China...Huaibei to Mount Yao

   From Huaibei, Anhui south to Suzhou was a 1.5 hour train ride. Kalina and I waited 2 hours at the Suzhou station before we boarded the night train to Pingdingshan. The crowded station was gross, many people were throwing their food scraps on the floor, spitting, and smoking. I had to use the washroom and when I went in the stench was overwhelming, I had to turn around and leave without relieving myself. Once the worker opened a single gate the chaos started when crowds rushed the gate, pushing and pulling each other. We got down onto a bottom platform and raced along with the others, workers were yelling at the passengers, they seemed to be saying, go, go, go. For us we were rushing to get into the sleeper car while most others were making sure they got a bench seat.

   Once in the train we sat for 20 minutes before it made a late departure, turned out there was absolutely no hurry. The train left around midnight and I only managed a couple of hours of shuteye since the bunk was basically a thin mat on plywood. By 5:30 I could gaze out of the window and see the landscape, which consisted of small cities, farmland and many villages. There was a lot of industry and the waterways looked very dirty.

                           


We arrived at Pingdingshan, yet another coal city where more than half of the 5 million residents have jobs related to the mining industry. We took a local bus to get to a long distance bus station where we finally boarded a bus that took us to our destination. The 11 am bus was full so we had to wait until 1pm before boarding the bus for the 3 hour ride to the base of Mount Yao.

                         

 The scenery was good as this bus traveled through many small villages to drop off and pick up passengers. In the distance I could see the Spring Temple Buddha which is the tallest statue in the world at 128 metres (420 ft), it took more than 10 years to build; at a cost of $55 million.


                        

 The bus trip was great for gawking out the window until we got to a spot where a road crew was demolishing a bridge. 

                          


All of the traffic was diverted down to a river bed, that is where we stopped.

                          

For 30 minutes we stayed there, many people got out of the bus, cars, and trucks ahead. I went for a walk to see what the problem was and the dilemma ended up to be two small boulders that made the turn for trucks coming up from the river bank too difficult. So many people from this small village were crowded around until finally someone found a pry bar and moved the boulders. There was so much yelling and chaos over these two rocks, the traffic was backed up for several kms., thank goodness it was not the rainy season.

   Kalina and I found a hotel for 80 RMB in a small village at the base of the mountain with no hot water; it was cold at this higher elevation so washing up was quick. After the long haul the day before with only a couple of hours of sleep it was easy to pass out.

                           


At 7:30 am we left the hotel to ascend the 1,000 metre's (3,000 ft) up the mountain by foot; there were so many cement stairs, the first flight had about 400.

                                       

 On most of the Chinese mountains there are both stairs and chair lifts, which most Chinese take. We walked about 6,000 steps in total to get to the top and the view was excellent, we were high enough to be above the clouds. The first couple of thousand stairs there were very few people, once we got to the first chair lift drop off the crowd became thick. So many people wanted to get their photo with a foreigner, I was the only one I saw on the mountain that day. I did not mind about 20 photo's but each time I stopped there were several people waiting in line to get their photo with me; I told Kalina that we should keep moving to make sure I did not get stuck in front of the Chinese tourists camera. The people were very friendly but our mission was to get to the top.


                                        

  Since we got to the top around 12:30 we had some time to take in the scenery, there were nice views from up there.


                          


                          


                          


                                         

    Once we rested and felt fulfilled with our reward at the mountain summit we made a plan to go down. We spotted 2 young couples who shared the bus with us, we had dinner with them the night before; they told us that they had climbed up a different route, so we thought we may as well take advantage of some new scenery. There are 3 chair lifts that go partially up the mountain and then an express lift that goes all of the way to the top. The trail that they took came up by the express lift so we headed to that part of the mountain, about 500 metres. We did not see a trail so we headed back in the direction of the peak; again we saw these 4 people and again they explained to Kalina in Chinese where the trail was. We returned to the chairlift and this time we noticed a dirt trail so we started to descend.

  We ended up to find cement stairs after about 10 minutes so that was intriguing. Eventually the stairs split in two directions so I left Kalina sitting while I ran down the one staircase that ended at a small temple.

                     


 I took a couple of photo's and went back to the junction. We walked about 2 hours down these stairs until we ended at another park gate entrance. It was evident by then that this was the old entrance to the mountain and we were in trouble. There were no people around but there were two guys lazing around a small tourist information hut, they showed us a map of the area and we could see that it was about 30 kms. to get around to the other gate that we entered in the morning; it was on the other side of the mountain. One guy said he would take us around by motorcycle and that we should wait outside. Kalina heard them talking, it seemed that one of the guys wanted to rip us off for 500 RMB, they knew we were stuck.

