Xi'An

Generally speaking, there was two places in China what I wanted to see before leaving China, first was Shanghai and second Xi’an – Now I’ve seen both! Xi’an is also a bit more than 1000 kilometres from Beijing, so it’s like slightly under two hour flight (yeah, this time I was flying) and could be considered quite close in China context. There was a small misunderstanding when looking accommodation as I just walked into the place which was given me my google maps, but there was no reservation on my name. Usually I always often print booking confirmation with me, but this time I didn't have that so after solving out things a bit I found out that my place was actually on the same street just around on kilometre down the road. Lessons learned: Children, never trust too much on google maps.

Xi’an used to be a very prosperous city because it was the place where the silk-road started. Most likely because of that, the city also needed to have strong defences and on these days Xi’an’s city wall is the oldest and the best preserved city wall in China. The wall is shaped on square surrounding the old city, 12 meters high, 15-18 meters wide and in total 14 kilometres long. Someone have had a great idea to put bike rental places on the wall, as it works as a highway it’s cool to rent a bicycle and drive around the whole city wall loop. Although I have to admit that driving on the wall was a quite bumpy ride, but still a great way to have an overlook of the city. It also gave a nice contrast between old and new because inside city walls the houses were bit older and not that high, but outside city walls there could be seen skyscrapers and other modern buildings.

In physical central of the old city was marked by a bell tower and a drum tower next to that. Mission of those towers were to alarm population of incoming attacks etc. but also just to notify a daily rhythm for people. Around these towers were Muslim quarters, the food street – much bigger and better than the one here in Beijing. First of all it was bigger and the atmosphere, air was smoky and full of aromas because of grilled meat spits, people were shouting and queuing to get to taste best tastes. I had a bit sweetened sticky rice, lamb spit, sesame bread, and “Chinese hamburger” also translated as clip bun. Its like a pita bread filled up with catted meat that is so soft that's its even hard to imagine, some sauce and meat stock. Simple and delicious.

Those were actually the main sights in Xi’an city itself, but the main point is located about an hour outside the city: Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and the Terracotta army. Terracotta warriors were discovered on 1974 accidently by a local farmer when he was digging a water well, now he is famous from that and if you buy a book of the Terracotta warriors, he will sign his name on that book. I’ve seen some pictures from the pits before and heard few stories but still it was something unbelievable!

After stepping into the first pit, a view of 230 meters long and 62 meters wide opens containing the main army of more than 6 000 figures, all real man sized. And it is true that those statues are not just copies made from a one model, they truly have recognizably different facial expressions and clothing related to their military ranking (archer, general etc…). Two others pit had some horse men with chariots, commander’s point – the assumed centre of the army tombs. Bit more than kilometre way from these warrior tombs, is the actually Emperors tomb located but that still remains unopened. Even that the area has been excavated for past four decades we can still only make guess what kind of treasures will be found there in the future.

The Great Wall, Great Company

Saturday morning, April 18th I was waiting at the airport visitors from Finland to arrive, which also did mean receiving some Finnish chocolate and “salmiakki” (salty liquorice) to give a good boost for my studies here in Beijing. Week was planned full of various kind of activities and one highlight absolutely was a visit to the Great Wall, one of the seven wonders in the world.

There are many ways how to get to the Great Wall and we picked to take the train. It was an experience of its own as there was need to be at the station 30minutes before train departure to queue in order to be able to get into the train.  When the gates were opened to the platform people went completely insane, it was like being in the middle of 100 meters world championship final race. Everyone were running like it would be the last train to catch before the worlds end because they wanted to get a seat in a train. I decided not to run and still managed to get a seat, luckily I have long legs so walking fast worked out as an option for me, even that I have to admit that never knew that those small Chinese no matter what age they are can run so fast… This same phenomenon happened on both ways, giving a good laugh both times.

Day was brilliant to visit a great wall, sky was almost cloudless and sun was shining. It truly is now spring, or actually summer if someone would ask my opinion… While entered through the gates to the Great Wall it seemed like there was two options, walk along the wall either South or North and for some reason the Northern section of the wall seemed to be really crowded but Southern one much emptier so of course that was the option. After walking a while I realised what was the reason for that, Southern section was much steeper than Northern one including for example steps rising almost in vertical dimension. The highest peak of that section of the wall was almost 900 meters from sea level (which only several hundred meters less than highest peak in Finland).

