Ann's Travels

Staying at the Yangshou Village Inn was a trip back in time. We stayed in one of the rooms in a restored farmhouse, had breakfast and post hiking beers in the shady Pomelo grove. Dinners were on the roof top (4th floor) terrace overlooking the village and looking up at the famed Moon Hill. The entire area is covered with Karst mountains and small villages. Yangshou city, about 5 km away, is a bit of a crazy tourist place. Hundreds of buses of Chinese tourists visit the area on any given day. We briefly braved the crowds, hopping the 3 yuan mini bus on the highway into the city one evening....hopped a quick taxi back to the village after about an hour, opted for a delicious meal on the terrace. We hiked up Moon Hill the next morning---800+ steps carved into the trail.... a relatively brutal climb...a beautiful view back towards our village once we got to the top. A motorized bamboo raft up and down the Li river made for a more leisurely afternoon. The following day we hiked along the river for several kilometers taking in the scenery, including many a water buffalo. After walking a couple of hours we hopped a little 3 wheeled cart (moments before heat stroke set in) for the rest of the way to Dragon's bridge. Apparently the map we had consulted was not drawn to scale. The Karst mountains keep enticing one on with the thought that just around the next one....we'll be there. And Anna is legendary for her "Oh, its not so far......" Once we got to the bridge we contracted a raft, a rather strange non-process, a bit of a mystery to unravel. The bamboo rafts on the Yu river drift with the current and one goes over a series of weirs, some a few feet of a drop--pretty hilarious. The front of the raft submerges and your feet and sometimes your seat get wet.The rafts take two persons in a sort of recliner bamboo chair secured to the raft. The 'driver' stands behind and poles the raft along. One sits under a standard multicolored "beach umbrella". We drifted along and spent about two hours getting back to where we had started our hike. There all the rafts are pulled out of the water, stacked on little diesel dump trucks and hauled back up to the starting point. It is an amazing continuous process. At the starting point they are dumped back in the water.
The following day we lazed around, lingered to read in the Pomelo grove after breakfast. I spent awhile wandering the village itself. In the afternoon we headed to the 1400 year old Banyan tree park about 1-2 km down the main road. Inadvertently, after seeing the actual tree, we ended up on the backside of the park and began walking along a village path. In our minds the path would ultimately bring us back to the main road...wrong again. We ended up behind more Karst hills. It was interesting seeing how people live and farm in these small places. We were a bit shaken when two massive water buffaloes charged out of the pond they were lazing in---we must have startled them--they certainly startled us. After about 90 minutes we did mangage to wend our way back to civilization. We reconnected with the main road not far from our village. Made it home just as the rains started. We enjoyed a cool Tsingtao under the umbrellas in the grove.
Staying in a small, out of the way, place had some terrific advantages. The Inn had excellent food, both Chinese and Italian, with an excellent wine list. When staying in a big city, figuring out where and what to eat is one of the often not so fun parts of the day. Having a wonderful breakfast and a great meal on the terrace in the evening made our stay most relaxing and enjoyable. No tv was a plus and wifi was terrific. We slept with the windows wide open a couple of nights.

