The Case That Wraps the Body

Dragon's Backbone
Our last week in southwest China was a perfect way to end our trip. First we flew to Guilin, heavily advertised for its surrounding scenery, but we didn't care for the city itself. After spending weeks in quaint towns Guilin came off as garish (neon lights everywhere) and skeevy. This feeling wasn't helped when we found out that our hotel room also rented rooms by the hour.

We got out of there the following morning to go a few hours north to an area called the Dragon's Backbone Terraces. The name comes from the endless terraces that cover the steep hillsides and wind their way around all the curves of the valleys. This is the off-season, when the fields are already harvested and cleared, but it was still incredibly beautiful and mind-boggling. Plus, there were far less tourists around. We stayed in a nice village called Ping'an for two nights and spent our time following the trails that follow the terracing, providing views of this engineering feat for as far as you can see. The terracing is so extensive that one day we walked 3 1/2 hours each way and were still constantly surrounded by it. The trail also leads through a few small towns which are inhabited by the Zhong and Yao minority groups. The Yao women are known for their long hair which they grow about 5 feet long; unfortunately for us, they've realized that they are a photo-worthy site and now charge tourists money to unwrap their hair. The Yao, in general, always seemed to be in "sales mode." The other interesting thing about these minorities is the way they construct houses. Using the abundant pine wood, they interlock beams and wood into each other without the use of any nails. Since harvest is over, we got to see a lot of this building going on. While the men built, women, some in their 60s, carried huge logs and materials on their backs up the hills. Overall it was a peaceful visit (although our 7 hour walk was strenuous) and we were definitely glad we made the effort to come.

Yangshuo and a visit from Mr. Harris
Our next, and last, stop was the town of Yangshuo. This backpacker town is touristy, but it was nice to end our time here. We stayed in a hotel that was one of our best this whole trip. We had the softest bed (after many many nights of hard board-like beds) and a clean, hot shower with a rain shower head. Plus a big TV and free DVDs. It felt like a 5-star place to us for about $11.50 a night. The landscape around the town is filled with huge karsts. These are rather bizarre looking limestone mountains that rise suddenly from the earth. They almost look like stand-alone mountains that rise sharply like a cliff rather than gradually sloping up. But they're very cool and almost eerie looking as they recede into the haze. There are two rivers near the town, the Li and the Yulong, and it's popular to ride bikes around the area and in the fields or take boats along the river to enjoy the unique scenery.

After a day of riding bikes through villages and along the river, we had a Thanksgiving dinner of "beer duck" for Chris (because it was the closest thing to turkey) and fried eggplant stuffed with pork for Alex (because it sounded good). For dessert we got delicious apple crumble with vanilla ice cream to have something American. We stayed up late to wait for one of Chris' closest college friends, Brent, who lives in China and flew to meet up with us for a few days. It was awesome to see a familiar, friendly face and to have a chance to catch up with him. He also became our hero by bringing us much needed peanut butter, a cheesy Doritos snack mix, real Tostitos, and even a bottle of legitimate Shiraz. That last surprise really made Alex's month.

We spent two fun, full days with Brent. The first day we went for a boat ride down the Li River. The scenery was incredible and so different from anything we've ever seen. The karsts make it feel like you're in another world. It was also nice to be on the water. We stopped after an hour and a half at a small quaint town and got lunch. Then we decided to hire another boat back to Yangshuo rather than take the bus. The second boat ride was even more peaceful than the first. We saw men using commorants (a type of water bird) to fish, an old tradition that's not practiced much anymore. It is a popular tourist activity to see commorant fishing at night but it was neat to see people doing it as part of their regular lives. When we finally got back to town we had wine, beer, and chips in the room before going out for dinner and then drinks. We spent the rest of the night on a rooftop bar that was filled with Westerners, beer, and weed. It felt sort of like a European frat party but we made a few friends, and had a great time together.

Our second day we rented bikes and rode along the Yulong River in the opposite direction than we'd done before. We got lost many times but that just made it more fun. (Brent's fluent Chinese also helped keep us going in the right direction.) At one point we were able to cross the river at a shallow point at one of the dams. This landed us in the middle of the fields where there was no longer a path and we had to do some exploring to find a trail. Soon after that Chris got a flat back tire. We eventually found a man who fixed it at his house while we watched a women's weightlifting competition on TV. After that adventure we rode the main road back into town. The boys got haircuts and picked up some pizzas and enchiladas. We stayed in to eat and watched DVDs in our room. This felt like such a luxury for us as we haven't really had a "night in" while traveling. We always have to go out to eat and we've never been somewhere with a DVD player.