  Actually we were not completely stuck.....at 6pm we turned around and headed back up to the top of the mountain. Both of us were so tired and it was hell to try to salvage enough energy to make it back up. Our drinking water had ran out half way down the wrong side and we had to keep stopping to sit down. The last half an hour we walked in the dark, but seeing the lights from the chair lift building give us hope. Once we made it back to the top there was one shack where a shop owner/caretaker of the mountain stayed. Kalina and the lady of the shop were trying to think of how we could make it back down, using the stairs in the dark would have taken us about 4 hours; if we could have handled it. An aha moment came to the lady when she suggested that although the chair lift was stopped for the day they were not allowed to leave anyone with a lift ticket on the mountain. This lady had lift tickets in her small shop so we were able to buy a 60 RMB ticket for 100 RMB and it was a win, win for all of us. This ANGEL made 40 RMB, which was great for her, we were able to hear the chairlift start up after she talked to the workers on the radio

   After 14 hours of abusing our bodies we ended up sitting in the chair lift; it was dark and the sky was filled with stars.....it was a fabulous chair lift ride. Not only was the scenery spectacular, we came to the realization that we would get back to the hotel after enduring the mix up in search of new views. I had guessed that we walked up about 10,000 stairs and down about 2,000 steps ( the other side of the mountain had a trail system). Thank goodness that Kalina was so strong willed, fit and young. I learned early on in this mountain adventure that if you go off the beaten trek in China it is so useful to have a translator.

   In the morning I was a bit stiff as we left the hotel and took a taxi, then bus, to Pingdingshan. Once we arrived at the station it was very crowded; again the workers opened just one small gate and the crowd pushed to get through. The madness was very chaotic as men pushed women with small children so that they could perhaps get a seat on the train. There are seat tickets and standing tickets, if one gets on soon enough then they may find a seat for her/his long trip. Kalina and I ended up meeting many locals as we shared our seats, as they did with us. I learned to tough it out like the locals on the slow train, it is crowded, smells, and the washroom (WC) is disgusting....but there is little choice at times, since not all areas in the country are serviced by the fast train. The next day I reminisced about my experience, both the rewards and the set-backs......I was ready to go again.

 China...Spy in Sanya

  I was in Sanya, Hainan, the most southern city in China and had planned to meet my young Chinese friend Star for lunch. I got to a beach that is frequented by Russian tourists about 3 hours early, I planned to walk the coast line in search of some photo's.

                      

 As I traversed over rocks by the sea the water began crashing higher against the bluff. Once I got to a point where I could not navigate further along the waters edge I wondered if I should turn around and find somewhere else to discover, and take photo's.

                                      

 Going up often gives the best opportunity for scenery photo's so I give little thought and started to climb at the base of the cliff, just for a better view was my intention.

                                     

   At about 30 metres (100 ft) I was finding the ascent more difficult but still manageable. I focused on a tree that was growing out of the rock, this tree would help me to surpass a tough climbing section. I pulled on this tree to test it's strength and was satisfied that it was strong enough to hold me. I jumped and pulled hand over hand to climb the tree which released 100's of large red bull ants that started biting me all over my body. Frantically I got back down to a ledge that was my jumping platform and stripped my clothes off; while trying to slap the ants as I was disrobing After assessing the damage- my scraped arms and legs- I found a crack which supported my thought to continue ascending the cliff. After some careful climbing I reached a clearing that afforded me good views for my photo's.

  Once I gathered my legs I continued to climb; seemed like going back down the face of the cliff was not an option, it was not safe. Once I reached the top of this 100 metre cliff I found that it was a military mountain which was flat on top with a helicopter pad, some barracks, and other assorted buildings. At first a few of the 50 some odd soldiers approached with shocked looks on their faces, they were immediately very pleasant. A couple of the soldiers took me to a building and give me a glass of water (it was very hot)....they were so shy. I am not sure what they thought of this 50 year old foreigner who was cut up, dirty, and sweaty.

   The atmosphere quickly changed when the head officer came in, he was very intense; not exactly the most polite guy I have met in a white uniform. Immediately he raised his voice to the sociable young soldiers and gestured that he wanted my phone and camera (of which he removed the batteries). To jump ahead...I sat in that one room building for 2 hours with one of the junior men who spoke very few words of English, he managed to articulate that I needed to stay there. Soon after that 5 high end vehicles pulled up that contained 14 top officials. I watched them out of the window and the head honcho was so serious looking. Another vehicle pulled up about 30 minutes later which contained 3 secret service agents, one who was a translator; that is how I knew they were agents. By this time I was getting impatient and the mid-20's translator kept saying "no problem sir", while I said "yes there is a problem", I want to leave here and walk down the road.

   After 5 hours of the officers talking Chinese and the translator asking me questions, it was obvious that they THOUGHT I WAS A SPY. When I mentioned that my wife and daughter were traveling with me the translator asked, "what did you tell them?" They took me outside and asked me for seemingly the 20th time,  "how did you get up this mountain?" I told the translator that rock climbing is popular in the west....they just could not believe I climbed the cliff. I tried to get through to them that a spy was not going to walk around the top of the mountain in front of them. One of the men got me to go over to a car and he put a blindfold on me so we could drive down the mountain using their access road, seemed as though they wanted to see from which point that I ascended the mountain. Some officers were beside me where I had walked earlier while others were just off the beach in the grass; laying down in the long grass some 10 metres from the sea was a sign printed in Chinese, Russian, and English which read, 'Chinese Military Installation--absolutely no entry beyond this point.'