But views were really stunning. There was a possibility to see as how the wall continued as far as it was possible to see. It is amazing to think how on earth people have been able to build something like this, especially on the time it was built as the construct work have been based only in human labour. The wall has been built during the time of many Dynasties reaching the total of almost 22 00 kilometres which means that if the wall would have been built in straight horizontal line, it would reach halfway around the globe (length of equator is about 40 000 kilometres), of course majority of the wall has collapse during years have passed and common estimate of walls length is 6 000 – 9 000 kilometres long. At same time, the wall is around 6 meters wide and 8 meter high so I just wonder how many bricks there have been laid down on structures… like I said AMAZING! And now I do not wonder anymore why it is said that the Great Wall is the only world wonders that can be seen from the space. 

Hong Kong – The Little Britain of Asia

Changing the environment first from a “small” city (Guilin) to the countryside (Yangshuo) and then to the metropolis of Hong Kong… So different but so interesting. Of course getting into the Hong Kong is not as easy as changing the country inside EU where it is basically possible just to walk across the border. I went to Hong Kong by bus as it was the most convenient way for me. The bus departure from Guangzhou and drove to the border station, not just some barrier over the road, I mean like a real station! There was tens of busses (plus of course private cars, taxis etc.) which stopped and then all passengers needed to take all belongings and walk through the station: First Chinese immigration control (departure), then Hong Kong’s immigration control (arrival) and at last customs. After passing all this, there was (again) tens of busses etc. waiting and people did board on right busses according to bus companies they were using. That was market by a sticker that needed to put on clothes somewhere on a visible spot, so just in case if you get lost someone can guide you to the correct bus. Felt like being on a school trip :D

Hong Kong is certainly different from Mainland China, mostly because of strong British influence. Streets were narrow, signs were often first in English and then in Chinese, the font on the road signs were similar than used in UK and of course traffic is left hand sided, which I actually didn't even notice before someone mentioned that to me… I guess I was just still used to the left handed traffic from my Erasmus year in Ireland. Besides those few things I noticed, the first impression of Hong Kong was that its slightly chaotic city (so many people in such a small area) – Especially when Im now used to clear Beijing style city plan.

I stayed in a hostel, which was located on Hong Kong Island which is the wealthier and western part than Northern parts located on a continent (Kowloon, New Territories). It was something that was quite easy to spot over there – the amount of sky scrapers, international food places in SOHO area, fashion avenues etc. I heard that in Hong Kong, there are the biggest amount of millionaires compared to size of population. One of the main icons of Hong Kong is Victoria bay and the star ferries taking people from Hong Kong Island to continent. Before subway was complete those double deck boats were the only way to travel over the water, but nowadays they are more like a tourist attraction – So I took the ferry for crossing once and liked it actually much more than subway.

Taking the ferry to continent, the pier is located right at the beginning of “The Avenue of Stars”, the place that makes Hong Kong try to be like a Hollywood without that huge success in my opinion. Basically it is a seaside boulevard were the names of famous actors / actresses / director etc. can be found written at the star plates on the avenue. As every single tourist attraction, even this one has one “must see” thing, the statue of Bruce Lee – The “king” of martial arts in film industry. Been there, done that. Hah!

Continuing north of the city from the Avenue of Stars, there is an area called Temple Street. Names is a slightly confusing because on that area, there is only one small temple so that's why its described also the night market. During daytime that area is silent and empty, but when day turns to evening people start put up their tables and booths to sell whatever they have – mostly this usual “Chinaware” stuff. There are many nice restaurants also around that area, but more interesting than any food place in there were the booths of fortune tellers (which is more connected on the name “Temple Street”). China has a long tradition of astrology and people are still generally quite superstitious in China, or actually to be correct, I should say “in both Mainland China and Hong Kong because people in Hong Kong don’t like to be called as Chinese (they actually can even feel themselves hurted if doing that). Anyways, once I was there, I wanted to try something like that so I asked from few fortune tellers about their price and what they do – and the scale is huge. Its easily possible to spend from 50-500 Hong Kong dollars for that “fun”, I decided to listen what one elderly man had to say as he read my palm and face. But that is something Im not going to write here and it will stay on my own little secret, so if you are lucky enough I might tell you that story personally in the future.

