Chug Chung or More Commonly Known as the Great Wall

Mutianyu

I have had three extremely busy days and so I have sat down outside my new little hostel in Guilin to try to catch up. With a Jamisons and a bottle of local beer at my side I am sitting next to a beautifully lit up lake enjoying the evening. But I digress...back to Beijing.

One of the must visit places on my list for China was the Great Wall. Now the Wall is several thousand kilometers in length but only portions of it have been restored for visitors such as myself. The wall was built in mainly two stages, if I have my facts straight, in order to protect the loosely unified kingdoms of China from the Mongols to the north. It almost reminds me of the Wall in The Game of Thrones! I could go on about the history but I am sure there are more scholarly people out there that would be more accurate in their factual information.

There are five sections of the wall which are open to the public in the vicinity of Beijing. I opted to visit it at Mutianyu since this is further from Beijing and not quite as busy. I joined a small group of other travellers from my hostel (3 Americans, a family of 4 from England, and 2 others who did not speak English or socialize with the rest of the group). Generally, I abhor organized tours but finding transportation on my own to this particular section of the wall would have been a formidable task so I opted to put my biases to rest on this occasion. As usual, they couldn't just take us to the Wall but had to make several stops along the way...basically, to try to get us to buy products. Our first stop was a Jade factory which was actually a bit interesting and I even lost all my resolve and purchased a Happiness Ball!

The Brits and I waited patiently for the others to complete their shopping expedition and finally we were on our way. Next stop was the Ming Tomb. Lovely gardens but slightly underwhelming otherwise. Basically you walk down several flights of stone stairs to four underground chambers where one of the Ming Emperors was laid to rest along with the Empress and later his favourite concubines. This was rather unique since concubines were always laid to rest in an outside chamber but apparently this concubine had actually been the mother of the next reigning Emperor and he decided to upgrade his mother's final resting place!

Next stop, lunch! The young American gentleman has lived in China for three years and spoke Chinese so after he had had a brief conversation with a staff person he informed the rest of us that we had been asked if we would like local beer with our meal but he had taken it upon himself to say no for the whole group since he felt that we shouldn't drink beer before attempting the Great Wall. Being rather thirsty, I ignored his suggestion and went to get a bottle of beer! The beer I have had in China is possibly even weaker than American beer so I was pretty confident my Canadian constitution could handle it!

We finally made it to the Wall! Now

Stairs, stairs and more stairs!

if you have never been to the Wall you may imagine a very long winding path, made of stone on top of a mountain. Well it is winding and it is on top of a mountain but what should be stressed is that the mountain top is not flat but rather it undulates up and down in a series of rather steep inclines. Although we were transported to the wall itself via a cable car which was actually more of a ski lift, once at the wall the exercise has just begun. In order to reach the highest point of the wall at this section the weary traveller must climb a seemingly never ending series of stairs with rises and inclines that would never pass the Ontario Building Code. This is also being attempted in temperatures exceeding 40 Degree Celsius. Now, I was determined, so I set out on my trek with sturdy, strong strides but by the second series of stairs I was moving a bit slower and was forced to use hands and feet as I scaled the impossibly steep stairs. Taking frequent breaks to rehydrate with my water bottle (which had actually nearly reached a boiling point) and take scenic pictures with my phone, I resolutely continued my trek. Now, I don't want to brag but two tall healthy looking Germans that I chatted with gave up and turned back as I carried on. The American ladies in my group barely made it up one set of stairs and although I considered giving up when one of the women selling refreshments along the way said, "ar", meaning two when I asked how much further, but I wasn't going to be beaten! I proudly scaled the last set of stairs and enjoyed the fabulous scenery as I awaited the rest of my group. It is really hard to imagine the lives of the people who were made to build this incredible structure.

The English mom, her sons, and I snapped several pictures and walked back together. This wasn't as difficult but it was undignified in parts since I was forced to descend some of the steps on my butt!

The quickest, and most enjoyable way to get down from the peak is by toboggan. This was a great end to my excursion. As I walked through the market to our van, I was very proud of myself as I was able to ask a vendor "How much?" in Chinese and was able to negotiate the purchase of a wall ornament!

The Wall was an exhausting experience but well worth the effort. Just as I had dreaded, the tour bus did not head to our hotels and instead stopped at a "silk factory" which basically turned out to be a large bedding and clothing store. I was about to ditch the tour at this point since we were now back in Beijing and I was quite confident in my ability to use the metro system but Ping, our guide, assured me that this stop would be no more than twenty minutes and the nearest subway station was at least a thirty minute walk. An hour later the Brits and I sat fuming as the American women went on a shopping expedition for what seemed like a whole new wardrobe. Shopping should never be a group event!

