South to North

Internet access has been sparse while we travel about China by plane and train.

Pictures of the Li River in Guangxi will be posted soon. It was a misty and magical day trip (see the top right of the page to find the link to our photo album).

Beijing stands in stark contrast. It is bland and brown, and, with most people opting to stay indoors, it feels like a ghost town. However, the sky is more blue than yellow and there are slight buds of green on some of the trees. I think that we are here a month too early.

Food

A while back Annalisa and I went out to eat with Jinpeng. He took us to a courtyard ringed by individual food stalls. He ordered for us and we sat down at a table to wait for the food. However, Jinpeng decided that he wanted a snack while we waited. He got up and came back with a little bag containing slivers of duck stomach. After a while I worked up my nerve and tried a piece. It was rubbery and spicy-hot. I decided one taste was enough.

One thing I have not gotten accustomed to here is that no part of an animal goes to waste. Intellectually, this appeals to me. Gastronomically, not so much. I think that it would take several years to acclimate myself the diet here. I still shudder when I see someone enjoying chicken feet, a favorite snack food here. My roommates probably feel the same way about certain aspects of my diet.

To Market

Yesterday Annalisa and I went to the Green Lake area of town. We took many more buses than necessary getting home, but on the plus side we saw more of Kunming. I had my hair cut while out, no mean feat considering the language barrier. Also, we found a DVD store and purchased the third and fourth seasons of Jeeves and Wooster. Best of all, we found bagels.

Today we took it easy. After a breakfast of eggs and bagel I read and studied Chinese. In the afternoon Annalisa and I went to the vegetable market in the neighborhood and picked up a few supplies. On the way back we saw a cute puppy battling a mop. The mop lost. Annalisa bought some purple flowers at a flower market for the apartment. The fragrance there was intoxicating, quite unlike the rest of the neighborhood. Annalisa cooked a nice dinner including mashed potatoes and chicken with peppers. We watched an episode of Jeeves and Wooster before turning in for the night.

Here and There

I've been trying to think of the ways that Kunming is different from a comparable city in the U.S. One of the problems with that is I'm not sure what city is comparable. Kunming has over 3 million residents, and almost 7 million people live in the metropolitan region. However, this is small for a Chinese city, and the pace of life here is casual and laid back.

The big exception to this easy pace is the traffic. Drivers of buses, cars, motorcycles, electric scooters, and bicycles all tool around like they are fifteen years old with a newly minted driver's permit, no supervision, and raging hormones. Traffic signals, road lanes, and speed limits are treated not as rules but as mere suggestions. Even roads themselves are ignored by anything on two, and occasionally four, wheels. Electric scooters are the preferred mode of transport, and the drivers feel they are entitled to whatever real estate they covet, whether it be road, sidewalk, or grass. Police take the attitude of “no harm, no foul,” and everyone speaks fluent horn. I'm afraid that one day soon Annalisa is going to reach out and give a horn-heavy scooter driver blaring for us to get out his way a gentle but firm sideways push.

The other obvious difference in Kunming is an attitude toward phlegm. Basically, phlegm is poison and must be removed from the body as soon as possible. Male, female, inside or out, it's all the same. If Kunming has a sound, it is that of Bill the Cat. I've pretty much reduced this to background noise, but Annalisa still has a bit of an eye twitch every time someone hocks a loogie with any proximity.

The streets and walkways are very clean. It's not that the residents are overly conscious of littering. In fact, they may be a little more prone to do so here than elsewhere because streetsweepers clean everywhere. These are workers who walk around with a dustpan and a large broom, gathering trash and depositing it in the nearest receptacle. There is a small army of them in Kunming. In fact, every service job seems to be staffed at a ratio of ten-to-one over what is found in the States.

A Couple of Notes

First, please overlook the many typos in this blog. I am behind the Great Firewall of China and do not have direct access to this blog. I post by email, but this makes editing impossible. I should do a better job of proofing before I post, but there always seem to be a few mistakes that slip though the net. Second, Annalisa has posted accounts of our first week in China on her blog at http://shadowofthecrow.blogspot.com/ Her take on our travels starts with her Jan 30th post, "Leaving for China." Please catch up with us there, and I will add more here soon. Promise.