Goodbye to China and Big Brother
Sadly it is now time to leave China. Both of us have loved our time here and it exceeded our expectations. The aspect that bothered us the most were the human rights abuses and curbs, especially evident in Tibet. Crossing over the border from Nepal, security confiscated people's Lonely Planet Tibet books (because of an intro by the Dalai Lama), LP China books (because Taiwan is treated as a separate country), and thoroughly went through each person's belongings, looking for any sign of Tibetan freedom sympathies. They even went through our journals and cameras.

Alex managed to get through the excellent book, "Out of Mao's Shadow -- the search for the soul of China" by Philip Pan (2008 Economist book of the year). This nonfiction gave great insight into the Communist party's grip on power and its abuses. One of the stories was about a doctor who exposed thecover-up during the SARS epidemic (he was later illegally imprisoned for drawing attention to the Tianamen Sq massacre). While we were in Dali we saw, yet again, he was in the news for exposing another coverup, this one related to H1N1.

Finally, the lack of freedom of press and speech, is everywhere evident (such as how we were blocked access to our blog the entire time). Reading the paper or watching the news is almost comical if the propaganda weren't so effective.

But, overall, we loved China and even got to enjoy, or at least tolerate, it's quirks (the penchant for boy bands, how people talk loud enough to wake the dead, the way the Chinese pose for pictures, etc). We also loved taking note of their attempts at writing things in English. This Chinglish is often funny, surreal, or just plain baffling (such as the title of this blog, for a luggage store). Some others include:

• No allowed to stay unkind things to other people and disturb their rest time after you drink beer (Rule #5 at guesthouse in Tibet)
• Removes horniness (on the label of a skin-whitening cream)
• Then the scenery is that frosty leaves in autum are redder than flowers in February, making visitors forget to leave (on a plaque)
• City branch network of large ants welcome (the only English at an internet cafe)

Now we're heading to Vietnam. From December 1-15 we will be in a small town in the hills north of Hanoi doing volunteer work so we will mostly likely not have access to a computer. We will update when we get back!

Probably sounds a lot like the last post

We've spent the past week sort of like our first week in mainland China: we spent a few days in a popular, touristy city and the rest of the time in less-visited villages.  The same adjectives to the cities and villages always apply: cobblestone streets, walkable, quaint, traditional architecture...but each place is unique in its own way and we haven't tired yet of visiting these places.

 

Dali

People seem to speak of Dali in the same sentence as Lijiang, as another beautiful city that has become overrun with tourists.  So, we were expecting to arrive to a similar to city to Lijiang, but it's actually seemed completely different.  Dali's walled Old Town has a totally different feel.  Rather than narrow walkways, canals, and all traditional architecture, Dali has wide boulevards, many modern buildings, and vehicles are allowed in most of the city.  There are a few pedestrian streets but they don't have the old-world charm as Lijiang.  On the other hand, whereas Lijiang caters more to Chinese tourists, Dali is a haven for western backpackers.  The Chinese still come in droves; but the government has built a new "old" town outside the western gate and that seems to be where they all congregate.  Inside the old town, it's been pretty quiet, probably since we're out of high season.

 

The big draw to Dali is it's surrounding area, a couple miles from mountains on one side and the third largest lake in China on the other.  We rented bikes and spent a day riding along the lake, stopping in at the farming and fishing villages that dot the area.  We were only several  miles from Dali, but felt worlds away; it was an easy way to get off the beaten path.  People went about their daily business tending the fields, children played games and rode their bikes, and old men played mah jong.  Some villages were quaint with old architecture and some were more modern.  But what struck us was how friendly everyone was everywhere we went, even though our Chinese vocabulary is limited to a couple dozen words.

