room is pretty comfortable and offers great views: of  Huangshan, of wooded hills on the other side of Tangkou and of the brook that runs beside it. We’ve got plenty of clothes to wash and spread all over the room.

In the evening everything clears. The light is lovely and so are the surroundings of Tangkou village. This plunges Adam in depression because he is convinced that the people who’ve climbed up today will get to see the peeks! (sigh)

Tankou actually has a pretty street, running along the river between two stone bridge. There are loads of small restaurants, souvenir shops and artisans, including two old gentlemen who make  finger paintings of the typical Huangshan landscape for  the incredible price of !0 Yuan! The only drawback of this area is that you have to run the gauntlet of “hassle – women” who want you to eat in their restaurant. Many pride themselves on having a ‘Yinglish Menu’. The worst however is a really ‘pesado’ (annoying) man who speaks English and just won’t leave us alone. Obviously, we don’t eat in his restaurant.
We finally go for two nice determined ladies in one of the mid-range restaurants. They have cold beer and pretty good fish.

End of day

No cold beers can be found to take home
Adam s sulking over his peaks again
Laundry hasn’t dried
I retire with a cup of tea

Huang Shan Tips

Coming and Going
Tunxi (Huang Shan City)
The railhead for Huang Shan is Tunxi. Tunxi is connected t most of China’s major cities by rail including Beijing and Shanghai. There are also plenty of buses and new highways have reduced travelling time considerably. A useful bus goes to the beautiful Jiangxi region of Wuyuan.
There are also local connexions to the stunning towns and villages, Shexian, Hongcun and Nanping.
There is a daily bus from Tangkou to the marvellous sacred mountain of Jiuhauashan. It is a beautiful ride through gorgeous rural countryside.

Food and Accommodation
For Huang Shan plenty of buses ply the route between Tunxi and Tangkou where you will find plenty of accommodation before you begin your climb. We stayed at the Tangkou Binguan (hotel) which was pretty nice for 120 Yuan (2001).

Tangkou has loads of restaurants. If there aren’t any prices on the menu you must haggle and agree a price before you eat.

It is easier to climb Huangshan from the Eastern Steps and descend by the Western Steps. Buses run to both entrances throughout the day from Tangkou. Join the queues for the cable car if walking doesn’t appeal.  Human porters are also a available.

On the mountain. It’s possible to escape the crowds simply by walking. There are some absolutely magnificent trails. You can actually spend days wandering through he valleys and hardly meet another soul.

Accommodation on the mountain summit is either expensive and comfortable or cheap and grotty. Take your pick. Outside the high season discounts are the norm.

Eating options depend on your budget. But food at both ends of the market is over-priced and nothing special.

The ancient town of Luodai near the teeming Sichuan capital of Chengdu is a curious place: when one thinks of the Hakka people (Kejia in Chinese, or ‘guests’, also known as China’s gypsies) the first thing that comes to mind are the amazing round or square earth buildings, the Tulou, of Fujian and Jiangxi. Other Hakka claims to fame are the Taiping rebellion, or the Hokien cuisine, which is found in many South East Asian countries.

Hakka Tulou Fujian 客家土楼福建省

What doesn’t normally spring to mind is an impressive collection of Hakka guildhalls in a far- off small town in Sichuan! But that is exactly what Luodai is all about and why I had always wanted to go there.

The Hakka, originally from Hubei Province, suffered discrimination and persecution, and were forced to disperse; first towards the coast and overseas.

Later on, some successful Hakka business people set their sights inland again and moved towards the South-West where they formed communities and Guilds, in order to consolidate their clans.

The guildhalls of Luodai are a standing testament to the Hakka Diaspora, and the local population is still overwhelmingly Hakka.

These days, getting to Luodai is pretty easy; the town figures on the Xiananmen bus station map of sights and even has its own ticket office in the street behind the station. Buses run every twenty minutes or so, from 7.30 am to 6 or 7 in the afternoon.

It took us less than one hour to get to Luodai bus station, from where we were pointed towards the Old Town. We enthusiastically dived into the narrow, old streets, completely devoid of tourists, convinced that we had finally found a real, undiscovered gem… Of course, we should have known better.

We soon hit one of the main drags, an attractive street of classic South-western Chinese structures, low and flat with black-tiled roofs, white-washed walls and wooden doors. Many shops have portals held up by ancient pillars.

Unfortunately, most of these shop houses have been taken over by the usual naff and noisy souvenir stalls, marring some of that pleasant feeling of having stepped back in time.

It felt a bit like Pingle all over again, but with grander buildings and far fewer tourists, though granted, this time we had been smart enough to plan our visit for a week day.

Touristy or not, Luodai has an impressive collection of traditional Hakka architecture. Among the guildhalls, the Guangdong Guildhall is the most famous; a grand building of large courtyards and enormous halls, reputed to be one of the biggest and best preserved in China. Nowadays, it houses a small museum dedicated to Hakka life. Other Hakka halls of note are the Jiangxi Guildhall and the Hugang Guildhall.

