Food, Food, and more Food

I slept till my sister called me to wish me happy birthday. I was nice to hear from her. The conversation was short since I ran out of minutes on my phone. I went for my wanton meal, the last ones I would have since it would be my last day in Shanghai. Afterwards I went to Jujubee Tree and had afternoon tea and treats there while I killed time until Corey got off work to hang out with me. I had thought about going to “Long Hua Si” but it was in south Shanghai and I didn’t know if I would make it back in time to meet up with Corey.

Temperature just keeps dropping here day by day. The wind is icy cold and cuts sharply. It is almost 5 degrees C.

Corey met up with me at my hostel after her work and we walked at a nearby night market street. She and I both enjoy checking things out and trying things out. We both like to eat, look around, and just hang out. She’s heading to “QingDao”, yup the same place that invented the beer. I enjoyed hanging out with her and glad we were able to meet up in Xi’an and travel together.

Size 4 is a Size Large in China

Got up, had my usual wantons and afterwards I went shopping with Mrs. Hsieh and her friend Ellen at “ChiPu Lu” and “Henan Bei Lu”, a Shanghai International Clothing Distribution junction. I ended up spending 420 yuan for 4 nice jackets. I learned today that a female size Large is a size 4 or 5 in US. I had fun shopping and checking out the creativity of people in fashion design. Some of the stuff is pretty good. So much creativity, I like that.

Afterwards I went to Mrs. Hsieh’s for dinner. They had hot pot. I had a soup I made myself with roasted chestnut, cabbage, carrots, potato, tomato, bell pepper, tofu, shemeji mushroom, and turnip. While the soup cooked, a sweet aroma filled the air and I knew the soup is going to be excellent. It was the best meal I’ve had since I left the States. It was so good and healthy. I ate the whole thing and surprised Mrs. Hsieh. She later told me how I could think of even possibly eat the soup without any meat in it because it just didn’t look tasty to her.

"Glad you didn't"

Woke up with the alarm and couldn’t get up. Didn’t want to go to Mrs, Hsieh’s. I was extremely tired and needed more rest. I pulled myself out of bed and headed out for the metro by 8am. I made it to the ChungShan station by 8:30am where I met up with Mrs. Hsieh at Starbucks with my two bags of gifts for her to help me take back to US. All her neighbors were Taiwanese here for work. Mrs. Offered me breakfast and I had decided to accept tea and fresh grapes. She informed me the shuttle to the airport is 20 yuan and this is much better than what the hostel suggested which was to take a taxi for 150 to 200 yuan. I actually wanted to take the German hydro lift trains to the airport but my flight was too early and it would not be in operation then. Although she was very polite and a good friend of my mom’s and suggested to host me but it looked like it would of troubled her to host me. Glad I didn’t take her up on her I’ll host you if you needed to but glad you didn’t thing.

I decided to walk to Jade Buddha Monastery from her place. I knew it would take one plus hour. I ended up passing the airline office and talked to the agent. I bought fruits for yuan bananas and apples and pear. In case I ran out of money I figured I could just live off fruits.

While walking I felt the stagnant chi on my back and other places. I knew I had to walk to smooth out my energy. Since my meditation is weak, I have not been consistent in my practice. It has been more of a slow struggle but certainly effective through time.

Made it to Jade Buddha Monastery I stood in the main hall. I felt a light coolness in the air. It was a very familiar comfortable feel that consistently draws me near a monastery. I visited the old Jade Buddha image. It was pretty, a bit tilted forward. I asked the Buddha to help me see through my dears and not to be afraid in traveling in India via Bangkok and Nepal. I asked for continual guidance to the changes I would like to continue to make in my life.

I ate at the famous vegetarian restaurant in the monastery. They had DimSum and a lot of the dishes were sold out by the time I made it to the restaurant. I sat next to a Hungarian woman whose husband is here teaching business at a private school for 3 weeks. She said Eastern Europe is different not as wealthy as western but still very beautiful. We both had two things in common, time and digestion. We both had time so we both walk everywhere. Digestion isn’t that great so we are both very careful of what we eat.

After lunch I heard Dharma Instruments being played so I followed the sound. I saw services for the deceased being done in two halls. It’s a group of monks and another in red robe, usually an older monk in red. The chanting monks are easily distracted and some seemed a bit bored. I saw that dealing with energy of grief, death, and passing on is intense. So it is easy to loose focus and be drifting out of the body. In the Manjushri Hall there was a group of almost 10. The people just chatted away while the ceremony was being chanted as if they were not participants and as if the memorial service was not happening in front of them. It was such an odd sight. In the Earth Store Hall were two ladies, a mother and a daughter. They sat faithfully with their palms together quietly throughout the whole ceremony looking focused and attentive.

As I exited the Monastery I had this thought, “The method itself is solid and a sure thing. Just practice and walk the path, sooner or later, will reach the goal.”

Friends in Shanghai

I checked out of the hotel I was in and with a map in my hand I walked towards the Jade Buddha Monastery. I learned it was nearby. I decided to hit a whole bunch of errands along the way. I went looking about on how to load up on minutes for my phone. I went all over in circles recommended by different people. I ended up in a news stand next to a travel agency after attempting to withdraw US dollar at a nearby bank. My attempt was unsuccessful. The ATMs here is just not like the ones in Beijing at WangFuJing with RMB or US Dollar option.

I saw the travel agency and decided to step in and book a ticket to Bangkok, Thailand. The first available seat was Saturday morning, the first flight and the cheapest one available. While waiting for paperwork to go through I stepped out and saw the news stand right outside and loaded my phone with minutes. I saw Victor’s message about inviting me to lunch and lunch was happening in 30 minutes. I called him and he said he was already on the road actually heading my direction and could swing by to pick me up with his driver. I told him I was waiting for my ticket to be issued and we worked it out so that my ticket would be delivered to me at where we would be dinning so I didn’t have to just wait around and waste time. I like such services.