Part of the Wall where tourists aren't allowed!

Finally was able to retrieve my bag from The Classic Courtyard and headed to my next abode. I wasn't completely sure how to get to Kelly's Courtyard but I did know that it was between two metro stops. I disembarked from Xisi station and knew I needed to head East. Compass app proved very useful at this point and I headed down the street. The hostel is tucked away off of a small Hutong. There are no signs and even the local people looked at me blankly when showed them my scrap of paper with the name of the hostel written in Chinese. I did finally locate my new home and was pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful accommodation with lovely rooms surrounding an enclosed courtyard with a pond and greenery. There is a rooftop terrace furnished with cushioned rattan furniture, overlooking the local Chinese neighbourhood. A pity I can only stay here one night!

My new friends at a stall near my hostel in the Hutong.

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Street Meat and Other Things Not to eat in Beijing

I have spent a thoroughly exhausting day exploring Beijing. Beijing has proven to be the most expensive stop of my trip thus far, however, by Western standards it is still fairly reasonable. I took one taxi ride to go and purchase tickets for a Acrobat show this evening and couldn't help but feel that I was being ripped off. I'm sure the taxicab driver was being quite honest and he probably caught on to the fact that I was suspicious of his intentions as I carefully followed his route on my map. I have a long history of distrusting taxicabs and do not hide this well. My distrust is only heightened when I can't speak the language and he insisted on giving me a lengthy explanation about something. I need to stop saying "neehow" since people seem to think I can speak Chinese after uttering hello.

Tiananman Square

I would prefer to get to my destination by any other means possible. After this episode I decided it was best to start using the subway system which was a good decision. I was able to purchase a Beijing Smart Card for 20 RMB and 20 RMB deposit. Each trip costs 2 Yuan (about 35 cents)and I don't need to trust that I am not being swindled. Armed with my trusty map of the Beijing underground, I was on my way!

Puyi?

First stop was Tiananman Square followed by the Great Hall, and the Palace Museum. These are all basically in the same place but bring a good set of walking shoes, plenty of water and a tolerance for crowds. The palace was built during the Ming Dynasty and was occupied up until the last Emperor, Puyi, was deposed and the Republic of China was instituted in 1912 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puyi). The movie, The Last Emperor, tells the story much better than I can. My GPS electronic English tour device informed me that when this last Emperor was ceremoniously inducted at the age of three he cried in fear and his father told him, "Don't worry, it will be over soon." This apparently caused bad luck as these words foretold the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The electronic guide was a handy little device that told me wonderful little tidbits of information as I wandered from place to place in this massive site. Forty yuan (about $7) well spent. I would have spent more than the three hours I had at the palace but hunger was setting in since I hadn't really eaten anything since lunch the day before.

The non-melting lolly!

As I left the palace from the south entrance I joined the throngs of people walking along the street and took the time to buy an ice lolly. Now I'm not sure what cancer causing, DNA altering artificial chemical they add to these lollies but despite the fact that it must have been at least 45 degrees Celsius this thing did not melt a bit...not one drop. Scary!

I mentioned in an earlier blog that Helsinki seemed to have no homeless beggars on the street. Unfortunately, Beijing more than makes up for this. Outside the exit and along this street were a long line of individuals suffering from a multitude of deformities and injuries. Sadly, there were parents with disabled children in carts and even young mothers with small children sleeping on the sidewalk. There seemed to be someone every five feet or so either sitting with a box or hat or set up with a music system and microphone. One poor unfortunate gentleman appeared to have been horrifically maimed in some type of fire and was holding a microphone with his only limb, his right hand. His face was badly scarred and his mouth could not move. A song was coming from a nearby speaker but it was obviously not him. I really struggle when faced with situations like this while travelling. I have spent the last two weeks with many Chinese people who are enjoying a good standard of living even by Western standards and it was easy to forget that there is a portion of the population which does not live like this.

My little tuk tuk.

