Too Many Chinese Tourists

So far the backpacker trail has taken me from Hong Kong > Yangshou > Dragons Backbone Rice Terraces > Kunming > Dali > Lijiang > Tiger Leaping Gorge and now Shangrila. The traveling has been easy despite language difficulties. I’ve seen some beautiful and interesting places but the drawback is that I’ve been too much on the Chinese tourist track. Outside of the cities its not an issue but Lijiang was over the top and quite disappointing. A completely restored ancient city, stripped of any charm, and tourism it’s main focus is not where I care spend my time. Lijiang actually kind of bummed me out. It’s kind of like a Chinese Disneyland. For me, the saving grace was a network of peaceful trails upon Elephant Hill overlooking the city. Relief came when I left Lijiang for an awesome 2 day trek at Tiger Leaping Gorge.

I regularly see western tourist here and there but not many unless I’m at certain hostels or a specific location within a city or village that caters to foreigners. It’s quite easy to travel within a bubble hopping from hostel to hostel and forefinger street to foreigner street. The backpacker trail is pretty cohesive here in China. The downside is that you miss out on a bit of the real China experience. I guess it all depends on what kind of an experience a traveler wants. For me, I like to mix it up but I’m tired of Chinese tourists right now.

From what I can tell tourism is booming within the Chinese culture. Towns are fully revamped. Streets are cleaned. Vendors dress up in traditional garb and tour buses roll in packed with Chinese embracing free enterprise as much as anyone. Destination are complete with overpriced food, pricey accommodation, and expensive entrance fees to famous sites. In popular places tourism is very similar to the west. I’m sure it will continue to grow as much as it appears the Chinese love to travel within their country.

The upside to visiting the places I have, despite a boom of tourism, is that their still beautiful locations and the real China is usually right outside the boundaries of the tourist center. Or, as I like to see it, a short walk or quick bike ride away.

A Pedal Around Dali

Dali is an ancient city turned major tourist destination for Chinese. It sits at the edge of a moutain range that gives way to a broad agricultural valley with a large lake. The old city buildings have been revamped and turned into shops selling just about everything. The main area fo shopping resembles a large outdoor chinese themed shopping mall. The difference is tht the buildings are really very old and the tourist are Chinese. You see a westerner here and there but it’s not really on the tourist track for those who are not Chinese. That’s what makes it interesting for a foreinger. It’s actually pretty cool and as always seems to be the case in China five minutes on a bike and your away from the tourist hooplah.

Yesterday I rented a bike for 10 yuan ($1.50 usd) and pedaled around. I visited a village next to Er Hai Lake, passed through rich agricultural plots, and squeezed through local markets outside of the main shopping area. Here are a few photos……

Dali - Back In The Flow

I left Kunming yesterday with directions on how to catch the city bus to the station where I was due to catch a bus to Dali. I had already purchased the ticket to Dali the day before so all I needed to do was get on the right bus at 10 am. No worries, I could feel myself finding my way back to the flow.

The number 2 was all I needed to know for finding my bus. The number 2 was the clue for finding the right avenue for departure. I showed my ticket to a couple of staff and at 10 am I was comfortably on the right bus with a window as hoped for.

We stopped twice on the 5 hour expected 4 hour trip. One stop was a pretty decent station. The other was pit of a place with a bull horn hawker pushing lunch. The guy sitting next to me hacked and spat regularly after lunch. No problem, the aluminum pale was nearby and available for such a need. Hacking and spitting is perfectly acceptable in this part of the world. It’s worst first thing in the morning, or as I witnessed, after lunch.

I arrived at a station 20 km from Dali. Often times when you buy a ticket you’re not really sure where you will be dropped off but when everyone gets off that’s your clue. This is common throughout Asia. You may or may not be dropped at a station and if you are dropped at a station make sure you know which one it is. Anyway, I somehow communicated with a taxi driver I wanted a city bus to Dali. 10 Yuan ($1.50) later I was at a city station. “The Lonely Planet Guide”, or as I prefer to call it, “The Lost Planet Guide”, said bus 8 would drop me at West Gate. Instead it dropped me in Dali center.

