I woke up at 9:30am and officially got out of bed at 11:00am. It was so nice to sleep in. I slowly worked my way for a meal at the courtyard. Each day when I think I’ve had everything I wanted to try out in the Sichuan cuisine, I would discover more things I hadn’t and so I would extend an extra day at Chengdu just to eat, but also to wait for my laundry to dry, and also to rest to catch up on down time.
After my meal I came back to the hostel to sit under the sun for a bit. I met a man from Japan named Kenji who has been traveling since September and went from DunHuang to XinJiang, westward all the way to Pakistan. I'd like to do that someday. He's from Tokyo and quit his job as a computer programmer. He like Chen from Zhong Dian I met who is from Taipei, same field, same thing, tired, burnt out, terrible long hours. Kenji politely asked for my permission to smoke next to me as we chatted. I have to say, he was the first to do so and that was nice.
After my conversation with Kenji I ended up falling asleep in my bed till 4pm. I guess I was tired. When I woke I felt very well rested. Two new girls joined my room one of the girls was from Tokyo, named Hitomi who works in the computer graphics industry for a big company who does TV and billboard ads. She just arrived from Tibet and did Kilash, I told her I was jealous and only did Everest. She said she went around Mt. Kilash and slept with the rats on Mt. Kilash, lovely. I think like Everest, Kilash is one of those things worthly of doing it at least once in a lifetime.
The other girl was Tang Jyn from GuangDong. She majored in English and has been working for Travel Industry and also quit her job and is traveling for a month. She and I shared fruits and dinner tonight. I showed her around in the snack eatery at WenShuYuan. I introduced her to the rolls, we both had fresh pressed soba noodles tonight and they were good. We also share a tray of mixed vegetable BBQ and porridge. She's headed for SiGuNiang Shan tomorrow. I had checked out the photos for the place and decided then that I would skip it, it looks a bit Californian for me.
I also met Australians who had trouble withdrawing money from ATMs, I told her to try agian and that happens sometimes with machines out of work hours even if it says it is 24 hours and sometimes it is out of cash, and sometimes it is just over worked etc....
Had a very chilled relaxed day and slowing down the pace a bit here. It helps to have good food as incentive. Since my stomach is only so big, I can only eat so much food each meal, I'd better pace myself each day. I've been averaging a meal a day in China and on good days like in ChengDu I have been averaging two meals a day. Usually each meal is a bowl of something, usually noodle something because it usually comes with more vegetables. I learned from Tang that there is a monastery in WenShuYuan and serves lunch for 3 yuan, you eat till you are full, I would like to check it out at some point.
Showing posts with label Sichuan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sichuan. Show all posts
Chengdu Noodle Shop, So Spicy, So Good
My laundry is still wet today. I have to wait for it to dry before I can go to Dazu since I am completely out of clean dry laundry.
I had planed today to head for Du Fu's hut and Piglet's (Ju Ba Jie)'s place and a traditional Chinese clothing multiplex shopping center. I took the bus and hit the tourist spots. I zipped through the spots really quickly because I did not find the place interesting other than the historical person himself the poet Dufu and Ju Ba Jie.
On the way back to the hostel I saw what looked like a shopping complex and jumped off the bus at the nearby station. I had so much fun window shopping. I really enjoying looking at the creativity that goes into fashion. I find shopping can be a daily viewing of art museums. Of course most things are not museum quality but none the less, I consider it art and creative. I didn’t buy things I saw that I wanted because I did not want to carry anything.
I walked around looking for food and I stumbled upon a local noodle shop that only serves 7 types of noodles all under 3 yuan each. They were also Asian local portions which means they were less than the quantity of 2 cups. I decided I needed to come back and eat at a different time like tomorrow to try out more dishes. It is always good to go and eat where the locals go and where the shop is packed and the fact that it is cheap is also a nice plus. I love places like this, very specialized, so delicious and the business so good that they really don’t need to serve you anything else.
I had planed today to head for Du Fu's hut and Piglet's (Ju Ba Jie)'s place and a traditional Chinese clothing multiplex shopping center. I took the bus and hit the tourist spots. I zipped through the spots really quickly because I did not find the place interesting other than the historical person himself the poet Dufu and Ju Ba Jie.
On the way back to the hostel I saw what looked like a shopping complex and jumped off the bus at the nearby station. I had so much fun window shopping. I really enjoying looking at the creativity that goes into fashion. I find shopping can be a daily viewing of art museums. Of course most things are not museum quality but none the less, I consider it art and creative. I didn’t buy things I saw that I wanted because I did not want to carry anything.
I walked around looking for food and I stumbled upon a local noodle shop that only serves 7 types of noodles all under 3 yuan each. They were also Asian local portions which means they were less than the quantity of 2 cups. I decided I needed to come back and eat at a different time like tomorrow to try out more dishes. It is always good to go and eat where the locals go and where the shop is packed and the fact that it is cheap is also a nice plus. I love places like this, very specialized, so delicious and the business so good that they really don’t need to serve you anything else.
Chengdu Baby Pandas
I got up early to head for the Panda Park. Two Isralies, a Canadian, a British, and myself all squeezed into a tiny private car for 20y to get to the park. The person did not have an official business license to be driving us but we were desperate, the time was closing in on missing out on the baby panda feeding time. I called shotgun and sat in the front while the four very tall rest crammed into the back. What a sight that was.
When we all got into the park, we ran up the hill like little kids giggling, laughing, ecstatic over getting to see baby pandas. When we made it to the viewing window, it was “ooo, ahhh”, smiles all over everyone. They were soooooooooooooo cute. They are like human babies with puppy hair. I got to see 2 and 3 month old baby pandas. They eat and then they burp and then they poop and then they just lay and sleep. They are so cute, just so cute. The bigger pandas are cute too. I went around the park and saw everything twice. For anyone who has ever liked stuffed animals or real animals, sightings of Baby Pandas are not to be missed.
Photos were not allowed on the babies at the viewing window. At this panda park I also saw a kind of fox like something there too. They didn’t look like they were pandas to me.
Fortune Tellers Outside of Zhao Jue Shi
Afterwards I stopped by a nearby Buddhist monastery called ZhaoJueShi. The square in front of it was a big flea market set up full of food vendors, various sellers, people begging for money etc... it was quite a sight. The most interesting attraction for me were the rows of fortune tellers sitting on stools and etc... There were different methods of fortune telling, all of the tellers had faces that was not clear, some of them even have weird swellings. I walked and checked them out as they did their business three separate times to inquire into each in detail. I would watch them from behind and from a corner and they would all be aware that I was watching them. The sad part is, there are people, their clients who have deep important questions that were not answered and they would then move from one teller to another hoping to get some light into their stuff. It was fun for me to watch. No, didn't try anyone of them out. If they even looked a bit decent and had some real skill then I may be tempted for fun but not in my opinion. They were too business oriented and lacked light in their eyes or face or even a basic clarity on the face.
I went into the monastery for 2 yuan, this was unbelievably the cheapest I've come by. This lay out was big for a city monastery. Upon entering I noticed all the garbage laying around. I can tell this place gets lots of traffic. There were people crowded under the old tree. Most were elders listening to a woman read from a magazine. I realized these elders are either illiterate or had bad eyes because they depended on this person to get the news or anything, she is like a local storyteller who passes on information.
I saw lots of locals all come to burn incense and bow and pray, most prayed for health recovery for their parents, some for a good marriage, others getting out of crisis for a loved one. People did what has been passed down as a custom, hoping for relief. People were very sincere in carrying out their understanding of practicing these customs. Some people were reciting sutras on their own there. Some were teaching others who had bad eyes or couldn't read how to read the sutra. This was nice to see. There are monks in this monastery and some really old ones too. They stay out of interface with the public. The public interface ones are all younger ones.
When I got to the main hall, it was packed with people. I found out that there would be a refuge ceremony taking place momentarily. I stayed to watch. There were about 100 people locals, taking refuge most were elders and a handful were young working professionals. The master of ceremony was speaking in Sichuan dialect so I couldn't understand his dharma talk, too bad, I really wanted to understand what he was saying. The whole event felt right, the event felt legit. The elders followed the ceremony, the younger generation were a lot more serious, focused and looked like they are leaving home to be a monastic or something, very determined with clear energy, strong, sharp, amazing to see.
I asked myself what is to become of China Buddhism? What is to become of the Dharma in China? Where are the people in all of this? They do what they know that as been passed down from whoever they came across in their life. They do what they know, put money in the donation box, burn incense, bow to all four directions, recite sutras maybe, spin the prayer wheel, roll the recitation beads, take the younger generations and show them what they've been shown.
Afterwards I had a local dish called Mao Tsai for lunch. It was vegetables cooked in hot chili soup. It was too salty and chili oily for me.
I came back and did laundry, I learned the machine didn't rinse my soapy clothes well, and it didn't drain well either. I had to wring my clothes. By having to wring my clothes, my very sensitive hands had a reaction to the detergent. It hurt, itched, cracked right away. The weather for the day was thick clouds and strong humidity.