I moved on down the street and decided to take a motorcycle tuk tuk to WangFujin Street, an upscale shopping district but also the location of alleyways filled with street food vendors that I was told sold traditional Chinese snacks. I was pretty hungry when I entered that alley but I quickly began to lose my appetite as I saw live scorpions, cicadas, and various other bugs that I couldn't identify squirming on sticks awaiting their fate, a sizzly death on a nearby BBQ! I finally settled on sticks of some kind of meat seasoned with a dry, very peppery powder. Four sticks were 10 yuan (about $1.70). At the time I was thinking this seemed a bit pricey but on reflection I think I am being a bit too concerned over prices when honestly I would pay a lot more at home. I made the mistake of starting to eat my sticks of mystery meat as I continued to walk down the street viewing more delicacies. As I finished a bite on my second stick I looked at a stall of what seemed to be deep fried tofu but it looked black and rotting. Next I saw a dog slinking down the alley and my stomach began flipping a bit. I'm not exactly squeamish and there is a good possibility that I've already partaken in dog meat on this trip, but I just couldn't seem to choke down another bite of my meat on a stick....my imagination had ruined any desire I had to eat. I made my way to a little kiosk I had noticed earlier and ordered a nice bottle of Corona! The meat sticks went in the bin!

Wiggly food!

Most of the tour packages for Beijing include a show of some sort, either acrobat, Kung Fu or an opera. My hotel manager recommended the acrobat show so I had gone and purchased a ticket earlier in the day. I thought the price was a bit high ranging from 180 RMB to 540 ($30-$90) and settled on the cheapest tickets. The hall ended up being rather small and I was upgraded, after the the usher saw that someone else was sitting in my assigned seat, by being placed right up front center, in any case. The show itself was slightly entertaining and possibly very entertaining if you are about aged five or six. It was rather amateurish with the central performer being a clown...lots of juggling, some jumping, flashy lights. I left at the intermission and headed back to my hostel. This type of show seems to be a cheaply produced affair, put on in a dilapidated theatre for the benefit of tour companies to fill up the itinerary of tourists to make them feel like they are getting value for money. Unless the one I attended was a poor example of a Beijing acrobat show than my advice is, do not waste your money or time....unless you are in preschool.

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"Bu"

Took the bus to Shanghai last night. The bus was very comfortable with soft seats and even a television. There seems to be some secret code amongst drivers while using horns, which are used often. Three short beeps seems to mean, "Watch out, I might hit you if you don't get out of my way!" A long, loud beep means, "Hey, you idiot, you nearly hit me!" and a steady short beep means, "I'm changing lanes, turning, or making another manuver so watch out." The system seems to work fairly well since I have seen very few accidents.

Waiting with an interesting group at Shanghai train station.

When I arrived in Shanghai I was attacked as I got off the bus by people wanting to "help" me. I just kept saying "Bu," (no) and followed the crowd to what I assumed was the exit. I needed to make my way to the train station and failing to notice the signs I just kept following the crowd. I finally wrote "train station" on my translator and picked out an intelligent looking individual but as he was pointing the way I was swarmed by a group of young people, good naturedly, trying to take a picture with me...a foriegner. They happily snapped away as my would be navigator pointed down the street and yammered away. I hastily extracted myself, muttering, "Xie xie" (thank you) and set off. As many others were going the same way I figured I was headed in the right direction and I knew I had about an hour before my train left.

My new friend Mighty!

Managed to find the station, go through a security check, and find my platform waiting area with a minimal amount of drama and realized I was famished. Bought a small round lump of bready thing (I can't remember what it is called) filled with spinach and sat down to eat it and await my train. As I queued up, I heard a small boy in front of me speaking perfect English and so I spoke to his mother to asked her to read my ticket and tell me what carriage I needed to take. Sheena is from China and her husband, Marius, is from Germany. As luck would have it I ended up sharing a berth cabin with these very nice people and their four year old son, Mighty (short for Mitian - of Heaven). Mighty is a very active and boisterous young fellow but we quickly made friends and he stopped climbing all over the berths when I pulled out my iPad. Sheena and Marius gave me all kinds of advice about Beijing and we had an interesting talk about China in general. I slept wonderfully in a very comfortable bunk and we arrived in Beijing at 9am. I joined my new family for a coffee at Starbucks and then we all shared a taxi so that they could make sure I found my hotel. Many thanks to this wonderful couple and their son!
I am spending my first night in a Hutong (traditional Chinese neighbourhood supposedly, but really just an alley). I was a bit nervous as I looked at the outside but the manager, Simon, has been wonderful with giving maps, directions and general information. My room is small but clean and quaint. I am off now to explore Tianamen Square!

The Classic Courtyard in Bei Xie Hutong, Bejing.