Most can be found by strolling along Luodai’s ancient main street, or diving into the side alleys. All the guildhalls are recognisable by their wonderfully flamboyant eaved roofs, many of which sport elegantly carved little creatures scampering up and down those eaves.

I must admit, I found the beautiful exteriors far more interesting than the fairly dull and empty interiors; though one or two had been converted into pleasant teahouses.

In any case, it’s worth snooping around the odd dilapidated guildhall to get a feel of how time has treated these structures: grass covered roofs, cracked walls and abandoned courtyards leave you wondering what they must once have been like at the height of their opulence.

Wandering around the back streets you may find other havens of peace, such as the lovely teahouse and adjoining restaurant by the lotus pond.

The latter serves terrific fish, various types of local mushrooms and other dishes. It’s a lovely spot to kick back, put you feet up and drift off into old China.

At the end of the main street, just outside the prettified Old Town, we found a dusty local park, chock-full of rudimentary teahouses of the kind that has almost disappeared from Chengdu:

wicker chairs, wooden tables, rickety cupboards stacked high with porcelain teacups and waiters in dingy vests, scurrying around, carrying long- snouted tea pots and endlessly replenishing the customers’ cups.

Skinny old men, stripped down to the waist, trouser legs rolled up, cigarettes dangling from their mouths, bent over their hand of cards; squat, chubby women were engrossed in their games of Majong,

munching on roasted seeds and loudly slurping their tea.

In this laid-back ambience, none of them seemed to mind us snooping around and they gracefully allowed us to take pictures.

For me, it was worth coming to Luodai just for this experience alone!

Luodai Practicalities:

You can reach Luodai by taking a bus from the Luodai ticket office, in the street just behind the Xiananmen bus station. Buses run every twenty minutes or so, from 7.30 am to 6 or 7 in the afternoon. There are frequent buses back to Chengdu, approximately every half hour, from Luodai’s bus station on the edge of the Old Town.

Luodai makes for an easy half-day trip from Chengdu,though it’s not as interesting as Lanzhong , or as quaint as Luocheng. However, if you don’t have the time to go and see other famous guildhalls such as the one in Zigong or Chongqing.

Khampa man in Kangding 2004

Faces of Kangding 康定 (2004)

In 2004, having just returned to Kangding from Danba, we were lucky enough to stumble upon a one-off festival aimed at celebrating Tibetan Kham culture and promoting tourism in Western-Sichuan. The streets of Kangding were jammed packed with proud-swaggering Khampas, dressed up to the hilt in their finest clothes. One could easily have imagined that the entire population of these once warrior nomads, had rolled into town off the grasslands. And like in the wild-west of old, many had come in on horseback.

With so much going on, nobody paid much attention to me as I used up roll after roll of film. Kangding has changed and modernised radically since these photos were taken, so I hope you enjoy them. It was a magic moment.

]]> http://blog.holachina.net/?feed=rss2&p=1919 0 http://blog.holachina.net/?p=1907 http://blog.holachina.net/?p=1907#comments Wed, 05 May 2010 22:18:35 +0000 Adam http://blog.holachina.net/?p=1907 (The end of our route:  Xining 西宁 to Chengdu 成都 2009)

Our Route 2009

Leg One: Ganzi to Kangding

Tired and groggy after a week of sleepless nights due to altitude sickness, I stumbled out of the hotel and we walked into the adjacent bus station. We were taking the bus straight to Kangding as, apparently, Ma’erkang was closed to foreigners. Anyway, I don’t think Margie would have put up much longer with my hallucinations and the incoherent gibberish that I was producing every night. At last, we were heading down and off the Tibetan plateau.

Ganzi Old Town

Five years before, we had done the whole ride from Ganzi to Chengdu in 17 interminable hours on a smoke- filled bus, while witnessing at least 5 fatal accidents and nearly being involved in one ourselves. So, we had decided never to do it again. We thought that by breaking up the journey, it would be smoother and less painful; little did we know what had happened to the road.

Our broken down bus 2004

Most roads in China have improved over the years, but the Chengdu-Tibet highway has actually got worse, for now at least. Admittedly, this is mostly due to road works, but anyone taking this road over the next year is in for a horrendous and long drawn- out exercise of torture that adds about 5 hours to your journey.

Sturdy Tibetan Farm Houses

Leaving Ganzi everything is fine: the road is well-paved, traffic is scarce and the scenery is lovely.  In no time the bus rolls into Luohou’s bus station; so far, so good. Unfortunately, the road begins to disintegrate close to the turn- off to Litang and its sorry state continues right up to Kangding.

The beautiful grasslands near Tagong looked more like a mud bath. Buses, lorries and private vehicles were all fighting for space on a surface that reminded one of a quagmire. In fact, not all vehicles made it; their steaming clapped- out engines and forlorn- looking passengers lining the side of the road painted a grim picture in the pouring rain. I remembered this area from 2004 as a vast expanse of stunning meadows, dotted with beautiful Tibetan farm houses; with all the on-going road works, broken asphalt and building materials scattered all over the place, it was more like a First World War battle field.