A few days in Guangzhou give a hint at what modern China is and will become. Formerly Canton, an historically important city, it is a growing thriving metropolis. We had the serendipitous good fortune to choose a hotel directly adjacent to the EastGuangzhou Station. this gave us easy access to the metro and any place we wanted to visit. Being ill prepared and not having the city on our radar initially, we did manage to see the most important historical sights and enjoy some of the older areas. Shamian was fascinating and a lovely area to walk around, we found a cool spot for a drink and a terrific Thai restaurant. There is an excellent Museum built around a tomb of a Nanyue emperor that was excavated in the 1990's. Sun Yat Sen's Mansion was also remarkable and a terrific look at a significant part of China's history. We found a marvelous Uigher restaurant one evening and made a brave foray into the "fabric mart". Virtually everything clothing wise produced for sale in the U.S. starts in China----we stumbled upon acres of stalls of every possible embellishment ((think anything you've seen at JCresw BananaRepublic, Gap,) buildings of stalls with every fabric choice imaginable---fancy, cheap, mens, womens, all of this takes place in a heightened chaotic atmosphere, carts, motor bikes, zipping in and out loaded with whatever----most stalls are wholesalers--some actually will sell you fabric---sensory overload for sure---hundreds of stalls selling buttons, or fur trim or rhinestones---not to mention patches...
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Hong Kong, how to describe it? At once stunning views from every direction, a 21st century metropolis slick and modern chock full of amenities, with a public transportation system to die for. Perhaps the Octopus card sums it up. One puchases this card in any amount of HK$ which can be used on buses, the subway, ferries, trams, in 7 Elevens, and for vending machines and in many stores. You put a deposit on it so if you go over you won't hold up the line. The deposit is returned when you turn in the card. Hopping on and off any form of transport is quick and easy. With 7 million people in Hong Kong, efficiency is important. The buses are all giant double decker affairs with great seating. They are an easy way to do some informal sight seeing. We took a bus out to Stanley one day and up to The Peak another. Both trips were breathtaking literally. The climbs up incredible curving steep inclines afforded spectacular views of the bays, coasts and islands.
Hong Kong from its earliest days was a commercial hub and today it is pretty over the top. People queue behind velvet ropes to get into Louis Vuitton and Gucci in the evening. Can't imagine what it is like during the day. American and European brands are everywhere. We scored some goat cheese and wine at Marks & Spencer and were thrilled to have it. Shopping mall/centers are everywhere often tucked behind facades of older buildings. I may have nightmares of being lost in a sea of gleaming white porcelain tile floors with escalators going in all directions.

We have been blessed with three marvelous drivers during our two weeks in Peixian, and it is a good thing. Mr. Zhu picked us up in Nanjing and got us here safely. He didn't panic when the right rear tire blew out and we barely swerved. He change the tire in a flash---a bit of a challenge with 6 teachers' luggage in the van. He never seemed irritated or upset. He just said" he ha he " over and over as he motioned us on and off the van. We learned he had been a driver for 30 years....private ownership of vehicles is relatively recent and only common in the last few years. On subsequent trips with him we began calling him the RENAISSANCE MAN--he loves history, was a better guide than those who spoke English and shared his enthusiasm about the places with us, surmounting language barriers left and right.
Mr. Meng is a young very fit fellow, always dresses in black and white mostly Adidas long shorts and tops. He drives a shiny black 4 door Chevy. Mr. Li is our other everyday driver, a bit older, sometimes in shorts, mostly in dark slacks and collared shirts. They come each morning and eat breakfast at the hotel and ferry us to school. They bring us back to the hotel at 11:30 and back to school by 1:00. At the end of class around 3:00 they bring us back. ( sometimes after class they ferry us elsewhere to sights etc.)
Driving in China is not a pretty picture---sitting in the front seat is terrifying. The only people who need a driving license are car and truck drivers. They comprise about 20 per cent of the vehicles on the road. On a normal route to or from school the road has 2 lanes going each way. It is not unusual to see a vehicle wanting to pass to cross over all 4 lanes going tha absolute wrong direction. Diagonal driving is pretty normal. People turn left or right from any lane crossing oncoming and ongoing traffic. Motor scooters, electric bikes, various carts and contraptions seem to have no rules. Pedestrians do not have the right of way. The noise is amazing. people honk, toot, ding, or lay on the horn if they want to warn you, if they want to avoid hitting you, if they want to pass or say hello, if they want to turn in front of you or behind you,if they are approaching an intersection, if they are in an intersection, if they want the light to turn green. Some vehicles are not able to go as fast as a car. They do not ever stay on the right hand side of the road. Sometimes they are in the middle or the left side. sometimes they straddle a few lanes..which sends cars and taxis across oncoming traffic and back again. All three of our drivers exhibit classic "Grace under Pressure". They must have ice water in teir veins. They have enriched our stay here in Peixian in ways they could not ever fathom. It has been so wonderful to be greeted by smiling faces, genuine hospitality, and super remarkable driving skills each and everyday.
I've uploaded a number of pictures of unique conveyances in Peixian.
Posted by annhcrowley 08:59 Comments (0)