I rarely like to book accommodation ahead of time unless I feel it’s totally necessary. It took me a moment to get my bearings but I found my way to some accommodation options. Saturday evening can pose a little more of a challenge in place popular with Chinese tourists. One place wanted too much, the other was full. I found an area I liked so just walked around. I decided to try the confused backpacker/tourist technique to see what I’d attract. I do not recommend this approach for India but in China it’s ok. Within a minute a cute old lady walked up to me and put her hands to her head signaling she thought I was looking for a place to sleep. She then spoke the only word of English I think she knows, “Cheap”. I said ok.

I figured it wouldn’t hurt to look. When l have a choice I prefer a top floor quiet corner room with a view. There was no way I could communicate that with her. Anyway, we quickly arrived at a family run guest house, just what I prefer. No one spoke a word of English but it was easy to communicate. The room was 40 Yuan. Around $6.50. I communicated I’d like to see it. I was taken up to a clean top floor quiet corner room with a view.. Done..

It was a smooth day of travel and I’m back in the flow. The flow comes from allowing things to happen without getting in the way and following your instinct/intuition. This is one my favorite things about travel. In truly foreign countries this is the attitude one must take and when I return home I have to regularly remind myself how well the universe works when you allow it to. I am amazed at how easy a person can travel in a country where a common language is not shared. Sometimes I feel like words get in the way of communication. Smiles and thank yous go a long way.

Kunming was bit of bump in the road for me. In part due to not listening to my gut instinct but things seem to be falling back into place here in Dali. I’ll spend a couple of days here and move on. The photo is of the Guest House I'm staying at.

People Watching In Kunming

Today I roamed the streets of Kunming. I really enjoy people watching. I'm think a big part of my personality comes from simply observing. Here are few photos from todays walk.

Down On Dorms - Crusties In China

Hostels are the standard places to stay for the budget oriented backpacker and I’ve stayed in plenty of them over the years. They’re a great place for meeting other travelers and getting information on where or where not to go. Usually there’s a nice common area and the atmosphere is usually very social. It’s not uncommon for a solo traveler to be sharing food and drink within couple of hours of arriving.

The best value is the shared dorm option. A dorm usually consists of 4 to 10 beds with shared bathroom facilities. Often times hostels offer single, double, and triple options but it may or may not be all that great of a value. Outside of camping dorms are the cheapest accommodation option. In China you can stay in a nice hostel dorm for $3 to $5 USD a night. A lot of the hostels are well set up so it’s a great value.

The downside to staying in a dorm is that you never know who you’re going to be sharing a room with. Most of the time it works out well aside of someone snoring or coming in late making lots of noise. I’d say 9 out of 10 who stay at hostels are reasonable normal people traveling on a budget. About 1 out of 10 are a little different but fine nonetheless. Occasionaly you run into some really odd ones.

When I arrived in Kunming I was quite tired after a long train ride topping off a little over two weeks of travel. I met a couple of other western backpackers on the train. One is a 63 year Spaniard by the name of Jose. He had already been to Kunming and knew of a good hostel to stay at so on arrival I just hopped on a bus and followed his lead. When we got there I first requested a single room but none were available so I chose to take a chance on the 10 bed dorm. After all, the hostel is quite nice with a splendid roof top restaurant overlooking the main square in the middle of the city. It’s a really cool place and the location is great.

Those sharing the 10 bed room included 4 Israelis, 2 Swedish girls, Jose, myself and one sketchy crusty character from Glastonbury, England. He was still sleeping when I tossed my pack on the top bunk at 11:30 am. His stuff was all over the place and I sensed the guy was a bit odd.

Later that day I met the character from the bunk below. He very nicely introduced himself with a friendly faraway look in his eyes. He bobbed around with an expressive scruffy face while soiled denim shorts tried to slide down his rear. His legs looked as if he hadn’t showered for quite some time. His feet adorned heavily worn croc sandals with a thin layer of dried splattered mud. When he removed his crocs his feet were coated with black grunge and cracked dry skin was peeling outward. Unbelievably, he did not stink. I asked him how long he had been here and he said 3 or 4 weeks. I then asked him what he had been doing. He enthusiastically expressed how he was meeting locals, eating lots of good food and having a wonderful time. I secured my stuff and stashed it in a locker below the bunk. Oh, well, it’s only for a night and the others seemed to think he was pretty harmless.

