Friday, May 2, 2008

XINJIANG


Steve and I flew to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Province, on Friday. Trivia: Urumqi is the farthest city in the world from the ocean. We arrived around midnight and checked into a very rundown hotel for a little over 10 dollars. When we woke up the next morning and stepped out onto the street, we felt like we had left China. The street vendors called to us from behind carts piled with thick bread (naan), and the air was filled with the fragrant smoke from the sizzling lamb kebabs. We sat down to a breakfast of a bowel of noodles and two large lamb kebabs. Then, we boarded a 20 hour sleeper bus to cross the desert to Hotan, a city on the South Silk Road.

We arrived in Hotan on Sunday just in time for the Sunday market. The best thing about the market was that it was not at all touristy. The market was where all the local people could go to socialize and pick up anything they could ever need or want. Besides the usual clothing and food, there were also stands selling tools, knives, rope, bedding, locks, even a whole stand that only sold metal bowls of all sizes! I bought a headscarf to fit in better since the majority of the women in Xinjiang cover their heads.

After strolling around Hotan, we boarded another bus to Karkyland, a half-way point along the Southern Silk Road between Hotan and Kashgar. Karkyland is a very small city that has done a great job of preserving its Islam culture and old-town feel. We strolled down narrow streets between traditional clay houses and took pictures of the donkey carts and dust-covered children who called out "Hello!" to us. For dinner we bought snacks from the stands that surrounded the large square. In the large empty square, women in colorful headscarves strolled arm in arm, children ran around, men squatted in groups to chat and smoke.



Monday morning, we took another bus to Kashgar. Kashgar is definitely a Muslim city. The large square in the center of the city dominated by China's biggest statue of Mao Zedong is empty. The square in the Muslim section of the city headed by the city mosque is where everyone congregates. We strolled through the old section taking advantage of each narrow alleyway to get a look at the traditional Muslim architecture. At 5:00, the call to prayer "Allah-hu akbar" echoed through the streets and crowds of people streamed into the mosque.



Tuesday morning, we boarded the bus that crosses the border to Pakistan. However, we got off before the border at Karakul Lake. As the bus flew around the curves that wound up to the lake, the mountains loomed over us. It had snowed the day before, so snow-covered peaks glinted in the sunlight. Karakul Lake sits at an elevation of 3600 meters, and the mountains surrounding it are over 7700 meters high. As soon as we stepped off the bus, we were greeted by a crowd of people. One man shouted, "You live with me tonight, yes?" He showed us a letter of recommendation written in English, so we agreed to follow him to his yurt. Steve rode on the back of one man's motorcycle, and I rode a horse down into the basin that surrounds Karakul Lake.

Two men offered to take us on the backs of their motorcycles around the lake, so we spent the afternoon taking in the rugged terrain under the shadow of imposing mountains. The lake was mostly frozen over, and as the wind whipped us, we realized how unprepared we were for low temperatures. Fortunately, yurts, though simple, are surprisingly warm. The yurt is a one-room mud-brick house whose sole energy source is the fire stove that sits in the middle and burns dried cow dung for fuel. The yurt has a dirt floor, but most of the yurt is a step up from the ground, forming a large platform covered with rugs. During the daytime, we sat on the edge of the step near the stove, but at nighttime, the large platform is covered with heavy blankets and rugs, and the whole family sleeps side by side.


Our hosts were Analdin and Buliza, a couple of Kyrgyz nationality. Analdin spoke a bit of Chinese, but Burliza spoke none at all. However, we managed to communicate effectively with a lot of repetition and gestures. As the sun set, we huddled around the stove to keep warm, and Analdin played a guitar he had made himself while Burliza sang along. Analdin played some simple songs and encouraged us to sing along as well. For dinner we ate large bowls of rice with some vegetables. After dinner, we drank more tea, and Analdin and Burliza rolled cigarettes. When we finally crawled between the thick blankets, we slept soundly until sunlight from the small window woke us up the next morning. Outside the yurt, the sky was so clear that the mountain stood out against the blue sky, and the sun reflected off the icy peaks and blinded us.

We hitched a ride back to Kashgar with a friend of Analdin’s. We got back to Kashgar in half the time it took us to ride up on the bus, and we took advantage of the timing to immediately board another 20 hour bus to Turpan, a desert town near Urumqi. The woman who sold us the bus ticket told us that the bus would take us to Turpan. The bus driver said that we would pass by Turpan. However, the next morning, the bus stopped on the highway in the middle of the desert and told us to get off for Turpan. When we questioned him, he arranged for a cab sitting on the side of the road to take us. However, we did not realize how far away from Turpan we actually were. The cab took us to a bus station, where we had to board yet another bus for Turpan.

