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By Hannu Berghäll
Location: Tibet and China
Date: November 18, 2000
So I was in Lhasa, spending my last few days there
before taking the bus (masochistic?) to Sichuan-province and Chongqing.
The last days in the capital of Tibet I spent in the excellent company
of Aussie Tim and Britt Joe, and the three of us had a lot of fun
going to nightclubs and discos, dancing with the local girls, renting
electric go-carts on the Potala square and then racing around amongst
people there on the square instead of staying in the designated
area for the cars (the owner running after us shouting "No No!"),
playing pool in the park, going bowling (first time in 17 odd ears
for me), going to the pub, and in general just enjoying being on
the road and not having to go to work the next day...
The bus trip was said to take 80 hours, but I was
counting on closer to 100. It would be lying on a bed (yes, they
have sleeper buses for these long journeys - otherwise NO WAY I
would have done it), or rather a mattress that it turned out I had
to share with a spitting, chain-smoking Chinese. The bed was too
short as well, the breaks few and far in between (i.e. for food;
everyone had to take care of their natural needs which we did stop
for every now and then). One meal stop a day, a longer one for about
2 hours, but then it was back on board and snacks until the next
day. And 30 other passengers littering the floor with sunflower
seeds, wrappers, rubbish...
When on the third day we were approaching Chengdu,
the capital of Sichuan, I decided I had had enough. I had paid 560
Yuan for the ticket to Chongqing, another 5-8 hours away, but since
it was 4 pm I made up my mind there and then I just wanted to see
Chengdu again as well. Last time was 1994. Besides, Chongqing is
said to be rather boring whilst Chengdu has some sights of its own.
So off I jumped, lost 60 Yuan on the ticket price, but it was worth
it. Chengdu turned out to have become almost as modern as Hong Kong,
with high-rise buildings, shopping malls, everything new new new
and shiny. Still, some parts of town still retain their old atmosphere.
In Chengdu I also noticed another change from 1994: As some of you
might now from own experience, China and the Chinese haven't always
been seen as very friendly towards visitors. Rip-offs, the old (now
abolished) system of charging "foreigners' price" for train and
plane tickets and entrance fees, the rather unhelpful ways of Chinese.
people when you did try to talk/ask them something... But things
are changing. Quite a few people in Chengdu spoke English (young
students, that is), not one single time did any shop owner or the
like try to rip me off, and on walls in the town was painted big
slogans saying "welcome friends from abroad and home" and similar
things. Attitudes change...
Panda's and shopping around and just experiencing
the street life was all I did. Life-size Arnold Schwarzeneggers
met me everywhere (cardboard ones in shops); he's making big bucks
by lending his face to adverts for any kind of Chinese electronica:
VCR's, DVD players, tape recorders... Bet though he hasn't got anything
else but Sony and Panasonic at home himself. Outside a row of clothes
shops they had a truly odd way to get customers to go in to have
a look at least: Every shop played loud pop-music, and then each
shop had a guy on a stool outside, dancing away in just his normal
outfit of shirt, tie and trousers, all the time waving his arms
and pointing into the shop in tune with the beat. Ridiculous it
looked, but apparently it works. Would it back home? I doubt that...
Mobile phones and everything that comes with them
is absolutely the biggest selling item in China. In Chengdu, there
is a whole block (if not two?) where all the shops concentrate on
mobiles. Maybe around 100 shops next to each other. On the streets
outside these shops street vendors sell "leather" cases for the
toys, and holders, and anything else used with them. For a while
I wondered what the people with lists of numbers were offering for
sale, but later it was explained to me that what they sell is mobile
numbers and beeper numbers. Even though China is getting very modern
very fast, the superstition about good and bad numbers is still
very much alive. For example, number four in Chinese is "si", with
the "s" spoken with an almost "z" sound (hard to describe in written
form to you guys). The word for "death" is also "si" in Chinese,
with a very small difference in pronunciation from the sound for
"four". Therefore, no Chinese person wants a phone number (or street
address or car registration plate or...) with the number 4 in it!