Fish Pets
Yesturday on the bus ride out of Huang Long, the views of the icy mountains along with flocks of geese, herds of mountain goats, yaks, and sheep made a picturesque impression into my memory bank. The driver picked up more riders on the road to increase his pocket money. The riders were locals of Tibetan origin. They were two women dressed in their traditional Tibetan robes. Their hair was dressed in Tibetan stones and braided accordingly.
As the women got on to the bus, the rest of the inner Chinese tourists on the bus pinched their nose with their hands and turned their face towards the window showing disgust and disapproval. I didn’t think they smelled that bad, they just smelled like yak butter. What I found to be more interested was the need to make a show of social disapproval towards these two ladies. Even the bus driver who decided to pick them up did the same by yelling at them with his body language and talking harshly like they were despicable. I thought to myself how interesting it is that people would like this culture to be preserved to hang onto a kind of nostalgia a romantic notion of a time, a place, and of the past. But when people are inconvenienced, then the reality presents itself clearly.
As we got off the bus, we paired up with a family of 5 from Guang Dong to look for housing for the night. One man in their group was a police officer. I seem to be making friends with police officers all over China in this trip. We settled for a hotel across from the station. We wanted something close by so that when we all had to get up for the first bus out the next day, it would be effortless and we wouldn’t miss out bus.
That night in dinner, Du wanted to eat freshly killed fish and so he did ordered catfish knowing full well I was a vegetarian and had lots of fish for pets when I was a child. So I watched him eat while I munched on toasted soy and peanuts. That could have been a pet fish of mine.
During dinner, Du got very angry on the topic of politics. He refuses to get off the subject and insist I compare US and inland, inland and neighboring island etc... I really don't like that stuff. He needed me to convince him that inland China is good and that he shouldn't move to US. That all various oppression, lack of opportunity to explore, expand his personal interest due to culture, governing style of inland etc..... has logic and a place and is good. He needed me to assure him how corrupt, terrible the rest of the world is. That by meeting me, inspired him, enraged him, disturbed him, and that I am an idiot really. That I really don't represent missed opportunities and freedoms he never got to experience and will not.
Du is quite an intellectual brain, a graduate of Beijing University, who does not allow himself to explore deeper within himself because he doesn't know how to go about making peace with all the disconnects and discrepancies. He continued with his drama the rest of the night by yelling at the service workers at the hotel, accusing them of lying to him and that he can't stand lairs. He basically need to dump his garbage on someone and he took it out on peon workers.
On route to Chengdu. Knowing full well that it would be a full day of ride on the bus, I had a big bowl of noodles and pickled vegetables by the station. Last night I slept in blankets that were damp. I was cold at night. Failing after a few hours of trying to warm up the bed with my body and a bed heater that didn't work, I had to resort to sitting in full lotus to mass fire up my body, slip into the bed to warm up the bed in order to trick my body into thinking it is okay to fall asleep under such conditions.
On the bus ride, Du asked me who or what made contribution to life changes within me. I named lots of people in varying fields including two Chinese people Ven. Empty Clould and Ven. Hsuan Hua, both of which he has never heard. I introduced the Tripitika to him, telling him as a Chinese major, he'd appreciate the beauty of classical Chinese in there and to make sure to get the real stuff and not 100 volumes chopped down into 1 kind of versions.
This again disturbed him, there are things he didn't know and I did and I am some how not suppose to in his eye somehow. Du thought JK Rowling is lame and Harry Potter is for immature people who lacked depth. He didn't understand the Da Vinci Code and the impact of the subject on a large population on this planet. He also didn't get Lord of the Rings. My discussions with him, because he asked for my opinion, included my perspective as a psychology major and a Buddhist interest looking at character growth and mind had disturbed him more and frustrated him. How could he a very well learned person, a Chinese major, a bookworm, a literature addict not know everything there is to know? How could his perspective be so un-universal?
Du the shifted the topic and wanted me to understand the pressure and distress in his life about work, and being single is a sign of lack of success. I thought to myself, “OH! Please, get over it, or get married and then continue to pretend to feel better as the head of household in charge and in control.
As the women got on to the bus, the rest of the inner Chinese tourists on the bus pinched their nose with their hands and turned their face towards the window showing disgust and disapproval. I didn’t think they smelled that bad, they just smelled like yak butter. What I found to be more interested was the need to make a show of social disapproval towards these two ladies. Even the bus driver who decided to pick them up did the same by yelling at them with his body language and talking harshly like they were despicable. I thought to myself how interesting it is that people would like this culture to be preserved to hang onto a kind of nostalgia a romantic notion of a time, a place, and of the past. But when people are inconvenienced, then the reality presents itself clearly.
As we got off the bus, we paired up with a family of 5 from Guang Dong to look for housing for the night. One man in their group was a police officer. I seem to be making friends with police officers all over China in this trip. We settled for a hotel across from the station. We wanted something close by so that when we all had to get up for the first bus out the next day, it would be effortless and we wouldn’t miss out bus.
That night in dinner, Du wanted to eat freshly killed fish and so he did ordered catfish knowing full well I was a vegetarian and had lots of fish for pets when I was a child. So I watched him eat while I munched on toasted soy and peanuts. That could have been a pet fish of mine.
During dinner, Du got very angry on the topic of politics. He refuses to get off the subject and insist I compare US and inland, inland and neighboring island etc... I really don't like that stuff. He needed me to convince him that inland China is good and that he shouldn't move to US. That all various oppression, lack of opportunity to explore, expand his personal interest due to culture, governing style of inland etc..... has logic and a place and is good. He needed me to assure him how corrupt, terrible the rest of the world is. That by meeting me, inspired him, enraged him, disturbed him, and that I am an idiot really. That I really don't represent missed opportunities and freedoms he never got to experience and will not.
Du is quite an intellectual brain, a graduate of Beijing University, who does not allow himself to explore deeper within himself because he doesn't know how to go about making peace with all the disconnects and discrepancies. He continued with his drama the rest of the night by yelling at the service workers at the hotel, accusing them of lying to him and that he can't stand lairs. He basically need to dump his garbage on someone and he took it out on peon workers.
On route to Chengdu. Knowing full well that it would be a full day of ride on the bus, I had a big bowl of noodles and pickled vegetables by the station. Last night I slept in blankets that were damp. I was cold at night. Failing after a few hours of trying to warm up the bed with my body and a bed heater that didn't work, I had to resort to sitting in full lotus to mass fire up my body, slip into the bed to warm up the bed in order to trick my body into thinking it is okay to fall asleep under such conditions.
On the bus ride, Du asked me who or what made contribution to life changes within me. I named lots of people in varying fields including two Chinese people Ven. Empty Clould and Ven. Hsuan Hua, both of which he has never heard. I introduced the Tripitika to him, telling him as a Chinese major, he'd appreciate the beauty of classical Chinese in there and to make sure to get the real stuff and not 100 volumes chopped down into 1 kind of versions.
This again disturbed him, there are things he didn't know and I did and I am some how not suppose to in his eye somehow. Du thought JK Rowling is lame and Harry Potter is for immature people who lacked depth. He didn't understand the Da Vinci Code and the impact of the subject on a large population on this planet. He also didn't get Lord of the Rings. My discussions with him, because he asked for my opinion, included my perspective as a psychology major and a Buddhist interest looking at character growth and mind had disturbed him more and frustrated him. How could he a very well learned person, a Chinese major, a bookworm, a literature addict not know everything there is to know? How could his perspective be so un-universal?
Du the shifted the topic and wanted me to understand the pressure and distress in his life about work, and being single is a sign of lack of success. I thought to myself, “OH! Please, get over it, or get married and then continue to pretend to feel better as the head of household in charge and in control.
It's In, It's Hip, "Oh My God"!
I checked into the hostel next to Wen Shu Yuan a courtyard named after Manjushr Bodhisattva. I dumped my stuff in my room on the top floor in a flash and quickly made it the food court. They had food of all sorts specializing in Chengdu flavors, I had fun eating here and there, getting my vegetarian nutrients in. I had hand rolls, one was tofu roll, another was rice noodle roll, another was seaweed roll, another was spring roll with wasabe, I also had BBQ vegetables, and pounded rice dessert. I thought the pounded rice dessert was mochi but it's pounded cooked sticky rice. Each bit tasted like a pound of rice.
I sat outside in a courtyard at a tea place. I had tea for 10 yuan. It was not top grade tea but for 10 yuan it was doable. I saw the server perform long kettle tea pouring that was made famous from Beijing. The ceremony was beautiful. While sitting there I met two Chengdu girls, both were young 9 years old. They hung out with me. One of the girls told me she was a deva for Halloween. They were very cute. I also met Hannah from Canada who is teaching English in Guilin and is on one week vacation. She and I are pairing up to go visit baby Pandas at the breeding park. We hope to catch the one month old pandas in full force during feeding time, which is 8:30am and 9:30am. She is also a vegetarian and I introduced dinner options for her. Aside from making friends with the Police Officers of China, I made friends with more vegetarians than back at home. Afterwards, I hung out with the tea owner and all the workers. We talked tea. I spent the next two hours teaching them English and naming tea in English for them. No, they didn't pay me, it was all voluntary. I had a lot of fun, hung out till closing.
