Lost one last time

My plan for my last full day was to go shopping mad and I partially achieved this but not quite in the way intended.  I did my leap on a bus and see where it takes me thing and landed up no where after ages - so not where I thought I would be but realised there was a department store in the area that looked okay for getting my replacement suitcase - having broken my lovely pink bag in Shanghai.  Bag acquired but that was where the what goes up must come down principle seemed to fail as I walked and walked and walked and could not find the bus stop back to my hotel.  Finally I found someone who spoke English and to my surprise I was just around the corner by then from the monastery that i had failed to find the previous day - and so I spent the rest of the day wondering around, but of course I still had the bag with me.  I feel like a character in a Beckett play or something - dragging my empty bag all around town.   

The monastery was well worth a visit and the little shops near by but nothing caught my eye instead I realised that coffeee was a challenge to get but the monastery cafe was selling the infamous hotpot.    Hotpot is the favourite dish mentioned by many students and I have never had it before and Chengdu is absolutly the place to have it.  I wish I could say it was wonderful. Perhaps having hotpot in a vegetarian environment defeats the idea.   I got the cheapest broth as the other prices seemed a bit steep for in effect sort soup with a veg dip that you cook for yourself - except that it was not just veg dip. As I did not particularly like the soup I am relieved to say that it came with lots of wonderful side dishes.  The place was very popular and I loved it when a bunch of nuns pushed in ready to eat their meals with giggling relish.  Made me think of my visits to India a bit.   

Not needing food in the evening I finally wandered down to People's Park and had a wonderful time as the sun set just joining in with loads of Chinese square dances, but that was because having tried to get a shuttle back to the Panda Park - it turned out I was too late, so if I was going to return it would have to be a last minute dash before going to the airport.  So rather than having a final relaxing morning and shopping in town I dashed back to the park, this time on the shuttle and chatted to a very nice Israeli visitor who was similarly keen to get the early spot.  As I had made an effort to charge both the camera and the phone I was looking forward to capturing many more wonderful shots - only to discover that for some unknown reason neither had charged.  It was nice to have company and show the young man around for an hour or so and we saw some great groups of pandas eating and I was really glad I had returned, but shortly after leaving him and whilst making my way back down to the exit I witnessed another extraordinary Panda bash.   At first there were two pandas playing and another relaxing on a raised walk area, but then the two suddenly turned on the one and chased him off the walk and up a tree. Then another panda came, and rather than breaking up the fight he joined in too and the poor attacked bear then fought him off - in the end I had to come away, but it was extraordinary and seemed to go on for ages.  So no exclusive shots, but so pleased to have had another panda fix. And then that was it.  I spent a fortune in the airport as that was the only other place I could buy things and I had not bought enough presents - I lost my purse and luckily had it returned but that took up all the rest of the time and then I was on the plane home. Only a quarter full we bumped and bumped and my heart was in my mouth most of the time, the films offering little distraction.  If I were younger or stronger I would have loved to have spent some time teaching in China, but I guess at least now I can talk to my students about my experience and bond with them even more.  Since returning I have been reading the extraordinary story  Wild Swans by Jung Chang - which has helped me understand some things,  young families who went through famine, civil war, invasion, war lords, prison etc and that was just every day life. China is for most people much more settled now and the Chinese are enjoying a better quality of life and getting to travel too.  Who knows though how this fascinating country will develop in the future.  I am glad to have glimpsed it during my lifetime. 

All about the Pandas

Sat in my flat on a cold January, scarely able to function, just lying in bed listening to accounts of a new virus spreading across China it is very hard to credit that I had the confidence and energy to travel through bit of China and that I felt so safe there,  but I did.  However, by the time I got to Chengdu, I did know that the adventure was coming to an end, which did not entirely suck the energy out of it, but did shift meaning in some ways. My hotel for a start was completely different. Stuck on the edge of town, though closer to things than I realised,  the promise of a view of the flyover, strangely was not sufficient for me to opt to change my room and have a view. Instead womblike I luxuriated in my internal and therefore cheaper room with a mini bar (though I only used the tea and snacks) and welcomed the other hotel facilities like the laundry and restaurant.