Also, number 8 is "ba" in Chinese, what it sounds similar to I don't
remember but it's very good to have "8" in your mobile phone number.
Therefore there is apparently a market and a living to be made from
offering people the number they want!
----------------------------------------
I left Chengdu on the newly built highway, and in
a super deluxe Volvo bus I was in Chongqing in less than 4 hours.
I had heard in Chengdu you could and maybe also should take this
bus in the morning, buy a ticket for the boat trip down the Yangtse
river which I wanted to do, and then see what little you might want
to see of Chongqing town that same day. True, the town didn't look
very interesting. Already at arrival outside the train station I
saw how just a small area of old buildings remain there on the first
hill that the town is built on, and surrounding it there is all
these skyscrapers and shiny metal and glass. So sad to see, but
the Chinese haven't got much of a taste. Everything just has to
be ultra modern and preferably with Chinese characters in gold,
wherever appropriate and needed...
The boat ride on Yangtse river through the three gorges
is said to be one of the highlights of a visit to China, and true,
they are rather impressive to go through. Chongqing was full of
agents and companies selling tickets for their/these boats, but
since they all seemed to charge the exact same amount for the tickets,
I settled for a company with friendly staff. I decided to go in
a 3rd class, 6 persons dorm, while a British couple I had met there
in town went for a 1st class cabin for the two of them. Another
reason to go with that specific boat and company; spending 48 hours
on a boat not being able to speak with anyone can be a bit annoying,
but now I at least had company. So off we sailed at 7 pm from Chongqing,
me having gotten a Dutch couple into my dorm (the Chinese tend to
put foreigners and Chinese people in separate rooms if possible
- and true, thank god for not having to share with, most likely,
5 chain-smoking Chinese men; probably they would also have turned
up the volume on the TV in the dorm to maximum, as Chinese tend
to do. God, do I sound like a racist? Hope not, I'm just trying
to give a true impression of what China and Chinese can be like).
Anyway, the evening we set of the weather was nice, but then the
first morning we woke up to rain... It was grey and boring and cold
and so that whole first day was spent in the cabin. Never mind;
it's day 2 that takes you to the gorges. Since that day was rainy
too, though, the gorges were maybe not as impressive as they could
have been. Also, when we mid day were supposed to do a side trip
to the (said to be even more impressive) three little gorges, we
on board were told they were flooded due to the rain. Instead, we
were supposed to go and see something called "two little gorges".
We five westerners were herded the same way the Chinese enjoy to
be lead when sightseeing, by a CITS (China International Travel
Service) guide that took us to one minibus out of 15, and so of
we went up the hills for an hour, before we were taken down a steep
hill on steps, until we came to the banks of a smaller river. This
is where we and about 10 other westerners, together with 100 Chinese
in their uniform typical sightseeing plastic caps, that they always
dress up in when they go touring in groups, were supposed to get
into long narrow manpowered boats for 40 minutes of rafting. Yes,
the two gorges we passed were even more narrow and spectacular then
the three bigger ones that the passenger boats can pass through...
In nine years from now the dam will apparently be
completed, and then waterlevels will rise up to 70 meters on the
Yangtse. More than 2 million people will have to be relocated, and
all along the river trip I could see how water level markers were
already pointing out where the new water level would be. Under these
water level markers there was often a village/town that would disappear,
and above the markers there were shiny new bathroom tile-covered
buildings that the people would have to move to. It's an enormously
gigantic project, and even international experts have said it is
madness to put so much money into one single project as China is
doing here. Still, it's going to provide China with 20% of its electricity.
But what if, just if, the dam cracks one day? Basically all of central
China would be washed away, and tens of millions of people would
drown. Shanghai, the 15 million inhabitants town, would be washed
away into the ocean. Still, the Chinese are a stubborn race, and
so they might pull it off...?