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Teaching in Nan Tong

My Class

This is my last day of my two week teaching stint in Nan Tong. It really has been an amazing experience (even if I did have to get up at 7am every morning!).
I have spent the two weeks with a class of twenty-six English teachers to help improve their spoken English and to teach them about Canadian culture. These teachers have a wide range of abilities but none of them have studied outside of China or have had a "foriegn" teacher so they really value the chance to be immersed in the language. I'm sure they didn't all appreciate having to take the first two weeks of their summer vacation to attend a two week in service but they have proven to be one of the best group of people I have ever worked with. We have had many laughs and they have taught me as much about China as I have taught them about Canada. They have tried to help me with my spoken Chinese (which is limited to about ten words) and I'm sure have had many laughs at my horrible pronunciation!

Nan Ton University. On our way to class.

All Chinese students must study English from grade 3 up so teachers of English are highly valued. Their spoken english remains somewhat formal since they study much grammar and learn from audio tapes. There were some interesting moments in my class with the use of english. One of my students was doing an oral presentation about her family and while showing some adorable photos of her son she proudly explained one photo of her young son sitting on his potty by saying, "He is doing a shit!" I was the only one that laughed so I had to explain that the word "shit" is not usually said in formal or polite conversation. We spent much time trying to pronounce the word "usually" which most could only say as "uually". By the last day I had given up and advised that they say "generally" instead!
Most of the students do not live in Nantong so they have stayed in the hotel at the sports stadium with my fellow foreign teachers and myself. Each morning we all gather for breakfast at 8am and then take a bus to the nearby Nantong University. Morning class was from 9 to 11 and then we returned to the hotel for a three and a half hour lunch and nap! We returned to the university for afternoon classes from 2:30 to 4:30. Being an afficionado of the afternoon nap myself, I quickly adapted to this schedule and plan to put forward the suggestion back home that this would be an optimal schedule!
The students kindly give themselves English names since it would be impossible to try to remember, or pronounce their actual names. This leads to some very interesting names. In my class I have a Lemon, four Lilies, a girl named Ross, Apple, and various other fruits or vegetables!

Bus ride in the morning.

Apparently, someone must have said that I like the heat because the air conditioning in my hotel room has not really been working well and to make things worse, even though all of the other foriegn teachers walked in to pleasantly cool rooms every day, my classroom seemed to be an experimental effort to see just how hot we could be before melting into oblivion. We stoically lasted until the first Friday whereupon we all rebelled and asked Rosemary, my fellow teacher across the hall to take pity upon we poor wretches and let us join her in her sublimely chilly lecture hall. She graciously took us in for the day and we had a splendid time team teaching much to the delight of our students. My class was moved to the upper floor in the second week and although this was better then the first sauna we were in it still did not rival the comforting surroundings of my teaching colleagues.

My two weeks have been spent in the company of four other teachers who have been a tremendous support for me and terrific company. Jolanda and Chuck are a married couple from St. Agatha who were brave enough to make this their second teaching stint with the Jiangsu Education Services for International Exchange (Jesie). They are also avid travellers and are planning a short backpacking trip in the Yellow Mountains next week. We have exchanged travelling stories and I now have an even bigger list of places I would like to visit! Rosemary lives in Burlington and has planned a two week tour of China following our stay in Nantong. Donna lives near me in Hamilton and is going to return home this Sunday so she is acting as the mule for the rest of us by hauling our extra items back for us. Donna and Rosemary teach French back home so their advice about teaching a second language has been very helpful. These companions have been a wonderful group to work with and to spend social time with. My experience in China for the first two weeks has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience because of their company! I am going to miss them all as I make my way around China, Indonesia and Thailand!
One of the highlights of this time in Nantong has been meeting Mr. Ying, a man who enjoys his white rice wine and wants others to enjoy it with him. The one word I learned from Mr. Ying was "gambay" which roughly means to drink your entire glass of spirits in one go and try to beat the person suggesting this event. I explained to Mr. Ying that we might use the phrase "chug" to convey the same meaning. Echo has happily translated many of Mr. Ying's conversation during our meals and since the use of pronouns is not common she would start her translation with, "Mr. Ying says..." These are just a few of the Mr. Yingisms we have heard:
Mr. Ying says, "Gambay!" (heard several times during celebratory dinners)
Mr. Ying says, "Chug!" (after I taught him this word)
Mr. Ying says, "Do not leave any beer on the table!" (in other words, drink up)
Mr. Ying says, "You need to come back to Nan Tong next summer!" (I think he liked us)

Gambay!

