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I was hesitant about visiting China. I was concerned that my movements would be subject to scrutiny and my freedoms curtailed - that I would be unable to explore independantly. In fact, in each of the cities I visited, I was able to move around freely. Almost every day I would leave the hotel and walk - sometimes many miles - without ever being challenged or feeling that anyone was concerned about me being there.
The first destination was Beijing. Our hotel was modern and comfortable. There seemed to be a lot of Russian visitors at the hotel. We were tired, disoriented, and somewhat timid in our new surroundings so our personal explorations were tentative. With our group we were driven off to numerous historic sites - the Summer Palace, Tiennenman Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Ming Tombs, etc.. Our Chinese guides were all very helpful and informative. They enjoyed chatting and practicing their English. They were anxious that we should correct them if they said things that were not quite right.
It was late January and snow lay on the ground. The weather was very cold and I was grateful for my arctic parka. As our bus took us through the city we watched workers sweeping the snow with big clumsy brooms made from tree branches and twigs. We saw old men pedalling along on tricycles carrying huge loads. We saw massive new construction projects springing up everywhere and scattered amongst them the small enclosed villages of old houses with sagging roofs clustered around narrow alleyways.
Our short time in Beijing was filled with visits to amazing historic sites that showcased the rich history of the city and the nation. The Summer Palace was an amazing sight – encased in snow and ice. The Great Wall was magnificent – snaking away into the distance across the mountains – but the winter wind was bitter and felt as though it had not paused for a rest since it swept across Siberia. Tiennenman Square was huge and draughty with Chinese families posing in front of the large portrait of Chairman Mao to have their photographs taken. The Forbidden City was encased in layer after layer of buildings and courtyards carefully designed to isolate it from the outside world. The Ming Tombs were worthy reminders to the descendants of the dead and departed of their ongoing obligation to care for those who have already passed on to the afterlife.
But what left the greatest impression on me was the vision of the future that I found myself observing as we travelled around the city. A world with too many people all cramped together, short of energy and timber, motor vehicles for only the most wealthy, and initiative cleansed from society. When there are too many people initiative becomes an inconvenience. An overcrowded society runs best with people who quietly obey the rules.
That was the vision which passed before my eyes. But that vision does not reflect the whole reality of Beijing. Even though the communist government spent decades cleansing initiative from society they were unsuccessful in eliminating the restlessness and innovative energy from the hearts of its people. With Hong Kong as its model the government has slowly relaxed its hold and has allowed businesses to grow more freely.The city itself has become very forward looking. There is a considerable dynamism and the people are extremely industrious. The entrepreneurial spirit is being unleashed. It will be interesting to see how the city will look in ten or twenty years.
We were in Beijing for 3 days and by the time we left we had recovered from our jetlag and had begun to adapt to our new surroundings. At the airport our flight to Nanjing was delayed by several hours - enlivened by strange and challenging food handed out by the airline as we waited.
The airport in Nanjing is a modern concrete complex out in the country. On our drive into town we saw a great difference in the countryside, the farming, the houses – compared with what we had seen around Beijing. The rural houses here were newer and more impressive. As we approached the city we passed large industrial estates with modern factories.
Our hotel was on the edge of a large street market extending for several city blocks in each direction. At 9:30 pm the market was still a hive of activity with all kinds of products and produce available. American, European, and traditional Chinese influences were highly visible. There were numerous restaurants but my attention was drawn to the vendors with small charcoal grills or gas hotplates on the sidewalk. My nose was almost assaulted by the various food smells which ranged from pungent through savory to sweet and delicate. Down by the Qinhuai river lights flashed and dazzled in preparation for the Chinese new year which was less than two weeks away. Immediately, my curiosity was aroused. This was an area that I wanted to explore.