Walking on the streets here was interesting for me to see how many public local hang out places for the poor common folk were about gambling cards and playing majiang during the day. I didn't take notice if there are actually money transactions or not but it's really common and a favorite pass time in Sichuan. On the way back I noticed all these place at night during the dark becomes a public mini TV/Movie theater with just a TV and everybody watching together sitting on stools.
I have learned through my travels here so far that the inlanders have strong opinions about islanders like the Taiwanese, the Hong Kong Cantonese and Japanese. For whatever their reasons for coming up with the opinions, I don't like hearing stuff that is unhealthy and justifying differential treatments.
There is a fad here which is to say "Oh My God" and to also cuss in English even if you don't speak any English. It's all very hip right now.
When I came back to the hostel I waited for the internet and met Peter from Ireland. This hostel I am in is run by Japanese who has a pet mini pig who likes to hang out at the bar along with the pet cat here. It is cute here too. I have decided I needed an extra day of down time to check out pandas, eat, do laundry and just drink tea and chill, catch up on sleep.
I sat outside in a courtyard at a tea place. I had tea for 10 yuan. It was not top grade tea but for 10 yuan it was doable. I saw the server perform long kettle tea pouring that was made famous from Beijing. The ceremony was beautiful. While sitting there I met two Chengdu girls, both were young 9 years old. They hung out with me. One of the girls told me she was a deva for Halloween. They were very cute. I also met Hannah from Canada who is teaching English in Guilin and is on one week vacation. She and I are pairing up to go visit baby Pandas at the breeding park. We hope to catch the one month old pandas in full force during feeding time, which is 8:30am and 9:30am. She is also a vegetarian and I introduced dinner options for her. Aside from making friends with the Police Officers of China, I made friends with more vegetarians than back at home. Afterwards, I hung out with the tea owner and all the workers. We talked tea. I spent the next two hours teaching them English and naming tea in English for them. No, they didn't pay me, it was all voluntary. I had a lot of fun, hung out till closing.
Walking on the streets here was interesting for me to see how many public local hang out places for the poor common folk were about gambling cards and playing majiang during the day. I didn't take notice if there are actually money transactions or not but it's really common and a favorite pass time in Sichuan. On the way back I noticed all these place at night during the dark becomes a public mini TV/Movie theater with just a TV and everybody watching together sitting on stools.
I have learned through my travels here so far that the inlanders have strong opinions about islanders like the Taiwanese, the Hong Kong Cantonese and Japanese. For whatever their reasons for coming up with the opinions, I don't like hearing stuff that is unhealthy and justifying differential treatments.
There is a fad here which is to say "Oh My God" and to also cuss in English even if you don't speak any English. It's all very hip right now.
When I came back to the hostel I waited for the internet and met Peter from Ireland. This hostel I am in is run by Japanese who has a pet mini pig who likes to hang out at the bar along with the pet cat here. It is cute here too. I have decided I needed an extra day of down time to check out pandas, eat, do laundry and just drink tea and chill, catch up on sleep.
Huang Long a Winter Wonderland
Swen who moved in with me last night elected not to do Huang Long because she needed to catch a train to Beijing from Chengdu late today. So we had breakfast nearby the station. We had porridge, fermented tofu, pickled vegetables, and steamed rice buns for 5 yuan per person. This is quite the breakfast standard in China. Du insisted on paying for all of us of which Swen and I politely accepted. Swen and I ate like we’ve been starving for weeks. Well, in fact both of us were very hungry and we munched on a handful of nuts yesterday. Today knowing I’d be most likely hungry again, I filled up on breakfast. It was delicious and refills are at no extra charge. I ate Swen’s buns and she ate the eggs for all of us.
This morning we took the first bus out to Huang Long. Du took seat number one and assigned me to seat number two on the tickets which he was holding for the both of us. Seat number one was spacious at shotgun. I was in a mini seat by the engine that was sticking out leaving no room to rest my legs. Now I know how people with long legs feel in cramped up mini Asian cars. It was snowy and icy cold outside. The cold was so cold that it was as if the driver drove with the windows down. I guess Du thought differently of his very special spacious seat after the wheels started to roll. I tucked my head down to keep warm, to my left was a young man from Hong Kong who sat next to the window and I had the very hot engine to my right. The not so spacious seat that I was unhappy about in the beginning turned out to be quite a gem. The tight little uncomfortable spot was tight enough to keep me warm between a human body and an engine. Uncomfortable and warm, spacious but freezing cold? Hum…….. warmth always wins on my list.
.
Went to Huang Long especially to check out the colored mineralized pools it is famous for. This park is on the route back to Chengdu to not also stop here after this very long bus ride the northern boarder of Sichuan would be a miss. The bus driver before letting us out told us he would take us to the local nearby town where the long distance bus station for Chengdu was for a small sum. We agreed it was a good deal and agreed by prepaying. He told us he would leave without us if we were late in getting back to the bus. Being so early, we got to hit the trails early morning. There were hardly any other buses when we arrived in the parking lot.
There was ice and snow, it was cold, I had all my clothes on. Du complained the whole way up the trail about how it isn't worth the trip etc..... I tried not to let it get me down. I just tuned him out. In fact that whole day was a day of grip and complaint and anger for Du. Maybe Du should have eaten more breakfast then maybe he wouldn’t have been so poopy. It was like someone farting and stinking up the trail with loud gas and diarrhea everywhere. Even so I really enjoyed myself on the frosty trail glistening under the sun.
Du was unhappy and nervous about the bus leaving without us that he rushed us everywhere. Since there was only one trial up we were pretty much together. Regardless, I did my own pace and really enjoyed walking in the woods.
I liked how it was winter in the park. The leaves have fallen. The water was icy. The colored pools look like pools of crystallized gems. The light shinning on icicles looked like beautiful jewelry. The patterns of ice on water pools and on branches and etc.. were all very beautiful to me. Even the naked trees standing in the midst of colored pools of frozen water looked amazing. I like being in nature. I find trees very healing. I find the air and the trees there to be very gentle. The park goes through difficult cold winter yet nature there remains strong, persistent, gentle, elegant, and beautiful.
While Du stopped by the oxygen first aide check in to take in more air, or just to try it out he says, I sat by a pool of colored water of limestone yellow, shades of green and soaked it all up all its magic and beauty for the whole forty minutes. I think the extra oxygen intake was good for Du he came back more relaxed. I guess for someone with all that congestion and anger, he’s bound to not get enough oxygen flow in his body. He even changed his mind about being so determined to not like Huang Long. He ended up appreciating it in its poetic beauty. What a drastic change!
Du found out I majored in psychology and asked me to analyze him. I told him that was not something to joke about or to be taken lightly and to do it right I would have to charge him by the minute in US currency to do both of us justice. He didn’t find that funny and he stopped pestering me with it.
Maybe because I was bundled in 5 layers and refused to rush like he did and trailed behind to walk at my own pace and to keep a nice distance between us, Du assumed I was not fit to jog or run. Well, he under estimated me by much and pretty much decided to mock me with it all day. I kept quiet until the last stretch of the trail where I decided to race him to the bus.
Hot Coco Are For Toddlers in China
MSN chat is very common and everyone is shocked that I don't have an account. This is the most amount of internet time I have spent since, well, ever, because I am far away and this is the only communication that is easily cheaply available..
Tonight I went to the bar and asked for hot water for my hot coco. Wang Chung Nan the bar tender said to me, “these kinds of drinks are for little kids who are still on milk.” Hum… although Yao Ming’s billboard ads with Beijing Olympic symbols on it says “Be like Yao Ming drink milk” is everywhere in the big cities, I guess not all are buying into it. Wang majored in English because there was no major for history his passionate subject and he settled for English at his college. He's from a farming community in Sichuan. He is working here because he speaks English and at a touristy place and a youth hostel, his English skill comes in handy. He has a job at the bar because in getting any job now in China all the jobs ask for 1-2 years of previous work experience. As a new college graduate he did not have previous working experience and working on his family farm didn’t count. This cafe bar job did not require previous job experience. Wang studied for the law exams and took it but missed it by 30 pointed. He decided he would not continue to pursue the field of law. He talked about New Years and being able to hopefully go home and eat local new years home made food by his mom. We exchanged the differences in both cultures on education etc. Wang said he had lots of interest but the community discouraged any sports activity and artistic pursuit because they were unrealistic impractical financial ideals.
While at the bar the guys talked about guys in the room and the sleeping situation at night, they joked about the evening sounds. I suggested calling it a symphony, they corrected me and said it's more like many motors running loudly at once. We all laughed.