This afternoon I take a bus to Shanghai and then an overnight train to Beijing. Next stop, the Great Wall of China!
Zai jian, Nan Tong!

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Suzhou

We spent last weekend in the Suzhou area which is the site of a UNESCO Heritage Gardens and many other attractions.  Pictures are better than words!

Food!

Since the general belief is that the Chinese are a nation of slender individuals, I had hoped that by partaking in the native eating habits I would perhaps shed a few unwanted pounds. Alas, this has not been the case! Imagine eating Chinese food three times daily for twenty-one days!

Breakfast. I only eat the rice porridge.

Prepping food outside my room.

Every day, at the stadium/hotel we eat our meals, usually in a private room with air conditioning. The staff prepares amazing delicacies and savory dishes of fish, pork, vegetables of unknown origin, dumplings, rice, noodles and soups. The food seems to be made from fresh produce every day. In fact, as I walk to breakfast each morning a variety of people are busy cleaning fish and preparing vegetables in the entranceway to the stadium. The smell isn't particularly appetizing and I need to delicately hop over the slime as it makes its way to the drain but these are the sacrifices one must make! The dishes are always served at a large round table with a rotating centre piece. Those partaking in the meal sit around the table with a small bowl and a set of chopsticks. The fun really starts as the centre piece spins and you are expected to delicately snatch morsels of food from the plates as they spin by. Our hosts easily snatch bits of food and pop them into their mouths effortlessly while we Westerners clumsily fiddle with our sticks and slop food all over the table and sometimes ourselves. The kitchen staff must find our efforts pitiful because they continue to place Western cutlery at the table. Some of my companions have resorted to the fork but I have stoically carried on with my chopsticks and I do not seem to be starving, judging by my waistline, so I must be doing something right.

Walking past the fish guts on the way to my breakfast each morning.

The Chinese have several interesting practices while eating. They never, and I mean never, seem to actually touch their food with their fingers. They are able to pick up a shrimp or crab leg with their chopsticks and somehow extract the edible portions and then discard the shells into a neat pile on the table within seconds. I have avoided these types of food as I am sure this is beyond my chopstick skill level! We went for a walk one evening with Echo and stopped at a vendor who seemed to be selling a variety of sweets. We are all craving these as our meals do not come with any type of dessert and sweets do not seem to be part of the Chinese diet. We intended to share these morsels which were all placed in one bag. As the vendor realized that we were about to attack our purchases with bare hands he quickly tried to distribute plastic gloves which we waved aside and carelessly began ripping apart cakes and cookies and placing morsels in our mouths with our fingers. Echo looked on with horror, I think, as she donned her gloves. Beverages are not served with meals and cold beverages seem almost non-existent. Echo tells us that many Chinese believe that cold beverages will cause illness. The Chinese do not seem to waste any time while eating and the students seem to be finished their meals in record time. After the first day of feeling a bit isolated in a room by ourselves we asked our hosts if we could split up and join the students at their tables for our meals. This arrangement lasted for about one meal as the students could not leave the table until we, their guest, had finished eating. So while all of their classmates were quickly gone the poor students we were eating with had to remain for an excruciatingly slow Westerner to finish their entire meal. I think they complained about this because for our remaining meals we, the Westerners, were made to sit together and two or three helpless victims (students) were assigned to eat with us!

Very fresh fish!

I have no idea what this is!

Chicken?

Fermented egg. Yes, I ate one.

Some kind of dumpling.

Eating dinner with the students.

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Booking my Transportation to Beijing

As I said, I have been very spoiled during my time in Nantong with all of our helpers guiding and interpreting for us. On Friday I set out on my lonesome for the next leg of my adventure. Ben, one of our guides seems to be somewhat apprehensive about my ability to make my way in China but I am looking forward to the adventure. Ben tried to discourage my plan to take an overnight sleeper train to Beijing and wanted me to fly but I convinced him that I wanted the experience and he relented and took me to a ticket outlet to secure my arrangements. I am definitely glad he was with me as it was a tiny outlet in the back of a group of restaurants that was a bit difficult to find. But I now have secured a bus ticket to Nanjing for Friday at 5:30pm and then a train ticket for Shanghai to Beijing for 9:18pm! Train tickets can only be purchased eleven days in advance and they can get scooped up quite quickly as many people leave the cities on the weekends to return to their homes in the country.
I'm sure this will be quite the adventure!

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