 

Nuodeng

We've made an effort, especially in China, to get off the main tourist trail when possible.  Our visit to Nuodeng was probably the apex of our efforts, even more than Shaxi.  After a 3.5 hour bus ride to the nearest city, we boarded a 3-wheeled motorbike, crossed a rickety wooden bridge, and traveled 5 miles until the road ended.  Here were a few sets of uneven stairs that marked the entrances to this village.  It's called the 1,000 year old village, but has been in it's current form for the past several hundred years, when it was a major salt mining center.  The village in front of us rose along the hillside.  All we knew was that one of the two guest houses in the villages was near the top of the village.  After about 10 minutes of ascending the narrow pathways of uneven stairs and stones, asking people to point us in the right direction, we found the guesthouse.  The proprietors gave us a simple room off the courtyard.  They were extremely nice but the facilities were as basic as could be.  The "bathroom," consisting of simply a hole in the ground, was outside the courtyard, next to the pig stye (and one of the pigs' bretheren would be our dinner that night).  We spent a lot of time "playing" Charades because the cheerful owner didn't speak any English and we speak very (very) little Chinese.

 

We spent the day as we often do in these villages, just wandering about and admiring the old architecture.  A couple people even invited us into their homes, one of whom turned his home into a mini museum.  We came upon old temples, one of which we found by accidently walking through someone's home.  At times it almost felt like we were the first tourists to see these sites in years.  We also took a long walk in the hills opposite the village, through farm fields and along donkey paths, where we got great views of the entire area. 

 

Whereas Shaxi is attempting to develop its tourist infrastructure through restoration and adding guesthouses, restaurants, etc., Nuodeng seems content to remain a farming village, just one that happens to be beautiful and have a rich history.  There's literally  no restaurants in town, not even the hole-in-the-wall noodle shops we normally find.  So, we ate with the owners who gave us a feast of rice, fried pork, bacon, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, a squash-like vegetable, and beans.

 

Weishan

From Nuodeng we went to another village called Weishan.  This was our first place in China that was a disappointment for us.  It wasn't nearly as charming, had limited and overpriced accomodation, and didn't have much to do.  There was a nice site 7 miles away near the top of a mountain that had lots of temples and palaces to wander around.  Spending a few hours there helped make the trip more worth it, but we were ready to get back to Dali and have a few western comforts (like the best French toast at our guesthouse!). 

 

Tomorrow we fly a few hours east to the Guangxi province for our last week in China.

The tourist capital of southwest China

Lijiang
From Tibet we flew to Lijiang. Being the most touristed city in southwest China (maybe all of China?) it's the city that people love to hate.  And they do have some valid points.   China is 92% Han (the ethnic majority that is in power), but there are dozens of other ethnicities, the majority of which live in the Yunnan province, where we are.  Up until recently, the city was almost completely inhabited by the Naxi, one of China's ethnic minority groups.  But now, the majority of Naxi have moved out to the suburbs, where they rent out their space to Han entrepreneurs.  This has hurt a lot of the city's former character.  Plus, busloads of Chinese tourists descend everyday on the city, clogging the cobblestone streets from morning through the evening.  At times, it feels more like Disneyworld than an actual city.  A bar-owner told Alex that the government forced her to change her decor to "make it look more old."

Despite these drawbacks, we've loved Lijiang.  It's more picturesque than we could have imagined: no vehicles, flagstone streets, canals everywhere, traditional architecture.  It's like being inside Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.  Being outside of high season the crowds weren't as bad as we expected.  While the main squares and streets off them got packed, it was easy enough to leave the hordes behind -- the Old Town is very large, and we were able to find authentic markets, residential areas, and "normal life" just by walking 10 minutes away.

Tiger Leaping Gorge
Chris: We were both planning on hiking the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the most famous trek in the region.  Unfortunately, in Tibet Alex slipped while walking to the sacred lake (the Tibetan gods didn't protect her) and re-injured her ankle.  This made the 2-day hike impossible for her, so I went on my own while Alex explored more of Lijiang.  The trek, a 2-hour bus ride north, was great.  There used to be two trails, the high and low, but the Chinese love to build roads and have now paved over the low trail.  I started the high one but got very confused as after 15 minutes the trail met a paved road.  Did I somehow veer towards the low trail?  No, the Chinese have now decided to pave part of the high trail as well.  The were working on it as I walked and yelled at me as I almost walked on the freshly poured concrete.  Luckily, a real trail appeared after 30 minutes, I left the trucks behind, and ascended the trail.