So I stood at the corner waiting for him to pick me up. I had not seen him for awhile. Victor looked thin, pale, and frail. He looked a lot more like his mother since I last saw him. Victor’s grandpa just passed away and he was busy with getting the funeral all set up and keeping the round the clock recitation going for his grandpa. He didn’t take my offer in assisting him with anything. I recited on my own and did transference for his grandfather and the rest of his grieving family. During a difficult time like this, what I saw Victor do was handle everything with class, and integrity.

I met a lady in the car who was introduced by Victor as her friend. Her name was Kim, she like Victor both study Chinese Traditional Medicine at the Shanghai school. She was a very sweet person.

On the ride over to lunch, Victor did his tour host thing by pointing some things out on the map. He even offered to set me up at a studio and it would be 300 yuan to cover the details. The place would be by the hotel I was at and it would be in the west side of Shanghai a bit far from the downtown. All the arrangements were done within a phone call of just inquiry. However, I politely turned down his good offer and decided to head for the youth hostel by People’s Park instead. I also asked Victor about how to get US dollar from the banks and shared my troubled attempts in the morning. He pulled out his wallet and handed me US dollars for my convenience. I just handed it to me just like that and said he’s got no use for it right now and it would be okay for me to return that money to him after I return to US. Well, this really took the pressure off of me to locate the currency.

We were dropped off at his Indonesian Friend’s farewell party for lunch. Well, as it turned out, Indonesian time is like Indian time, everything happens three to five hours later than the said time. We arrived at 12:30pm and we left at 5:30pm and lunch happened at 5pm and not 12:30pm. This friend of his is also a classmate at the Traditional Chinese Medicine school of Shanghai. They both agreed that they learned more from reading old classics on medicine than from their teachers and clinical practice. Victor had limited time since he was in the midst of arranging funeral services etc… He told us we were welcomed to stay at the party but he would leave first. Both of us did not want to try to find our way back downtown without Victor. This party is located in the southern part of Shanghai. It didn’t even looked like Shanghai. It would be the equivalent to “East” side of anything town in the US. So we quickly ate within 10 minutes and the party still had not started. We ate under cooked rice and curry that was cold. With the over starvation of lunch that ended up being dinner, everything cold, undercooked rice, and chucking it all down, all and all just made my stomach turn and I felt sick.

It took a long time to flag a taxi down. In the taxi Victor really took care to make sure we were all set for the rest of the night and whatever else he thought of that needed to be taken care of. In the taxi he told the story of his grandfather’s passing. He said when his grandfather died his eyes were open. After reciting a few hours his eye lids closed and cheeks were rosy. He became a believer in “Ju Nian” reciting for the deceased. He was really enthusiastic about this practice and recommended it’s existence everywhere possible. I reminded him that they do and they are. In fact his grandma is involved in a few herself. This was news to him and to his delight.

I checked into the hostel into a room full of guys from Europe. They were all very nice and took care of me. I heard this room had better heaters and it sure turned out to be nice and toasty.

The internet here is free and very nice. My family is upset that I am in need of borrowing money again and that I have no plans of returning yet and is heading to Bangkok. So they are a bit unfriendly right now.

I walked on NanJingDong Lu to the Bond. I enjoyed the walk. This part of Shanghai is creative, civilized, beautiful and clean. The building of 100 plus year old motifs were beautiful even in the dark with night light to highlight them. The modern buildings were nice too and the lights that lit them were beautiful. I took the 2 yuan ferry across to the other side of the bond. It was cold and windy.

I like all the shops here. I was happy to have fresh squeezed orange juice at one of the shops. My body likes fresh fruits and juices.

I went on a dumplings and wontons hunt. I stopped by a dumpling shop on the bond. I told them I wanted vegetable dumplings without meat. The lady nodded his head and but her eyes betrayed her head. I knew she was not quite straight about something. When my dumplings showed up it was meat dumpling. I took it back to her and she tried to wiggle her way out of it but there is no way out of a meat dumpling because it was not a vegetable one. They are clearly distinctly different. Finally she said they didn’t make vegetable dumplings but there are vegetables mixed in with the meat. She gave me my money back. I walked away disappointed in my dumpling wonton hunt.

When I returned to the square, there was a live band playing polka music and people were doing the polka on the street. It was cute to watch. Christmas is alive here in Shanghai with full decorations too.

The day seemed long and it really felt like two days spent in one. It wasn’t dragged out boring long. I just covered a lot of ground in one day.

Friendly Coffees

The French man on my top bunk complained about the one thing he despised in China, being approached by female prostitute 9am in the morning who wants to be his friend and talk it over coffee. In fact right before my eyes I saw a few of this happening on the street. The women all looked like common locals. They are young and they scout out single male alone, approaches them speaking English, very friendly and keeps talking and walking side by side with them. What gives it away is their scouting, their hunt and their over forward friendliness for a local Chinese girl. This French man and I had a fun show and tell of the souvenirs and fits we got. He has a seven year old daughter and he lives for her.

I took my time and didn't roll out of the door till 12pm. It was too late for my Shanghai wontons. I headed out to Jujubee Tree restaurant vegetarian restaurant. This one has Taiwanese flavor and I had a blast in checking out the picture menu. I sat in a table of collective single customers. I watch them eat a nice lunch box special for 16.5 yuan. It had a seaweed vegetable soup, rice, gluten tofu stew, fruits, fresh vegetables, cooked nuts, mushrooms bamboo stew. It was all very colorful, healthy and more than plenty to eat.

Afterwards I walked in HuaiHuaLu and discovered it was full of department stores. I just looked around. The hottest happening place was a pastry store that sold roasted chest nut. The line was long and it wrapped around the building outside.

"If only had I met you a few years ago"

Slept in. It was nice. I slept till 9am. My mom called me on my cell phone. She was choppy in her voice and reminded me how I’ve gone over board about prolonging my trip and refusing to go home when I have run out of money long ago. Her voice and energy was like needles and tooth picks stabbing my ear drums. It’s amazing how one can do that even over the phone across the distance of a big Pacific ocean. I realized my mom has a habit of making promises and is unable to deliver them and then goes into great distress. She kept telling to not buy anything for her but if I was to that I should buy clothes one size smaller and this and that. Moms can be very funny at times.