I talked with the owner for a bit. He lent me his notebook while all the computer stations were all taken by internet group games. He shared with me his hostel business experience and I talked about my travel experience in search of housing etc… We both agreed on the importance of getting listed positively on the Lonely Planet book. He said he sold the previous youth hostel and started this one because this is the only youth hostel in the area. It’s so new it’s not even on the Lonely Planet Guide. On top of it all, Lonely Planet, he tell me updates their info every few years and publishes new info every 2 to 3 years even if it has the current year printed on the cover. I have been having fun chatting with the owner here.
Before I went to bed I watched TV with the female works here on a report on the Chinese gymnastic world champion on the Horse. It was very inspiring to watch the interview, she talked about her dedication to the art and all her sense of responsibility to her community's hopes and dreams for her, her advancement in making the national team and now a world champion is really advancing her parent's family living standard. Her parent's supported her training by sewing gloves day and night to make ends meet. The ladies offered to share their midnight snack with me with was very kind but they were BBQ intestinal parts of some animal that I could not eat.
Jiuzhaigo During Late Fall Early Winter
I got up really early to dash for the park. Du flagged down a cab who took us to the bus station to check out the time and cost for Huang Long. Fearing the cab driver would take off without us he instructed me to stay in the car while he gets the information. He returned with two tickets to Huang Long the next day for both of us, a decision he made independently on his own. Maybe that was why he had me sit in the cab?
We and the rest of the entire tourist population were not informed of the change to park hours to 8am and not 7am. We all stood outside and waited for an hour in the cold. There was frost and ice. I was in layers like Everest Base Camp. We skipped breakfast thinking there would be street stands available but we were disappointed. I munched on almonds and roasted chestnut. There was a lot of tourist in the park even on the low season so I can’t imagine what they mean by high season traffic. I can’t imaging this park having more people in it, it would block the view I think with all the people in it.
This park is full of lakes, creeks, waterfalls, mineralized pools. The water in the lakes and pools are aquamarine. The pools are like Hawaiian beach and ocean water. It was beautiful, everywhere. The mountains are now heading for winter, most of the fall colors have fallen. We came across Swen from Hunnan. She ran the whole trail on her slipped disc back. I stuck with my pace and all three of us still caught up with each other during the last trail. I found out that Du is a cancer, and born on the year of the ox. Swen is a libra.
I really enjoyed a relaxing day of walking and photographing. There are lots of places that are very cute and beautiful. I am glad my mom encouraged me to come to this park when I am in this province. The door fee was a lot of money but it was beautiful and worth it. Even after the 12 hour ride, Du who elected to not bring his camera that he left with his luggage in Chengdu made a promise to himself that he would return to photograph the place.
Right Out of a Kong Fu Movie
I got up early for the bus ride, didn't want to be late and didn't know if I'd come across a taxi or a bus on time. Standing out in the street in the dark, I was told by someone who was passing by that it was too early for a bus and that I better get a cab. I was able to spot a cab driver and I arrived at the station very early at 6:40am, my bus was for 7:50am. The station was not even open yet so I sat at the breakfast noodle place for an hour and chatted with four people from Beijing.
Breakfast choices at this wheeled cart vendor were boiled egg, wontons, and noodles. Then I noticed how swiftly the noodle stand was being packed up as if they are sold out and took everything down including the tables. I am guessing that they didn't have a legal permit to be in that spot and when official working hours started they'd be officially illegally there. It was interesting because one moment it was a hot selling stand that everyone crowded around for food, next moment it was on the run and gone. This happens in Si Lin night market too in Taiwan when the cops come and all the illegal venders without a permit who has got their goods on the ground have to fold their stuff up and run for 10 minutes until the cops clear to another area and then they return and resume. It’s quite a thing to watch how they’ve got the routine and escape route down well all in a flash of time.
When I got onto the bus, I noticed the Beijing people were sitting in my seat. I waited for the driver to check our ticket and follow the guideline of seating according to your ticket. I was then allowed back to my seat. I was numbered for the front row of the bus because I got my ticket early yesterday. Next to me was a man from Europe who ended up switching seats with a man from Beijing because he wanted to sit with his friend from Singapore. His name is Du like DuFu the poet. I was bummed about the switch because Du in terms of physical size was heftier than the European man. This man from Beijing was in his 30s working as a real estate tourism journalist. I asked him what is hard about his work since he gets paid to travel. He said there is a lot of pressure like the meetings he sets up with people and confirmed the day before arrival only to find out at the time of the meeting that they were all arrested for fraud and theft the night before etc.... it's quite funny. He also talked a lot about his pressure at his work how there are lots of top Beijing graduates every year who are jobless and he has to hang onto his work however he can. Du says when there are deadlines and budgets, he ends up writing about places he has never been and just cuts and paste from the internet search engine. On the bus ride he got his next assignment due when he returns to Beijing on HaiNan island but he has never been there. So I guess the line of “you can’t believe everything you read” is quite appropriate.
I met a young college graduate named Swen Xiao Yan who has a slipped disc on his back for more than a year, she is on her way to Beijing to check out a proper doctor. She’s been shopping all over the country for one that she can trust. She showed me her recent x-ray. In fact until this recent x-ray, she did not know she had a slipped disc all this time.
During a vendor stop I got to tasted almonds in shells. It is different from Californian almonds, it is smaller and it looks like the ones on the Asian almond powder packaging photos. It even had the strong almond taste like the ones in Chinese almond jello. Now I know where the flavor comes from, Chinese almonds are more fragrant and potent than American ones. I used to boycott the stuff made with almonds in Chinese style because I thought it was too artificial, but really Chinese almonds just taste like that, now I know.
During a full stop due to traffic from road construction, I got off to stretch my legs. In front of our bus was a horse wagon and further ahead and behind was an endless line of buses like ours. I took the opportunity to search for a restroom. I went up to a farm house in search of a toilet. Well, I think the appropriate word is more like a pit. I peaked into a farm house and it was just smoky but there was no smoke. This place, the air smelled fine but visually, there was a cloudy blur to it like smoke. Everything in sight was blurred, dusty, so there is no view for clarity. There was a secret like feel to the place as if the place held secrets and hid things from the light. Not only did it have amazing very different species of big gigantic spiders I had never seen before with different colors and patterns, it was covered with spider webs. I don't think they were as big as those in Australia.
The owner came to acknowledge my presence and I asked to use her pit. She finally reluctantly agreed. She was a woman in her middle ages who has golden tan skin from working under hot Yunnan sun. She did not smile and had one expression on her face that said, quiet, reserved, don't mess with me and I won't mess with you. The pit was walled with thick webs everywhere. I checked around and hurried fearing spiders appearing out of here and there to land on my bare bum. I waited until after I used the pit to ask her about the spiders. She was reluctant to answer my questions by pretending to not understand my questions like she spoke a different language or she would respond in a way as if she misunderstood my question. It was all very weird. I got the sense that she practiced a kind of oral transmitted ancient practice that involved spiders. This woman and her place is liken to someone who stepped out of a kong fu novel. What a surprise and an interesting encounter.
When I arrived in Jiuzhaigo twelve plus hours later, I asked the bus driver to drop me off the main road so I can look for the youth hostel instead of getting off at the station. Du also decided to follow me. Upon arrival I learned this new hostel has only been in business for two months. Everything was new and very well decorated with local tribal craft and art. The internet was free to use. The room was done in a cabin style, the beds were bigger than most hostel beds, the restroom even has heater, and all for 40 yuan per bed. Everything else here is in the 100s and may not be good for what you pay for. It is low season so it is quite.
There is snow here and I've got clothes. I learned my wool lined boots are synthetic, even better, animal free, and still warm. My body is sore from all the hiking, monkey injuries, bum bus rides. Surprisingly I fell pretty good. I need a day of down time though, but not tomorrow. Tomorrow is up the park and doing a day's worth of walking all over.
I get about one meal of hot food a day and sometimes two when it is convenient and good. If I am walking a lot I try to get in two meals of hot food. Usually a bowl of noodles and some vegetables. The bowls here are not American bowls, much smaller. Last night I moved my body like I was intentionally dancing along with the music for the party but really I just had too many ouie spots, it was the only way I can move around.
Halloween Party at Mix Youth Hostel
I took the public bus and walked around in search for the Mix Youth Hostel where I was staying for the night. There are a few hostels in Chengdu and I really didn’t know which one to go to. I just picked one that answered my call for a reservation on the phone on the bus ride over.
I checked into Mix Youth Hostel for 15 yuan a bed. The entire staff was busy setting up for a Halloween party at 8pm. So much for going to bed early to get up early at 6am for my 7:50am 10 hour bus ride to JiuZhaiGo. I can see the staff has been waiting all year for this event. They are more excited than any of the guest to have a Halloween party. It’s a big deal for them. They were very excited and wanted everyone to have a good time. Except they really didn't know that Halloween is an American phenomenon and not a universal western one. They got all dressed up and stuff, it was cute. Even some of the shop girls on the street painted their face lightly and did their hair in the spirit of American costume holiday. This is probably as outrageous as they get. The workers really cannot tell who is American by the mere use of English language alone.