Prior to arriving in Chengdu my plan was potter day one, pandas day two, shopping day three and home day four.    However, being lost and being confused impacted some of these choices.  First though was pandas.  Having checked online I knew that in theory there was a shuttle bus to the location, however, a German embassy staff member, who sat next to me on the Xian Chengdu train and with a much better guide book than me, did not mention the shuttle,  based on the guide she planned to get get up early and go by metro and then taxi and the hotel staff just said taxi.  And nothing online helped me further,and as the location for the taxis and the location for the shuttle were not on the same line  I was a bit uncertain about my plans, but first I wanted to get to know Chengdu a little. Using the free hotel bus pass I just got on and went where the bus took me and luckily and accidentally landed in an area I had planned to see, an interesting sort of Camden town area, and then headed back to the hotel where I was happily esconsced in the restaurant eating wonderful food and watching the large business groups of Chinese visitors woof down their shared meals before having an early night in readingness to go the taxi route.

Hotel restaurant

Panda mad Chengdu

For a fleeting moment as I showed the driver where I wanted to go to, I was scared, especially when I realised I had left all my extra cash at home, what if the price for the taxi was higher than expected, what about the charge to enter the panda pads.  And then as my taxi speed along past the shuttle location and very cheap shuttle buses clearly in operation my anxiety escalated, but luckily at 7.30 in the morning there is very little traffic even going to the panda place, and the price of the taxi was less than my daily coffee, so that shamed me,  and then to my delight entrance to the Chengdu panda place was free.  I have seen shots of the entrance so often, yet even inside the site I could not quite credit I was there.  Like everyone I rushed through determined to get to the pandas as quickly as possible but the site is big. Many people use the inside shuttle, but money conscious as ever and unsure how it worked, I ploughed on through the bamboo as quickly as possible.  Luckily the smog of the day before seemed clearer the short distance from town and when I saw the sign to the Red Pandas I decided to detach myself from the crowd before going onto the main event. I was handsomely rewarded as the Red Panda, perhaps thinking I was the keeper with the food, checked me out and checked me out again.  I was alone when this happened. I held my breath and hoped the pictures conveyed how magical it was. How ever, unfortunately the short video is still too big to upload.

Many many many years ago, I remember that the sight of men and women in Mao suits bringing the panda Chi Chi to London Zoo was a great spectacle, but that is as nothing compared to the sight of coming around the corner and seeing pandas dozing high up in the trees cuddling each other, or munching down the bamboo macheted for them in the park.    I just wandered where the paths took me, often not really knowing where I was in the park.  I had imagined, I would easily spot the two other people I knew to be there that day, but the place was too big and the areas the pandas in two large to enable this, so I gazed adoringly but had no one to share it with until a small group of people were clustered outside an unsigned class enclosure where the keepers were cleaning out one pen.  Here we could very easily see the pandas standing up restlessly waiting to see if the keeper was there and when the first panda came into the now clean area each panda clearly marked out the area with their scent, so it was amazing to see such behaviour close to but the most amazing bit which got everyone simultaneously holding their breaths, trying to hold their cameras steadily and in the end laughing out loud was when two pandas were fighting and one fell off the platform.   Despite their biffing and biting I was captivated along with everyone else. Unfortunately the video is too big to upload.

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I was less happy when I struggled to be allowed on the shuttle bus back as it relied on my having a picture of the evidence of my payment to the shuttle company and my camera and phone were out of power, but in the end after much tooing and frooing and huffing and puffing I got on board and thought I was going to the monastery in town.  Instead I was dumped somewhere completely different. A woman on the bus indicated my location and then a man, with very good English, who thought my map was bloody awful, helped me work out where I was - which was somewhere in the vague direction of the People's Park - again on my wish list, but  suddenly I realised I recognised the road I was in and instead decided to hope on the bus back to my hotel.  I had no desire to go around  more of Chengdu so retreated to the hotel restaurant again and watched Chinese opera on TV before sleeping and dreaming of beautiful black and white bears.  It had occured to me, I could return to the park!!!. 

Exasperating or exciting Xian?

