Adventures in Guangzhou!

I was never much of a tea drinker before moving to China but I must say it continues to grow on me. I suppose it's like one of those when-in-Rome sort of things. When I was studying in Scotland I acquired a taste for single malt whiskys. When I was traveling around Israel I grew an affinity for schwarma and falafel. All I can say is, it's a good thing China's off that whole opium kick or I might be in trouble...

Breakfast was rather non-descript, though I was entertained by the fact that I ordered the chicken vegetable rice soup and it arrived sans any trace of chicken but with a hefty amount of ham. I wish I could say that they just screwed up the translation but apparently even the Chinese said chicken. Whatever, it was still good. We went back to the hostel, packed up our things, packed a day bag for the hike, checked out and wandered off in search of a trail up the mountain.

There is a rather long mountain range on the western side of the city but we went in search of the section called "Zhonghe Shan" [Zhonghe Mountain] named for Zhonghe temple towards the top. My guidebook said to go to the base of the chairlift (for all those who want to "cheat"), continue on about 200m and pick any one of the random trails in the area. We started off in that direction and were harassed by a whole bunch of people wanting us to pay them to drive us out. Being the hard-core adventurers we were, we turned them down and walked straight ahead in the direction of the base.

Coming across a couple of local farmers on their way to work the field, Lexi asked for directions to the trail. They responded that we should just follow them so we did. If they were surprised that a white girl could speak in such good mandarin, they definitely hid it. I thought it was really interesting that both of the guys were heading off to the fields wearing old dirty blazers and dress shoes. Apparently that is just standard attire for the lower class--you buy one pair of clothes at some point and then you wear them everyday. Lexi made pleasant conversation with them and I just took in the sights around me.

Eventually they got to their patch of land and pointed us up in the direction of what you might consider a path. It wasn't really marked, per se, nor was it really cleared, but it was good enough. Before I knew it, I was taking enormous steps up the mountain and trying to catch my breath to keep up with Lexi. Every 15 feet or so the path seemed to fork so we were constantly forced to choose one direction. I wasn't too worried though since my guidebook said that all roads pretty much led to Rome here and that you couldn't really go wrong.

Somewhere along the way we passed through a local graveyard which was really interesting. Despite the poverty, the graves seemed to be decorated rather elaborately and kept in very good condition. Right around this area we met up with a group of Chinese tourists also hiking up to the temple. They too were hardly dressed in what I would consider hiking gear, as everyone seemed to be in button-down shirts and nice shoes. Lexi and I must have seemed very out of place to them not only because we were white but because we were in dri-fit shirts toting nalgene bottles and sunglasses. Lexi chatted with them a bit and they even gave us some tangerines to snack on.

Lexi and I are not married, though everyone in Yunnan Province seemed to think we were. This particular group was funny about it for a couple reasons. First, they assumed we were Eastern European because Lexi spoke Mandarin so well. Translation--Americans are far too stupid to learn a difficult language like Chinese. Second, they made a comment saying something like they were surpised to see two very beautiful people together, that they thought it only happend in the movies. Ha! Just goes to show how much of a novelty westerners can be in China.

Just when I was really starting to get winded we reached the gate to the temple. It was the first time I looked back down at Dali and the view was stunning. We only hiked for about an hour and half but we covered some serious ground, given how steep it was. There was hardly anyone up at the temple so it was nice to enjoy the view with some peace and quiet. After relaxing for a bit outside the temple we decided to go inside and explore.

The ridiculous-looking buddha by the inner gate welcomed us and we walked through to see the prayer hall. It was really nice but again I think I am forever spoiled by the grandeur of the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. Nothing can really compare to that, but this temple was extremely satisfying to walk around given what we went through to get there. I walked into their small store and was intrigued by the various carvings they had of some sort of blackwood. Lexi inquired for me and I found out that the wood is supposed to contain some sort of mystical property to ward off evil ghosts and spirits. Again, can't hurt right? I bargained with them a bit and then settled on one of the smaller amulets. I even took it up to one of the monks to have it blessed. He had me kneel down on the ground as he mumbled something for about a minute, then gave it back with a look that seemed to suggest it was now good to go. Sure, why not?

Outside of the temple we picked up a path that snaked around the side of the mountain. This was easily one of the highlights of my China experience thus far. The scenery and views were absolutely breathtaking and the climate was perfect. The cool mountain breezes came and went but the sun kept us warm as we walked past beautiful flowers, small waterfalls down the rock faces, and even some fall foliage. I thought I was going to miss it entirely this year but I got my fair share on this hike. The colors were great and I just soaked it all in. We stopped a couple of times to take some pictures but I knew that none of the shots could really encapsulate how beautiful it was. Yunnan literally means "southern clouds," or "south of the clouds" and I could really see why as I walked around Zhonghe Shan.

In the words of Robert Frost though, "Nothing gold can stay" and Lexi and I had to get moving in order to eat something and catch the bus back to Kunming. We opted to take the chairlift down and I was pleased. It reminded me of family vacations back when the Wolfe clan used to go up to Stratton Mountain in VT during the summer and ride the alpine slides. We even got people on the ground waving to us, taking our picture, and shouting out "hello!" which was both bizarre and comforting at the same time. At the bottom we decided to spring for the 3 kuai and pay one of the locals to drive us back to town.

In search of some snacks to keep us going during the long bus ride, we walked into one of the many Muslim bakeries. Lexi asked about a number of different items and we bought a handful of different pastries and breads to munch on, all of which turned out to be amazing. I knew I needed a full meal though so we went to one last cafe before catching the bus. I can't remember the name of the place, but we were the only ones there and they served us water with lemon which was unique in my China experience. After we inhaled the two dishes (which were quite tasty), we grabbed our packs from the guest house and were off.

Having purchased bus tickets the night before from a local travel agent, we only had to worry about finding the actual bus. Luckily though, the salesman had his assistant accompany us all the way to the long-distance bus so we were fine. As we got to the bus station and loaded up our stuff, it became clear pretty quickly that we had gotten ripped off. We paid a price that should have been for one of the bigger coach buses but we were actually on a small minibus instead, complete with a bunch of locals smoking away like chimneys. We were both far too happy from such an incredible day to let it bother us, but looking back it was kind of annoying.

The bus was supposed to leave around 5pm and arrive in Kunming around 10:30pm or so but lo and behold we didn't even take off until about 6:15pm or so. I will say this for the bus driver--he did not waste a single second once on the road. The guy was flooring it the whole way, blaring the horn at everyone to let them know he was coming through, and tailgating when anybody wouldn't move over. Including a pointless half hour stop for "dinner" at a rest stop, we still made the five and half hour trip in a little under four hours. Wow.

Back at the apartment, I finally got to meet Even and Yam Ki, the other PiA-er and her boyfriend. They were both super friendly and I'm disappointed I didn't get to spend more time with them during the week. They are threatening to crash in Guangzhou for a night before they head out though (visa issues) so hopefully we will meet again. We sat around talking as usual and before I knew it it was 2am and I had to get some sleep before getting up to catch my train home.