Before I left to China, I took one Chinese language course in University of Tampere (which obviously haven’t help me that much…) and on that course I met Jussi who was going to study in Hong Kong also for this Spring term. Once I was in Hong Kong, it was cool to meet him and compare experiences between Mainland China and Hong Kong. Besides that kind of small talk on Sunday 12^th of April was the Thailand’s New Year (Songkran) and a festival was arranged in Hong Kong in area also called as “little Thailand.” Main thing of that festival was water throwing, or water fight it also could be called. Hundreds of people playing with water guns (or water bottles, bowls etc.) throwing water on to each other and putting chalk on their faces – why? 

Well of course it is actually really fun but also water has a spiritual meaning of washing all sins away and the chalk represents blessing commonly used by monks. After spending few hours at that festival I definitely felt that all my sins were washed away and my biggest wish was that my clothes would get dry before next day, because I needed to catch a flight back to Beijing and wait for the next adventures to become.

Yansgshuo – Chinese Countryside

The city of Guilin connects to the Li-river, which was one of the main water routes within the area, but nowadays it serves as a spot for scenic river cruises. When I left from Guilin our tour group was driven to the piers where “bamboo boats” were waiting for us. Originally these kind of boats were made from a real bamboo and were used by fishermen or traders between different cities, but for convenience (I guess) these new “bamboo” boats were just imitation from original ones because the bottom had been made using kind of plastic because then they were able to carry more people on them (4 in total).

River is surrounded by round-top mountains, rocky shores with tents where people (locals?) gathered for bbq, and green forests were was once in a while possible to see a short peak of someone’s house. The river cruise took by bamboo boat 2 hours and ended in an old XingPing town, and from there on we had a bus transport to Yangshuo town. One of the main highlights were the spot called the nine horse hill, which is the scenery that can be seen on the 20rmb note.

The Yangshuo itself is not that attracting, the thing that attracts tourists more are the surroundings. It is the place where people can discover the countryside living in China by taking readymade tours, renting bicycles, go hiking etc. During whole my stay in China I haven’t seen so many (non-Chinese) tourists in one place, but like I said, the town attracts people and tourism is it main business. I stayed one night in Yangshuo, it was interesting because I found an Oral English school that offers free accommodation and food for foreigners who are fluent in English as an exchange for foreigners to participate on some school teaching activities. For example I held 2 hours long English talking session with Chinese who were practising English in that school, which practically meant having a small talk for two hours whatever things come to mind – Funny and convenient.

When leaving Yangshuo I joined another tourist group which did head up to Longji rice terraces. But before we reached the actual terraces, we stopped in a small small village of the “long hair people.” The name come from legend that women can only cut their hair once in a lifetime, when they turn 18 – which is probably true since the length of the hair is generally between 1-2 meters. That is the place that could be called a dream for a real hard-core feminist. The culture of the long hair people is highly women powered. Women are the ones who do all the job (fishing, farming etc.) and man is the one who stays at home for cooking and taking care of the house. People in the village believe in folk stories and they have a habit to keep those stories alive by performing singing and dancing. And another habit they have that if woman likes man, she can pinch the man’s ass to show interest but man can’t pinch back unless he wants to marry the woman. And I can swear that I kept my hands tight inside my pockets to avoid any misunderstanding since that village is not place for me to live in rest of my life.

After visit in the village, next stop was the Longji rice terraces, which are one of the biggest one in China and are also called by the name of “Dragon’s backbone.” The view there depends on a season, for an example autumn all rice fields are yellow or summer season pumped up full of water which creates beautiful reflection of sunlight. I really have to admit that view was something like that I haven’t seen ever before and as it was a bit cloudy/rainy day, the mist made the view even more mystical. Also by seeing those terraces on own eyes, I can actually understand how hard work it is to harvest the rice. There are no tractors or other machines to make work easier, it is all based on pure labour work with the help of horses / water buffaloes. The village at the rice terraces got electricity around 10 years ago and still there are no electric cookers as the food is prepared using open fire. But I have to admit that I ate the most delicious rice there in my life, bamboo rice: A bamboo filled with rice and vegetables. It was then cooked on open fire and when it was ready, the chef brought bamboo on a table opening it, and I ate rice using the bamboo as a plate. 

Welcome to 21^st century, welcome to China – the land of contrasts!