I discovered that “Gong De Lin” vegetarian restaurant is only around the corner from the hostel. They have lunch specials and they have wontons, Shanghai style with big stuffed pockets. A big soup bowl full of 11 wontons was 11 yuan. I felt so happy like I was in heaven. I learned that they sell out by 11:30am and I must get in to order it between 10:30 and 11:30am. The lunch special noodles were Hong Kong style. It was yellow ramen in soup with two bowls of vegetables and tofu goodies. You are suppose to dump the two condiment bowls into your noodle soup and eat it like that. I think I will just eat the wontons everyday because I cannot access Shanghai style vegetarian wontons back home.

Two Shanghai ladies sat across from me when sharing a table together. I shared my dish with them. The mom was nice and said she was a Buddhist and showed me her recitation beads. Her daughter lives in Paris and has returned to give birth to her baby girl here due on the 16th. They both commented on how I looked like a student not 32 years old. How amazing it has been that I traveled all over China myself. They asked if I would publish a book and is curious to see the photos I have taken. They also offered to translate it into Chinese for me.

We had a long conversation about how in Shanghai I would not have survived this long being single. It would not be approved by all the friends and relatives and it would not be the single life that would kill me but the chatter from the public that would. That I would just die drowning in the sea of chatter about reasons why I am not married. That I must have problems, deficiencies etc.. That woman at age 40 is liken to rotten tofu and men at age 40 is like a flower. That people see men single at that age as someone who has aspiration and has concentrated on a career and is to be admired for such focused pursuits. It was fun talking to them. The mom to be said,”If only had I met you a few years ago, I wouldn’t be pregnant now and married. It would be good to be like you with a backpack on and going all over the place.” Both women were nice and we chatted till the place closed at 2:30pm.

I decided to tackle shopping today after another cup of freshly squeezed juice. I walked far and liked it. Having enjoyed hiking 8-10 hours at a time on mountains etc.. for a month and a half in China, my legs looked forward to continuing of such workout even in the city by walking everywhere instead of taking the metro, cab, and bus. I went to the wholesale distribution section of the town by the Garden Square. I walked and shopped until my legs were tired and my mind could no longer concentrate. Then I headed back for the hostel to call it a day. I stopped by the juice shop and had a cup of fresh melon juice at the Garden Square. Then by the time I made it back to “Bu Xing Jie” Pedestrian Street, I stopped by the juice shop and ordered another cup of fresh juice this time black plums with pear. I attempted to locate Jujubee Tree Restaurant but it was another half an hour away and I was not interested in walking another hour round trip so I stopped at “GongDeLin” again and stayed there till closing 9:30pm.

At the hostel I hung out at the internet area. I met a guy from Hangzhou studying French and art. He studies art in Hangzhou at the academy and is studying French in Shanghai. He dreams of going to Paris to further his study in oil painting. Met another man from Europe who teaches art history and is trying to get a job in Shanghai at a private school for 10 hours per week at 20,000 yuan a month plus housing and allowances etc… That’s good money I’d say.

I hung out till 3:24am and was still well caffeinated. But I decided to turn in to rest so I would be able to be up and running in a few hours instead of sleeping through a possible beautiful day for more walking and exploration. I turned on the heater in the room because I was the only one who knew how to use the remote control. I can’t believe everyone else slept in the room in the cold.

To Shanghai

Although I knew there was an option of taking the overnight ferry to Shanghai, I decided to pass. First of all it was sold out. But most importantly, the waves were chopping and it would not be a pleasant ride without getting totally nauseated or worse. I also learned from the Wu’s that there are buses directly to Shanghai from ShenJiaMen at ZhouShan. I quickly picked up my packs and checked out of the monastery. I waited at the bus stop properly but the buses just passed me by for an hour. Then I saw a person stepping out to the street to flag down a bus so I did the same. I guess I shouldn’t follow rules in this case since none of the buses were complying.

I took the 20 minute ferry to ZhouShan where ShenJiaMen was. There was a bus station at the wharf for those going to Shanghai but there would not be one till a few hours from now. I passed and just followed instructions Wu had told me which was to go to the main long distance bus terminal in town. He said there was a bus per hour to Shanghai. It was ten minutes away. I arrived at the terminal and the buses for the next few hours were all sold out. I had forgotten this was a weekend and that tickets were sold out in the morning. The bus at the wharf dock had seats for bus to Shanghai that was earlier than the one at the terminal. I decided that I would just stay at the terminal instead of going back to the wharf. I ended up getting the first available ticket departing at 4:20pm which allowed me to arrive in Shanghai 12am in the morning. It was not the best thing to arrive in the dark in a new town or any town but it was what I ended up with.

I started to call around to locate a place to stay. The two hostels in Shanghai I called were all booked. I found myself no where near a computer to research and my phone was running out of minutes. I could not upload minutes on my phone in the news stand outside of the terminal. It only took local phones, mine was set up in Shannxi. I realized I could text message but I didn’t have enough credit to make an actual voice call. I decided to change my mind about not connecting with friends in Shanghai. I text’d my friend Corey and Victor. Although I still needed to solve housing problem on my own, somehow being able to connect with people I knew made me feel better about arriving in Shanghai 12am in the morning. I guess this was also the only way I could push myself to connect with friends in Shanghai.

On the bus I met Lai Lu from Guang Dong. She now resides in Shanghai and her boyfriend resides in ZhouShan. She said relationships are hard to predict. Although she has been with her boyfriend for 6 years, she said she’s seen to many surprising breakups around her. Lai Lu is a buyer for clothes. In her twenties, she owns a store in Guan Dong. Now her sister manages it while she buys clothes at wholesale from distributors in Shanghai.

On the bus I sat next to a beautiful noble man from Zhou Shan. He just had the classic look of scholars from classic paintings. I borrowed his cell phone to call Victor after reading his text message that his grandfather passed away. I just wanted to give my condolences right away.

