Tales from a Nomad: Fog and rain

The Road to Luoyang

I left Pingyao pretty late in the afternoon due to a dodgy stomach. I got to Taiyuan and had a three mile walk getting to the ticket office just before it closed and managed to get transport for the following morning. I had a chat with some people who were camped outside the bus station and concluded that it was safe to sleep there, if you go back two blog entries and look at the toilet from the place I was staying the last time I was in Taiyuan you’ll see that the conditions outside the bus station weren’t much worse. I’d guess there were about thirty people staying outside the station. One family of five were particularly friendly. Judging by the darkness of their skin, I assume they were farm workers. They looked like they had all their belongings in potato sacks and they told me they were heading north to the richer more modern province of Hebei for work. I’m not sure if they already lived in Hebei or if they were migrating. They all shuffled together and allowed me to squeeze in beside them on their blanket that they were using as a ground sheet. The wealth divide in Chinese cities is very transparent but wherever I’ve been there doesn’t seem to be jealousy or unhappiness amongst the poorer people. I really like Taiyuan. The traffic is pure madness, Beijing seems tranquil in comparison. I like how the motorists, cyclists and pedestrians band together then jostle for control of the road. It reminds me of the crossing of the wildebeest on the Mara River. Once one of them takes the plunge it is one-way traffic from that moment onward. I read that Taiyuan used to be one of the most polluted cities on earth. The air quality isn’t great but they’ve apparently cleaned up their act over the past 20 odd years. There are lots of tree lined streets here and there’s a variety of species and not big long streets where all the trees are exactly the same size and distant apart. I felt really happy as I lay there watching Taiyuan’s chaotic traffic go by, counting plant species, seeing all the neon lights, chatting to people who were really accommodating and hearing all the sounds of the city as I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep. I felt much safer than when I’ve slept outside in Scottish cities. I like when things are unpredictable.

I thought I slept pretty badly but it was 5am when I looked at my mobile. I got a good 5 hours sleep. I was really glad I’d slept beside that family. I had wrapped up before I went to sleep purely because I’m a babe magnet as far as mosquitos are concerned and didn’t want to expose any skin. I was pretty cold when I woke up and would have been freezing had it not been for the blanket they shared with me. I think I’m a light traveller with my 13 kilos but I’m not as resourceful as these people. When the bus station opened at 5:30 they wrapped up their belongings in the blanket, tied a bit of string and it doubled up as a bag too.

The journey to Luoyang was pretty dull. I got a bit worried when I asked someone what time we’d arrive in Luoyang and he replied 6:30. I wasn’t expecting an 11 hour journey. Fortunately you say ‘liu dian ban’ (six point half) for 6:30pm as well as 6 and a half hours. I’d obviously asked the question wrongly. Visibility was no more than a mile the whole way. It was mainly repetitive scenery for the first 5 hours or so. The same sort of countryside I’ve seen since leaving the mountains around Beijing. As we approached Henan province we entered a spectacularly mountainous area with steep karst cliff faces. It was really green but really foggy. On the other side of the road was huge power stations with their big fat chimneys and the odd tall skinny one. The fog was so thick you could only see the silhouettes. We crossed the Yellow river shortly before arriving in Luoyang. The Yellow river is the lifeblood of Chinese civilisation old and new, I thought it was just a small tributary we were seeing. It didn’t seem like a river that spawned a great civilisation. As we descended towards Luoyang the landscape reminded me of Scotland - grey skies but with lots of different deciduous trees, shrubs and the occasional conifer. I’m hoping that because the trees are like back “home” there will be more diversity in bird life. Myself and Michael were talking about this yesterday. You see hundreds of house sparrows especially when the grass has just been cut and the occasional magpie but that’s about it. I like diversity, even big Aberdeenshire seagulls aren’t too bad when you haven’t seen nor heard them for a while.