The hostel in Xian advised that I catch the bus down to them, but stupidly as I was not sure where to go from I started walking. The tiny picture in my book gave a false impression of the distances, but when I chanced upon a metro that seemed the solution and I was feeling thankful and even proud of myself, the bag feeling by now very heavy, that there was an up escalator and I was in striking distance of the hostel.   Only the way through indicated by the maps via the wonderful big wall towers, was blocked and the only way to my bed was back down now stairs and more stairs back up and up and around etc so despite the magnificence of the walls in front of me,   Xian annoyed me a tad at the start to say the least. I was probably a bit overtired from the trip, I was also aware that it did feel more away from the tourists of Shanghai and Beijing and all the buildings seemed huge and characterless.  Even the coffee, which had been recommended, was a let down, however, the hostel itself was lovely.  If a bit out of reach, too early to sign in I could only leave my bags and wait to explore the dark wooden depths of a traditional Chinese house.  And at £9 for two nights it was my cheapest location.  Luckily, breakfast was still available, which cheered me a bit and a conversation with two other hostelers resulted in a private arrangement to go to the terracotta army with them via public transport on the morrow.   Replenished I headed out past huge expensive glamorous shops in search of not one but two pagodas.     One turned out to be in a park, but the other somehow I turned the wrong way and by the time I found myself back on the main road and still some way from it I was too tired to continue, instead I hopped onto the bus that had been recommended to me to take from the train station, and which all the brochures said was the right bus to get to the terracotta army, except that the tiny fare meant that could not be right. 

Exhibition pieces. 

drum tower

Pagoda

Late night shopping in the Muslim quarter

The Terracotta Army

Lacquer work underway. 

Back at the hostel more research revealed a confusing array of ways to get to the most famous artefacts in town,  and when I could not find the couple again, I bit the bullet and booked what seemed like quite an expensive day trip out, but thank goodness I did as being a proper tourist the following day, in a mini bus with three others, turned into a great day from the initial visit to the factory were copies of the army are made! plus many other beautiful Chinese items,  to the buffet lunch which was delicious filling and multi cultural, to the actual site itself.    The pictures have been beamed all around the world, but still walking in and seeing all these huge figures is breathtaking.   And not being alone, being able to share with the others, a well travelled Australian, who knew a lot about Chinese history, and whose pension stretched to regular trips in the area, to two fairly young women who work to travel, was brilliant. 

My train companion

Lovely hostel building.

The previous day I had been lost both when out in the evening and in the daytime, Xian's main pagoda and the vast mosque missed,  Xian had seemed a disappointment despite enjoying an evening walk along the wall, (relatively expensive) as the sun went down and pottering in the little shops near the hostel (recommended) but the army was why we were all there and touristy or not, it was a wonderful experience and to be recommended.   Aside from the army there are lots of museums and a nice bell tower and drum tower, but even the Chinese women in my dorm, got caught out by their opening times, so they were as disgruntled by aspects of Xian as I was.  I also wish I had got a better map with me than the one from the hostel.  I do not know if it was fatigue or what, but the narrow and very busy streets of the Muslim area defeated me and I got hopelessly lost.  But luckily was able to find someone with enough English to point me towards the nearest metro, but I am really mystified why when in theory everything is in a block it is so easy to head off in the wrong direction. The Muslim quarter also raises interesting questions given the current situation with the Uighurs.   On TV the Uighur;s seen reminded me of the people in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the people in the Muslim Quarter mostly looked like all the other Chinese people around, except that they were selling lamb instead of pork and they were wearing scarves or hats connected to their faith.    The area seemed massively popular with Chinese visitors and residents alike but was definitely a distinct and somewhat different environment - a bit like Chinatown is within London.  So in the end Xian was both exciting and exasperating, but perhaps with more preparation would have been more enjoyable. 

On the train to Xian.

Xian is a short journey from Shanghai, or a long journey. I chose the latter.  20 hours seems a lot, yet I enjoyed those hours on the train. Sometimes not being able to talk much is a blessing.   I was happy to lie on my bottom bunk and doze and read or smile at the others in the area.  A young woman dressed in some ghastly outfit that made me think of Betty Davis in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane  was distressed as it turned out the two young women sporting eye operation bandages had occupied her compartment.  She almost fainted away at the sight, but nevertheless wanted a selfie with me, which helped pacify her a tad.

Old style trains. 

Surprisingly quiet most of the time. 

Note the kettle so I could make tea

 It amused me that despite the numerous staff who had gone round to use all individually that none of them had realised the wounded were in the wrong place.   After that most of us settled down.  The woman in the other bottom bunk had come well prepared with enough instant meals for lunch dinner and breakfast.  She was very worried that I had not eaten, but what I could not get across to her was that I had headed down to the canteen, in turned out later at the wrong time, which may explain the dismissive treatment I got from the steward who dug out a remaining lunch and sat on an empty table whilst the workers relaxed.  There were set times to eat, but I had not realised that. The food was delicious, but the pains after in my stomach, suggest that perhaps the rice had sat too long before I ate it and fo rthat reason I was not at all keen to have anything more, until in the morning I finally accepted a couple of plain slices of bread from my neighbour, who shared pictures with me of her grandson.    It was a nice peaceful start to my trip to Xian. 