After landing in Shanghai, Lai Lu and I shared a taxi because the metro shuts down at 11pm. After Lai Lu was dropped off, the taxi driver started the meter instead of continuing the count. I showed up at a hotel somewhere in North West Shanghai. I checked into my room on the first floor. My roommate was an older British woman who bolted the door so my room key didn’t do much good. I had to wake her up and she was not pleased about that. She complained of not getting much sleep etc…. while I unpacked for the showers. After the showers she was still going at it. On top of that I realized the hotel rooms are either facing the dance bar or the very loud and big generator. I could feel the vibration on the bed. The room being across from the restaurant, café, the room smelled liked it too. I decided that I needed to get into another room and the receptionist was nice enough to put me on the second floor. I ended up having the entire room all to myself.

Fan Ying Dong

For the rest of the day I followed the crowd like a common Chinese pilgrim from temple to temple. It was fun actually to scurry about like everyone else from bowing cushion to another.

I heard a story of a man talking to another man. One young man said to an older man, “I took refuge and then everything in my life got smoother. I am a true believer so I came to burn incense and bow.” I saw in the older man considering this was a good idea, something for him to do also.

When I returned to Putuo Shan I decided to take the shuttle up to “Fan Ying Dong” the Image Cave. I first heard of this cave from Rev. Heng Sure’s stories of visiting this cave with his teacher Ven. Hsuan Hua and a bus load of delegation. Before the start of the trip, Ven. Hsuan Hua told everyone to be on the trip they each had to memorize the “Universal Door’ Chapter” on Guan Yin Bodhisattva. When most people have paid their respects, Rev. Heng Sure was left with ManiPing the last two of the group to take their bows. Ven. Hsuan Hua reminded him that he had memorized the “Universal Door Chapter”. So while kneeling down, Rev. Heng Sure recited the “Universal Door Chapter” and ManiPing recited her name. Then he heard her say, “Oh you are just what I’ve always imagined you would be, a sweet, kind, gentle, nurturing, female Bodhisattva.” Upon hearing this Rev. Heng Sure opened his eyes and looked up, what he saw was a big, strong, tough ,male, looking very much like a General of an army speaking to him sternly. “Hm! Quit mess’n around!” He said he quivered. What he saw was not what ManiPing saw yet they were both Guan Yin Bodhisattvas speaking dharma to each of them according to what they both needed at the moment. This cave if famous for sightings of Guan Yin Bodhisatta.

As I hurried like everyone else to this famous cave and stuck my neck out like everyone else looking here, looking there. All I saw was a cave. It was fun, just to try. It was something I have always wanted to do ever since I heard the story.

Then I went on a long walk all the way down to the beach. It was very nice. I enjoyed the sounds of the waves. I enjoyed the trees I saw and all the natural beauty. I thought to myself, I could get used to living on this island.

Ten Yuan Poison

I got up for the 5:30am porridge breakfast for 2 yuan. Food was served by laymen. The tables were round, the following food was common for breakfast all over China, porridge, pickled cabbage, peanuts, steamed rice buns, fermented tofu, and sometimes fresh stir-fried vegetables. After breakfast I dashed out to the bus stop hoping to ride the first bus down to the wharf at 6:30am. Well, the bus was late and I made it down to the wharf two minutes before the 7:30am departure.

A couple from Fujian named Wu who ran a construction company at ZhouShan also stayed at the same monastery, was there for the porridge breakfast, and was also there at the bus stop. We were all racing to get onto the first boat to LuoJiaShan. Mr. Wu instructed me to get in line to hold our place in line and he would get the tickets. I stood in the boarding line with his wife handing her money for the ticket and she shook her head, with the palm of her hand pushed my hand that held money for them away. She told me that her husband would not allow it and that it would be okay to accept their generosity and hospitality.

By the time we made it onto the boat, it was full, not a single seat was available. Then we were ushered to the VIP room where the VIP seats were where we had our own room for an extra 10 yuan per person. We had no choice and entered. Mrs. Wu sat between us. She was a faithful Buddhist from Fujian who loved reciting the Great Compassion Mantra and lighting incense. I also love the Great Compassion Manta. In fact the first time I heard it, I was still a Sunday church girl who had no idea what it was. I just liked the sound of it and wanted to learn it from memory so I can sing it because I liked it. So I sang it like a song for a month and memorized it that way.

Mrs. Wu was fixated on the TV where it showed the Karaoke version of the Great Compassion Mantra chant. Mr. Wu kept asking curious questions from me. I started to feel dizzy and was growing a large headache. I felt sick like one would on a boat in the gut but mine was in the head. I was also preoccupied with the 10 yuan the service man was suppose to collect. Thoughts ran through my mind hypnotically, “Maybe the service man would forget to collect the money”, “Maybe Mr. Wu will pick up this one too”, etc…… that all these temptations would be okay. When we docked, I saw Mr, Wu discretely passed money to the service man as we exited. I saw that inquired the fact that the service man did not come to collect our money. He told me that it was okay. The “it was okay” rang like a bell in my head, it was the exact same thing that was running across my head.
I slowly got out of the ferry and climbed up the steps. I found myself in a weird state. I could not move my body easily and I found no particular reason why I couldn’t. My chi was blocked, I was heavy all over. My chest was shivering. It alarmed me and I knew something was wrong.

I could not get my mind off the 10 yuan. I knew there was nothing wrong with the Wu’s hospitality. But it was the running thoughts of greed, cheating, getting a bargain that was driving me mad. My body was experiencing a lot of internal distress. Then I realized clearly, this was the 10 yuan poison.

I quickly bowed in front of Guan Yin Bodhisattva and asked for her guidance. I told her I was not greedy for the 10 yuan, I have it in my hand except the couple would not take it from me. I am crystal clear that there is no free lunch and no one gets away with anything karmically. I put the 10 yuan in the donation box for the couple and prayed on their behalf. They don’t have children and would like to have children so I prayed for them. Then like magic, all that lifted from my body like feathers. Just like that it all went away.