I checked out the free internet access, washing facility for laundry, shower, etc… In this humidity, it would take a few days to hang dry my clothes. My room was on the top floor and I asked for a lower bunk. The only thing I don’t like about top bunk is the ladder, getting in and out of bed to use the rest room. I am usually too sleepy, in other words, not awake yet to handle the ladder well. I have a tendency to fall off the ladder and hurt myself. My record of running average is every other time I use it. It’s not good, not good at all.
I dropped my bag off and went straight out to shop and get myself oriented around town because after heading north of Sichuan, I would be back in Chengdu to eat, and hang out to do laundry etc… I found a super market and went to see about getting a new day pack since it has a big whole in it courtesy of the monkeys on Mt. Emei. Well, the day packs were not any better and three to four times more than what I had paid for. So I decided to buy a sowing kit and sow the whole together until I come across a pack that I see that can handle the traveling. I also bought snacks for the trip north to Jiuzahigo and Huang Long. But I didn’t see anything I wanted for dinner by the hostel so I ended up eating my snacks for dinner.
In my room, a woman in my mother’s age was staying at the bunk across from me. She was looking at China’s National Geographic’s issue on places to visit in China for 2006. She was a sweet lady who now regularly resides in Hong Kong. She advised me in a very serious important manner this; to travel and use my legs when I can instead of when they are old and suffer from hiking and walking. She said in her age for her to travel alone, it’s impractical, she has been able to because there has been nice people who would just volunteer to help her on and off buses and trains etc… I assured her that I was using my legs a lot while they still work at my age.
This elderly lady wanted to visit Tibet but she feared her health would not permit her to handle the high elevation of Tibet. I told her I just came from there and it is lovely. I also told her I was headed for Jiuzhaigo where she just came from. She recommended the newly built youth hostel for me to stay in. I was happy about this information because I really didn’t know where I would stay tomorrow night. I heard all the hotels were very expensive, but the youth hostel, not.
As I headed for the showers, I was cut off by a nine year old girl who jumped in the stall and took over before I could. So I waited outside instead. While waiting for the showers I listened in on two 9 year old girls talk in both shower stalls. They were having a conversation on what to do about the lifestyle of being environmentally conscious and having very cool stuff. They debated about this dilemma of being cool to the earth and cool at their school. The two were trying to come up with a solution and a balance, it was fun listening to them brew it over nice hot showers, very long shower that I wanted to be in so I can go to bed afterwards. The conclusion was, they are doing both and it's working out well. They hate having to waste water but they loved staying in the shower for hours, at least it felt like that to me. They were cute, funny, and honest.
While trying to sleep, some kids at the hostel came around aggressively banging on the door for trick or treat. I had candy on me to give but they were tired, cranky kids who were all acting out and I thought the last thing they need is more sugar.
I checked into Mix Youth Hostel for 15 yuan a bed. The entire staff was busy setting up for a Halloween party at 8pm. So much for going to bed early to get up early at 6am for my 7:50am 10 hour bus ride to JiuZhaiGo. I can see the staff has been waiting all year for this event. They are more excited than any of the guest to have a Halloween party. It’s a big deal for them. They were very excited and wanted everyone to have a good time. Except they really didn't know that Halloween is an American phenomenon and not a universal western one. They got all dressed up and stuff, it was cute. Even some of the shop girls on the street painted their face lightly and did their hair in the spirit of American costume holiday. This is probably as outrageous as they get. The workers really cannot tell who is American by the mere use of English language alone.
I checked out the free internet access, washing facility for laundry, shower, etc… In this humidity, it would take a few days to hang dry my clothes. My room was on the top floor and I asked for a lower bunk. The only thing I don’t like about top bunk is the ladder, getting in and out of bed to use the rest room. I am usually too sleepy, in other words, not awake yet to handle the ladder well. I have a tendency to fall off the ladder and hurt myself. My record of running average is every other time I use it. It’s not good, not good at all.
I dropped my bag off and went straight out to shop and get myself oriented around town because after heading north of Sichuan, I would be back in Chengdu to eat, and hang out to do laundry etc… I found a super market and went to see about getting a new day pack since it has a big whole in it courtesy of the monkeys on Mt. Emei. Well, the day packs were not any better and three to four times more than what I had paid for. So I decided to buy a sowing kit and sow the whole together until I come across a pack that I see that can handle the traveling. I also bought snacks for the trip north to Jiuzahigo and Huang Long. But I didn’t see anything I wanted for dinner by the hostel so I ended up eating my snacks for dinner.
In my room, a woman in my mother’s age was staying at the bunk across from me. She was looking at China’s National Geographic’s issue on places to visit in China for 2006. She was a sweet lady who now regularly resides in Hong Kong. She advised me in a very serious important manner this; to travel and use my legs when I can instead of when they are old and suffer from hiking and walking. She said in her age for her to travel alone, it’s impractical, she has been able to because there has been nice people who would just volunteer to help her on and off buses and trains etc… I assured her that I was using my legs a lot while they still work at my age.
This elderly lady wanted to visit Tibet but she feared her health would not permit her to handle the high elevation of Tibet. I told her I just came from there and it is lovely. I also told her I was headed for Jiuzhaigo where she just came from. She recommended the newly built youth hostel for me to stay in. I was happy about this information because I really didn’t know where I would stay tomorrow night. I heard all the hotels were very expensive, but the youth hostel, not.
As I headed for the showers, I was cut off by a nine year old girl who jumped in the stall and took over before I could. So I waited outside instead. While waiting for the showers I listened in on two 9 year old girls talk in both shower stalls. They were having a conversation on what to do about the lifestyle of being environmentally conscious and having very cool stuff. They debated about this dilemma of being cool to the earth and cool at their school. The two were trying to come up with a solution and a balance, it was fun listening to them brew it over nice hot showers, very long shower that I wanted to be in so I can go to bed afterwards. The conclusion was, they are doing both and it's working out well. They hate having to waste water but they loved staying in the shower for hours, at least it felt like that to me. They were cute, funny, and honest.
While trying to sleep, some kids at the hostel came around aggressively banging on the door for trick or treat. I had candy on me to give but they were tired, cranky kids who were all acting out and I thought the last thing they need is more sugar.
Lu Shan Big Buddha
The long distance bus station turned out to be further away than I thought and with my packs on, it took longer than I thought to get there. I finally arrived at the bus terminal and bought a ticket for 9:40am to Lushan. The ticketing lady was very nice and helpful. I got onto the bus and met Manning, retired fellow from Du Pont, France. When it came time to depart, we were the only two on the bus along with the driver.
The bus driver was a man in his 40's who really didn't look like a bus driver. He had a kind face, and a happy heart. I decided to inquire on how he does it, what's his secrete method because he looked good like someone who enjoyed his life. We ended up talking and laughing the whole way. He said to me, "Money is good for use when you need it, but what is more important, a happy heart. What is all the money for if you are not happy?" When we got to Lushan he really took cared of us. He helped to check our bags in at the bus station and that we knew which trail to take one we got into the area. He instructed us to not be tricked by sharks lurking outside the entrance of the park. We bid our good byes and he went on to the rest of his day driving the bus.
Once we got into the park, Manny and I went to check out the caves. In these cave were images carved out of the red stone mountain. They were beautiful and old, most of them were not completely intact. The Big Buddha facing the water was beautiful and worth seeing. But it also made me sad over the three that was lost in Afghanistan by the bombs, how much more amazing those must have been.
It rained the whole time. It was getting late for me and I needed to head out to the long distance bus terminal to get a seat to Chengdu. I don't wish to arrive after sundown to find my way around Chengdu for my hostel. So Manning and I parted, he continued on because wanted to see the rest of the park in the rain. LuShan felt really nice except for all the puddles and getting all my luggage wet.
Simplicity In Hearts
I used the restroom at the bus station where my bags were stored and used their restroom. The clerk yelled at me for having turned on all the lights just to use the restroom and wasting resources. It was pitch dark in there. I couldn’t even figure out where the squatting toilets were. There was a light for the sink, a light for the hall, a light for the toilet all at about 30 watts each, so I turned each one on, one by one as I finally found the toilet. How am I suppose know my way around the place when it is only my first time. I thanked her for letting me use the restroom and headed out to wait for a local bus to the central station where there are long distance buses to Chengdu.
It was pouring. The bus curb was definitely full of big puddles, the big ones you see in the movies where someone gets fully drenched when he stands right next to it and a cab drives by. The catch is, when the bus driver does not see riders waving at him to pull over, he won’t stop unless there happens to be someone getting off. So,… I wondered what I should do about staying just a bit more dry. I’m not going against a calm flat puddle that looks harmless but can turn into a tsunami, I still have hours before I get to Chengdu. I decided to ask around to see if others are getting on the same bus and no one answered me. They just all ignored me. I was on my own. I decided to gamble it. I stood by the curb on my toes, ready to jump back when a vehicle approaches. I am aware of the risk of getting wet, but at least this way it will only be partial and I can still flag my bus down.
