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| Hibiscus Town |
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| Hibiscus Town from the highest point |
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| A waterfall at Hibiscus Town |
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| Little Chinese children are so sweet. I would always ask if I could take their pictures and usually they would smile and nod yes, but at the moment of clicking the picture their smiles would vanish. |
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| An old lady walking in Hibiscus Town |
We’ve
been with Keren and our new friends Jane and George for a week now and I will
try to give some general impressions of what we’ve seen and experienced.
After
leaving Shanghai, we have been mostly in Hunan Province, birthplace and home of
Chairman Mao whose presence still manages to permeate much of China even though
he’s been gone since 1979. China is still a Communist country and
Mao’s image is, if not exactly everywhere, definitely around on souvenirs and
t-shirts.
The
city called Zhangjiajie is quite new. It grew up around the National Park, which
has only been a national park for about twelve years. Until recently
there was no selling of tickets, no asking for passports, but now they have
wised up and it is a money making proposition with cable cars and scenic
walkways.
We
have been deep into the interior of Hunan Province. After leaving
Zhangjiajie with its beautiful mountain scenery, we entered back into more
populated areas. We visited Hibiscus town and Phoenix town. Both of
these places have been the settings for various movies, mostly Chinese, but
Avatar is one we’ve all heard of. These are the English names of course—I can
neither pronounce, spell nor remember the Chinese names. We have
taken two plane rides since leaving Shanghai and been driven by van through the
countryside. We’ve passed one after the other larger and smaller towns and quite a few villages, but even the villages in China have a bit of heft to
them. There are some open spaces though and some beautiful farms with
rice paddies and other neatly demarcated crops as well as some water buffalo.
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| Beautiful Phoenix Town where Avatar was filmed |
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| Another view of Phoenix town |
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| We rode a boat like this one down the river in Phoenix town. The boatman had to maneuver his craft through this narrow opening in the bridge across the river. |
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| Phoenix town from a high bridge. |
A
few words about our travel mates. They are Jane and George Devine,
Irish Catholics born in Brooklyn and living for many years in Huntington, Long
Island. We are getting along wonderfully and have had a lot of
laughs. George and Tom are cut from the same cloth, full of
Blarney. Jane, who served in the New York legislature for twelve
years, tells fascinating stories of New York politics up close and personal. More
about Jane and George as we go along.
Keren
Su, our guide, is the reason we came on this trip in the first place and we are
not disappointed. We have been following Keren through his website (www.chinaspan.com) and his newsletters since we stayed in his beautiful LiAn
Lodge near Guilin with Mary and Neil in 2007. He is the architect
and designer for the lodge and is in the process of building a second lodge
which we will get to visit but not stay in as it is unfinished.
He
has led an amazing life and as this trip unfolds we are hearing more and more
of his fascinating stories. His parents were arrested and put in prison
during Mao’s Cultural Revolution and Keren himself was shipped off to a labor
camp at the age of 15. There he was taught to recite Mao’s Little
Red Book which he can still do today and, as he so charmingly puts it, “had his
brain washed out.” His resourcefulness was put to the test there as
he devised ways to become a leader rather than a follower and to survive the
ordeal. I think he spent four years in the re-education camp
before being released.
He
has visited practically every country in the world (except Iraq he says), biked
3,000 miles across China as a young man, motor-biked through southern China for
7,000 miles, guided trekking expeditions to Mt. Everest and K2, and is a
self-taught photographer, artist, architect, and calligrapher. His
photographs have appeared in National Geographic (and everywhere else) and he
has a published book on Chinese pandas. As we follow him through these
somewhat remote (although very populous) parts of China, he talks to everyone,
and when something is not to his liking he tells them so and they fix
it. He has boundless energy (he is 62), and spends his few hours of
downtime editing the photos he took that day. He lives near Seattle
with his wife and 15 year old daughter whose name is LiAn (Leigh Ann).
I
hope this isn’t too incoherent. This trip is moving faster than I
can keep up. Next I will try to give some impressions of what it is like
in China off the beaten track.
A few observations about the people:
We
have not seen a single Westerner, let alone an American, since leaving
Shanghai, six or seven days ago. People are fascinated, even
astounded, by us. Some people walk right up to us and take our
picture and then walk away without a word. Others openly stare and
when we smile and say Nihao (hello) they smile back and then take our pictures. Or
they just stare. Especially men—they will stare thinking they are
unobserved and when we stare back they don’t look away but continue to stare in
apparent amazement. Surely they have TVs and have seen us Big Noses before! These
people are mostly tourists themselves, enjoying the sights as we
are. Some, mostly young women, will approach us with cameras in
hand, smiling and giggling and when we are receptive, they want to take
multiple pictures of all possible permutations of us with them. George
is especially popular because he is not only American, but smokes a pipe, wears
an Aussie type hat, and is quite distinguished looking. We stayed at
a farm hotel in Zhangjiajie National Park full of photographers and he told
them he was an American movie star. No English of course but the
point was made. I absolutely believe that they believed
him. One night they took hundreds of pictures of George smoking his
pipe--in profile, in shadow, against the window, outside, etc. They
instructed him how to pose. He wonders what they will do with the
photographs...
In
the Miaio village we visited the other day, there are young women who are
employed to dress up in original Miaio costumes. We are supposed to
be taking pictures of them! But in fact the pictures that I will
post are of these employees who approached us with their cell phones and
cameras and asked to have their pictures taken with us! It’s too
funny.
Here are a few people shots:
The
food:
With
a few minor exceptions, we have had delicious, fresh and nutritious food. Breakfast
is included and we eat whatever we want from the hotel buffet. Then
for lunch and dinner, Keren chooses a restaurant—usually at random although a
couple of them he was already familiar with--we sit down and he orders six or
eight different dishes after asking us what sounds good, what we’re in the mood
for, etc. All the restaurants have been modest, family run
establishments. Without exception you get a bowl, a cup, a small
saucer, and a pair of chopsticks. No napkins unless you ask and then
you get a small pack of Kleenex, or occasionally a roll of toilet
paper. Spoons are available if you ask, otherwise only with
soup. No wine, only beer and tea or water and a few varieties of
soft drinks.
But
the food is amazing. Green beans, eggplant, potatoes, mushrooms,
tomatoes, all kinds of sautéed greens, liberally spiked with garlic, ginger and
plenty of hot peppers and some spices I can’t identify but taste divine; beef,
pork, tofu, and yes we’ve eaten chicken and we’re fine. Two nights
in a row we ate right on the street in Phoenix town. These family
run joints open up around five and then pack up and leave around midnight every
single day and serve an incredible array of fresh meats, fish and
vegetables. You pick out what you want and they cook it right there
on the street in big woks and on regular Barbecue grills. They have
barrels full of pickled veggies, and some less appetizing but ever popular
items like pigs tails, chicken feet, snails large and small, and black
chickens. We saw black chickens in Vietnam when we visited there,
and these are as black as can be and lying there plucked with heads and feet
attached ready to be chosen and cooked by the chef de
cuisine. While your food is being cooked you find a plastic
covered table inside a covered tent type thing, sit on a pink plastic chair and
wait until the food begins to arrive. Nothing fancy mind you, but
really delicious. The other night we were even treated to some live
entertainment—karaoke music complete with simulated microphones and guitars.
The folks were really getting into the spirit of the karaoke experience.
Time
for bed! More later…