How simple, how easy, how effortless without struggle, poof, lifted, gone, just like that. Whatever it was, whoever it was, none of it mattered, it was poisoning me. It doesn’t matter if it was my mind, my thoughts, my beings. It was not the issue of me or mine, where it comes from, where it goes, it does not matter. I didn’t want to dance and tango with it by analyzing it with my college educated intellect; by over analyzing it, labeling it, locking myself in chains by brewing over it and beating myself up with it.

This was my lesson, this was the point of this journey into Putuo, that not everything has to be a struggle in my life. I knew I had learned my lesson and it was time to move on and head for Shanghai instead of staying here for days.

Ningbo Tien Tung Si

Today I set out to Tien Tung Si. After many detours, I finally arrived at the Monastery. I didn’t get proper instruction on where to get off to get on to the proper connecting bus. I went with all my packs just incase in the spur of the moment I decided I would proceed to Putuo Shan. I really didn’t want to stay at that very weird Youth Hostel again. It was very unlike all the other Youth Hostel I came across all over China. The reception at the hostel wanted me to stay another night by leaving my luggage there.

While hiking into the monastery from the bus stop, a man named Han “Cold” from Sichuan ended up walking with me. Well, it was the only path, and there were just the two of us and no one else. He ran to catch up with me to chat with me. He wanted to carry my packs for me but I insisted on doing taking care of my own luggage. He was thin and looked like he could not handle my packs at all.

It was drizzling and Cold was taking a side trip from his job to burn incense and pray for a business deal to go through. I wanted to check out the old architecture out in the back where the Stupas were. Han didn’t want to go because that’s where the dead were buried. I wanted to pay homage to the past masters. I didn’t care for Cold’s work schedule, we were not traveling together, but somehow that was not what Cold thought.

Given the slow start in the morning and all the mix up on the bus, it was quite late already and I knew if I wanted to head to Putuo Shan, I would have to be at the wharf soon. It would take some time to get to the wharf by local public bus. I wanted to make sure I got to the island before sundown because I needed to locate housing on foot for the night. So I ended up skipping out on the rest of touring in Ningbo and went straight to the island.

I took the 2:10pm ferry to Putuo Shan. When I arrived onto the island I got onto a shuttle to Pu Ji Si to look for housing for the night. It was full and I was referred to another place, smaller, humbler and further off called Da Cheng Si by Thousand Steps Beach. People were nice here with a sense of humor and it was less touristy than the other place. I paid 15 yuan for a dorm bed and ended up with the entire room to myself. I later found out the 20 yuan bed was night and day compared to the 15 yuan. But, I preferred minimal crowd even if the accommodation was marginal. To stay warm tonight, I plan to sleep with all the blankets in the room.

After dropping my packs off I went to walk the grounds. By then, all the doors were shut and only a handful of people were still running about burning incense. I saw a woman kneeling in front of a set of closed doors and dropping two pieces of moon shaped wood onto the ground. I watched her do this from afar to give her privacy. When she was done and got up I approached her to inquire what she was doing.

It turns out this woman was from Fujian and came with friends from her town. I asked if she could teach me what she was doing, she shied away. Everyone else encouraged to her show me how to “Pu Gua”. The instructions she gave me was to hold the two half moon shapes in my hand, ask a question, then drop the pieces together and see how it lands. Depending on how it landed the answer to the question was a clear yes, a clear no, and you must be joking. I asked what I should do after Shanghai my last stop in China. I asked about many other countries, India was a clear yes and that I should enter India via Nepal and Nepal via Thailand. I have no idea how I would go about pulling that off.

Canals of Suzhou

It stopped raining so I went for a walk in the morning to check out the canals and the rest of the waterways. During my walk I decided I would leave and head towards Ningbo. I still feel very frail and weak so I splurged and took cabs instead of public local buses.

The bus ride to Ningbo took 4 plus hours of which I slept most of the way. When I got to Ningbo terminal it was already sundown. There was confusion in the communication with the youth hostel staff. It took awhile to figure out the directions they were giving me was for a different long distance bus terminal. They gave instructions without street names but with landmarks. But the landmarks were not significant it was labeled under as ”the tall building”. Well, tall buildings were everywhere. When it was all sorted that we were not talking about the same bus terminal I took a cab.

The first cab driver wanted to meter me without telling me how much it would cost and when I inquired into it he refused my service. I got onto another cab for 15 yuan. I was no where near walking distance like the person on the phone at the hostel instructed.

I checked into the hostel and I was placed in a room directly above the dinning area where the TV was being blasted on some Chinese tear, jerking, drama. I turned the heater on to warm up the very cold room and left it running and went to the connecting café bar. I sat there and asked the bar for hot water. I was not told I would be charged for hot water until I got up to leave. It was the first for me experience getting charged for hot water. The server said I should known of such a rule. I walked out of there feeling weird.

I continued to stroll around the water and ended up at a nearby park where a group of 50 people were all doing jazzercise. They were all women and was being led by a man who was very much into arm movements that are liken to Japanese style. It was fun to watch them move. Then another small group was getting started as the jazzercise group ended. This group was being led by a female who was into aerobic dance and concentrated on floor travel. It was fun to watch them too.

When I returned to the room totally tired and ready to rest I noticed how my room did not warm up. I asked for the reception to come and check my heater. I told her it would shut down automatically after 2 minutes and confronted her that she must have known this already. I questioned why she would lie to me and put me in a room without a working heater. I must have looked really sad and helpless because she told me not to look at her in such a vulnerable way. I was so tired, I was on the verge of tears. She ended up putting me in a different room with a working heater. However, I found out later that the window in this room didn’t shut.

In fact the whole place looked great but had major flaws in architecture design. The windows were designed in ways that didn’t shut. The restroom doors were too big that it would jam into the wall. Overall, it just looked like someone skimped on the building of this place.

Humble is an Understatement

I woke up early to meditate before we all head out as a trio to do our final parting. My bus was later than their trains. But I wanted to part together so I got up early and left with the guys. It was a good thing because it took time for the public local bus to get to the long distance bus terminal.