The wacky Brit went out in the evening and came in late. Morning revealed a much worse impression than the day before. His sheets were heavily soiled and more or less brown. His stuff was even more all over the place and he was partially covered with crumpled sheet in nothing but his underwear. The crusty Brit was grossing me out. I had to get out of there.

I had originally decided on staying one night and should have been packing my stuff to go but was feeling a certain kind of indecisiveness I feel when I’m fatigued... I figured I’d see if I could move into a 4 bed dorm. Still, no single rooms available.

I was happy to have the option to switch rooms later in the morning because I really didn’t feel like dealing with a travel day. I just wanted to walk around Kunming and take it easy. A little after noon the hostel staff gave me a key to a 4 bed dorm. Problem solved, so I thought. I was a bit disappointed to meet my new roommate. Only slightly better than the wacky Brit. He’s a 60 something mess of man from Denver, Colorado of all places. He’s obviously hard of hearing and has a confused expression when I try to converse with him. I don’t think he leaves the room much as I sense he prefers to lose himself inside a paperback novel. He has a nice stack of soiled clothes next to his bed along with a mostly full bottle of some kind of alcohol. He too has dirty feet and his fat round pot belly disallows for his pants to stay up properly. I can almost guarantee you he snores like a freight train but I hope I’m wrong. I asked him what he was doing here but he didn’t provide a clear answer. Apparently he’s an English teacher looking for a job. He said he was traveling with someone else but that someone else is not staying in the room. He’s an odd one for sure. Oh well, it’s just for a night, I safely locked my stuff in the locker below the bunk. Not sure who my other two roommates will be.

Up until now I’ve been happy with all of the places I’ve stayed and although the hostel I’m at in Kunming is quite nice it’s not a good choice for me. As is par for the course when you travel there will be times you stay in places you really wish you hadn’t. I’m now kicking myself for going against my gut feeling not to stay in the dorm but I was quite tired at the time and didn’t feel like roaming around in search of a another option.

Aside of the bad luck of having to share two separate nights with two odd characters I’m just not that into the hostel scene. Ok, I’ll admit I had a nice time last night sharing drinks with fellow travelers and the English speaking staff makes it very easy, however, I’ve felt somewhat disconnected from the China experience and distracted by some people I’d really prefer not to be around. Chain smoking western twenty something’s talking politics, partying, and discussing general nonsense along with crusty odd balls are not who I want to spend my time with. I’ll leave that for the café’s of France and chance encounter along the way. Ok, No more dorms…….

China By Train - Easier Than Expected

China by train is easier than I expected as seems to be the case for traveling China in general. I had no problem finding the train station nor did I have any problem finding the right platform, carriage, and bed. I think part of the ease comes from past experience and having a general sense of how these things usually work.

The trip to Kunming lasted close to 18 hours. I shared a 3 tiered berth for six as the only westerner on the carriage and one of just a few on the train. I couldn't converse with anyone but two other backpackers I met before boarding. I ate the train dinner and slurped noodles for breakfast. My top bunk afforded interrupted but decent sleep.

Smoking in the main carriage is not allowed but you can smoke in the areas at either end so smoke was a bit of an issue. Kind of like the days of flying on a plane when the smokers sat at one end and the non smokers sat at the other end.

Kids ran up and down the aisles and people bumped into one another with no apologies as we rocked down the rails as a tolerant family of strangers just going from one point to another.

Rice Terraces and Yao People

Just a quick post while sit in a beer garden at an Irish pub with John Denver's "Coutry Roads" playing in the background. The bottled water is way over priced but the shade is divine and the street remarkably quiet. Well, China is still just a few feet away. From time to time I'll run across these ex pat establishments designed to provide the westerner with some of the familiaties of home. In one way its kind of nice but in another way it kind of feels like I'm kind of cheating. After all, I'm here to experience China. Oh, and the wi-fi is pretty good.

For the last two days I've been up in the hills visiting an area known as the Dragons Backbone rice terraces. Tourism is taking off and visitors are bused in by the masses to Ping An village to see the terraces and to experience the traditional local life. I booked a one way ticket with a tour group originating in Yangshuo and left the group upon entering the area. It cost a little more than taking local but made for a very easy and much quicker trip.