When my bus arrived, I jumped onto the bus, other ran like mad to catch the bus because they were hiding from the rain in the distance. The ticket lady for the bus was young in her twenties who wore a pair of tight jeans, a jumper top and a pair of two inch bright white high heels. She sat cross legged over the bus engine leaning side ways towards the bus driver. She looked as if she was posing for a hot rod poster. This lady took great pride in making it known to everyone on the bus that she has a sharp tongue that can argue and spit anyone down as if they were bullets coming out of a gun.
I wondered what is it with these women that I have been coming across lately who seem to have to show a lot of fangs at everyone and made it be known they can’t be messed with. I wondered what kind of experiences they have had that drives them to hang on to this habit in these ways. This kind of distressed pride, the struggle of always being on the defensive run or offensive attack in my opinion does not lead to clarity, truth, justice, or happiness. It was sad for me to see.
At the Lushan long distance bus station I came across a couple I met earlier at the Big Buddha who was also catching a bus to Chengdu to catch a evening plane. The lady was a vegetarian and we had her boyfriend watch our bags while we went to search for lunch across the street. I ordered food for them and had eggplant rice myself. The whole place was interested in the fact I spoke English. One of the very young male chef full of enthusiasm came out especially to converse with me only to ask me about gold currency in British pounds as if I would know what the exchange rate into RMB was just because I spoke English. He must have assumed all people who spoke English must have come from England. I didn’t know and replied that way. He was mad and offended, he expressed it by walking off as if I was a snob to not take him seriously.
The whole time while I was eating my food, I had a déjà vu about it all. That in a dream I dreamed about this place and having taken too much time in picking out a place to eat, that I ended up running out of time and missed my bus. Not only that, afterwards had trouble with my luggage because it was abandoned. Remembering this, I inhaled my food quickly and hoped I would not get indigestion or barf it all out on the bus. I ran back to the station through puddles of wet cement hoping I would not fall and break something. When I got back to the station, the boarding had begun and the couple were ready to leave without me because the last boarding call had sounded. I made it just in time to not let the dream become a reality and boarded the bus with my luggage..
On the bus, I did not get the last row on the right over the exhaust pipe like I seem to have the affinity to. I sat in the front. The bus was one of the newer ones and it was clean and comfortable with good stable suspension. Even the DVD was working and the bus played Jackie Chan’s recent movie called Baby Project.
I arrived in Chengdu bus terminal at 3:30pm, with the overcast it felt like dinner time, late and tiring. At the station I headed straight for 3 young male guards in uniform to inquire directions to my hostel on public bus and ways to get to Jiuzhaigo the next day. They were a funny bunch who took great care of me in making sure I was going to experience the safest route and accommodation. They were honest, kind people with simplicity in their hearts, no slightest dust of poison in their pores. They recommended I go and buy a ticket to Jiuzhaigo now instead of in the morning this way I am ensured of a seat for the time I want.
Halloween dream
This morning I dreamed I went shopping for a Halloween costume. I dreamed I was with my brother, picking out an outfit for the event. Just like it can be in dreams, what I wanted was right in front of me, so effortless and perfect, no long lines, wrong sizes, out of stock problems, etc.... I put it on and happily walked out with it.
When I woke up, I realized it must be the 31st, Halloween, one of my favorite days second to Christmas.
When I woke up, I realized it must be the 31st, Halloween, one of my favorite days second to Christmas.
Medicine For Others
I made it back to the monastery last night at 7:30pm. The front doors were locked and I went through the back. It took awhile to pick up my bags because the bag check was locked too. The clerk did not enjoy being pulled away from his TV during his off hours to let me in to pick up my bags even though it only took two minutes. Everything was locked and no one was around to answer questions on housing for the night for me. I heard sounds of the evening ceremony and parked myself on a bench hoping to catch someone who can help me on their way out at the end. I saw monks sitting on chairs facing each other across a rectangular table. There were lay people kneeling during the ceremony. I waited and also kept my eye out for passersby.
Then I saw two people who I mistaken as ones I met earlier in the morning and inquired about getting a room. They had me go to the second floor where the even reception was. The reception was unwilling to let me have housing until a monk approved because I held a US passport. Then a monk showed up and let me check in. I paid 10 yuan for a bed in a three bedroom room and I was the only occupancy for the evening. I was so relieved to have the whole room to myself because I really needed to spread myself out in order to repack my pack and privacy to apply medicine on my injuries.
My Fujian Province neighbors befriended me. They consisted of a group of 5 women and one man. They were very nice and took care of me. My ancestors are from Fujian. They were kind in walking me to the showers since I didn't know my way around in the dark and they were curious as to where the showers were too. They helped me to figure out how to get the how water going. I stayed in the showers for a long time disregarding the long shower line outside the door. The group forgot to bring battering charger for their camera and needed to find some one at the monastery who had the same camera and also has their charger. Fortunately for them an Aussie was in the shower line and I asked her if she had one and amazingly she did. The women were so happy and thanked me for translating for them.
This group of women were mostly in their middle ages except for a daughter who was a young professional. They were all vegetarian except for the daughter. One of the moms really want her daughter to be a vegetarian when she heard that I was too. I told her, it has to be an individually inspired choice in order for it to be a long lasting joyful experience.
This morning I knew I needed to head out early in order to do Lushan and then head to Chengdu by early afternoon. I got up and made to early breakfast hours just in time before they shut down the meal. I saw my Fujian neighbors and sat with them. I even finished off their vegetables. I knew I had a day of bus travel and needed to eat well because breakfast would be my main meal for the day. plus unfinished food would just get dumped out and wasted this way. Well, I like pure, clean, monastic vegetarian food, it's so plain and simple. I think it is just so good and satisfying.
I went back to my room to pack up and kept watch on the time. One of the woman came in to ask for medicine for a man in their group who has had diarrhea all yesterday. I poured out half a bottle worth of pills for them. I had two bottles and haven't had to use for myself. This was pretty much the case with all the medicine I brought, it ended up being for someone else except for the Neosporin. I showed the woman how to go about putting pressure on some points in the body that may bee swollen to help speed up the healing. This group was one in unity, they have the all or none mentality. They decided to cancel their hike up the Emei peak to wait for their friend to heal because at this point he can't walk far. The man was very sick and personally came to thank me. He felt he had to return the favor by telling me where to visit in China etc.... I kept looking at my clock and knew I was pressed for time. I didn't care for his advice because he didn't have any personal experience in those places he recommended nor did he have a good understanding of the in's on Buddhism. I told them to come and visit me in US and they would find me at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery where I volunteer regularly. They were shocked that anyone volunteers at the monastery. I don't know why it is so shocking since it's a big part of Buddhist practice, giving of service for others. I don't know how it is done here in modern China to have them to be so shocked.
Time was closing in on my departure, an hour that was set aside for reorganizing and packing went into listening to chatter politely. I ended up stuffing everything into my pack and ran with it down the hill out of the monastery. On the way out, I saw the guard Shr at the door and he said he waited for my return last night. I apologized that I was late because I got lost and things just ended up taking longer than had planned. I thanked him for waiting for me. He said the bus driver that leaves nearby who always passes the front door on his way to this first shift had already passed and I would have to find my own way to the long distance bus terminal in town.
Old Groves At Hung Cun Si
After the monkey attack, all I wanted to do was to head out of this mountain as soon as possible and chuck out the itinerary I had for the day on Emei. I was very hungry and stopped at a noodle stand. Unfortunately the shop keeper is more French than anything else who could not stand tourists who are the financial providers of her livelihood. She resents the existence of tourist because they are the sole reason to her misery, which is work. She was mean and complained right out loud with lots of attitude.
On the trail down I ended up going on the wrong trail and found myself going west instead of south. Well, everything has a reason and there are no true accidents. My legs continued to swell up and scream in pain from the deep monkey bits. I applied medication I had on me every other hour. Every time I stopped I was in more pain. I realized the only way for me to heal quickly and move the chi is to walk.
I came across a man named Andreas from Frankford, Germany. He is a software product manager who is biking all over china on his vacation. He plans to bike into Vietnam and Thailand, both countries I would also like to visit one day. We ended up partnering up and walking for the next 8 hours together. It wasn't what I had planned but I knew that when I stopped walking I would feel the pain, I knew if I kept walking I can get the blood circulating more and heal the wounds.
His goal was to locate particular specie of frogs found here and old trees at Hung Cun Monastery. To do this we would have to pass a designated monkey area. I told him about what happened earlier and he said he would be ready with knock out a monkey with rocks in his hands and pocket. That he had experience with this on Huang Shan earlier in his trip before coming to Emei. He said that all you have to do is have rocks in your hands and make sounds with them. The monkeys will stay away from you when they hear the sound or see that you have rocks.
