From Yichang to Yangshuo

After leaving the cruise boat at Yichang, we spent a little time checking out the city, first going with our local guide to see an embroidery exhibition (ie shop), which turned out to be an outlet from the same minority community who had paddled us up the Yangzi tributary a day or two earlier.

Many of the products were folk designs -- kittens or koi! -- but some were reproductions of famous paintings, including some Europeans. Klimdt's 'The Kiss' was even more stunning in thread than in paint, leaping out so boldly...

We ate hot pot at a buffet in a larger shopping centre, this time with minimal chilli, then stood in the rain trying to catch a taxi at peak hour until we bumped into others from our group, out for some shopping; our hotel was only a short walk away.




The next morning we joined our next train, a hard sleeper this time. A lengthy trip meant we could actually finish the beer we had been carting around for several days, while entertaining Phoebe by playing Mafia or nearby children -- scientific testing over the trip has revealed
an average time of 2.7 seconds between the iPad emerging and a child sitting beside you.




It was a 4.30 start the next day, as we hurriedly packed up our carefully stowed gear to disembark from the train, and onto a crowded minibus for three hours to Yangshuo, an increasingly popular resort town set in a fabulous countryside of limestone hills jutting up from the otherwise flat landscape.







We have three days to explore it.


- Posted from the ground floor

Book report

WHY ARE WE SO FAR BEHIND in this blog, a number (N=1) of dear followers and readers have asked.

We are, of course, busily doing. Experiencing, not talking about it.

Living in the moment, quietly enjoying the spiritual fulfillment that comes with watching Outnumbered on a large flatscreen ...

And reading, of course. So much easier than writing in many cases. Especially when you find Ghana and ANC suddenly appearing in your sentences, courtesy of the iPad autocorrect.

So: good books that we have read.

First, yes, I have read books on the iPad. It works. Light numbers ... Terry Pratchett and Anne McCaffrey, for example. Currently reading Doris Lessing's fictionalised biography of her parents, 'Alfred and Emily', as recommended by Beth.

However competition for the device -- PvZ is universally popular from Russia to Singapore -- means that reading opportunities are limited. And physical books can be easier, as well as more familiar.

[And -- whinge warning -- even major commercial publications are not really designed or edited properly, with inadequate attention to hyphenation, page and chapter breaks, so despite the neat customizable interface, the ebooks still lack production values. You sort of expect this is Project Gutenberg or Smashwords, but HarperCollins?]

We both plowed through a couple of big compilations of SF short stories -- one of stories that evoke a sense of wonder (presumably wonder that in 2008 you could produce such a compilation without a single woman author), another of the 'new space opera'. Go Elizabeth Moon!

Young adult fantasy favorite was 'The Graceling' by Kristin Cashore -- I suppose I should say Our Kristin as she spent a year in Sydney at one point -- witness six readers before it left us to go to Birmingham. Needless to say there are prequels and sequels ...

Popular science was provided by 'The Face', and all its parts. Key lesson: try not to use cosmetics containing arsenic and lead, and stay out of the sun. Good factoids to drop at dinner parties (memory cues will be needed though).

Just as we were running out, Sylvia and her favorite Hanoi bookshop came to the rescue with:




*** 'The Vagrants' by Yiyun Li -- a tale of small town life in post-cultural revolution China: gripping and sometimes harrowing

***** 'A long, long time ago and essentially true' by Brigid Pasulk: polish famiy saga, tears for the last fifty pages

** *** Two novels written after 11/9/2001 .... 'The terrorist' by John Updike is an exploration of how an American teenager could become embroiled in a bomb plot. Beware fanatical imams is the underlying message. By contrast a 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' by Mohsin Hamid is a take from beyond American liberalism, a much more nuanced and elegant tale of a star recruit to corporate America.

It's hard to visit Vietnam without feeling driven to read something about the place, given our political formation. A photocopied version of 'Vietnam and Other American Fantasies' by H Bruce Franklin seemed appropriate, a terrific series of linked essays on the perpetuation of lies and distortions in American political and popular culture, with a diversion into the now largely forgotten history of popular resistance to US involvement in Indochina and a brief excursion into how Star Trek episodes reflected changing views.

Perhaps most breathtaking tale is how the Nixon administration created public concern around US servicemen 'missing in action' to recast America as a victim and seek some moral high ground, cynically creating a myth that Vietnam was continuing to hold American prisoners after the war -- a myth perpetuated in a series of Rambo et al movies and which persists even today.

Finally, Cambodia. 'A History of Cambodia' by David Chandler is really helpful in getting a decent perspective both on the ancient -- Angkor Wat etc -- and the Khmer Rouge period. Fairly accessible, but above all solid and reliable.




- Posted while practising Peranakan

Yangzi yearnings

Our next three days and nights were spent aboard the worryingly titled MS Fortune, a modest four-tier cruise ship of around 100 souls, mostly local tourists.