Just about everyone is dropped off at Ping An village which is a lovely mountainside village turned into a mess of tourism. However, there are several other villages and Ping An is the main draw. I was most interested in walking a path 4 to 5 hours to a cluster of un-spoiled villages with basic facilities to accomodate the more adverturous.

While stopping for lunch, in Ping An, I met a young French Woman who was also a bit put off by the crowds of tourist. I told her about the walk to the other villages and she expressed interest. We were both a little concerned about taking a wrong turn as our maps are rubbish and I expeted signage to be poor if existant at all. We solved the issue by hiring a local Yao woman to walk with us. The Yao are a minority group that have been farming rice on the mountains near Longsheng for hundreds of years but now they're not only keeping up a traditional lifestyle but are happy to embrace the tourist dollar.

It didn't take long at all to leave the tourist masses in Ping An. From Ping An we passed through the completely unspoiled village of Zhongliu as we climbed and traversed extremely picturesqe rice terraces. We for the night above Tiantou Village where the views are sublime and divine. This morning I walked out through the village of Dazhai and caught a local bus in Guilin. That is where I am now. In less than 3 hours I'll board a train for an 18 hour rice to Kunming. I see much more hiking in the near future.

Easy Start

My intention at the start of this trip was to start easy and I have definitely succeeded in doing so. Hong Kong was a breeze, crossing into China not a problem, and arriving in Yangshuo, aside of a 4 am arrival and being greeted by a pesky tout, travel has been easy. In part this is due to the fact that my first stop is in a place that’s well accustomed to tourists from all over the world and its not hard to find English speaking people.

Right now its pouring down rain in Yangshuo. When I got here it was quite dry, dusty, and a bit polluted. The rain is doing a good job af clearing out the air and it's really quite pleasant. Upon arrival I quickly settled into a routine. The main touristed area revolves around West Street. It’s a gaggle of shops, bars, restaurants etc. going full throttle all day and night. Not my cup of tea. Instead, I was drawn to a relatively quiet side street, not far from west street, with a row of cafe’s catering to western backpackers. I’ve eaten at 3 of the cafés but my favorite is the “Minority Café”. It’s run by 3 very hospitable young chinese minority women. The food is great and I’ve been eating almost all of my breakfast and dinners there. A big bottle of local beer is 6 yuan ($1 usd), meals on average run 30 yuan ($4 usd). The vegetable curry is probably about the best I’ve had anywhere in Asia and the stuffed snails are excellent.

Today is my fifth day in Yangshuo and I plan to leave on Tuesday. From here I will head to some small villages in the coutryside to see some rice terraces then then hop a train to Kunming for a quick stop before making my way to the border of Tibet. Rumor has it that Tibet will be closed to foreign tourist in May but Tibet travel info always seems to be inconsistent. Anyway, I think I should probably try to make arrangements sooner than later. I’ll need a permit and will have to be a part of some kind tour group. Sometimes a tour group just includes one person, yourself, and arrangements into Tibet are made by a local agency for a fee. If you book back home in west you could spend a fortune. If you arrange everything in China it can be very reasonable or even quite cheap.

In afternoon the rain abated and I went for a short hike up Moon Hill. The standard path doesn’t take you to the very top but there’s a well worn side trail that does. Naturally I took it.

Get Lost On A Bike In Yangshuo

Yangshuo is great place to get lost on a bike. As seems to be the case for Asia in general, outdoor maps, if you can find them, are rubbish. Your bound to get confused if you attempt to follow them but they do provide just enough info to keep you from getting totally lost. In otherwords you will have some sense of what direction you should be headed. That along with smiles, hand signals, and a couple of words exchanged with locals along the way and your fine. For 10 to 20 yuan (2-3 USD) you can rent a decent bike for the entire day.

I’ve spent two days biking around the outlying areas of Yangshuo. Today I rode a long loop and met up with a young couple from Beijing. One works as a interpreter. How convenient.

Although Yanghsou is more or a less busy loud overrun super scenic mecca for tourists if your willing to pedal a bike five minutes out of town your in a totally different rural world. Here are a few photos from a couple of rides….