Anyway, they still haven't reached the point of no
return on the work, and through the construction site of the dam
I sailed into Yichang town after 50 hours on the boat. Yichang was
not that special; all I did was book a ticket for Beijing for the
next day, and after some Internet in the morning I boarded train
49 towards the capital. I had opted for hard seat of all things,
as I thought this would be my only train ride in China this time,
and I thought "well, I made 74 supposedly hard hours on a bus, why
not 21 on a train?". Plus, the ticket was half price compared to
hard sleeper. I was surprised though, when I got on board: seems
like the days of complete chaos on the hard seat carriages are over,
at least on the major routes. Hard seat used to be sold to anyone
and as many as there was passengers, which on some routes meant
you had to share your three person seat with four others, while
at the same time trying to avoid the guy(s) sleeping between the
feet of the ten people sitting facing each other there. Aisles were
full of sitting/sleeping people on pieces of newspaper, people were
jam packed, sometimes there was no space to sit down, one just had
to stand up the whole journey. People also smoked all the time,
and rubbish was dropped right there and then when you needed to
get rid of it. Spitting, one main hobby of the Chinese it seems,
was practised by everyone and everywhere on board...
Now though, there was only so many passengers as there
was seats, and signs on the walls told everyone "no smoking" and
"no spitting or rubbish throwing", with easy to understand symbols.
And blimey, it was respected! The usual attitude amongst Chinese
when it comes to smoking is that it's a very manly thing to do (96%
of Chinese men smoke), and not being able to "take it" is seen as
something weird. One man sitting opposite me on the train tried
to light a cigarette, but when I pointed at the sign on the wall
above me he smiled and left for the area between the carriages.
There was a constant row of women with trolleys much like air hostesses
walking the mid aisle of the train, with food and drinks for sale.
There was no blaring Chinese music or talk shows on any loudspeakers
(compared to 1994 when sleeping on a train other then during the
10 PM to 6 am break was impossible), and so my 21 hours on board
went by quite smoothly... I even managed to nod off a few hours...
----------------------------
The capital Beijing... It's so very much a showcase
for the Chinese. This is not "China", this is just a city that the
Chinese use to show the rest of the world that China is modern,
good, part of the rich countries. It has become VERY much more modern
since 1994, and the central parts are full of shiny new glass buildings
- although, they are not that tall. No real skyscrapers as in Hong
Kong; why I don't know as the capital is very widespread and so
building upwards could save some space? Anyway, it's quite pleasant
albeit the modernities and the sometimes very sterile buildings.
Do you remember how west used to laugh at the communist countries
with their wide streets perfect for military parades but oh so empty
of cars and traffic on other days? For China's part that has changed
too; the Beijing rush hour is horrible and what during daytime might
take 20 minutes in a taxi takes 60 minutes in the late afternoons...
My main aim in Beijing was to find out how I could
get to North Korea. A country with less than 500 western tourists
a year just has to be seen, and besides: it's the last chance to
see such a Disneyland. I spent a week checking with their enormous
embassy here in Beijing, checking with their official travel agency
about times and prices, and also asking the Swedish embassy for
advice. Turned out their embassy doesn't issue visas here, one has
to go via their travel agent. So I did, and found out that a 5 day
tour would cost... 1545$! OK, I knew it's an expensive country,
but since there is no other way around it if one wants to get in
I was prepared to pay. Five days would actually turn out to be day
one arriving at 2 pm, and the fifth day I would have departed at
7.30 am, so 5 days would in fact have been 3 1/2. OK, that would
have to do. But, what finally made me not go was the fact that I
don't have a return visa for China. True, China has an embassy in
Pyongyang, but as the Swedish embassy pointed it out to me: IF something
makes me NOT able to get a visa in 1 day, I'm in seriously deep
shit in a very unpredictable and expensive country...
So I guess it will have to wait then. Even though
that country is starting to open up, it will according to my resources,
take ages before anything really changes there. It will not be as
with east and west Germany, no, North Korea is so very much poorer
than east Germany ever was that the South Koreans are very afraid
of a fast reunification. So the country will still be there in half
a year or so from now. I have time to go later...