In some ways it was like Nepal's trek with guesthouses along the way (although the scenery wasn't nearly as dramatic).  After the one hour-long difficult section, I came to a guesthouse, where a puppy found me.  I loved this dog.  He didn't have an owner and literally followed me for the next 2 hours as I walked along the trail.  He even slept outside my door when I stopped at a guesthouse for the night.  I seriously considered keeping Tashi (yes, I named him -- he looked like the Tibetan dogs and I named him after the Tibetan word for "hello"). But then I realized Alex might not love it if I showed up to Lijiang with a dog in my arms.  (However, she also fell in love with him after seeing my pictures.)

The night I returned, we had without question the grossest meal we ever ordered.  We stopped at a restaurant where people had clay pots with a large flame underneath.  It looked like a fun meal so we ordered the chicken version, thinking it'd be a safe bet.  It was not.  In no way do we believe that what we were served was chicken.  Inside the pot was a clear broth with chunks of something floating in it. This something consisted mainly of bone with dark grey scaly gelatinous things attached to it.  It looked disgusting.  Alex went to the manager thinking there was a mis-translation of "chicken."  She even started imitating a chicken to the manager, and I had visions of Gob Bluth from Arrested Development doing his chicken impression (anyone who's seen the show will know what I'm talking about).  It was also ironic that we had decided to splurge on our most expensive meal but couldn't bring ourselves to eat it.

Baisha
Chris: The worst part of the night was that Alex somehow got really sick.  We were supposed to leave Lijiang the next morning but Alex needed the day to rest rather than travel.  So, I rented a bike and rode an hour north to the charming village of Baisha.  It was a nice way to spend the day in this small, traditional Naxi village.  I also visited the famous Dr. Ho.  He's now almost 90, but his son is taking over his business of using local herbs to help solve people's ailments.  But Dr. Ho is no quack.  He's been written up by every major paper.  The Mayo Clinic has even written a case study on his work and worked with him, because he helped a man with prostate cancer.  Without any radiation treatment the man, who's American, has been in remission for 15 years now.  I got Alex some mixture of ground herbs for her stomach.  Whether it was the mixture, or just time, we were amazed (and relieved) that she was completely better after a few doses of the concoction.

Shaxi
Now that Alex was better, we traveled the 4 hours south by bus to the little town of Shaxi, this one inhabited by the Bai, southwest China's largest ethnic group.  This town -- again charming with no vehicles, flagstone streets, and traditional architecture -- was even less-toursited than Baisha.  (We were literally the only tourists in town and were treated to private tours of several major sites.)  This was once a major stop on the Tea Horse route, which once stretched from Tibet to Burma.  Since 2001 a Swiss group has created a master plan to help revive the city.  We found it extremely interesting to read about this comprehensive plan -- restoring and preserving the ancient buildings, poverty allevation by developing a diversified and sustainable economy, improving sanitation and environmental awareness for the inhabitants, linking Shaxi to other potential tourism areas, and increasing awareness of the town's historical imporance.

There wasn't a lot to do in the town and only one restaurant where we had some tea, but it was a nice place to stroll around.  The surrounding farm fields was also a nice change from being in a city so much, especially for Alex.  Our guesthouse was very simple, but it felt like we were part of the family.  For lunch and dinner there was no menu; we just ate what they had on hand (which, fortunately, was delicious).

The next morning a movie crew was shooting a Kung Fu movie in the main square, and the producer, who went to Middlebury College, asked us to be extras.  Unfortunately, we had an early bus so our Chinese
big-screen debut will have to wait.

Rooftop of the World

Nihou from China!  Our blog is blocked here (along with our website, Facebook, YouTube, and other sites) so this posting is actually being put online with help from Alex's sister, Eliza. (Unfortunately that means we can't post pictures for awhile.)  We will definitely write more about the "Big Brother" effect that we've encountered once we are out of China.  For now, it's enough to say that it's a pretty crazy feeling knowing that things are watched and censored so much.  It's so different from anywhere else we've been.

