Step back in time

Might not want to dig in.

The no. 1 water town in China- Zhouzhoung. How do I know this? Well, it was clearly posted all over the town, so, I kinda guessed. Seriously though,  the town was lovely and some scholars have even deemed it the Venice of the east.  Being the lucky fucks that we are we had a ride arranged for us from the airport to our lodging in ZZ. That lodging was complementary and was more than enough for the two of us. Thanks Judy for arranging it all!

$8 USD coffee, I kid you not.

 Surely you know by now, that I cannot go without mentioning the food. The town specialty is pork knuckle which looks like exactly that, not the foot of the pig but the part right above it. The town must have some special deal with all butchers because these things are everywhere. Jon and I decided to try one but not without some hesitation because it appears that they sit out all day and possibly for multiple days. Eventually we caved and the knuckles were about as tasty as they looked, not very. Recovery came in the form of a small restaurant which lured us with its wares steaming just outside the door. Score, the dumplings we had were not any normal dumplings. The wrapper was more like an ultra thin ‘bao’ wrapper and after being steamed was then quickly fried just on the bottom for a crispy texture.  I don’t know what they call this food but I call it ‘dumplings with a bao like wrapper.’ Creative, I know. I also call it yummy. 

 But enough about food the real reason to see ZZ is the romantic canals and the old style houses that line them. If you imagine the old days in any land and don’t envision hardship and poverty, you probably envision something tranquil and idyllic. A simpler time, when life moved slow and people were livin’ by the land or by trade and were by all appearances happy. This is the vision that awaits you when you step into the historic quarter of Zhouzhoung. There is no night life and things aren’t fancy but for two nights it was perfect to take leisurely strolls, relax and take it in. 

History Lessons

Being that China is such a huge and ancient country I’m sure history is to be found around any bend if you chose to seek it out. In Beijing it’s practically impossible to avoid historical sites because there are so many, making it a great place to more than get your feet wet. You may not be able to read up on the true facts of a historical event on the internet while there, due to heavy censoring, but no matter, just go see them in person and draw your own conclusions. 

Mao, is that you?

 Early one day, Jon and I had gone to see the great Chairman Mao, the unifier and first communist leader of China. He is preserved in his momentous mausoleum at one end of Tienanmen Square. In order to see him there is a very specific procedure that must be followed. Tourists from all over China wait in a giant line to see him, but not before checking ALL belongings, including cameras and any other thing you wouldn’t want to part with of value while traveling. After crossing the street, you go through an airport like security check, before trying to find your way to the end of the line. While in line you must present some form of identification to continue to your destination. It’s not scanned or written down or anything but a cop does take a very serious look at it. Then at the front of the line you are airport scanned again, and this time they confiscate lighters. Pretty much every male in that line had a lighter on them and so there are huge piles of confiscated lighters. I was left wondering first why at the bag check they didn’t emphasize the need to check them and second what they do with them all; probably sell them back to the mini marts. When you finally enter the mausoleum you see a huge statue in front of which people lay flowers that end up forming huge mounds. In the following room lies the man himself. Ooooo there he is! But ushers rush you so you cannot stand and look at him, you must walk by at a normal walking pace.  Why is this so? Why can we not stand and pay our proper respects? Fake! Its fake I tell you! He looks like a cross between a stuffed animal and a wax sculpture. Weird, funny and after all the hassle I’m still glad I got to take a peek.