I got onto the 9:55am bus to Suzhou. The brief two hours on the road felt twice as long in my weakened body. After arriving at the Suzhou long distance bus terminal, I took another local bus to the Youth Hostel. I checked in and dropped my bags off and inquired about the local sights to see. I had decided that I would go and see the Humble Garden in the rain anyways in my fatigue and all. I just didn’t want to spend another day in a bunk bed that’s all.

At the Zhou Zhen Yuan, I thought to myself that I could handle living here. It was very nicely laid out with beautiful landscaping. Everything was balanced and harmonious. Walking in the rain was not the best thing for me, I got pretty wet and grew a headache. I found myself physically keeling over from fatigue and decided to exit the grounds. I stopped at a porridge shop and ordered porridge.

Although I was very tired, I wanted to walk the streets. Suzhou is very cute with its waterways like LiJiang, like Venice. There are lots of Korean restaurants here and in Hangzhou there were lots of western restaurants.

I spent the rest of the evening laughing my way through Shrek II and Sky High at the hostel. I must have stank from all the barfing because the staff at the hostel all kept their distance with me.

Roasted Sweet Potato

I had two bananas for breakfast and the guys had hand pulled noodles. I actually ordered noodles myself but mine came with onions when I asked for none. It also came with meat broth when I asked for none. I just couldn’t eat it. The guys ate it instead. Joe can’t live without noodles and Hiyohe can’t live without rice each meal and I can’t live without vegetables.

We took the bus to Ling Yan Si where JiGong was ordained. We did a quick run and as out of there really fast. We got onto another bus to the Historical Street for lunch. We had a late lunch at a restaurant. I passed on food and just drank tea. Both the guys were feeling very sorry for me at this point. I must have looked really pathetic. Joe bought a roasted sweet potato from a street vendor for me to eat. All of us ate it. It was really good. It was the first solid food I was able to eat. It made both of them very happy to see me eat something.

On the touristy Historical Street one of our main attractions was to visit a Chinese Medicine Museum. It was interesting. We also watched people perform pouring of tea Beijing style.

We strolled around West Lake some more just to have something to do. But the cold wind arrived yesterday for the official on set of winter and it was cold. We were so cold that we decided to go find a coffee shop to sit and hangout. Well, we ended up in KFC because we wanted to be left alone once we sat down. We really just needed a warm place to hang out.

Then we stopped by a market to pack for our journey tomorrow. Joe had a long train ride back to Hong Kong. Hiyohe was heading north to meet up with his friends to head off to Korea together. So they both ended up packing the same kind of food for the road. I picked up nori and more fruits for my bus ride to SuZhou tomorrow.

When we returned to our room another bunk mate moved in. He was asleep. I looked at this older man and listened to his breath which was heavy and in distress. His body was in tension from anger and frustration. I felt sorry for him. What he brought to the room and the air was a kind of stinky, slimy, intoxicating, thickness. He had drank earlier before bed.

The three of us packed at night so that we would not have to rush the next day.

Barf! Barf! Barf!

I woke up this morning at 3:45am in pain and rushed to the toilet to throw up. I continued to do so for the next 11 hours. I kept track of the number of times I threw up until the 15th time then I lost track after that. It was all very gross and a terrible thing to have to go through. It really takes so much energy to throw up, I would just crawled back into bed. I was sweating hard without a fever. My back burned as my kundalini kicked in to help with the healing process.

When I first threw up I thought about the people who do this regularly to stay thin on purpose. I just can’t imagine anyone wanting to do this on purpose. I was sad that Princess Di lived this way for years on a daily basis.

In the afternoon toward the end of my endless barfing sessions, something was ripped out of my chest. Whatever it was, it was very old, and it clung onto me for lifetimes. I think all this barfing had to do with that. It was purging all the toxic poison that was buried so deep and long in my chest. It was a good thing. My digestive track did not agree it was a good thing though.

I can’t believe what had just happened in the last 24 hours. I can only recall two times in my life that I threw up. Once was when I was 4 or 5 and I was on the verge of exploding with Chicken Pox. The other was in 5th grade when I had a fever of 103 plus.

The guys did West Lake together on bikes. I had done my West Lake tour yesterday. They checked in to see how I was doing. I was feeling better in the evening and we went on a cheap internet café search. We came across one that was right next to a fruit shop. I bought fruit to replenish the many losses of the past 20 hours.

Strolling Around West Lake

It didn’t rain this morning. I got up late to recite and meditate. I didn’t officially roll off bed till 11am. I went for food at the Historical Street and checked it out in day light. It was Sunday and all the locals showed up as well. It was quite a fair and fun to watch people.

I really like the steamed pastry with red beans in the middle. I also liked up for hand pulled Silky Candied Caramel. I took photo of the workers making it. One of them assumed I was a journalist. The candy when eaten fresh was crispy, flaky, and fun.

I went to walk West Lake. It was overcastted and grey on the verge of rain again. While walking I slipped on mud. Something I normally don’t do especially with the camera on me. When I fell, the camera on my neck hit the ground too. I think that hurt more than my body. The odd thing was, earlier I even had trouble with the camera itself.

I walked the West Lake, all around. I think this is not the season to see it. I hear spring is really gorgeous. Most people who do the whole circle do it on bikes. I decided I could see more on foot. It’s really easy to miss things when going on wheels. There is a very relaxing quality to the whole feel of the place. I can see why people of the past wrote infinite poems on West Lake or while they were hanging out here not wanting to return to their home land. I walked around looking for a good spot for tea but I didn’t locate anything to my liking with a proper view so I passed.

After returning from my walk, I met my new bunk mate Hiyohe who is from Tokyo. He went to Canada for college. He is traveling searching for inspiration. Hiyohe wants to write philosophy books and change the world that way. His is a Leo and says he can’t live without having rice in every meal. His thing in China, is stir-fry rice with an egg. The other new bunk mate was Joe from Hong Kong. He is on vacation for a weekend. He works at a copier center. The two guys are from different islands but they are similar in manner, tone, and in general all over. The three of us hit it off alright. We all have similar bed time habits, which was to read and write before we rolled in to sleep.