When we arrived in Turpan, we were a bit disappointed. We had expected another small, Muslim city like Karkyland, but instead, we found a crowded, dirty, semi-developed city. We quickly discovered that we were pretty much the main attraction within the city. As we walked, people shouted out the usual calls of “Hello!” but we were also approached by students of English who asked politely “May I practice English with you?” and then followed us spouting out questions from their textbook. One boy, Oslam, whose English was better than the others’, offered to help us find bicycles to rent. When we could not find a store that was both open and willing to rent out bicycles for a day, he offered us his own bicycle and said he would ask his friend to lend us his.

On Thursday, we woke up early and met Oslam, who had two bikes waiting for us. We paid him and his friend 30 kuai each and then set off to find the site of ancient ruins outside the city. We rode through the old parts of town and passed by low clay houses surrounded by the empty trellises that would bear up grape vines in the summer. The ancient city ruins were larger and better preserved than we had expected. The ancient city of Jiaohe predates the arrival of Islam in Xinjiang and sits on top of a table-top plateau in the middle of the desert. We walked through the dusty streets between the mud buildings under the brutal mid-day sun.

On Thursday night, we ate some lamb kebabs in the square at the night market and then enjoyed the fountain show. Although the fountains were pretty, I couldn’t help thinking that this small desert town should be conserving its water.

On Friday morning, we took a bus back to Urumqi. We found a great Caribbean café, where we enjoyed some curry and rice and yogurt drinks. Then, we took the afternoon to explore the city. We had thought of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, as just a built up city that had lost its culture in development. However, we found that Urumqi is a great mix of tradition and modernity. Despite the high buildings and fancy stores, the presence of Muslim Xinjiang is definitely felt. Friday night, we found the only foreign-owned establishment in Xinjiang – a great bar complete with foreign beers, hookah, pool, foosball, darts, and tons of board games. We hung out and met an American teaching in Xinjiang. All in all, it was a nice, relaxing, end of our trip.

Saturday morning, we boarded the plane back to Hangzhou. I think one of the nicest things about the trip was getting back to Hangzhou and feeling like I was coming home.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Worst Weekend Ever

Since we did not have classes on Friday, Steve and I took a train from Hangzhou to Ningbo on Thursday night. The plan was to go to Putuoshan, a small touristy island off the coast, for a few days. On Friday, we woke up early and bought a ticket that included a bus ride out of Ningbo and then the ferry ride to Putuoshan. However, when we arrived at the docks, we were told that the ferries would not be running because the wind was too strong. Before we had time to process this change of plans, we were surrounded by people offerring us rides to Putuoshan via their privately-owned, thus non-legit cars and boats. We call these kinds of rides "hei che," (black cars), or in this case, "hei chuan" (black boats). Oh, and of course these "hei chuan" were charging us double the original price.

We decided not to try to get to Putuoshan. After all, we were already on the coast, so we decided to check out the area. We boarded the local bus back to Ningbo with the intention of just getting off if we saw anything that looked interesting.

The bus was a nightmare. It was old and uncomfortable, and opening the windows only let in gusts of car exhuast. As we drove through one factory town after another, people crowded onto the bus, jostling and fighting for seats. Our only view was of power plants, buildings and houses falling apart, tractors rumbling past the bus. The woman next to Steve got car sick and began vomiting. When we finally made it to Ningbo, we went straight to the train station to buy our tickets back to Hangzhou.

Then, on Saturday night, I got food poisoning from a seemingly benign plate of pasta. I could not eat anything without throwing it back up again for three days. On Monday night, Steve took me to the hospital were we paid 120 kuai for the doctor to tell me to ask me three times if I was pregnant and then conclude that I had food poisoning. His solution for the vomiting? Don't eat. Thanks. Well, my body was eventually able to work itself out and I am finally back to normal again.

This week is my midterm exam week, and then next week is my midterm break. I am heading off to Xinjiang for a week, where I doubt I will have internet access. You may not hear from me for a while, but I will have plenty of news when I return!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Weekend Hiking Trip


Weekend Hiking Trip
Originally uploaded by penglisha

This past weekend, the whole program went on a weekend camping trip. On Friday afternoon, we took buses to a small mountain town a few hours outside of Hangzhou. On Saturday morning, we hiked up into the mountains to camp for the night. We found a spot that was pretty isolated and unaffected by China's development. The only people around were some shepards, their lambs, and a few people from a nearby village who came for the sole purpose of watching a large group of strange Americans who wanted to sleep outside.