Li River

The main reason Yangshuo is such a popular destination is the Li River. It's absolutely stunning how it carves its way through a valley lined with steep limestone karst peaks. The easiest and most popular way to acess the the most impressive stretch is by taking a bamboo boat between the villages of Yangdi and Xing Ping. The one thing you absolutely must not forget is a functional camera with a full battery and plenty of disk space.

It took me over an hour by local bus to get to the small riverside village of Yangdi. I originally thought I’d like to walk a path down the valley for 24 km to Xing Ping but I was getting kind of a late start. Upon arrival in Yangdi a Malaysian man, who I met on the bus, invited me to join his group if I just picthed in a share for what they already paid for the boat. However, the locals caught on right away that I had originally arrived alone and would not let me join another group. They pretty much suss out who arrives with who in order to get as many boats hired as they can. The Malaysian man spoke fluent Mandarin grew very angry as he argued with the locals. He genuinely wanted my company, the boat was paid for, and there was plenty of extra room but the locals wanted to sell another boat. I deabated sticking with my original plan to walk because I was a bit put off by it all.

As I debated what to do I figured out the pricing. Chinese pay 80 yuan. Foreign tourist pay 100 – 120 yuan with Americans, as usual, singled out to be charged the highest. The boats are modeled after a traditional bamboo raft variety and hold around 4 to 8 people depending. The price is for the boat not per person. My choice was either walk or get my own boat. With a good amount of effort I got the price down to 100 yuan ($15 USD). Had I planned a little better beforehand I’m sure I could have met up with some other tourists and split cost but I didn’t really know the situation until I got there. Oh well, what the heck, I paid a 100 yuan and hopped on a faux pvc bamboo boat for an incredibly scenic ride down the placid yet swift flowing Li River. With unbelievable scenery everywhere before me I powered up my camera with a screen message alerting me, “NO MEMORY CARD”. Oh well, I wasn’t going to let it dampin my experience so I just sat back and enjoyed a ride that lasted almost 2 hours…

Looking back I should have just started walking down the valley. There are numerous places along the way that if it got too late or you got too tired you could just hire a boat to take you as far as Yangshuo. Since I plan to stay awhile longer in the area I may go back now that I’ve got it all figured out. Although I don’t have any photos of the boat ride I’ve posted a picture of the Li River as seen from Yangshuo early in morning….

Into China - First Stop Yangshuo

When I arrived in Yangshou Wednesday morning at 4:15 am I was greeted by a couple of pesky touts. One wanted to take me to a hostel and the other was offering a cheap taxi ride. A young British woman, living in Yangshou and teaching English, was the only other other person to get off the bus. Together we fended off the touts who became a little less friendly when refused their help. The one offering to take me to the International Hostel would almost certainly have taken me to a so called “better place” place so he could make a commission. I’m not sure what the taxi driver was up to but I sure he had some kind of scam in mind. After a bit of pestering they left us alone as we walked empty silent streets to an area frequented by tourists during the day.

Since everything was shut I decided to wait for sunrise and the nice British woman continued on to the school where she is living. I found a comfortable bench next to a creek by a large river and stayed their until the sun slowly rose over steep and misty karst peaks of limestone decorted with an abundance of foliage. The scenery here is absolutely stunning.

The trip from Hong Kong. went smoothly. It took less than an hour to reach the border. Immigration and customs were a breeze. I found the bus station fairly easily with a little bit of roaming around and departed from Shenzhen on time at 7:30 pm via sleeper bus. The interior was quite clean and your given a plastic bag to put your shoes in when you board. No one is allowed to wear shoes inside. The bus is what I’d consider a regular sized Greyhound type with three long rows of bunks consisting of a lower and upper berth. It’s cozy and comfortable but if your big, wide, or taller than 6 feet then it might not be so great. In the end I didn’t really sleep all that much but I got enough rest to where I felt ok the next day.

With a population of only 310,000 I guess Yangshuo could be considered a village in China. It definitely seems more like a busy town than an actual city. It’s a very popular tourist attraction yet every bit Chinese. The vast mjority of tourist are chinese but there are plenty of westerners and english speaking establishments to make it a very easy place for just about any traveler.