I’m kind of annoyed. I’ve only just checked into my place I’m staying for the next two nights and my first port of call is to book an overnight train to get out of here and off to Nanjing. I don’t like to plan so far ahead but I don’t want to get expensive busses nor have a 15 hours standing ticket in a crowded aisle between compartments, if I don’t plan ahead that’s my two options, but what happens if I really like this place? Pffft. When I’m in areas with stunning countryside I reckon I’ll have more flexibility. I hope it’s not foggy all over China. I haven’t properly seen the horizon since I climbed the great wall and that feels like ages ago. Some days (like today for example) it’s just a blanket of light. It’s impossible to know north from south. You could go days on end without seeing a natural daylight shadow. On the plus side I’ve got a four bed dorm all to myself. There isn’t Wi-Fi but there’s a complimentary green tea for all four residents. One down three to go. I’m on the fifth floor and have a poor view of communist era housing but there’s a sycamore right outside my window. The toilet is western. No complaints.

Shaolin Temple

Five hours after boarding a bus we arrived in Shaolin temple. The weather was very Scottish. Light drizzle that lasted all day and thick fog. I saw some nice birds as compensation. They were similar to Bee eaters and had a very diverse range of calls. I was more interested than them than the various temples we were shown around. I had a wander around a village with a middle aged Englishman from Oxford named Steve rather than pay extra money for half an hour in yet another temple and got caked in mud that wouldn’t get off my shoes. I reckon my body weight was temporarily increased by a stone. I had to act as interpreter which I found as quite an honour considering I’ve been here for just over 3 weeks. The bus woman would speak to me to communicate with him. The Shaolin Temple is the largest Kung Fu school in China. I was shocked to hear that there are 20,000 full time ninja students. I like it because they don’t just learn about how to be killing machines; the place is very much about emotional discipline, meditation and learning about the principles of Buddhism. A lot of people I’ve met in China do all the superstitious stuff with the incense sticks and bow north, south, east and west when at temples but don’t live their lives in the humble and non-materialistic ways of Buddhist tradition. Here it’s more holistic. The show the young monks put on was quite something. There was a guy who was probably about 8 years old making shapes with his body that I didn’t believe were possible. A guy threw a pin at a balloon and it went right through the glass behind the balloon. I made a wee video clip but you can probably get the whole show on you-tube so I won’t bother posting. The mountains around the shaolin temple are stunning (so the postcards led me to believe). The fog grew thicker as the day went on. I would have been really annoyed if the day had been sunny and I wouldn’t have had time to climb a mountain due to all the little temples we visited. It wasn’t my best day in China but it can’t all be awe inspiring. Days of constant drizzle makes the landscape picturesque and green; sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t. Myself and Steve went out for a meal in the evening which was good (and cheap). I’m a bit annoyed with myself that I only have the equivalent of £40 in my pocket. I took out £200 in Beijing and I hoped that would last me until Shanghai. Maybe I was a bit overly ambitious. I’ve opted not to see the world famous Longmen Grottoes, the most famous sight in the region. I’ve been told it’s not as nice as Yungang grottoes near Datong and I only saw them a week ago. I’m one of the few people who’ve been to central China and chose not to go to Xi’an. I’ve weighed up the pros and cons pretty extensively in my opinion and really don’t think it’s worth it. I’ve got a night train to Nanjing tomorrow, I might book accommodation before I go or I might just play it by ear once I get there.

Luoyang - Nanjing

This stage was a bit of a disaster. It rained all day and I lost my camera. I'm pretty sure it wasn't stolen, I was wearing my waterproofs which don't have deep pockets. I only lost a couple of pics of the rainy Luoyang skyline. I had 7 hours in Luoyang between checking out and getting my train. It wasn't too bad I suppose. I find ways to amuse myself. I'm now in Nanjing. My first port of call was to find somewhere to stay tonight. I met an american woman named Jennifer in the internet doing the same thing. The hostel we've ended up in is really nice. It's in the University campus and is full of greenery. There are at least 4 species of butterflies in the gardens. My first impressions of the city is that it is quite clean and there's plenty of green spaces. I reckon Nanjing is a very liveable city. I've got from Beijing to Nanjing for less than £200 with 4 cities in between and 16 days of accommodation which isn't too bad but I really need to stop losing cameras. I'm going to buy a cheap one in Nanjing. I'll easily wait a few days rather than just buy one from the first shop I find. I get understood most of the time so it won't be as difficult as finding one in my first day at Beijing. However, I have had to repeat myself in Nanjing for things I'd never have to repeat in the places I've been of late. The Nanjing dialect is very different. Here's some photos I made.