We recently finished a great 8 day visit to Tibet that we arranged in Kathmandu.  We left very early on the morning of Nov. 3rd to meet our group of 28 people (after we'd been told the group would be 10-15 people).  We drove to the land border crossing which was a pretty nerve-racking  experience.  (Our bags were individually checked twice in order to make sure we didn't have any contraband literature/maps.)  Then we switched to Jeeps. The road has been blasted through some of the world's highest mountains and the whole trip we were above 10,000 feet.  Some passes were above 16,000 feet which is actually higher than Annapurna Base Camp and the towns we stayed in were only slightly lower than ABC.  A lot of people felt the effects of the altitude.  Obviously, because of the altitude the Tibetan plateau is also very cold.  Our first night felt like we were trekking again--sleeping in our coats, hats, mittens, and several layers of clothes. None of the hotels had heat.  We barely ever took off our fleece jackets. During the day we were more comfortable because it was always sunny.

Our first 5 days involved a lot of driving through the mountains on the winding road.  The landscape was gorgeous with large arid, barren hills and small Tibetan villages every once in awhile in the valleys.  On one day we got to see Mount Everest.  Another day we drove around a stunning turquoise-green sacred lake.  In many ways the landscape felt a lot like the Wild West.  The towns where we ate had markets with hanging skinned goats, people rode around in small horse-drawn carriages, and the surrounding land was empty and desolate.    Even now there is virtually no grass for the herds of sheep, goats, and yaks.  Also, it is already bitterly cold.  It's hard to imagine how they survive such harsh living conditions.

The Tibetans themselves look and dress just as we had pictured: women weave colorful thread into their long braids and wear a striped apron over many layers of clothes.  Their faces are rough and dark from the sun and cold. There is a lot of poverty so we also encountered a lot of begging.  Uneaten food in the restaurants gets carried outside to feed others.  Tibetans use a large variety of yak products in their cooking.  Yak butter and yak milk are particularly pungent and strong.  Yak butter tea is a local specialty: tea with a big glob of yak butter plopped on top.  It's apparently an acquired taste.  Yak meat was also very common on menus.

Besides driving and enjoying the scenery we did some sight-seeing which mostly involved visiting Buddhist monasteries.  Our visits focused mostly on seeing the chapels and temples of which each monastery has at least a few. The larger ones have dozens.  The chapels are all ornately decorated with mural paintings on the walls, hanging silk ties, and at least one central figure, often the Buddha, that is large and covered in gold.  We saw A LOT of Buddhas.  Some rooms have up to a thousand sculptures (usually gold-plated) of a particular boddhisatva or god.  There is a constant stream of local people who come to make offerings in the form of prayer, yak butter (for the candles), food, and money.  Many temples also had chanting monks which really added to the atmosphere.

We spent our last 3 days in Lhasa.  Much of the town is quite modern and it is obvious that it's build up recently.  However, the old town was much more charming and we spent most of our time in this area.  Our hotel was in the old town and at night food stalls would set up right outside our door.  We enjoyed two delicious and cheap dinners here.  All the food is placed on the table on kebab sticks.  You choose whichever kebabs you want for 1 yuan each (about 15 cents).  (Alex stuck to the veggie and tofu ones but Chris got
some chicken and didn't get sick.)  Then the lady pops them into a boiling wok of oil and they get quickly fried.  Afterwards she dumps on a bunch of spices and sauces.  We ate them right at the stall on small plastic stools in the cold and it was some of the best food we've had.

Besides eating at the stalls, the other major highlight was visiting Potala Palace, the home of the 5th-14th (currently exiled) Dalai Lama.  It sits up on a hill and it's absolutely massive and solid looking.  Architecturally
it's a beautiful building.  We visited the central red section which is where all the chapels and holy areas are.  Normally this would be off-limits to visitors if the DL was allowed to live there.  It was definitely awe-inspiring and beautiful and people are still allowed to pray here. However, the visit was also tinged with a sadness that this is not how it's meant to be used.

Overall we loved having a chance to see the scenery, remoteness, spirituality, and people of Tibet.  It was an interesting way to be introduced to China.  A nice thing about being on a group tour was that we had almost no decisions and plans to make or logistics to figure out. However, we all found our guide to be quite frustrating as he did not get the concept of letting everyone know the same information.  (Even for simple
things like our departure time or meeting place.)  Sometimes the visit was hard knowing the history of the region and disagreeing with the way people have been treated here.  But we also know that the only reason many of the historic (religious) sights are being preserved is for tourism so we are glad that at least some things are being saved, even if not for the right reasons.  At the end of our time we flew from Lhasa to Lijiang in Yunnan province in southwest China for a few days which is where we are now.