I spent the morning walking all over the place getting oriented and checked out accomdation options. There are loads of places to stay so its just a matter of where do you want to be and how much to you want to pay. I chose to stay a little out of the main touristed area and settled for a quiet back street family run hotel for 60 yuan a night. Less than $10 USD. My room is situated on the top floor. It’s very clean and comfortable with wifi (that works sometimes), air con, and western style toilet.

With an abundadanceo of hiking, biking, climbing, and Chinese culture I could easily spend a week here....

Shoestring Trip Around The World - First Stop - Hong Kong

So far 2011 has been a crazy busy year but somehow I secured the resources and hastily got my stuff together for a shoestring trip around the world. A three hour flight to Los Angeles for an overnight then a longer than usual 15 hour flight the following day deposited me in Hong Kong. It’s Monday morning and I’ve been here since Friday night.
I chose to start my odyssey through China in Hong Kong because it’s an easy city in my opinion. However, I did spend the first hour or so here wandering around brightly neon lit streets mildly lost in search of the Dragon Hostel located on the 7 floor of the Sincere building. With bilingual English/Chinese street signs and grid like layout the city is easy to navigate.

Hong Kong is a vertical city surrounded by mountains/big hills. I call it a vertical city because of the hundreds if not thousands of high rise buildings that accommodate the seven million people who live here. The arrangement is really quite impressive and large sections are very modern. The transportation system with subway and buses is easy and efficient. The city is clean and the people are fine. For such a large population stacked upon one another things seem relatively low key. In a way the city lacks a certain vibe or electricity I’ve experienced in other places but it remains a very interesting place. It’s kind of a cross between New York and Singapore.

As expected my room at the Dragon Hostel in closet small. I chose the least expensive single with shared bathroom. The room is tiny with no windows but very clean, comfortable and relatively quiet. I’m paying somewhere around $30 USD a night which is cheap for Hong Kong but expensive for China. I figure I’ll be paying about $10 for the same thing in China with private bathroom. For the budget traveler in Asia Hong Kong is not cheap but things can be kept reasonable by western standards. Meals are costing between $4 - $8 USD. I think I’ll be paying about half of that in China.

For the first two jet lagged days in Hong Kong I’ve done a lot of walking. Aside of walking city streets the surrounding mountains offer some surprisingly good walking/hiking and there is a nice network of paths and trails. The first day I walked up Victoria Peak for grand views of the city. The second day, Sunday, I took a ferry to Lamma Island for some really nice hiking on a sparsely environment with no cars.

Lamma Island has a network of trails that run for miles up, over, and around mountains with fantastic hazy views. No need for hiking boots as all of the trails are paved like a concrete sidewalk. Some sections even have hand rails. It’s pretty impressive. As I hiked over one peak I noticed large boulders that are shored up with concrete to keep them from rolling onto the path.

I started by taking a ferry to one end of the Island and walked across to the other side. I finished my walk in a fishing village which is popular for its seafood. I was a little hesitant about jumping into the local seafood at the beginning of my trip but everything was very fresh. Actually, still alive in buckets and tanks. I ordered a set menu that included boiled shrimp, steamed scallop, pan fried clams, deep fried squid, orange slices and a large bottle of beer. Everything was really, really, good. Oh, and it looks like I’m back to drinking a little beer. It just goes so well with travel.

Tomorrow I will cross into China and take a night sleeper bus to Yangshuo. When I bought the ticket China Travel Agency said it takes 11 hours. The guidebook says 13 hours. A message on an online travel board says a new road has been built so it only takes 7 hours but that seems too short. All I know is that I’ll arrive in Yangshuo between 3 and 6:30 am but most likely around 5 am. I paid approximately $40 for the ticket which I’m sure is more expensive than buying at the station but I figure I’ll have enough of a challenge just finding the right terminal without having to deal with a ticket line. Yes, the adventure will really begin when I cross into china as I’ll leave the comfort of bilingual signs and commonly spoken English. Until then I’ll roam the streets of Hong Kong a bit longer.

The photos below show a view of Hong Kong from Victoria peak, a city street scene, and a view from my hike on Lamma Island.