Adventures in Guangzhou!

The one thing that differed was that people were staring at me left and right. While I suppose this does still occur in Guangzhou, I think it's becoming rare. That, or I'm just so accustomed to it at home that I don't notice it. Either way, people were rubbernecking all over the place to get a glance of the foreigner in their haunt and I felt a bit odd. Trying my best to be unphased, I wolfed down the bowl of noodles and we hopped on a local bus to catch our long-distance bus to Jishou, an eight hour ride from the provincial capital.

The bus station was absolute chaos. This was one situation where I was ecstatic to be with a native speaker because I can only imagine how difficult it would have been for me to figure out just where to go and how hard to shove back. Upon entering the main waiting room of the station everyone had to put their bags through a safety check x-ray machine. It was a bit ridiculous though because the conveyor belt was going at about 95 miles per hour so I can't imagine they were actually looking at the contents of the bags. Sure enough, once I pushed and elbowed my way through to the other side, I saw that the monitor wasn't even on. Regardless, they still stopped David and made him unpack all his stuff. I don't for this to seem narcissistic but I think it was because they saw us together and wanted me to hang around the office longer to examine me.

Once we figured out what to doorway to crowd around, we waited for the announcement and then fought our way out with a bunch of other people. Once again, the actual ticket reservation went out the window and we weren't on the type of bus we paid for, nor did we get to sit in the better seats that we had reserved. Whatever--as long as we get there on time, I was going to be happy. The ride itself was smooth and traffic-less which was great... minus the fact that the driver was honking at any vehicle that came within 50 meters of us. It seemed pretty excessive, but who am I to judge?

We stopped for lunch at some random spot in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I was wondering why we had gone so far off the highway to this place and David informed me that they probably had a deal with the owners. Ahhh, of course. Somehow I should have seen that one coming a kilometer away. I was a bit skeptical about the kitchen that probably hadn't been cleaned since it was built but it was the only game in town so I was a go. It turns out that the food was really really good. So cheap too! We got a beef dish, a pork, a tofu, a vegetable, and rice all for the low low price of 20 kuai--ten per person. Not too shabby at all.

We got back on the bus and went through a toll to get back on the highway where we were stopped by the police. I'm not sure why but I immediately became nervous. I think I have an irrational fear anytime I'm in a vehicle that gets stopped by the authorities. David told me that it was s.o.p. to make sure the driver had the right license and certification to carry passengers (and wasn't overloaded). I asked what would happen if he wasn't legit and David said he would probably just buy the guy off. I wonder how often that happens in the states. Somehow I can't see any staties in the U.S. accepting bribes but that's probably naive.

We were fine though and drove off back onto the highway. The road headed west into the mountains of the edge of the province and I stared out at the scenery for the next couple of hours, drifting in and out of sleep. We finally arrived in Jishou around 5pm and proceeded to track down Li Can, friend of Lisa and Megan--the two PiA-ers holding it down there at Jishou Teacher's College. Though both girls were out of town, Lisa managed to hook it up and let us stay at her place.

First impressions of Jishou: It's a small, dirty Chinese city surrounded by incredible natural beauty. The mountains bordering on Hunan and two other provinces are stunning and Jishou has a front row seat for them. The city is also majority non-Han Chinese making it majority minority (heh). The Tujia people are extremely visible with their trademark bright colored clothes and woven baskets on their backs. The Miao people are also very common making Jishou a much more diverse city than anywhere I've been so far except for maybe Kunming. The city is also on the poorer side which can you can see by the dirty streets and charcoal burning for heat. All in all, the city screams of "real" China.

Li Can, friend of the PiA-ers and student in the city, was extremely friendly and excited to show us her city. She was extremely inquisitive and bubbly which made for a very welcoming reception. We did our introductions sipping tea and warming our hands and feet by Lisa's mahjong table. As is common in the area, Lisa put a four-way heater in the center of the floor under the table and draped a long clothe over the surface of the table to keep the heat in. I didn't think it would work very well, but I warmed up right away! I marveled at the size of Lisa's apartment (am I the only PiA-er sharing an apartment?!) as we discussed dinner options. David and I both eat quite a bit so we suggested any establishment known for the size of their portions.

Li Can took us the "pointing place," a restaurant they nicknamed by the fact that you order by pointing to any number of small dishes sitting out waiting to be eaten. It's nice because since the dishes aren't very big, they are constantly making more and the food never gets cold. Plus you can get a huge variety of dishes which is just fine by me. I think we selected about a dozen of them and sat down to feast. The food was great and did not disappoint. Real Hunan food is not only NOTHING like going to a Hunan restaurant in the U.S., but it's even quite different from the Hunan restaurants I've been to in Guangzhou. It's spicy as all hell and I love it.

Walking around after dinner, Li Can pointed out a number of advertisements with a couple of foreigners modeling. Who was it? None other than Megan Cox, PiA-er extraordinaire! I was psyched to see that Megan (who I've actually never even met!) had become such a celebrity. Next stop was a wholesale liquor store that doubles as a private bar for friends. The PiA girls have made friends with a certain Mr. Tian, the owner and proprietor, who enjoys selling liquor and talking with foreigners. Apparently he is quite a V.I.P. in the city and kept feeding us free drinks (imported beer and gin and tonics--brilliant!) while talking about his business and life. It was here that I found out there are a grand total of 5 foreigners in the entire city of Jishou (pop. ~2,000,000)... and that Mr. Tian is buddies with all of them. Very cool.

He then took us to the public bar he owns and instructed the bartenders to "take care" of us. It sure pays to know people in high places! The bar was a pretty fun place, though sadly empty being a weeknight and all. At some point after throwing darts for a while (which I really missed), I was invited up to dance behind the bar. Perhaps I should clarify that--I was dragged by several bartenders and told that it was my turn to dance on the ministage (with a pole and everything--umm, sketchy?) behind the bar. I wasn't going alone though so I grabbed Li Can and her friend to join me. I had no qualms about making a fool of myself here because I was never going to see these people again. So basically, it was really fun!

Mr. Tian then proceeded to drive us home in his pimped out Chrysler 4x4. I thought we'd go right to bed but Li Can came over and we chatted into the wee hours of the morning. I really enjoy hearing the Chinese perspective on things and Li Can was super excited to talk about education, love, and the meaning of life. Excellent! I also got to know David even better through this which was a bonus. I can say with complete confidence that David breaks the mold for most Chinese. He is unmarried by choice, constantly questions the status quo, and enjoys considering western philosophy right along with the eastern. I went to bed at about 3:30am thinking about how amazing it is to travel and meet fascinating new people.