For anyone who wants to read some stuff about that
weird country, here's a link: "http://www.stat.ualberta.ca/people/schmu/nk.html"
-------------------------
Another one of my aims in Beijing this time was to
find out a thing or two about the apparently vibrant music scene.
Already more than a year ago, somewhere along the road on my travels,
I read an article in a Newsweek magazine about the punks here in
town, and so I had decided to seek them out and see what's happening.
Via some websites I managed to read about various groups, I managed
to find out about a concert here in town, and went to see mainly
crap female bands play. Following night I went to see one of Beijing's
bigger rock bands called "Thin Man" play at the same venue, and
there I also met an American-Chinese guy called Kaiser. Turns out
he is the guitarist in band "Tang Dynasty", that I bought CDs with
when I was here 1994 already. He also works for the website "Chinanow.com",
and so two days later I am invited to his office to get some freebies.
A Thin Man t-shirt and cap (Chinanow is their main sponsor), a guidebook
for Beijing, and a card that gives me 10-20% discount in some of
this towns pubs and restaurants. Thanks, Kaiser!
On Halloween I went to see my first real punk concert,
18 bands were to perform that night! The room was jam packed, but
the bands took too long time in between before they changed. At
5 am when band number 12 was on stage I just had to take a taxi
back to my hotel... Still, before that I had heard bands like Reflector,
Ouch!, Unfilial son, Uncivilized... Many of them quite good actually.
Good 1977's happy fast punk rock. Some of the bands even feature
westerners in them, such as Sakari from Finland on drums in Uncivilized,
and a Texan guy on base in Brain failure. One has to do something
on ones spare time, while studying Chinese here... Well, one must
say the Chinese. have got the green hair and the spikes, the leather
jackets and the chains, the attitudes and the pogo dancing and the
music. They are not many, but they are there...
I have also seen experimental music, indie, pop, metal...
The picture is getting clearer: There IS "alternative" music out
there, but it's hard to find and not that popular or common. CDs
are not out, a few bands are released on cassettes, mainly compilations.
Still, fun to have and to listen to...
And so I thought I was soon to leave Beijing, but
one thing has led into another and now it seems as if I might be
staying here for a while. I have actually got myself a job here.
Yes, believe it or not but I am now an English teacher. It all started
with me meeting, by chance, a Kiwi guy here that I had originally
met in Pakistan a few months ago. He just happened to be in the
right bar the right evening and became the manager of that place.
He gave me the phone number to a guy who monitors a school here
in Beijing, and so when I phoned I was more or less instantly hired
as an English teacher. ORAL English that is; I don't know jack shit
about grammar, but just reading out from a book pronouncing things
perfectly is fine, even manageable by a Swede. I don't make a lot
of money, but hopefully, soon, enough to sustain my life here. It's
dead boring to teach, I already think after a week of it, but I
felt I wanted to try at least. We'll see how it goes, I'll give
it another week or two and then I have to decide whether to extend
my visa again or whether I leave for South Korea. Until then I start
getting settled here in Beijing. It's funny having stopped for this
long. People on my hotels street, in their shops, recognise me by
now as a "new neighbour", and wave their hand and say hello when
I pass. I start to get to know the town better, and know by now
where places are...
And Beijing really seems like a place for old backpackers
to hibernate over the winter. Not only me and Jack, the Kiwi guy
managing the bar, but also Joe from Lhasa have turned up, and so
has Neal (who's also teaching English here) whom I met in Pakistan
too (but never at the same time as Jack). Me and fellow musketeer
Joe will probably continue make the town and it's bar street (yes,
there is a street called just that, and that's where the western
style bars are) unsafe, and the bar owners there richer.
Now this email has to be considered written and done,
and will be sent. It's time to go out for a drink, maybe? It's Saturday,
after all...
Hannu
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