These monkeys seemed more like apes they didn't have monkey tails and they didn't have baboon noses but they were the size of monkeys in the shape of apes. It started to rain. Upon entering this area of the mountain there were peanut stands selling food for you to feed to the monkeys. There are also workers at this area who had sling shot to aim at the monkeys who are very good at going for tourist bags. A lady with a shopping bag of snacks experienced a grab and run by the monkeys. She was not injured but she screamed and all the park workers ran and aimed shots at the monkey who was successful with rewards of the theft. Something is very wrong with this picture here, encourage the sales of peanuts by feeding the monkeys with it, this encourages the monkeys to go for humans with food on them, and it encourages monkeys getting attacked with rocks flying out of sling shots.
We passed the monkey area to reach the area where these special frogs are found. We were both on an adventurous search. These frogs are said to be only two inches long and are known for the sac they have over their mouth to enable breathing under water. Sounds cool huh! Well, we tried hard looking in the water and also under foliages, we did not spot these cool looking frogs. We did end up seeing beautiful birds flying here and there with amazing colors and patterns that I have never seen before. I like watching birds and these were beautiful birds who flew over our heads and hung out on the rocks over the river bed. It was fun, in the rain and all.
This part of Sichuan reminds me of Taiwan, lush, green, humid, and beautiful. There are mini waterfalls, creeks that ran through beautiful sceneries, crystal clear water, and lots of interesting things of nature worth taking the time to stop and look at.
I realized Andreas only picked up 30% of my English. He was a gentle, polite, quiet kind of fellow who appreciated the fascinating details that the nature provides. I enjoyed his company. At one point he picked up a butterfly who had one wing stuck onto the wet ground to put it aside for safety until its wings dried enough to fly. I was amazed at such care and regard for nature and all its creatures he showed and wondered if this applied to his meals.
Andreas had an elevation meter reader on him and he was able to see how high up we were. It was his way of figuring out where we were and how long we would take to get to places because distance on the map can be off but the elevation of the mountains are usually correct. What a handy tool to have and I think I would like to add that to my backpacking kit. I wonder if they sell this at REI or is it a German thing?
We made it to Hung Cun Monastery where these old trees are suppose to be very old and amazing. Well, that really was not the case. There were tress labeled for its kind. They were old but not as old and ancient as we thought they would be. It wasn't a big disappointment but it didn't hit the spot either. It didn't live up to the hype.
At Hung Cun Monastery I met a monk who liked being a monk and liked cultivation. He lit incense by the hour, bowed, circumambulated, and sat by the alter to hand write a sutra. He had a peaceful smile on him, he was someone who minded his own business and did not turn the sanctuary into a circus show. It was quiet there because there was no one there. it's too far and high up. I like the quietness.
Andreas had the plan of walking all the way to the west and then heading south down the mountain to Bao Guo Si. Well, it turned out the map is just relative and it took a lot longer than he thought. It was dinner time and we were hungry so we stopped by a food stand that was closing up and ate 14 yuan worth of persimmons, potatoes, and tofu. But the shop keeper charged us 20 yuan instead of 14 with a wide grin on her face. We paid for it anyways even though we were being cheated. Both Andreas and I were tired and didn't want to deal with it. The light was disappearing and we picked up our pace in heading down the mountain in hopes of finishing before all the light goes away. Well, it was dark, pitch black dark and we were still on the trail. At the point we had to slow down big time because we could not see at all. Neither one of us had lights on us for some reason. I really didn't enjoy being in the dark. There were weird sounds coming out of the mountain, like groans, and shrieks. We both heard it, it wasn't just me. They were sounds we did not recognize as originating from animals. They were more like sounds of the creatures or spirits of the night. We didn't like it and convinced each other it may just be water in the mountain moving through or something of that sort. We ended up walking in the dark with my cell phone as the flash light. This last part of walking in the dark with the very dim light coming out of my cell phone screen was stressful for the both of us. We made it out of the trail at 7pm. Andreas and I bid our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
Monkey Bits At Wan Nian Si
I was hungry and wanted to sit down for a bit before I exited the monastery. I noticed that with all the tour groups running around people did not have hand bags or back packs on them. I figured they just left them in their tour bus to make the trek easier. I saw a pavillion with a tour group to the left, in the middle, there were monkeys around being fed by other visitors with fruit. I didn't know there were monkeys here. It was surprise for me and I felt it was safe to sit away from the monkey to the left. I sat to photograph a monkey and then all of a sudden, all three monkeys jumped on me and attacked me. I jumped up asking the monkeys why they are doing this to me as I sped away.
Everyone was laughing off their seats and no one came to me to help me in any way. I was in so much shock and pain that my legs trembled and I could hardly stand. My pants were full of brown muddy monkey paws. I got badly bit in five different places on both legs. I was black, blue, and red. I couldn't believe I was bleeding and that this was all happening while everyone around me just continued to laugh.
I looked right into the eyes of the big monkey who seems to be the head of the gang. I saw that in the past we were all humans and I was also a member of his gang along with the other two monkeys. I decided to leave the gang and not follow him and his unlawful habits. He was mad that I left the group and no longer followed him as a leader. I told him I don't regret parting with the group because I would have ended up as a monkey like them continuing in their monkey habits under his leadership. I'll just call it debt paid.
I like animals and still do, but now,.... monkeys, no way, no more Jane Goodall and all her primates.
Chicken Cat Fight
I headed up to Emei mountain by taking the local public bus for 1.5 yuan. It dropped me off at an intersection on the mountain and I had to walk to the entrance. My walk was a lovely one. I really enjoyed looking at small patches of farm lands and all the luscious foliages everywhere. On the way to the entrance I heard sounds of children laughing. I followed the sounds and saw a small preschool of two classroom's worth of students dancing in the courtyard. It was very cute. The sounds of children laughing and playing are so joyful to the ear.
At the entrance I saw lots of tourists and the lines for the cable car were packed. Lots of people were being carried on bamboo seats by a pair of men. Back in the old days only the noble class could afford such a service. I hear from others that they want such a service now to get a little taste of it. Some people looked sick from their trip in tour groups that they needed to be carried. Some people could not hike the trail. Whatever each person's reason was, there are plenty of people whose livelihood depended on such an income. The locals like to make fun of Taiwanese travelers. They are labeled as having weak legs with money. Upon the sounds of Taiwanese tour group arrival at the entrance, all the workers make a mad dash down the trail in hopes of picking up a rider. It was interesting to watch how they put down their customers so terribly and in the same time could not live without them either.
I did the trail that would end up in WanNianShi. On the trail I met three woman, an elder lady and two younger ones who was in their late 20's looking in their 40's. The elder woman was carrying a freshly dead whole chicken in one hand and leeks on the other and was visiting her sister that owns a tea farm. She invited me to tea and to introduce me to her sister. She said she would pour me tea once I get there and I would not have to buy anything she says. The elder woman trailed behind while the other two walked with me.
On the trail I was like a hot cake. People all were curious of me and in the same time also wanted to sell stuff to me by connecting to me as a friend. But were they genuinely interested in a friendship or did they just want my money? The trail was a bit tight for the three of us to be walking side by side. Two was fine but three was a crowd so the two ladies started to fight over who would walk by my side. It got so bad and they were on the brink of physical violence that it was scary for me. It was a combination of a nasty chickens bickering and cats pouncing each other in a fight. The two fought over who could walk with me,.. weird, just weird! Maybe it's all the spicy food they eat here in Sichuan, too much fire? But the previous Sichuan people I met in Yubeng and Lijiang were all sweet, mellow, nurturing, and full of humor.
The elder woman and I came across her sister's place, it was a tea stand on the trail. She sold tea there. She came through with her promise. I had tea, two kinds of tea. One was said to be herbal, meaning good for your health. I didn't like the taste of this one. The other was a cross between a Dragon Well and a Mao Feng. The fresh tea leaves smelled good, they were properly harvested, roasted, and stored. Unfortunately these tea sellers didn't know how to bring out the potential of the tea leaves and burnt them, they were bitter and cut the throat on the way down. Silly isn't it for a tea grower to not know how to brew tea. Maybe they were imposters? I sincerely wanted to buy tea but didn't due to the bad serving of tea.
One of the ladies who were involved in the fighting was born on the year of the rabbit. She insisted on wanting to tell me the story of the fighting that just went on and that it was the other person's fault. That no one can mess with her and get away with it because she can defend herself. Let's just call this lady Rabbit. I told her that I was there and saw everything. She felt comforted by that somehow and mistakenly interpreted my response as support for her aggressive, competitive, mean spirited ways.
Afterwards, Rabbit decided to tell me about her life. She works at the hotel right outside the entrance gates and has a 7 year old son who lives with her mother. Her husband chops bamboo and then sells it for 1 yuan each. He recently got injured and can barely work. He complained of her unwillingness to care for him and visit him at the hospital. She complained of him spending his money on gambling all the time. Rabbit said she married her husband at age 21 because she felt touched by his meager background that someone who was raised this way would know how to cherish others and take care of others. They are now separated.