Our First Night

It was late when we reached Kunming. We needed to change a bit of currency from US dollars to Chinese RMB to pay for our cab ride and our first night's stay at the hostel. However, the money changing station at the airport was closed. As we debated what to do, a man came up and offered us a taxi ride and said that he would accept US dollars. I told him where we were going and he said it would cost $20. I have been told that bartering is the national sport of China, so I talked him down to $15. We walked outside and walked past the official taxis toward an unmarked car. Annalisa stepped in at this point and said that we would take a registered cab. The man was upset by this, but he also went back up to $20 on his price. Very confusing. Armed with a little map and the address of the hostel printed in Chinese, we loaded our big bags in the trunk of a regular cab and put ourselves and our smaller bags in the back seat. The driver spoke next to no English. The ride cost 20 RMB, or about $3. Who knows how much we would have finally paid for the gypsy cab or where we would I ended up. I am grateful that Annalisa, who has much more travel experience than I have, put her foot down. I had looked at pictures on the Internet of the area around the hostel, but I did not recognize anything when the taxi driver stopped to let us out. Reluctantly, we gathered our bags and walked gingerly in the direction he pointed. Around the corner we saw the city gates we had been looking for. The hostel held one of our passports for collateral until we could get our currency changed and pay our bill the next day. We splurged by getting a private room rather than bunks in a common sleeping room. The only private room available had twin beds with thin pads, but it did have a private bath, which was nice. Exhausted, we got ready for bed, only to realize that New York is not the only city that never sleeps. Especially if you are right above a disco. Thumpa thumpa all night long.

Getting to China

The trip from the mountains of North Carolina to the city of Kunming was by turns exciting, difficult, tiring, and trying. Annalisa's parents drove us to Charlotte, even uphill on a sheet of ice with the aid of some kitty liter. They are from Wisconsin, so the weather and the road conditions were no big things for them. Annalisa and I caught the shuttle from the hotel to the Charlotte airport before dawn. Our itinerary included a layover of less then two hours in Chicago before flying to Seoul, South Korea and then Kunming, China. In Charlotte as we were boarding there was an additional security check. Some passengers were pulled out of line for a wanding and pat down. The guy doing this was big and burly. He poked one guy in the back as he was patting him down, which caused the passenger to let out a "ha" sound. "You think that's funny?" demanded the security guy. The passenger, looking like he didn't know what to say, replied "I guess so." "Well I don't!" the security guy shot back. Once we boarded the airplane the pilot announced that a sink was leaking and had to be repaired before we could take off. Visions of a missed flight in Chicago danced in my head, and all I could think about was spending 24 hours in O'Hare International Airport while waiting for the next flight to Korea. After a while, the pilot announced that the airline did not employ their own maintenance personnel, and that they were waiting on contract help, with no ETA. Eventually, we took off. Upon landing at O'Hare we got our carry on luggage from the over head bins and waited. And waited. The pilot had another announcement for us: the airport knew we were coming, but nobody was there to swing the walkway from the terminal to the airplane into place. We waited some more. A mad dash ensued to get to the Korean Air gate, which we reached after they were lining up to board. Our flight took us north, over Siberia. It was like looking at another world, with white, crinkly mountains dividing the white plains. Korean Air seems to me close to what I imagine flying to have been in the 1950's and 60's. The flight attendants wore stylish uniforms of teal and cream with slim, stiff bows in their hair and applied their makeup pancake style. Service was very good, and the wine flowed, even in economy class. I had only one glass with the first meal, but I could easily have gotten befuddled if I had taken full advantage of all the refills offered. The first meal served to us, Bibimbap, was pretty good. It is a Korean dish of various ingredients mixed with rice, oil, and a pepper spice paste. The food was downhill from there, though. We tried to catch some sleep on the 14 hour flight, but naps were short and fitful. By this time I was feeling about as thin as a thrice-used teabag. When we reached Korea Annalisa hit the wall. We bought a fruit drink before boarding the plane to Kunming. That flight had us seated with two empty seats between us, so Annalisa took advantage of this arrangement and curled up for most of the five hour trip. The airport in Korea had been immaculate. The one in Kunming was anything but. My first taste of China was in the restroom as I walked into a cloud of cigarette smoke. Bad omen. Next entry: Matthew tries to make a costly mistake.

Take Off

First things first: Annalisa is a much more reliable blogger than I am. You can find her take on our adventures here: http://shadowofthecrow.blogspot.com We are still looking for a place to stay long term. Much of our time is spent finding meals and a place to stay each night. Very basic stuff. As soon as we are settled I will post a few words on our travels so far. We may be moving into an apartment this evening.

First Steps

Tickets purchased. Annalisa and I leave in one week for Kunming, China.