But what is China?

Photo: Time for tea in laid-back Chengdu, China - 06/11/10

Perhaps there is no answer to the question what China actually is. Or maybe there are a million different answers and opinions. And just as you think you understand it, you find out that the opposite is true. Perhaps it is impossible to understand into detail, this very interesting country.

There is a lot of contradiction for example in the habits. In one way the people are very polite, but at the same time the most elegant people dressed up clear their throat at least two times with a sound that can be heard at the end of the road. And always after wards comes the spitting. Whether you are on the streets, in the bus, on the train, in a shop etc, they will spit. Even on the carpet! Though to be polite, with the toe of the shoe they rub the spit into the carpet so it won't disturb you. Even shopkeepers while customers are in the shop. It seems nothing stops them from spitting. Apart from a few 'no spitting' signs you can find in some places.

Their are many efficient inventions. Such as the trousers of little children. These trousers don't have an 'ass' so there is a big cut in the back of the trousers and when they need to go to the toilet, they only have to sit down :)
It made me laugh many times seeing these kids running around on the streets with naked butts! Even at a temperature of 5 degrees.
My second day in China, while walking through the modern and well paved shopping street, a little boy, who apparently did not have on of these trousers, stood in the middle of the street with house trousers at 'socks-level' and with his jacket and shirts pulled up completely he stood their smiling and naked doing his pee, wild turning from left to right to make sure the streets got watered everywhere :)

Exploring Nanjing in 1 day

Photo: Business and skyscrapers - Nanjing, China - 18/11/10

One day of wandering around is what I allowed myself in Nanjing where my night train brought me early early in the morning. It was still dark outside when I looked through the windows of the train onto the modern platform. Most of the Chinese clocks were about to announce 6.00am.
First trying to find the left luggage windows to leave my back, because in the afternoon the same day, a different train would be waiting for me to bring me even further north.
I got a little lost on the 3 floors counting train station as signs were not located very convenient but I managed to get my back taken care of so I was ready to take a few escalators into the ground and take the metro. From the north of the city I decided to take the metro to the south part and walk my way back up. I walked first aimlessly a little around and tried to find a good place to get a local breakfast. I found the perfect place in a side street where many local eateries where, with only locals. Many steaming pans on big fires located outside or in the entrance. My most favorite places are where their kitchen basically is located in the entrance or even outside.
I managed to order something by pointing at some noodle-slurping locals, and sat down next to them at a small wooden table outside along the street occupied with many cyclists and cycling market people or other sellers and buyers.

A pleasant walk along the lake; Hangzhou

Photo: West lake at Hangzhou, China - 11/11/10

In China it is very easy to rent bicycles, and this way of transport is promoted quite a lot to the tourists. After a good night of sleep in the hostel next to the west lake, I decided to go and rent a bike and cycle around town. It's quite a place, and most of the points of interests are spread around the city and the lake. Also I was told by some tourists that it's impossible to go around the lake in 1 day and especially by foot, since it is more than a 10k to get around.

Photo: Beautiful autumn trees - Hangzhou, China - 11/11/10

The day before while walking to the hostel on please autumn tree-lined road, I saw a few bike rental places along the streets; those places also being used by locals who own a chip card, press it against a chip card reader and one of the bicycles is being unlocked. I noticed as well that each rental place had a little information point and with a bit of luck they rent out bikes to tourists....

Mt. Huangshan in Cotton Paradise

Photo: Mountain Huangshan, China - 17/11/10

In the hostel in Shanghai I met Julien from Belgium. We got along pretty well and we both planned to climb Mountain Huangshan, a few hundred kilometers west of Shanghai. We planned to go on the Monday or Tuesday and checked for the weather forecast which gave us some disappointing information....clouds and light snow!!! Not exactly what you hope for to enjoy the wide views when climbing a mountain. Luckily on Wednesday the weather was predicted to be clear and sunny.
Since there are quite a few peaks on the top, and a long route was sat out, we planned to go in two days.
On Monday evening we took the night train K8418 leaving at 17.45 from Shanghai for which we had reserved bed in the hard-sleeper, carriage 8, bed row 9, with for me an comfortable upper-berth. There are actually price differences between the lower-, middle- and upper-berth, lower being most expensive, upper cheapest. Our expected arrival in Huangshan Shi, also know as Tunxi was early in the morning.

Indecisive Chinese train journeys

Photo: Train station of Shanghai, China - 15/11/10

A matter of being flexible in China too. While in a touristic town full with canals and many interesting views, I met an English chap, Ed, who at his turn met two Chinese tourists. The four of us spent the day walking around in the city, and the next day Ed and I where leaving for the train station. Ed taking his train back home to a town outside Shanghai, ready to go back to work teaching English, me catching another train to my next destination.
Ed, being able to speak quite some Chinese, helped me getting the train ticket, and after lunch he left to catch his train.
While I was waiting for my train, I was browsing through the lonely planet and re-reading where I was going, what I planned before. Suddenly I realized that I might not want to go to the little villages I planned to go. I didn't feel in the mood to go to these little villages, which probably are beautiful in the summer as per the lonely planet, but in the winter, well suddenly I had a very depressing image in my head with poor looking people doing hard work carrying heavy stuff etc.

Feeling numb in Chengdu

Photo: Chengdu, China - 06/11/10

Six months after my departure, I found myself on a big airbus a319 heading for the airport of Chengdu, located more or less in the middle of China. This country was among my list of countries to which I have been curious when I was a child.
China, is a whole new experience for me and it is so different than the countries where I have spent my last 6 months! To be starting with the temperature, I was nervous to not have enough clothes to protect me against the winter cold. From the moment I left home, I spent walking in 30 up to 42 degrees celcius. And now suddenly I would step into 15 degrees. Brrrrr, as at night and in the morning it will be around 4 only.
During the flight I was reading one of Paul Theroux's travel books, which I bought the day before. Coincidentally in his book he was traveling to China in 1986 ;) I thought that would be reading in style. I was reading a chapter in which he, together with a group travelers, he crossed the border by train from Mongolia into China. One of the guys from the group was screaming through the train that the border police had taken two guys for questioning as they were carrying an edition of 'the economist'.