On this day, Rabbit is hiking up the mountain for her lover who died suddenly in a car crash in August and not for her injured husband. She met her lover while she was working at a university in her late teens. He was her manager who she regarded as her soul mate. I asked why she didn't marry him or stay with him if he was so important to her. She said she was too young to understand these things and that it wasn't till later that she realized he was her best friend, her love, her soul mate but by then she had married her husband. She hopes by making a pilgrimage up the mountain, she can help him move into the heaven by burning incense and making a wish. She said there is no love in her life anymore and if it is not for her son, nothing is worth living for. I felt sorry for her, for all her sadness, bitterness, pain, regrets, and blaming everyone else for every misery in her life.
As we approached the steps of Wan Nian Monastery, Rabbit switched gears into her sales pitch mode. She talked about skin care, on how she takes care of her skin by drinking tea and water. She asked me if I want to be beautiful because she has a relative who is in the cosmetic care industry and can save my yellow, tanned skin so that I can be beautiful like her. I'm Chinese, I am genetically born with yellow based skin. I live in California, it's known as the sun state. I love being under the sun, to swim in the ocean, to hike in the mountain or to just sit in the gardens to have tea and read a book. Yes, aging and the deteriorating of the body is a fact of living and dying. I am fine with the face I've got. Yes, it ages, and changes colors too. I showed no promising interest in buying her sales and right away she was no longer interested in me. So we parted upon the door of Wan Nian Si. I later met rabbit again on down trail and she had that very feisty poisonous look on her face again. Too bad, such a young person yet looking so toxic and old and insisting that is what beauty is made of.
Upon entering the monastery I noticed that it was filled with tour groups. I had originally wanted to stay and meditate and maybe stay at the monastery but I ended up just doing a few bows to the famous Samadhabadra image in Wan Nian Si, walked around it a few times quietly singing the new repentance song in English and then left.
Bao Guo Si
I learned that my train drops me off in Emei station at 4:10am. The good thing about sleeper berth in China is that the ticket collector will come and wake you up. As soon as she woke me up, I jumped up and got ready to exit. It was really early in the morning and I could have used more rest.
The stars were still out when I landed at the station and only a few people were exiting the train. I learned the public bus did not operate till 7amm in the morning. As I headed for the exit, I could see the cab drivers all hanging over the railing waiting to pull in a rider. I was approached by a driver who promised to drive me to Bao Guo Si for 5 yuan. On the road he kept telling me to check into his company hotel and take his company tour bus up Emei for 120 yuan and that lunch would be included but not the entrance fee, etc... I said," no, take me to my monastery." I guess he was unhappy with that and he dropped me off at an intersection insisting that cars are not allowed to go to the monastery, which was a bunch of crap. I seem to have lots of affinity with getting dropped off middle of no where or some where that is not my destination like we agreed on. And since I haven't been at these places before I would discover the difference until later.
I was out on the middle of some intersection at 4:20am. There were no cars and no one on the road. It was pitch dark with one street light. I had no idea where I was. Everyone was still asleep this early in the morning. The road was very quiet. I stood in the middle of this intersection pondering what I should do. Then I heard bells being rung and it was the sound of monastery bells. I followed the sound of the bell and walked in the dark until I finally found the monastery. But the doors were locked with operating hours posted to it. I had three hours to wait before the doors would open.
I decided to sit outside and meditate. While I sat in meditation, I can feel all the bustling of tourists from the day before. Many people left themselves here. The morning ceremony really cleansed the air. It's like rain, washing and grounding everything down. The air cleared and it was lovely to sit in mediation. I found myself falling asleep in the cold off and on. I learned that I can sleep while meditating out in the cold.
As the light was being turned on in the sky, I watched neighboring residents pass by before they headed to work and made bows to the front doors. They all seem to refuse to talk to me. Or maybe they thought I was a ghost and got scared. I was wearing my white polyester jacket and had the hood on. It took me awhile to realize this in the dark.
I chased a man down and asked him questions. He continued to walk and he bowed to the tree next to the door. I asked him why does he bow to the tree. He said he didn't want to tell me. I asked him why. He replied, "In life there are too many whys, that's why." I stopped chasing him, not because I was satisfied with his smart reply, it was because I can't stand people who try to make thing secularly exclusively mysterious and unnecessarily complicated. He then circumambulated the front square three times and made full Tibetan prostrations three times and then left.
I decided to would get up to stretch before doing a set of Tai Chi Chuan. I saw simultaneously, a front door guard approaching the gates along with a lady stepping out of a taxi who is in Sichuan for a conference. I was able to get in with them. The guard's name is "Shr" like rock who gave both the lady and I a tour of the monastery. He set me up with storing my bags for the day and gave me a heads up on where to go on Mt. Emei including where to eat. I think I was treated with extra care because I tagged myself to the business woman who was finely dressed and looked to Shr with authority on Buddhism.
In Shr's little introduction on Buddhism, he talked about sincerity that it's not the size of the incense stick that matter but the heart. Didn't this just sound good and proper! Well, we went by the Gilding Image Hall where everyone has the opportunity to express their sincerity by making a donation for gold leaf to post on the image to increase good blessings and end bad karma. I was then instructed to bow on the middle cushion first then move to the left then to the right to bow three times this way. No, I didn't do as he instructed. I made my three bows all on one cushion that was to the right and avoid the center in general. No, I did not buy gold leaf to paste on the images for life times of endless blessings and lessening of my bad karma. I think if the images were in need of repair then I would, but these images were very bright and gold already. I am one incompliant person, stubborn and hard to teach.
The stars were still out when I landed at the station and only a few people were exiting the train. I learned the public bus did not operate till 7amm in the morning. As I headed for the exit, I could see the cab drivers all hanging over the railing waiting to pull in a rider. I was approached by a driver who promised to drive me to Bao Guo Si for 5 yuan. On the road he kept telling me to check into his company hotel and take his company tour bus up Emei for 120 yuan and that lunch would be included but not the entrance fee, etc... I said," no, take me to my monastery." I guess he was unhappy with that and he dropped me off at an intersection insisting that cars are not allowed to go to the monastery, which was a bunch of crap. I seem to have lots of affinity with getting dropped off middle of no where or some where that is not my destination like we agreed on. And since I haven't been at these places before I would discover the difference until later.
I was out on the middle of some intersection at 4:20am. There were no cars and no one on the road. It was pitch dark with one street light. I had no idea where I was. Everyone was still asleep this early in the morning. The road was very quiet. I stood in the middle of this intersection pondering what I should do. Then I heard bells being rung and it was the sound of monastery bells. I followed the sound of the bell and walked in the dark until I finally found the monastery. But the doors were locked with operating hours posted to it. I had three hours to wait before the doors would open.
I decided to sit outside and meditate. While I sat in meditation, I can feel all the bustling of tourists from the day before. Many people left themselves here. The morning ceremony really cleansed the air. It's like rain, washing and grounding everything down. The air cleared and it was lovely to sit in mediation. I found myself falling asleep in the cold off and on. I learned that I can sleep while meditating out in the cold.
As the light was being turned on in the sky, I watched neighboring residents pass by before they headed to work and made bows to the front doors. They all seem to refuse to talk to me. Or maybe they thought I was a ghost and got scared. I was wearing my white polyester jacket and had the hood on. It took me awhile to realize this in the dark.
I chased a man down and asked him questions. He continued to walk and he bowed to the tree next to the door. I asked him why does he bow to the tree. He said he didn't want to tell me. I asked him why. He replied, "In life there are too many whys, that's why." I stopped chasing him, not because I was satisfied with his smart reply, it was because I can't stand people who try to make thing secularly exclusively mysterious and unnecessarily complicated. He then circumambulated the front square three times and made full Tibetan prostrations three times and then left.
I decided to would get up to stretch before doing a set of Tai Chi Chuan. I saw simultaneously, a front door guard approaching the gates along with a lady stepping out of a taxi who is in Sichuan for a conference. I was able to get in with them. The guard's name is "Shr" like rock who gave both the lady and I a tour of the monastery. He set me up with storing my bags for the day and gave me a heads up on where to go on Mt. Emei including where to eat. I think I was treated with extra care because I tagged myself to the business woman who was finely dressed and looked to Shr with authority on Buddhism.
In Shr's little introduction on Buddhism, he talked about sincerity that it's not the size of the incense stick that matter but the heart. Didn't this just sound good and proper! Well, we went by the Gilding Image Hall where everyone has the opportunity to express their sincerity by making a donation for gold leaf to post on the image to increase good blessings and end bad karma. I was then instructed to bow on the middle cushion first then move to the left then to the right to bow three times this way. No, I didn't do as he instructed. I made my three bows all on one cushion that was to the right and avoid the center in general. No, I did not buy gold leaf to paste on the images for life times of endless blessings and lessening of my bad karma. I think if the images were in need of repair then I would, but these images were very bright and gold already. I am one incompliant person, stubborn and hard to teach.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)