Glen
--
Glen Bartholomew
glen.bartholomew@gmail.com
Monday, March 24, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Locomoting in China
Getting from one place to another in China is an interesting process. When I first got here it seemed very chaotic, people were always bumping into you. Bikes, scooters, cars, and buses seemly used any part of the street they felt like to get where they were going. Taxis seem to be terror on wheels; weaving in and out of traffic, coming within microns of anyone in an intersection and honking at anything in their way.
But as I moved around I realized there was an order to movement here. Some of the things I have noticed is; that with all the chaos I only seen one accident here and those demon taxi actually do stop or at least pause momentarily if they can't get around a pedestrian or vehicle. Then on this tour I just took to Yunnan; I notice that the tour bus drivers (which are the kings of the road in tourist areas) actually did seem to care about others' well being when they drove. Plus I did not see much show of anger on the roadway which happens a little too often in the US.
Although I don't claim to understand traffic here and I have no desire to try to drive in China (actually I really don't like driving, much, anyway), I have made some observations.
The main thing that puts order into this mess is; in general everyone wants to move forward, not just in the literal sense; but as a nation. A lot of things have to get done. So to feed, clothe and shelter a nation of 1.3 billion people things have to move at a steady pace. If someone wants to dawdle then they need to move to the sidelines and there ARE sidelines here; where people can rest, get their barrings and even reflect. Of course this and some of other observations I have made on traffic flow here, still does not make it any easier to get from one location to another, but at least I don't get too upset while trying to get there.
By the way, David Henry the person who has uploaded my journal enteries to my blog is going to traveling himself soon, to France with his, so my entries may stop for a while until I come back to the US. I am not sure when he won't have time to post things for me, though. Just don't be surprised when the entries stop until the 21st. So thanks David and bon voyage to you and your family.
But as I moved around I realized there was an order to movement here. Some of the things I have noticed is; that with all the chaos I only seen one accident here and those demon taxi actually do stop or at least pause momentarily if they can't get around a pedestrian or vehicle. Then on this tour I just took to Yunnan; I notice that the tour bus drivers (which are the kings of the road in tourist areas) actually did seem to care about others' well being when they drove. Plus I did not see much show of anger on the roadway which happens a little too often in the US.
Although I don't claim to understand traffic here and I have no desire to try to drive in China (actually I really don't like driving, much, anyway), I have made some observations.
The main thing that puts order into this mess is; in general everyone wants to move forward, not just in the literal sense; but as a nation. A lot of things have to get done. So to feed, clothe and shelter a nation of 1.3 billion people things have to move at a steady pace. If someone wants to dawdle then they need to move to the sidelines and there ARE sidelines here; where people can rest, get their barrings and even reflect. Of course this and some of other observations I have made on traffic flow here, still does not make it any easier to get from one location to another, but at least I don't get too upset while trying to get there.
By the way, David Henry the person who has uploaded my journal enteries to my blog is going to traveling himself soon, to France with his, so my entries may stop for a while until I come back to the US. I am not sure when he won't have time to post things for me, though. Just don't be surprised when the entries stop until the 21st. So thanks David and bon voyage to you and your family.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Today I went up to 4506 meters. The highest now flight altitude I have ever been to. But more important I learned even more about Chinese friendship and generosity. No matter where I go it seems there are so many people who want to help me get around and show me the best of China. Today as usual I was adopted by several in the tour who wanted me to keep safe and enjoy China. There was one group who really did not speak a lot of English that made took me under there wing and made me feel welcome. We met on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain there was a inner ride area (believe it or not) up there and they needed a 4th person. From then on everywhere the tour went they brought me along. The part that was the most fun was trying to communicate, since their English was basic and my Chinese was worst.
Even though things were pretty touristy, I still felt I learned a lot. Plus since I don't speak Chinese it is really hard for people to sell me stuff. But what continues to amaze me is the spirit if the people here. For example I have heard some spectacular singing here form the Naxi people. By the way I spelled there name wrong in my last post, they are the Naxi not Nali people. The Xi is pronounce "she", sort of.
What I keep thinking of is the Appalachian region of the US. They sing (and dance) from their hearts and they don't need any electronic help.
The costumes of the Naxi people is mostly functional. But Kind of charming, some reason I think of Holland.But at the tourist areas they mix in Tibetan costumes which are very colorful. It is not out of character to mix in Tibetin culture here since the mountains isolated people from one another, and this is where spices were trades for generation. As a result there are 24 ethnic cultures in this region. As soon as I get back to the US I will post some of the 700+ photos that are in my camera. I promise.
Even though things were pretty touristy, I still felt I learned a lot. Plus since I don't speak Chinese it is really hard for people to sell me stuff. But what continues to amaze me is the spirit if the people here. For example I have heard some spectacular singing here form the Naxi people. By the way I spelled there name wrong in my last post, they are the Naxi not Nali people. The Xi is pronounce "she", sort of.