Teresa Tang Karaoke

Knowing when the morning ceremony for the monastery was I got up earlier than that to do my own ceremony so that I can be done in time to join the monastery one. As I headed out the door to join the monastery ceremony, I noticed the grandmas were all up sitting in their bed tucked in the blanket reciting their own ceremony. Everyone was vigorous and dedicated. It was something they did every day. Not for show, not for anyone else. It was a beautiful sight to see.

I joined the morning ceremony in the main hall, and realized I was the only one in my room who did; I quickly noticed the residents all paid special attention to the morning ceremony because there were guests in the nunnery whom they thought would partake. They were disappointed when only I showed up after putting out their best for the chanting.

During the chanting I realized the style the ladies chanted in were in Shan Ge style. Sung like mountain songs were sung in China, with a high nasal pitch strong enough to break through valleys, mountain, hills, and then rolling back in echoes. I am not used to this sound at all.

I inhaled breakfast, it was a bowl of porridge. I was going to pass on breakfast fearing I would miss the first shuttle down to the gate where I can catch the bus to Tunxi, Xidi, HungCun but the residents wouldn’t have it my way. They like the fact I joined in on their ceremony and was a self starter kind of a person. Well I am much younger than the grandmas and I have been in monasteries so I have a little bit of experience. Well, I didn’t want to miss my bus for the day so I ran after breakfast in hopes that I would nit get sick from all this rushing.

The bus ride out was amazingly beautiful with the mountains of Huang Shan as the backdrop and old farm lands with wooden barns to set the scene, it was a place for an artist to stop and do some art. It was beautiful, as beautiful as nature inhabited by humans with modern convenience could offer.

It was raining outside and I contemplated on whether or not I would visit HungCun where Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was filmed. I saw the sign for it on the road and the bus driver did not stop where I was suppose to get off. He forgot and I wasn’t sure enough to call out for him to stop. So there went that possible plan that I was still working on. Just like that it was decided without any deciding.

The bus was ride was a joyful one with beautiful scenery on the outside and Teresa Tang’s karaoke being played on the bus. We all sang the classics. We were like little children on a school bus out on a field trip. It was fun.

When I made it back to the bus terminal at Tunxi where my backs were in the Youth Hostel, I passed by a bus that was heading directly to HangZhou and it was leaving in half and hour. At that moment I made a convenient connection and decided to head straight to HangZhou and be done with AnHui.

I ran to pick up my pack and ran back to the bus terminal barely in the nick of time. As I approached the bus, another driver pulled me over and said his bus was the right bus and I was boarding the wrong bus. I was confused. In fact all the other bus drivers were lobbying for their bus. Then a female ticket taker flagged me down and asked me what bus did I really want to get on. I told her the express non-stop bus to HangZhou by means of the highway. She instructed me on how to get the right bus ticket at the counter by giving them the code for the bus. I mean, who know the code off hand? It’s not even listed anywhere. The people at the ticketing counter are not usually the most helpful. They are merely functional and don’t have the time for questions.

I think the ticket taker lady really saved the day. It was a good thing because I afterwards while on the bus, in the parking lot, I saw how others got snagged and was on the other bus to Hangzhou that was not the express and would not take the highway. What did that really mean? It meant it will drive for hours picking up riders until the bus was full at all times, all the way to Hangzhou. Being on the highway means you can’t just stop to pull over to pick up a rider. Plus there wouldn’t be pedestrians on the highway.

The express bus was new, clean, and heated. I had peaked at the other buses, they were old, stinky, and dirty. After getting on the right bus with the right ticket in my hand I asked to sit in the front seat and was approved by my neighbor. I quickly dumped my packs off and ran to the empty back seat while the bus rolled off. I looked to the right, I looked to the left, I looked to the front, I looked to the back and double check for visual clearance for privacy because I needed to take off layers of stinky wool shirts that I had been wearing for the past week. It was the only place I could change on the bus. The bus was heated and it would be much warmer in Hangzhou than Huang Shan was at 5 degrees and dropping each day.

I arrived in Hangzhou in the evening. I must have looked really tired because everyone who I came across handled me with extra care. Either that or people are gentler and nicer here. Hangzhou is known for its leisure and culture.

I was able to finally check into the Youth Hostel off West Lake after walking in the fog and rain. It took me a long time to figure out the entrance to the hostel is through an alley, a back alley.

I met three English teachers from Wen Zhou college who had a Thanksgiving buffet for 100 yuan in Hangzhou. Tonight, their mission is to find Mexican food in Hangzhou. I passed on their invitation to join. I decided to wash up first and check out the Historical Cultural Street.

The Pureland Grandmas

After finally getting dropped off at the gate I dashed up to Rou Shen Dian where there the hall of flesh body masters of the past are kept. I wanted to bow to it. It was dark and I asked for housing at this monastery. I was told that I could pay for a hotel room that is in the hotel that is in the monastery. Something didn’t feel right and I proceeded to leave.

Upon exiting I saw a group of grandmas from Henan and asked them where they were staying for the night. They told me they were staying at the Pureland Nunnery for 10 yuan a bed a night. Sun had set, it was drizzling, and the fog had rolled in. Many of the elders were still up the monastery. I decided to head up to light their path for their way down because they didn’t have flash light to see where they were going. The grounds were dark by now, wet and slippery. I guess I was suppose to be there to light their path.

On the way out of the monastery to where we were staying I showed them the cut away that they didn’t know about. They had come from the back of the mountain from a day of pilgrimage and didn’t know their way to the nunnery in the dark and rain. I showed them the way since I had just come from the front gate and did cut through the open play ground and could make out where the fence openings were even in the fog..

Upon entering the nunnery an old nun was bowing the Ten Thousand Buddhas Repentance. She consulted me on identifying a character. I was least of all possible qualified people she could consult. But looking around I realized I was the most literate of all in the place. The characters were in standard form not the current modern simplified form the main land Chinese were raised on the last 50 years. I can tell the texts were printed in Taiwan. It was nice to see someone taking the time to bow to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Repentance.