Behind the hotel I discovered a Confucian Temple which, for many centuries, had supported a very important teaching center. Each year thousands of hopeful students had arrived in town to take exams to qualify for government jobs. With the advent of communism the influence of this teaching center was swept aside and most of the buildings associated with the teaching center were cleared out by the people’s government. The Confucian Temple, itself, along with quite a few of the temple buildings somehow survived. The inner complex of the temple is open to the public and has some very interesting artifacts which date back over 1,500 years. Many of the buildings are very old but it is difficult to be sure which are the oldest and just how old they are.
In the alleys adjoining the temple are stalls selling traditional craft items including paintings, calligraphy, carved wood and stone as well as some interesting antique objects. Hanging from a lamp outside one of the stalls was a large fish, gutted and sliced open, sprinkled with herbs and spices. It hung there for several days in a row to cure and to dry slowly in the cool winter air.
The large street market nearby catered for more general tastes and offered a very wide range of items at very low prices. Of course, the vendors liked to haggle over the price and were usually very good natured about it. Language is never an impediment to commerce and we accomplished some very elaborate negotiations using mime and a pocket calculator. The markets were open late into the night and offered an interesting way to pass the evening.
Some parts of the market were aimed very specifically at tourists. Not only tourists from abroad but also – perhaps primarily – tourists from other areas of China. These parts of the market were brightly lit and had modern goods for sale. One area specialized in clothing. There were many stalls scattered around which sold watches. Also popular at that time were decorations for celebrating Chinese New Year. Prices were very competitive but quality was often mediocre. I wondered if the goods being offered here at such low prices were ones that failed to meet standards for export. Other areas seemed to offer better quality goods made by local craft workers and artisans along with older looking objects. My knowledge was insufficient to determine whether these objects were genuine antiques or skillfully crafted impersonations.
Further afield I had the opportunity to observe some of the poorer neighborhoods. These streets were very narrow and, usually, lined with small business stalls. The houses were behind the businesses, centuries worth of buildings crammed amongst buildings with additions to the crammed buildings, extended roof lines, sagging walls, tiny balconies with laundry or dead animals hanging to dry or cure. Access to the individual houses was by tiny alleyways which offered tantalizing glimpses of open doorways.
People had long poles that they used to hang drying laundry or animals up from the power lines. It seemed strange to walk down the street and see coats, pants, underwear, and deboned ducks or sausages hanging side by side from the power lines. As we walked down the street an elderly man came out with his long pole and hooked his pants down from high above the street.
Many of the business stalls lining the streets were related to provision of food with vendors sitting on the sidewalk or even in the road preparing their wares on the ground (sometimes in plastic bowls but not always). Cooking was often by way of small circular stoves lined with fireclay which burn cylindrical briquettes made from coal dust. My response to the cooking smells varied. Mostly they are appetizing but some stretched my sense of gastronomic adventure beyond its breaking point! In the very poor neighborhoods clientel squatted around on the sidwalk whilst they ate. In moderately poor neighborhoods they sat around on flimsy chairs eating off grimy tables. In the wealthier neighborhoods there were some excellent restaurants with extremely reasonable prices.
Going into a restaurant can be just as much of an adventure as you wish to make it. Many restaurants have English translations on their menu and / or staff who understand at least some English. Some do not and then it becomes a real adventure getting food. The food was extremely good with enormous variety and lots of interesting surprises.
Most days we took advantage of the breakfast buffet offered by the hotel. The cost of the buffet was included in the room price and it offered an interesting selection of Chinese foods with a few western dishes - all very nicely prepared. For lunch and dinner it was good to get out on the streets to try something new. Often it was impossible to identify or name the foods but amongst those that I could were snails, mud eels, various forms of seeweed, a delightful apricot custard and all kinds of unidentifiable fungus. Fungus seemed to be a very important part of the Chinese diet and in the food market large stalls would offer an almost unbelievable array of fungus in all shapes, sizes and colors.