The town of Tagong itself seemed a lot more developed, but not in a bad way: we could see lots of new guesthouses, built in the traditional style, restaurants, little terraces, and a well-stocked shopping street running through. However, any lingering regret about not staying there was soon dispelled by the sight of a bedraggled little group of foreigners on horseback; riders and mounts looking equally drenched and sodden as they picked their way gingerly through the debris.

Ganzi to Kangding Bus Ticket

Before we got to Kangding there was one final hurdle; the final pass. The road was now so bad that the authorities were only allowing one-way traffic over the pass. Hundreds of vehicles were parked up behind a barrier, waiting for the signal to continue. Snack stalls, billiard tables and tents had been set up in a carnivalesque atmosphere in order to entertain the trapped travellers. The toilet, an excrement splattered, wooden-slatted affair, behind a plastic curtain, was one of the vilest we’ve ever seen in China!!!! And you had to pay!

Sichuan Tibet highway in better days

Suddenly there was a shout, the barrier went up and all mayhem broke out. Drivers jumped behind their wheels, screams went out for passengers to board their buses, as everyone jostled for pole position. Size mattered, as smaller vehicles were cut off at every angle. Our driver used his skill to block and squeeze out all opposition. Two and half hours later we rolled into a dark and rain-sodden Kangding.

Pilgrims visiting Nanwusi Kangding

The journey, on a new, reasonably modern coach, eventually took 14 hours; four longer than in 2004 … taking into account that that was when our bus, a frail old banger with a water pipe sticking through its roof, the likes of which you rarely see in China these days, broke down 3 times.

Kangding Street scene 2004

Kangding – at least what little we saw of it this time – has changed beyond recognition. The smart new bus station is surrounded by a gaggle of new hotels and there’s a real feeling of prosperity to the place. The hard frontier edge it used to have has given way to white tiles, clean streets and coloured lights. At least the weather hadn’t changed: it was still raining. As we weren’t lingering, we decided to stay in the first suitable hotel we saw outside the bus station; a welcoming little Tibetan-run place.

Nanwu Si

Leg Two: Kangding to Chengdu

The buses that link Kangding to Chengdu are now super luxurious and for once the weather was good. It is a spectacular journey through the mountains, looking down over gorgeous valleys still dotted with traditional Sichuan villages with their white walls and black roofs.

Paoma Shan Kangding

We caught a glimpse of the famous or infamous Luding Bridge: the site – at least in Chinese Communist lore – of a crucial victory that contributed to the success of the Long March. Or, as Jung Chang claims in her controversial book, ‘Mao – The Unknown Story’, a figment of the Communists’ fertile imagination….

The tunnel that cuts through the mountain, avoiding the notorious Er Lang Shan pass, is fine but the same queues we had to endure in order to go through it in 2004, continue up to this day. We were lucky this time, as traffic from our direction had the right of way. Thus, after a relatively comfortable 7- hour journey, we rolled into modern, bustling Chengdu. To top it all, our bus stopped at Xinanmen Bus station, right next to our old and all-time favourite, the Traffic Hotel… Suddenly, Yushu, Serxu and Manigango seemed a world away.

Practicalities:
In Kangding we stayed at the comfortable Tibetan- run Ka-Sa hotel right opposite the bus station for 140 Yuan. There are many cheaper options if you are staying longer – or more expensive ones if you fancy a bit of luxury.

The restaurant scene in Kangding has improved. Only a few hundred meters from the bus station there are now lots of small family restaurants serving cheap and delicious Sichuan dishes.

Kangding in wilder times 2004

]]> http://blog.holachina.net/?feed=rss2&p=1907 1 http://blog.holachina.net/?p=1885 http://blog.holachina.net/?p=1885#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 21:34:58 +0000 Adam http://blog.holachina.net/?p=1885

Tibetan Monks In central Yushu 2009

Reading foreign news reports about the Yushu earthquake, it was clear that large numbers of Tibetan monks had participated in the rescue efforts in the aftermath of the disaster. If, however, you had only relied on the Chinese state media, you would never have known they were there. In a classic case of Communist style photo-shopping that would make Mao proud, the Tibetan monks have been airbrushed from the picture. In the Chinese media, you can only see Han Chinese rescue workers and the Peoples’ Army, rescuing hapless and grateful Tibetans from the ruins.

To add insult to injury, the government is now actually ordering the monks out of Yushu, for fear that these burgundy-clad heroes might become too popular in an area where 97% of the population is ethnically Tibetan. Most of the monks have come from the neighbouring province of Sichuan, from the huge monasteries of Serxu/Serchul and those around Ganzi. These monasteries are known for their devotion to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Something we witnessed last year.

Yushu Main Street 2009

The pity is that the earthquake might have served to bring about a better understanding between the Han Chinese and the Tibetans. Instead, most Chinese will never know that the monks where there helping, and the Tibetans will again feel that the Chinese are now going to move in and control the area even more tightly than before.

There have been very few personal accounts of the tragedy in Yushu. But Losang, the creator of the Land of Snows Website, has written a first- hand account of how he and his family were caught in the earthquake.

Click here: http://kekexili.typepad.com/life_on_the_tibetan_plate/

]]> http://blog.holachina.net/?feed=rss2&p=1885 3