   It seemed apparent that while up on the mountain that the head officers thought the sign was standing, not laying down in the long grass. Surely THIS is why they kept screaming in Chinese while they looked at me. If that sign was standing I am sure they would have put me in jail. After 8 hours with me and an interrogation of my friend Star, they let me go, but not before closing off the floor of the hotel I was checked into and searching my backpack. I had sit in a room at the hotel while they drafted up a letter that they wanted me to sign. The 10 page document that was written in Chinese only supposedly said " I willingly entered China's most southern military installation." I was very angry by the end (as angry as one could realistically get with these guys). I demanded my camera card back since I had so many photo's of China; they agreed to put the photo's on a disk and they kept the card (so that I could not retrieve the deleted SECRET scenery photo's).

Poor Star never did get lunch, here she is helping make sure I do not lose many photo's by translating with the camera shop owner (and the military)

When we walked out of the hotel to go to a camera shop there was a big crowd on the street....these guys blocked so much of the sidewalk with their vehicles, maybe people thought I was a murderer? When the translator went to get in his vehicle I said to him, " hey, I will meet you there tomorrow to put up the sign."

  Two days later I checked my e-mail at an internet cafe and there was a message from my wife that said, "Daddy...be careful."

China...Laowai (Foreigner) On The Road



                         


   I have traveled to many places in China (more than 80 cities) and will use this blog to represent some of my many experiences and circumstances while traveling in the worlds most populous nation. I originally posted 4 stories on my other blog (itoddmac.blogspot.com), then fully realized that my travels in China, and what I witnessed while on the road there would not fit in one travel blog; hey, I was a blog newbie. These 4 posts will be transferred into this blog; for other countries please enter the above blog address, if you are interested.

   I have put photo's in my posts to help the reader visualize just what I was witnessing at the time that I took the photo; and wrote in my journal. Since I rely on both my memory and my journals, the experiences that are described are solely my own eye witness accounts and emotions. Each persons own travel is her/his own unique adventure, therefore someone else may feel that entering a certain city or a specific site in that city had an opposite appeal to mine.

   A common thread throughout some posts will be my thoughts on the behavior of some of the citizens that I was surrounded by. I am not a fan of cigarette smoke so the disregard for others shown by some of the 330 million smokers that I came in contact with was frustrating. Most restaurants have large no smoking signs on the walls but the owners make sure that there are ashtrays on every table. A smoker (when confronted) may shrug his shoulders and point to the ashtray with a gesture of, what am I supposed to do, there is an ashtray? In so many of the smaller cities the car rules and the safety of the citizens in those cities comes a distant second. Not only do cars drive and park on sidewalks but the drivers of many cars use the horn as a warning, laying on that horn as they come right at you in a crosswalk. When the walk signal turns for a pedestrian to cross the road, the last thing you want to do is step off the curb if you hear a taxi driver honking that they are turning.

   Some people will read a blog post without referring to this introduction post and may feel that I do not like China or it's citizens, this is not true. The pollution, the crowds, the bad behavior of some people (spitting, pushing, budding in line, smoking), those aspects are not only a sharp contrast to where I live but for me unacceptable for my every day existence.

   When I reflect on my travels in China I often consider my tremendous experiences with visiting historic sites. Many times I took slow trains and long bus journey's where I obtained a bond with local people who were experiencing the same joy or hell as I was. I learned many things about the people and their culture while on the road in this largest Asian country. I recognized that the Chinese are a proud people; just one example is, many street vendors refuse a tip although they only make about 600 RMB ($100.00) per month. The Chinese are hard working people who will work 12 hours/ 7 days per week if necessary. We are very good at suffering short term in the west, perhaps we are the best, short term. The Chinese seem to be able to accept long term suffering and survive severe conditions over a full life span.

                                     


    My posts will not be political but rather reflect from a tourist (me) perspective for the most part. I do want to say that I recognize some changes that could be made in China that would improve the life of the underprivileged, but that is their business. I was hoping that I could share my travel experiences through my blog with my Chinese friends but they are blocked from the Google US; they must use the Google Hong Kong server which is regulated. Baidu took most of the market share a few years ago after Google refused to adhere to strict regulations and pulled out from the mainland.

   Finishing up here (I promise the posts will be short and sweet rather than lengthy and boring), I would like to give this last paragraph to my young Chinese friends who I love very much. As people will read, there have been incredible experiences had by me in China. Sometimes there was danger, at times confused chaos, but as I traveled around the country my young friends were never far from my mind. They always supported me when I was getting the chance to see their country extensively; perhaps they did not know that meeting them was a real highlight of my experience.  

   These experiences that I will describe in these posts would not be possible if it were not for my wonderful wife and daughter. I guess I could describe these two lights of my life with the word awesome.