The old city of Nanjing was surrounded by enormous fortifications, much of which still stands. Within walking distance stood what is reputed to be the largest fortified gatehouse in the world. It was very interesting to see all the various mechanisms that had been used to make invasion more difficult with heavy doors, portcullises, hidden passages for hundreds of soldiers to spring out of. The ancient road into the city via the gatehouse passed through a series of closed courtyards. Each courtyard was overlooked by battlements from which soldiers could rain objects down upon invaders. The fortifications date back about 600 years but proved ineffective against the more modern weapons of the Japanese whose tanks and military vehicles drove over piles of bodies several feet deep in this very doorway.
The streets in Nanjing were busy and crowded with wide bicycle lanes filled with cyclists. Near the hotel was a street lined with shops that sold building and engineering supplies, tools and equipment. It was interesting to browse through these shops and enjoy the similarities and the differences between their offerings and what is available in Home Depot or Lowes. Further afield a large department store was filled with consumer goods and brightly decorated for the new year.
Getting about on foot was easy. Where the distances were greater one could make use of a cab or the ubiquitous tuc-tuc. We carried with us a card showing – in Chinese and English – the name and address of the hotel. To get to our destination we would locate it on the map or in a guidebook and show this to the taxi driver. Fares were calculated on a taxi-meter and were very reasonable. At no time did we notice any attempt to overcharge or take advantage of us as foreigners.
Along the edge of the city flows the Yangtse River - huge, grey and foreboding in the overcast winter afternoon. Looking down from the towers of the enormous rail and road bridge we could clearly see along the margins of the river how every available scrap of land was under cultivation. A patchwork of pocket handkerchiefs in various shades of green and brown.
We found our way to one of the city parks marked on our map. To our surprise there was an entry fee. Wandering around the paths through the trees and amongst the lakes we encountered many people out in the fresh air practicing their Tai Chi. In preparation for Chinese New Year parts of the park were being decorated. In one corner was a huge Chinese dragon intricately built entirely out of thousands of cups, plates and dishes. In a small pavillion looking over the lake three men practiced traditional Chinese opera – two of them taking turns singing whilst the third accompanied them on the erhu. The weather was cold and all were warmly muffled up.
Much of the entertainment and social interaction seems to take place outdoors – presumably because there is little space in the home. On the way back to the hotel we passed a small public square where a warmly clad group of people were practicing western ballroom dancing to the strains of music from a boombox.
Because of the importance of the bicycle as a means of transport in China it is common to see hundreds of them packed together outside apartment or office buildings. Typically someone charges a small fee to keep a watchful eye on them and has a chest of primitive tools and parts at hand to carry out repairs.
It is difficult to imagine how these bicycles might be replaced by automobiles – however wealthy the Chinese people become. Chinese cities are very densely packed and the streets are already very crowded. Moving out to the ‘suburbs’ is not a realistic option as land for farming is scarce and the population of the cities so great. Instead, the Chinese people will be forced to find different avenues for expressing their increased wealth and a solution radically different to the motor car will likely be devised to facilitate personal mobility.
Guangzhou was our next city. Our hotel was a large, modern, extravagent place on Shamien Island. Originally a sandbank in the Pearl River the island was created in the mid 1800’s as a separate territory within China administered by the French and English. European laws were enforced here and Chinese people could not live on the island - each day workers crossed the bridges from the mainland. The island still contains many of its original, colonial houses built in the mid-late 1800's. The island has a genuine colonial charm but there is little of the bustle that generally characterizes Chinese cities.
We arrived at our hotel late at night after the other guests were settled. In the morning we suffered a minor degree of culture shock when we came down to the dining room for breakfast and saw how Americanized it was. In our hotel in Nanjing we had become accustomed to being surrounded by local people and, mainly, eating the food that they ate. Suddenly, it all seemed so, so, American...