What I keep thinking of is the Appalachian region of the US. They sing (and dance) from their hearts and they don't need any electronic help.
The costumes of the Naxi people is mostly functional. But Kind of charming, some reason I think of Holland.But at the tourist areas they mix in Tibetan costumes which are very colorful. It is not out of character to mix in Tibetin culture here since the mountains isolated people from one another, and this is where spices were trades for generation. As a result there are 24 ethnic cultures in this region. As soon as I get back to the US I will post some of the 700+ photos that are in my camera. I promise.
Shangri'la
Lijaing and Shangri'la were great. Mountains, food and people are great. The people I have been traveling with have made me feel very welcome and have helped me over come the language barrier. Although sometimes they help me too much, I feel like a young child sometimes. I wish I could understand Chinese though the Shangri'la guide didn't speak English but he talked constantly about the history sights and culture and everyone seemed interested the whole time.
Last night we went to a Shangri'la public house for dinner (made up of mostly Yak), wine, dance and song. The people there were excellent dancers and singers. During the group dances I got up and danced a couple of times. The last dance turned into was kind of a Tibetan rave and people were dancing everywhere. A guide from one of the other buses was encouraged to by her tour group to dance with the Mei Gou Ren so I started dancing with her. I was a star for while until I realized people were stopping and watching us and I got too self conscious so I pretended to get tired so I could stop dancing.
I also found out I am not in as bad of shape as I thought. We went to 3900 (around 13,000 feet, you might want to check my math on that) today and walked along a large lake at 3700 meters today and I was one of the few who did not use oxygen. The only time I was at all short of breath was when I had someone from another tour group offered to take my picture in front of a herd of Yaks. He took so long that I had to run to catch up to my group. That was when I remembered I was at altitude, but I regained my breath surprisingly quick.
On the way back to Lijiang I found out what Naxi men do; they construct roads in the region. It was very interesting and somewhat alarming to watch these men working with trucks, buses and cars squeezing by on a mountain road that seemed much too narrow for these large vehicles. One of these day I will have to describe transportation in China. Which is the interaction of pedestrians, bikes, scooters, trackers, cars, taxis, truck and buses all vying for the same spot. There actually does seem to be order on the roads. But the rules seem very fluid.
Last night we went to a Shangri'la public house for dinner (made up of mostly Yak), wine, dance and song. The people there were excellent dancers and singers. During the group dances I got up and danced a couple of times. The last dance turned into was kind of a Tibetan rave and people were dancing everywhere. A guide from one of the other buses was encouraged to by her tour group to dance with the Mei Gou Ren so I started dancing with her. I was a star for while until I realized people were stopping and watching us and I got too self conscious so I pretended to get tired so I could stop dancing.
I also found out I am not in as bad of shape as I thought. We went to 3900 (around 13,000 feet, you might want to check my math on that) today and walked along a large lake at 3700 meters today and I was one of the few who did not use oxygen. The only time I was at all short of breath was when I had someone from another tour group offered to take my picture in front of a herd of Yaks. He took so long that I had to run to catch up to my group. That was when I remembered I was at altitude, but I regained my breath surprisingly quick.
On the way back to Lijiang I found out what Naxi men do; they construct roads in the region. It was very interesting and somewhat alarming to watch these men working with trucks, buses and cars squeezing by on a mountain road that seemed much too narrow for these large vehicles. One of these day I will have to describe transportation in China. Which is the interaction of pedestrians, bikes, scooters, trackers, cars, taxis, truck and buses all vying for the same spot. There actually does seem to be order on the roads. But the rules seem very fluid.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The City of Lijaing
The city of Lijaing is great it has the feel of any small mountain town catering to tourist, but the buildings are in Na'li (?) style. They are made of wood with very ornamentally carved screens over the doors and windows. My hotel is smallish but beautiful, it has deep reddish brown wood furniture (maybe antique) with brass fittings and the window is tan with a lattice work screen.. I would send pictures but I switched computers and don't have image editing software on this laptop.
My guide yesterday was great his English was good and he spoke both his ethnic Na'li and Mandarin. We walked all around the narrow twisting stone brick streets and alleys of of "Old Town". All of the buildings are in the traditional Na'li style; red painted wood with tan lattice or carved window and door screens and Chinese style grey clay tiled roofs. Every house has a garden court yard.
There are 3 large canals, fed by clear mountain streams; with a series of of small open drainage systems that run along the streets. Orange and yellow carp can be seen everywhere. Two main squares served as meeting and market places. To wash the market places; they used to block the canals, flood the squares and sweep everything into the canals each evening. Also between 8am and 10am no one was allowed to put anything into the canals so people could get drinking water.
Society here is maternal, within the family, because the women do all of the work so they make all of the decisions for the family. I don't know what the men do. Also my guide Li Shuang said that education was greatly stressed during the time Ming and Qing Dynasties and several scholars came from here. Slogans about education are all through out the city. My next guide is coming soon got to go.