The room was simple with beds covering the room. All the women somehow let me have a bed all to myself. Their explanation was it would be warmer for them if they curled together. I think they were just being polite. But really, I was the young one and I should be yielding to them. But for some reason they were all yielding to me as if I was the senior elderly in the room.

There was hot shower water in the nunnery. I could not believe it. I was so happy to have a place to sleep for the night in a monastery, and on top of it all, a hot shower! What a gift, all for 10 yuan.

I could see the residents of the nunnery were really intent on being disgruntle about the presence of the guests. Wanting to make sure we understood how much of a trouble we were and how much we were taxing them and that we should know better how to serve ourselves and not the other way around. Well, I can understand all of it. First of all, we really didn’t know where things were and how to get to where so we needed to be guided and ask silly simple questions repeatedly, especially from a group of grandmas who had a short memory and was hard of hearing, and moved very slowly. And if guests are too much of a hassle then guests should not have been invited in, the door should not have been open for overnight stays.

In the evening I recited while everyone else chatted in the room and watched me recite. Then I meditated with my ear plugs on for an hour and half. It was a good thing to meditate before going to bed.

I Could Fly?

I woke up this morning feeling joyful and physically light. I decided it would be the day to dash down the mountain. Chen had two female roommates who moved in with her last night and they teamed up to head down the mountain together.

People had different takes on how long it would take to get down the mountain. I wasn’t sure at all. After two days of seclusion in meditation, I felt I could fly. In fact, I ran down the mountain in just two hours. I had no idea how fast I was going until I was down in the valley at the main gate and checked the time.

While running down the mountain a passed a young man who decided to be competitive and run too. On the way down I saw lots of people who were hiking up that looked like they were in pain. It’s a difficult hike I my opinion and they should have taken the cable car up and then hike downward.

The trail from the main gate up to the central mountain is rigorous. And then from the central area through the Western Sea trail up to top valley is more intense. It is best to start from Eastern Gate up to the Swam Peak, go west to do Western Sea Trail down to Central area then back down into main gate.

I took the main gate shuttle to the bus terminal where I bought a ticket heading toward Jiu Hua Shan “Nine Flower Mountain”. I had missed the direct bus to Jiu Hua Shan. There was only one per day at 6:20am. Being intent on being in Jiu Hua Shan tonight I decided to find ways to make transfer buses that will get me there. It was only 11:30am what else am I going to do?

I was dropped off at the nearest intersection for Jiu Hua Shan by the bus driver who called for a cab to pick me up to drop me off at Jiu Hua Shan gates. This way I would save myself an hour of extra detour to Tai Ping where the bus was headed. It was arranged that I would only need to pay 10 yuan for this cab ride.

As I approached the cab I noticed there was a driver and another man sitting in the shotgun seat. The driver was under the command of the man in the shotgun seat. It turns out this man was an owner of a hotel in town not on Jiu Hua Shan. He wanted my business for the night. He spent his time trying to convince me how I don’t need to visit the mountain. All I have to do is go to this one monastery and it would be good enough. In fact, said he, that most of his clients do this upon his recommendation. He continued to teach me his form of Buddhism that involved offering money here and there and then burning pyramids of incense here and there. Why? Because he also has a connection to an incense shop. Maybe he gets commissions or something. Maybe he owns the shop. He insisted that I need to buy incense and it is cheaper at this shop he recommends.

The man continue to try to derail me from going into Jiu Hua Shan. He took me to a monastery outside of the gates that was working on expansion. He instructed me to make an offering of any amount. The monk at the desk was ready to write my name on the merit and virtue sign in book to log me in when I pulled out the nearest money I had and it was 5 yuan. Seeing my sum, the monk stopped me from signing my name on the booklet. I guess it wasn’t really any amount that was all good. I guess only certain amount was considered meritorious.

Outside this monastery one can pay a sum to have a, no joke, incense bundled in the form of a 6X5 feet pyramid tower outside. I passed on such an activity and the man told me how as a Buddhist I know nothing about Buddhism, blah, blah, blah….. Afterwards, I continued to keep up with my determination to not get derailed by his business intentions through using the name of Buddhism.

Wet Dogs and Cats

I got up at 6:30am and checked out the weather conditions outside. It was still dark grey and misty full of precipitation. The trails were very wet from all the rain. So I decided that I would stay for another day.

People who hiked up yesterday all looked like wet dogs and cats who have been in the cold rain for hours lost. Lots of people got ill. Today is not too bad of a day to head down compared to yesterday. It may snow, but the temperature has to drop to cold snow temperature then the sun will come out. I think will wait and see what will come. I have my EarthWare shoes on because all the national parks in China have stone steps everywhere. There is no dirt trails so I left my hiking shoes with the rest of my stuff.

I used to the hot water heater to steam up some warmth in the room. It is my only method of heating up the room without a real heater. I spent the rest of the day meditating. It was my own little seclusion space. The cold really makes it quite ideal for meditation.

In the evening I went back to the hotel restaurant and by then the staff knew about my order. I made it very simple for them by getting the same dish every meal so they wouldn’t be confused and will be able to learn to make my order catered to my exact instructions. It is eggplant and bell pepper with bok choy. Simple huh! You’d be surprised on how people can get it wrong by adding lard, msg, pieces of meat, onion, garlic, chives, leeks, shallots, or wine to it.

Tonight two Shandong ladies were my new bunk mates. They were very nice ladies who work at a factory. One of them insisted on having the TV on all night to dry her socks. I really didn’t like that or wanted to agree to it. But who wants to hike in wet socks?

Black Snake

Last night went to bed at 12:30am, I was flat out tired. After turning off the lights for the night, the room was pitch dark. Even in the dark I saw a black snake. Yup black on black and I could even tell. I was too tired to bother and soon after I learned it was a mistake to not take care of the matter because I was not going to get any quality peaceful sleep that way. I had to get up and take care of the matter and I didn’t enjoy it at all. But better my way than its way.