Around the Kathmandu Valley

The past week we've spent in the Kathmandu valley.  There are many legends about how this valley, which was covered by a huge lake 10,000 years ago, was created.  One popular myth is that the Bodhisattva Manjushri, a Buddhist spiritual leader and the god of wisdom and knowledge, used his sword to cut the mountains allowing the water to drain, leaving the fertile land of the valley.  He also uses this sword to cut ignorance and he holds a Book of Knowledge in any representations.  We bought a bronze statue of him in Patan, a city known for it's local artists who use the "lost wax" technique of statue making and their delicate and detailed designs.  We think having the god of wisdom and knowledge in our home will be a nice reminder of Nepal as well as welcoming these traits into our home.

Our first stop was the busy city of Kathmandu.  After the tranquility of Bandipur it came as a bit of a shock.  It was back to a land of pollution, incessant honking, and touts.  We chose to stay in the very touristy and backpacker-oriented section called Thamel, mostly for convenience.  It was easy to do souvenir shopping here and there are plenty of restaurants.  However, it is completely devoted to catering to Western tourists.  One day we took a nice walk through the city, ending in their famous Durbar Square (main square).  The city is littered with temples, shrines, and stupas everywhere you look.  Most are hundreds of years old but they're just a part of life here.  People dry their laundry or sell goods from the base of the temples.  At one point we passed a 5th century statue that was in front of a dental office with the sidewalk built around it.  Nothing to protect it.  The temples in Durbar Square were definitely impressive and beautiful.  Most date to the 1700s but some are older.  However, we were disappointed that traffic is allowed through the squares because it makes it hard to enjoy the atmosphere.  The countless offers for a guide, flutes, and handbags don't help either.  We were ready to leave for quieter towns after 2 nights.

We spent the next 4 days in the nearby towns of Patan and Bhaktapur.  Most tourists visit both places as a day trip from Kathmandu so it was wonderful to have it nearly to ourselves in the mornings and late afternoons/evenings.  Patan is known for its particularly impressive Durbar Square.  The absence of traffic made it even more beautiful.  The temples are built from brick but have tons of intricately carved wooden window screens, doorways, and roof struts.  Many of the temples are built in a pagoda style (an architectural contribution from a Nepali who then brought it to China).  Some of the larger ones are 4 stories tall and tower over the rest of the buildings in town.  We also enjoyed exploring the back streets as we continue to walk by countless shrines and temples in courtyards.  It is cool to see them in use today.  The reliefs of the gods are covered in red paint, flowers, rice, and other items of blessing and offering.  The main temple in Patan had a huge line of women waiting to pray and offer something to the gods.  We spent a lot of time just watching the life of the locals.

Bhatkapur had a beautiful Durbar Square, as well, but it was slightly emptier because many of the temples were destroyed in the 1934 earthquake that hit the valley.  There was also the ever-constant presence of shrines, temples, and stupas.  However, we enjoyed this town the most because of the way it's been preserved.  The streets are all paved in brick and almost no traffic is allowed within the city limits.  (Of course, motorcycles don't seem to have to follow these rules.)  The streets are lined with traditional Newari architecture which have balconies and windows with delicate wood carving.  We were also lucky to be there during the big rice harvest.  Most of the people are farmers and live off their nearby land.  At this time every available inch of sunny road/courtyard was full of tarps covered by drying rice.  The women spend hours and days constantly raking through the grain and sifting it.  The process was pretty fascinating to see in addition to providing just one more thing to take in on our walks around town.  One day we did a 2 hour walk on which we didn't run into a single other tourist.  It's nice to see how real people live and what the non-touristy parts of town look like.

Now we're off to Tibet.  We spent a lot of time weighing our options.  We found out that the flights to Bhutan on the days we were available are booked.  We contemplated going straight to China but we both felt like it would be worth it to visit Tibet.  We're not really sure what to expect.  Tourism is very restricted right now, requiring you to be with a small tour group and stick to a pre-defined itinerary.  Hopefully we'll still get to see everything we would if we were on our own.