Check out my pictures on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030153&l=25a00&id=4403142
also: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030152&l=5d21c&id=4403142

Nanjing


nanjing
Originally uploaded by penglisha

I apologize for being such a negligent blogger. It has been pretty busy academically now that I am taking four classes in Chinese! However, I am still making time to travel. Two weekends ago, Steve and I spent the weekend in Nanjing. We walked around the city, found an amazing western deli and a fabulous Italian restaurant. The highlight of the weekend was the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre. The museum was really well organized and effective. It is a huge, black marble building with different kinds of media depicting the Japanese invasion of Nanjing in 1937. There were photographs, videos, sound recordings, artifacts from the Japanese army, excerpts from the diaries of Chinese people as well as Japanese soldiers. All in all, it was really fascinating. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty miserable, so I don't have many good photographs.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Suzhou


suzhou
Originally uploaded by penglisha

Last weekend, Steve and I spent the weekend in Suzhou, a beautiful canal town a few hours north of Hangzhou. On Saturday morning, we went to the bus station and bought tickets to Suzhou. On the way to Suzhou, we flipped through Lonely Planet and decided to go to Tongli, just a half-hour bus ride from Suzhou. Tongli is a small canal town that has actually done a really good job of preserving its historical architecture. the streets are cobblestone and narrow, and they curve along with the canals.

We strolled around the town to check out the street vendors and the narrow wooden boats bobbing in the canals. When it got dark, we headed back to Suzhou for a night out. On Sunday, we found a great breakfast spot called Cafe Provence. Then we walked around Suzhou and took advantage of the sunshine, the DVD stores, and the Milk Tea stands.

Check out pictures from my weekend here:
http://middlebury.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029669&l=ef24f&id=4403142

This weekend, I am headed to Nanjing!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

山村 Mountain Town



Originally uploaded by penglisha

Check out my facebook account for more photos of Jinyun:

http://middlebury.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029367&l=8f9f9&id=4403142

I am traveling again this weekend, so expect more pictures next week.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Weekend in the Mountains

This weekend, Qingli, my roommate, invited me to the town she grew up in. It is a small mountain town outside the city of Jinyun south of Hangzhou. So on Friday morning, I left Hangzhou with my roommate, Chynna, and her roommate. First we took the bus to the bus station, then we took a long-distance bus to Jinyun. Then we took a cab up some windy roads into the mountains. Qingli's town is basically a narrow road that leads up into the mountains with houses on either side. Qingli's grandmother lives in a small house that is considered very nice because it has real floors (as opposed to dirt or concrete floors), two televisions, and a seperate building across the street for cooking. Apparently, it is common for some people to have their living quarters in one house and their kitchen in a seperate building.

When we arrived, we just walked up the street to get a feel for the town. People sat outside their front doors peeling oranges, crunching on sunflower seeds, and staring at us. Chynna received the most stares because of her blond hair. A few people called out to us, but we could not understand their local dialect. Qingli told us that when she was little, she only spoke the local dialect; she learned Mandarin in school. She stopped to talk to a few people as we walked. Although she had not visited the town in many years, everybody knew her grandmother, so they knew who Qingli was.

On Saturday morning, we made pancakes with Qingli's grandmother. Chinese pancakes are thicker, more like flat rolls, and they have meat inside them. Then, Qingli's aunt led us on a hike up a mountain path. Chinese hiking trails are not actually for hiking. Most of them are farmer's trails that literally go straight up the mountain. The four of us breathed heavily as we climbed the steep path, but Qingli's Aunt kept up a quick pace and was not eve out of breath when we reached the top. At the top there was a Buddhist temple, where an old man burned incense. Qingli's Aunt chatted with him for a while in their local dialect while we ate our lunch and looked at the view. The we walked back down.

My visit to the country showed me just how serious the pollution problem is in China. Even in the mountains, the smog was so bad that we could not see very far. Also, the littering is a serious problem. Nobody sees it as a problem - they just throw their trash out the window onto the street or into the river. When we were walking down the mountain, I was carrying the plastic bag that had held our lunch. Qingli's aunt told me to just throw it in the woods. I told her I didn't want to litter, and she looked very confused, but she just kept walking. It made me sad to see such a beautiful town littered with plastic bags, wrappers, metal parts, boxes, old car parts.

I am currently writing this from an internet cafe in Jinyun. It is Sunday, and we left Qingli's Grandmother's house early this morning to get a bus back to Hangzhou. However, the earliest bus does not leave until 5 p.m. There are no real restaurants here - only stores and street stands. There is not even a McDonalds! I think this is the first place I have ever been to that does not have any fast food chains. So, the four of us are just hanging out until 5. All in all, it has been an amazing weekend. Everything I have seen in the past 48 hours is completely different from anything else I have ever experienced.