Next point of interest: the Great Wall of China. Would you really fly all that way and not see it? The drive to the wall was surprisingly fast at around 90 minutes. There are many spots along the wall that are available for viewing and walking and we ended up at a site called ‘Mutianyu.’ This part of the wall was supposed to be much more enjoyable, even though slightly further because it is not the stop on the tourist bus circuit. The coolest part is that it really goes on farther than you can see in either direction. Strategically it’s well planned, being built on the very top of the entire line of mountains. That fact also, making it impressive from a construction standpoint.  However you don’t expect to see a Subway sandwiches at the base parking lot. Nor do you expect to have to push your way though lines of vendors aggressively hawking their goods in your face. One woman physically stopped me when I started to walk away from her, grabbing me and standing in my way. To this Jon just stood back and laughed, like I should have known better to even look.  Some parts of the Great wall date back to 5^th century BC. That is so old you can’t even imagine it. Yet when you physically have the wall beneath your feet, it looks like it was built 50 years ago; and sloppily I might add, with ultra thick uneven mortar between stones. This is obviously because it has been restored to a condition that is safe and recognizable.  I understand this but it does take some of the magic out of it. I did not expect that the great wall would be my least favorite site. However I would give it a second chance if I could go to a spot which is yet to be restored and didn’t have any of the Disneyland like qualities of Mutianyu. The location is even equipped with a tram for those too lazy to walk up the mountain to the wall. That’s just soo not Chinese! Even the elderly in China are up walking and carrying heavy bags. Once again Jon showed his American colors, insisting we ride it back down to the bottom, in lieu of walking, tsk tsk! He didn’t have any idea he’d have to hear me scream all the way down. Don’t laugh, those things are steep and I was certain we would be crashing to our death. 

Ahhh

Gasp.

Luckily, I survived and made it to the Forbidden City otherwise known as Imperial Palace or Palace museum. This place is sweet! It really sparked my imagination of what it must have been like to be a royal in China in the 1400’s. It is to China what Tower of London is to the United Kingdom and that whole region. The Tower evokes for me harsh images of rainy winters passed in the protection of its strong grey walls, the plague and beheadings. Forbidden city feels nothing like that. The yellow tiled roofs, red walls and elaborate trim on all the buildings gives the complex such a feeling a warmth. I can just see tons of small children running out in the courtyards and hiding in all the endless hallways as their mothers, the emperors concubines call them back in for dinner. I imagine the emperor stepping out of his chamber and commanding his generals of their next action. It’s a striking, welcoming and extensive, place with 500 years worth of stories of some of China’s greatest leaders.  It would be the perfect place to set off innumerable works of art in any form. Right now my head is picturing immaculately illustrated children’s books and fantastically shot period films...swoon. 

Great Contrasts

 What first hits you about Beijing is all the amazing contrasts co-existing right next to or even right on top of each other.  Walking down the street, you might see the newest model BMW speed around 3 girls piled on what looks like a wobbly, home welded bike. Coming up from a subway tunnel you may pop up to see old traditional style buildings slowly and steadily falling apart.  Across from which are huge ultra luxury malls housing only the finest stores from around the world. Despite extensive parks and bike lanes which I would estimate around 20% of the population uses, there is still a major air pollution problem. For visitors, at certain times of the year, the pollution can prove extremely uncomfortable if not unbearable. You may be saying to yourself we have a lot of these types of contrasts in our country too…  Yes it’s true but in the States we are somehow more segregated. Driving from city to town you feel the move from sophistication and education to perhaps something less refined. Suburbs may round to slums but a very rich person doesn’t usually build next door to people living in a shack. In Beijing people of very obviously, physically different, socioeconomic status are all visible at the same glance. It’s kind of a trip to see, because you DO notice it right away.  I think what it is, is that you can clearly and easily see an individual’s class. There is no middle class to help blur the lines, it’s all mixed together in the same city. I enjoyed the juxtaposition because your brain wants to label for itself what type of environment you are in. Am I in a first world or third world city? Ultimately you are simultaneously in both.

Only the best

Time to spend some cash!

Modern bus along side bike trailer

Nearby slum

Infamous alley

Wangfujing is one of luxury districts in the city, recognized by not one but four or five top of the line shopping malls and innumerable fancy hotels. Following an alley between two malls Jon and I found a ton of great stands selling locally made crafts, which of course I found more intriguing than any type of mall. Continuing down the rows, we stumbled upon people digging through the trash for food, whom by the way, were not homeless (there aren’t really any there), and trash being dumped out right next to where food was being served. My macho ABC boyfriend is the number one boaster of his Chinese heritage, and never misses a chance to tell me how great things are in China compared to the US (ahem, the last time he was in China he was 13). The poor poor darling found himself wincing in disgust and uttering under his breath ‘how can people live like this!’  Of course, I found it to be off putting as well but didn’t dare say that. Instead I chuckled silently, smiled widely and said ‘What? You can’t hack it true Chinese style?’ Don’t worry, he survived and in less than five minutes we were sitting in a mall food court sipping lattés.