Saturday and Sunday in Shanghai.

Sat here waiting for Godot, or is that the Police, to try and see if they can explain the actions of the CPS so whilst I wait will return to more positive things like Shanghai on a Saturday in November, when I meet up with my most regular student and his wife and had lunch out with them.   Just a perfect way to find out more about Shanghai,  we went to the lovely museum there and saw the porcelain, interestingly they had never been there before and then we ate dumpings.  In the afternoon I tried to find the home of Zhou Enlai, near Fuxing Park, but instead found a charming tea room.  Very extravagant, tea and cheesecake for 100 yuan but just what I needed. 

Sunday morning I rose early and just a steady if relatively small group of people nevertheless heading purposefully to the river side in time to see the 7 am start of the Shanghai marathon.  As 25000 feet shuffled by a lone handclap echoed through the streets, locals looked askance at me, as I tried to get them to join in, but the runners smiled and thanked me. I have no idea if by the end of the race they were greeted with loud sounds and applause as by then I was waiting for the overnight train to Xian. 

Jordan and Ashley please help

I know your uncle is not you, and does not represent you, but Ashley and Jordan if you can help I would appreciate it. Your uncle took money from me, he has acknowledged to the police he has the money and they were going to prosecute him for theft, but the CPS has said that his acknowledgement does not mean he intends to deprive me of the money for ever. They say I should take him to court, but how, he gave me a false address and when I went online like this he threatened to take me to court for libel, even though I was only telling the truth.  Someone knows him someone else might be loosing money to him now.  So if anyone in the wider family has any influence on him please ask him to return the money to me.  Thank you. 

Zhujiajiao

Just a rather long tube ride away and suddenly you are in another world.  A tourist's delight.

Midway through the day I stepped away from the crowd, avoiding the touristy restaurants, and had a very greasy spoon type meal China style - duck blood noodles.  Not easy to eat with chopsticks, but a good challenge before dipping back into the shops and at the end a wonderful garden and house.

Super Shanghai

When I was first thinking about my journey to China, I was not sure about visiting Shanghai.  I just saw visions of high buildings and urban scenery, but then talking to my student An, I spotted flowers in and greenery and the history of the town talked to me too. Reading that there is a lovely autumn, which if lucky I would catch I decided I would do it and booked for Shanghai too, but only booked for 4 nights.   The high speed train took us to the outskirts of the town and there were a few problems getting my new ticket but as a result had a quick chat with an Irish couple who helped me with the machines. They were essentially the same as the ones in Beijing, but there was a problem with notes.  Eventually it was resolved and I was on my way into China's biggest town.    The minute I stepped outside it was obvious that Shanghai would not be what I thought it would be.  I was in the centre of town, but the restaurants with fish, and strange sights were unlike anything I had really seen before.  I guess it was a kind of hutong, but the architecture was different to that in Beijing.  I guess it was more thirties style, but I am not sure. Each area had a slightly different feel as I walked down to the river, half an hour away and dotted in between vast buildings piercing the sky.   Down by the river there was a holiday atmosphere almost.  On the left the 30s European buildings, on the river over the water,  the now famous Shanghai skyline,everyone seemed to love seeing the light on the towers play.    I had hoped that I would spot familiar style cafe but my bit of Shanghai seemed to have a very different food culture either vast restaurants or such specialist Chinese restaurants that were too scary for me to enter alone.  On the main street all was bright, and brash and unappealing, but in the dark back streets I was caught by a bright light and a menu in English and Chinese.  Aubergine and Cauliflower.  It was almost like a small but slightly posh greasy spoon inside, but offering what looked like really good dishes,  I did not even think about it.  Before I knew it was I sat inside with a little fire stove and the most wonderfully delicious tasting vegetables,  with green tea.  The other diners almost showed no interest, so deep in their food and smartphones, one chap, did not even look up when his partner arrived and he was still deep in his phone when they left still not communicating.  Just one chap raised a glass to me and seemed a little excited that a foreigner was there, but he did not have the courage to say anything more than bye when I left.

 The following day I instinctively returned, but then was happy to take a ferry across the Huangpu river and then just sit in the sun in a nice park that wraps around the river and read in the sun, before heading to a spanking brand new department store where I had a yummy Thai evening meal.