Fortunately, the real China was only a short distance away – just across the narrow strip of water that separates Shamien Island from mainland Guangzhou. Here, the streets were very crowded and lined with vendors selling all kinds of neat stuff. We worked our way through some quiet little alleys and got some fascinating glimpses of the way that people live here. The buildings we passed by were all very old and in poor repair and had been built on and built on until, often, the original structure was barely recognizable. In one back yard (about 10 ft sq) a lady was washing a big bowl of chestnuts with the help of her kids. A little further on an open door behind the security bars allowed us a glimpse of a tidy and formally arranged front room. We passed through a covered food market which included a huge assortment of vegetables, herbs, fish, meat and fowl. Various parts of a pig were set out for sale (snout, ears, feet, etc) and most of the fowl (hens, ducks, quail) were in cages awaiting their fate. Whenever we stopped to look or purchase the people were polite and friendly.
In one tiny alley where we stopped to photograph a frail looking old man carried his bicycle down a narrow flight of steps out of the dark interior of the building into the alley. We bowed politely at each other and I pointed at the camera before moving my hand around to indicate a vista of the alley. In broken English he asked if we needed any help but I told him no-thank-you and we bowed to each other again before he took off on his bike.
Shamian Island was an important focus for international trade in the 1800’s because of easy access for shipping up the Pearl River. The island, itself, was pretty much off limits to local people so Chinese traders and merchants concentrated themselves just across the narrow strip of water that divides the island from the mainland. My impression is that many of the buildings just across on the mainland date back to that period or maybe earlier with architecture that suggests a moderate amount of wealth. Originally, the buildings were sturdily built – mainly of brick – with interesting balconies and courtyards. Over the intervening years many of the balconies have been enclosed to make space for the additional populace and extra floors or just odd little rooms have been added in an upward direction. The enclosed balconies can still be identifed by their bricked in bullistrades.
Behind the shops and stores that lined the main throroughfares are a network of alleyways with original granite slabs laid down for the roadway. Often there are heavier slabs laid along the lines that cart wheels might have taken. Along the alleys we found simple but well built homes – many with interestingly designed wooden security bars over the doorways that slide back into the wall to open. These original simple but well built homes have also been built onto and onto to make room for extra people. My impression is that for many years these neighborhoods were home to peoples who did not have the income that their forebears had enjoyed so that building have steadily become more delapidated and built on additions have become less and less sturdy.
Now that a market based economy is being allowed to grow in China the wealth is creeping back into the alleys. Motor scooters and motor bikes wend their way down to homes tucked in dark corners and brightly dressed young people with piercings and make up were encountered here and there.
Although the communist regime tried hard to discourage religion it persisted against all odds. One afternoon we decided to walk to the Six Banyan Budhist Temple marked on the map. We knew it would be a long walk but looked forward to exploring. Our expedition was complicated by the fact that, on our map, some streets had names spelled in English, some in Chinese, some in both. The streets, themselves had a similar mixture but rarely did the names seem to correspond with those on the map. Once or twice it was necessary for us to stop and ask a local to show us on the map exactly where we were. Usually it took the local some time to figure it out. Fortunately, we were usually pretty close to where we hoped to be.
The pagoda and temple buildings were superb. It was possible to climb to the top of the pagoda for a wonderful view over the city rooftops. In the temple buildings were huge golden Budhas. There were many people actively worshipping there with incense sticks and offerings of food. Unwilling to face the long walk back we caught a cab. It was certainly nice to rest our weary legs.
The flight back to the USA seemed interminable. We spent about 8 hours in Shanghai awaiting our ‘lost’ plane and arrived in San Francisco too late to make our connection to Houston. We had a comfortable night in a hotel but would all have preferred to be home. Due to crossing the international date line Friday lasted about 40 hours for us though it felt much longer. One small consolation was the New Year’s Eve fireworks that we were able to view from the departure lounge at Shanghai airport. China got into my bones much more than I expected it to. One day I will return.
Background tiles for this page are derived from a photograph by Lauren Singer. Unless otherwise marked the images shown are from videos shot by Steve Roberts. All rights reserved 2003, 2007