When not in our pleasantly appointed cabin, or discussing local events with the recently appointed 'local guide' (just for the boat, mind you), we were lazing in the bar, enjoying the Captain's welcome dinner or the Captain's farewell dinner -- the next day -- or sharing our fabulous vocal talents in front of the karaoke machine.




The boat, or perhaps the ship -- C S Forrester was never clear on freshwater vessels -- took us down the Yangzi River from Chongqing to Yichang. The Yangzi is just like the Yarra, only about a kilometre or two wider.




We passed through the famed and occasionally spectacular 'three gorges' to the similarly styled dam, which has lifted water levels upstream so far that many, many riverside towns and villages have had to be relocated and people rehoused. Loss of farmland has accelerated a drift to towns and into new service jobs, including tourism -- hence some of our visits during the trip.




The first of these was to the so-called 'Ghost City', at the remnants of Fengdu, flooded some years ago as a result of the damming of the Yangzi.




The centrepiece was an old temple with detailed displays of the nine levels of hell, as well as statues of guardians of the gates etc.




Most of the surrounds were actually built or rebuilt in the twentieth century to produce a sort of minor theme park around the temple.







Nice to see Tripitaka and his followers make an appearance, although no one in China could accept the fact that there was a Japanese TV show in the 1970s following the adventures of the monkey god and his monk.

Our second side trip was up one of the tributaries of the second of the three gorges, where we were poled along on small bamboo boats up the creek, getting pulled along on ropes at one stage. Apparently the boatmen used to do this naked, but now cotton shorts make this unnecessary ...




The trip gave us a little insight into the lives of a particular minority affected by the damming, as villages had to be relocated, as well as a chance to appreciate some of their handicrafts, particularly embroidery.

The third major activity was the dam itself, which relies on a relatively modest fall -- about 40m -- but a massive amount of water. Our first experience was going through the locks at midnight, along with several other vessels packed tightly together. (Daytime, it was the turn of the transports.)




The next day we disembarked for an overview of the dam itself. It has some 30 generating units, each churning out 700MW ... I think that's equivalent to 10 Loy Yangs (A&B) for those Victorians out there.







The scheme is also intended to mitigate the downstream flooding that claims many lives each year, admittedly by flooding quite a number of upstream settlements once and for all, as well as assisting river transport. In fact there was relatively little transport on the river, apart from the cruise vessels, but perhaps this is a seasonal thing....

The other notable event of the cruise were awards, presented at a soirée in the poshest stateroom on the ship. Thanks to Dick and John and Sheila.


- Posted from the 20th floor

Monks, monkeys and mosquitoes

The next three days of our China trip were for the most part very hot and humid -- and occasionally exhausting -- as we walked around Mt Emei, both a beautiful nature zone and a site of importance to local Buddhists.

Both were able to be harnessed usefully to tourism, and provision of jobs and incomes to former farmers.

After a morning exploring a local park, watching tai chi and exercise groups, we left Chengdu behind, beginning our day's travel with a visit to a giant Leshan Buddha built into one face of a gorge. Fortunately we chose to see it from a boat on the river rather than climb up and around it.








Then off to the Baogue temple, our base on Mt Emei.




Being a monastery, this had simpler rooms and much more basic toilet facilities than our group has encountered so far. Serenity and simplicity were the byword.




This did not extend to the settlement below, which was all about the tourist, and extended not just to common menus among all the restaurants, but also to some recently manufactured natural wonders -- something we found more of the next day as we visited the 'Golden Buddha' and then walked up the mountain to a second monastery for the night.





The 'Golden' originally referred to the roof tiles of the temple at the peak glinting in sun; today it is more spectacularly incarnated in a giant gilded statue, flanked by half-scale elephants, put up by the local government and the local temple -- who said the Party was antagonistic to religion?




Restoration included replacing old living dwellings, as well as upgrading TV reception ...



The result is a vision worthy of the name and status of the site in the eyes of Buddhist devotees, some of whom were known to jump off the surrounding cliffs in their enthusiasm. Hence the official advice.




After our haul up to the Buddha, it was down again -- some needing assistance due to their inability to run more than a half marathon -- before walking up the mountain to our resting place for the night.




We carried bamboo sticks to frighten off the monkeys, should this be necessary. One section of the path up the mountain was through a wildlife reserve with warnings about not feeding the monkeys (except of course with food bought from the reserve attendants). The main monkey encounter actually was the next morning, when Phoebe's room was raided.




Despite fears, hardly a mosquito was spotted. So far we have seen more pandas than mosquitoes in China -- although lots of spectacular dragon flies.

Dinner at The Hard Wok cafe, aka Lucy's, a tiny little shack built onto the side of the mountain path, just within a mobile phone light reach of the monastery.




Going down means more time to enjoy the wonderful scenery, as the actress said to the bishop, and so it was the next morning.







While some rugged individualists insisted on walking all the way, more sensible people changed from Number 11 to a different bus and opted for an early entry to the hot springs, with different pools demonstrating the fabulous food dyes now available.