Guilin 桂林 – A green pearl in the South

Studies had already lasted for a while so I was definitely in a need for a holiday so I decided to start my China discovery trip from South city called Guilin. I was of course taking a train as it’s the “correct” way to travel in China, Beijing – Guilin travel time was approximately 18hrs but of course the train happened to be late for some reason (explained on Chinese…) five hours so total travel time was nearly 24hrs, but luckily this time I had a sleeper bed so it was okay – actually quite comfortable. 

Finally after I arrived Guilin and stepped out the train I felt the heat… Much warmer than in Beijing so first thing I needed to do, was find a place to buy shorts to make my life somehow comfortable.

Guilin is a quite small city (in China scale), only a bit less than 5 million inhabitants, but still everything what I wanted to see there was within walkable distance. The atmosphere in the city was more like in Southern Europe, many restaurants had tables outside on streets where people gathered especially on evening times to have a dinner. One thing that I noticed, is that there was quite much different kinds of seafood available… And it certainly was fresh because in front of the restaurants they often had some kind of buckets, boxes etc. where fishes (or other “sea creatures”) were still swimming. And this guarantee of fresh food, wasn’t only limited on seafood as there were also chickens, rabbits, and ducks etc. animals in cages waiting to “get ordered.”

Days were rather warm in Guilin so it was first time when I was wearing only a t-shirt and shorts but still it felt hot. Despite the small detail that I felt for a moment that I was sweating like a pig, especially after climbing on the top of the Elephant Trunk Hill. It obviously got its name because the hills shape reminds an elephant trunk. After that I could luckily cool down to sit on the river bank and put my feet in to the water and then I obviously needed to try to ride “an elephant.” Chinese people were staring at me as I climbed on the back of the “elephant” because I would say it was about 160-170cm high – but I managed to pull myself up there.

Second challenge was Seven Star Park which is considered one of the most beautiful scenic spots in Guilin. It is huge park (over 40 hectares) with many things to see or do. The Challenge was there to walk some hills up and down to see the camel hill which is a hill shaped like a camel – I guess you probably would never guess that one? After doing that I needed to find again way to cool down a little bit, but at this time I went into a naturally formed cave – nearly 1km long tunnel which has been used more than thousand years on different purposes. Besides all that there were wild monkeys in park looking for a moment to steel food from people, a beautiful area with ponds and waterfalls, small ancient temples etc… So a really good place to enjoy a warm summer day. 

In both of the places there were not much (western) tourists around, I saw less than ten during whole day… and at the same time I was in around five different pictures (that I was aware of..) with Chinese people.

After walking whole day I started to felt slightly tired and needed to rest a bit. There was few kilometres walk to the hostel but I didn’t feel like walking so I hopped at the back of the motorcycle and the guy drove me at the doorstep of my hostel (like a taxi service but faster and cheaper). Some hours of rest and then to check how the city looked like at night. The centre was beautiful! They had used lights to highlight and decorate walking paths and “top-sight” buildings, like the two pagodas. Water is an important element of the city infrastructure so there is many kind of cruises on offer for tourists – evening or daytime. One of the main things is to take a river cruise along Li-river to a city called Yanghsuo, but that is another story to tell.

Western "Fortress" in Beijing

“Somethings just never change” … Have you heard that sentence before? How about have you ever got the feeling while travelling somewhere abroad that it feels or seems exactly the same than back at home?

I do – And now it was proven as I visited in a place that is a gift for the world from Sweden known as IKEA. It was a bit exiting to go there, because I couldn't know is it exactly the same as anywhere else or would it have some Chinese influence. The answer is that it is exactly the same, except here seemed to be much more staff on the work.

But it is the people, not the place that makes the difference. At first I didn’t believe my eyes and after it was hard to hold myself to burst on laugh. Here in China, Chinese people seems to be definitely not hurry at all when they go to IKEA or they just want to be extra sure about buying decisions they are making. Because in the showroom area people were just lying (and sleeping!) on the couches just like it would be their own home.

After a long hilarious walk through the showroom, the moment I was expecting… Food. World famous Swedish meatballs were on a menu also in here (along some Chinese food). I know that eating Swedish meatballs in IKEA is more like a global joke to make but trust me after three months eating Chinese food… Meatballs and mashed potatoes with a brown sauce and lingonberry jam does taste heavenly.

I have to confess that I bought one bag of those meatballs with me when leaving IKEA so later on when I feel like it, I can eat Chinese noodles with Swedish meatballs… And that is something that I call globalization :D