My guide yesterday was great his English was good and he spoke both his ethnic Na'li and Mandarin. We walked all around the narrow twisting stone brick streets and alleys of of "Old Town". All of the buildings are in the traditional Na'li style; red painted wood with tan lattice or carved window and door screens and Chinese style grey clay tiled roofs. Every house has a garden court yard.
There are 3 large canals, fed by clear mountain streams; with a series of of small open drainage systems that run along the streets. Orange and yellow carp can be seen everywhere. Two main squares served as meeting and market places. To wash the market places; they used to block the canals, flood the squares and sweep everything into the canals each evening. Also between 8am and 10am no one was allowed to put anything into the canals so people could get drinking water.
Society here is maternal, within the family, because the women do all of the work so they make all of the decisions for the family. I don't know what the men do. Also my guide Li Shuang said that education was greatly stressed during the time Ming and Qing Dynasties and several scholars came from here. Slogans about education are all through out the city. My next guide is coming soon got to go.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Shanghai
In Shanghai I was met by Han Jun at the airport then Dong Yan who guided me around the city, went for a run with and gave me someone to talk to. Jing Ying and Jia Yongjun joined us in the following days as we tour the city. One thing that struck me was that not only were so many of the women dressed n designer type clothes most of them had high heeled boots. But I guess it is still winter so the boots made sense and it was fun to see all of the designs.
Yan and Jing took me to have Sichuan on my first day and showed me around Nanjing Lu (Rd), which is a big pedestrian mall in Shanghai. There are lots of stores, lots of food and lots of vendors. Some were a little too pushy so I learned to say "mei you chen", "I have no money". I don't think the vendors liked that expression, they seem to think all Mei Gou (Amercian) are rich and want to buy fake designer watches.
Jia Jongjun joined us the next day after he and Jing came from a job fair. We ate noodles on Nanjing Lu and headed to Old Town where the City God Temple a restored temple and other building of the traditional building style, have been turned into a market place. From there we headed to Pudong to see the Jin Mao building the tallest building in China and Oriental Pearl TV Tower. Only I went to the top of the Jin Mao. The others said that they have already been. It was impressive, especially looking down the interior.
I am now a "seasoned international traveler" I took a taxi, bought a train ticket, got on the right train and took the subway to my hotel in Shanghai all by myself.. Although I did have some friends write note to show people for me.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Shanghai
I have arrived in Shanghai, China. I was a little weary, my sinuses ached and my ears were blocked from my cold but the flight itself was good. On the first leg of the flight I did not talk much, believe it or not. Most of the passengers were Japanese, including the people next to me and those two seemed uncomfortable speaking English.
The Tokyo to Shanghai leg was different. The woman next to me was from Shanghai and spoke English. She had just graduated from a university in Japan and was going to start working for Porsche. She spoke Japanese and was learning German, as well as English. She helped both myself and her Japanese office mate get through customs and baggage claim. Some time I am just lucky.
On landing Han Jun met me and we rushed to catch the magnetic train. Unfortunately we just missed the last train by about 10 minutes, bummer. But on our bus ride to the hotel the inbus bus monitor showed a short video of the train over and over, so I could pretended I was on the train. In Shanghai Han Jun got me to my hotel, helped me check in and called Dong Yan. Han Jun had to go on a business trip the, next day, so he left after I got settled. Up until this point my trip was pretty laid back and I didn't have much of a sense of China.
When Dong Yan arrived my trip trip and exposure to the "New" China went into high gear. I have some great photo of the past two days but I haven't downloaded a image editor and I am tired now, so.....I am going to go to sleep and post more more later. This post was just to tell everyone I arrived safely and tweak your interest. I am terrible, aren't I.
See you all later.
The Tokyo to Shanghai leg was different. The woman next to me was from Shanghai and spoke English. She had just graduated from a university in Japan and was going to start working for Porsche. She spoke Japanese and was learning German, as well as English. She helped both myself and her Japanese office mate get through customs and baggage claim. Some time I am just lucky.
On landing Han Jun met me and we rushed to catch the magnetic train. Unfortunately we just missed the last train by about 10 minutes, bummer. But on our bus ride to the hotel the inbus bus monitor showed a short video of the train over and over, so I could pretended I was on the train. In Shanghai Han Jun got me to my hotel, helped me check in and called Dong Yan. Han Jun had to go on a business trip the, next day, so he left after I got settled. Up until this point my trip was pretty laid back and I didn't have much of a sense of China.
When Dong Yan arrived my trip trip and exposure to the "New" China went into high gear. I have some great photo of the past two days but I haven't downloaded a image editor and I am tired now, so.....I am going to go to sleep and post more more later. This post was just to tell everyone I arrived safely and tweak your interest. I am terrible, aren't I.
See you all later.
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