Back to the tender care of the inestimable (and possibly mulitple) Patrick, who had organized all the necessaries at Baogue temple, including overnight washing and instant breakfasts -- essential given the early start to our day-long bus ride to Chongqing.


- Posted from the rooftop bar

Pandering to fussy eaters

After Xi'An, off via a hard sleeper to Chengdu, to get up close to pandas at the breeding research centre there.




The origin of this species is apparently still somewhat mysterious ...




We arrived very early in the morning, and were whisked off to the centre for breakfast and a video on the difficulties of supporting pandas to reproduce -- to quote one informed Melbourne source, this is a species that just doesn't seem to want to survive. (To be fair, Josh, it does eat a range of types of bamboo, it just prefers toast and vegetate.)

However, they do have an extraordinary appeal, driving some visitors -- who were supposed to be in Shanghai -- to make helpful donations to gain a cuddle ...




Despite our early arrival, it was already very hot and humid as we walked around, leading to the purchase of extra t-shirts, and driving most of the adult pandas back inside into cooler enclosures and out of view, while fortunately the teenagers lolled around, not worried about possible sunburn...







We also saw some relatively newborns. Child protection laws prohibited photos being taken however.

But as in zoos worldwide, when the giant pandas fail to appear, you can always get serious footage of the reliable reds, walking their territories.







Other Chengdu highlights included a show, including an amazing display of changing faces. Sorry about the photos; you had to be there (or have seen it on BBC2).





- Posted from as Phuket as we get

Evidence for grandiosity gene 'compelling', claim researchers

A soft sleeper train refers not to the mattresses, but to the fact that there are only four bunks in the coupe, and a door to close ... rather than the six bunk open coupes of the 'hard sleeper' carriages.

Our new tour group leader, it turns out, has a couple of games to bring a new group together on a slightly cramped train ride, notably squeezing as many as possible into one compartment and playing 'Mafia'. Jokes about the judge being corrupt slide past while police and innocent bystanders suffer shocking deaths and complicated pleas of innocence go unheeded ...

Morning brings Xi'An, a modest city (ie 3 million people ) with a long heritage and some interesting old buildings, but which only took off tourist-wise after the discovery in the 1950s of the 'terra-cotta warriors', dating from the first emperor of China in the 3rd century BC.







This emperor Qin was also responsible for the initial creation of a Great Wall, unifying smaller sections into a continuous whole, and other major military works. He also standardised weights, measures and political thought, meaning book burning on a massive scale.

However he also reputedly spent a long time planning and building his tomb (a largish hill), where he would be buried together with the empress, concubines, servants etc.

Choose your own reason why.

The story goes that he also planned that a mass of soldiery would be buried with him around the mausoleum, but some forward thinking official persuaded him to have terra cotta replicas built instead, including of chariots and horses, archers and spearmen.




A sort of underground fort was built, with the officers gathered together in one room, while there were large areas roofed over for the mass of soldiery. Then everything was covered over and lost to memory, apart from wanton destruction in the revolt of the peasant army against emperor's successor.




One large chamber was discovered in the 1950s by farmers digging a well, giving said farmer a lifetime occupation signing his book at the souvenir shop. No photo: you have to pay...

Although some soldiers were still standing on guard when uncovered, many have broken, and restoration is a major task.




The skills of the artisans who produced individual portraits of so many soldiers remains obvious after 2200 years, even though the brilliance of the colored paints disappears as they are unearthed -- so for the moment many still remain below ground.











- Posted from our sickbed as we await recovery from gastro

Bubbles, birds nests and other Beijing bits

Other things we did before leaving Beijing:

1. Briefly caught up with Ningyi and Amanda -- before they fled the capital for a long weekend in Thailand.

2. Found a good laundry service near the hotel that our group leaders didn't know of -- $1 a kilo seems a reasonable rate.

3. Visited the main Olympic complex, at the end of the new (long) subway line, to enjoy renewed opportunities to purchase kits, glowing toys, fans, postcards, water, icy poles and far, far more ....







4. Spent more time in Tienamen Square, shamelessly exploiting new-found celebrity status.







5. Bargained ruthlessly but ineffectively in purchasing silk shirts and dresses. The threat of Hanoi, let alone Hoi An, had little effect. Perhaps we should have just moved on to the next stall...

6. Ate rather well -- see forthcoming post on food.

7. Visited a day training/activity centre for young people with an intellectual disability, joining in with musical activities witness appropriate gravity.




8. Discovered that a ginger massage involves rather a lot of ginger.

9. Got very wet trying to reach the Summer Palace, but gosh, what a pleasant subway trip.

10. Decided that yes, Beijing would be a place where we could imagine staying -- despite the persistent smog and the deadly electric motorbikes.




Finally, we joined Willie Nelson and a host of cover artists back on the road again, now with our new group: the euphonious Phoebe's followers.




As we took our first overnight 'soft sleeper' train trip to Xi An, and the famed terra-cotta warriors, little did we suspect the drama that awaited....




- Posted when wifi permits