In my thoughts...

I literally can not get hot pots out of my mind. I am obsessed with them. I am searching all over the internet for the right equipment and the right spices to make my own hot pot here at home. My taste buds were changed on this trip, no doubt about it. I can honestly say that when I watch those favorite shows of mine about travel and weird foods, I feel like I could easily at least try them. Not saying I would enjoy them, but I would be open to putting them in my mouth and chew. And for those who know about it, yes, my quest for blood sausage is not over or diminished. I am tempted to go to DC this weekend to the restaurant there that I know for a fact makes them. Hmmm.....tempting indeed. But enough of that. I am still sorting through all the photos, getting rid of the bad ones, figuring out what ones will look great blown up on my wall, and which ones I should turn into National Geographic for their travel photo contest. But until I can post all of them on here (I hope to do that this weekend) I will keep my promise to the maybe three people still reading this, and post a few pics on here a day.

This is an ok pic artistically. But come on, you know I am saving the best artsy ones for the end! But this pic illustrates two great things about Chonqing. One, the real future of China is in this picture: Construction of towers. I can not even describe the amount of construction in Shanghai but especially in Chongqing. Watch out, these two cities will be amongest the biggest in the world both population wise and in area, very soon. Unofficially, Chongqing already is with about 40 million people. The second thing this shows is the haze. Some of it is pollution perhaps, but the city is famous for haze. It's what protected it from the Japanese bombers during World War II.


Again, the future of China. In general the future is construction. There is a joke, at least one I have read, that the official bird of Dubai should be the crane, as in construction crane, but I vote for China. About 10 years ago, The Yangzi apparently only had five bridges on its whole length. The Mississippi River, the fourth longest in the world, had 26. (Remember, the Yangzi is the 3rd longest) But as part of the building of the dam, they are also building a whole lot of bridges. This is only one. I would say we passed under about 15 under construction, with the same basic design on all of them. As my random Dutch friend who I met on the boat said, "you don't mess with the winning team." Meaning that in a communist country, they build bridges wherever they want and with the same design and if anyone complains, the local government official will just say "Never heard of them" when the family members ask why they have been missing for a month.


A statue in Fengdu, the so called ghost city. Of course, all the original statue's and temples were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Everything they took the tourist too was built in the last 15 years or so. I wasnt a fan of Fengdu, but it did allow me to take some more "faces of statues" pictures. I have a nice little series going when you add in all the statues in Richmond, and of course the infamous "Matt and KC posing next to random pieces of street art" pictures. Ah, good times indeed

And again, more photos...

Well, lets start today with a pic of the Three Gorges Dam. The biggest construction project in the world apparently. Its not the biggest dam, that one is in Egypt. So for all that was lost in the flooding created by this dam in the Gorges, in a few years this will only provide for 4% of the electricity in China. Within 20 years, when they build four more planned dams on the river, it will provide 1% of the electricity.




Nanjing Road. Neon neon everywhere. This, as I think I mentioned before, is the main shopping road in Shanghai and maybe China. Lots of Chinese tourists taking their pictures next to some sign at the end of the road that I assume says "Nanjing Road-make sure to ask the white devil if he wants a watch, fake dvd's, a bag, or a t-shirt. and make sure to tell him that the t-shirt comes in big sizes."




Oh man, my mouth is watering at this one again. This is the Hot Pot. The bigger bowl is the somewhat mild hot pot. The top one was a bit hotter. What was really hot in the top one was the peppercorns. Man, you get one of those on the meat and your mouth goes numb. So needlesss to say, it was wonderful!







This is just a small pic of the beer I treated myself to after a long day in Chongqing. Now I took this pic because of the brand name logo. Now correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure their logo is just like the SS symbol the Nazi secret police used to wear. I thought it was funny.








An even better ad in China. This ad includes the stars of the second greatest show on Chinese TV, the college tennis drama "wing". Great stuff.

More Photos

Just a few more random chosen pics from the trip. This is of what are called The Trackers. They bring ships up the lesser gorges at first by paddling, and as we shall see in a second, by physical pulling the boats. This is how people and goods have been transported on these small tributaries of the Yangtze for hundreds if not thousands of years.





And like I said, here are the trackers pulling the boats, or at least getting ready to. I wont show you how hard this is, because those photos are great, and I gotta protect my intellectual property of course.








Part of the MASSIVE scale model of Shanghai's development for the 2010 World Expo. They had a creepy video there that showed how happy the workers would be to get kicked out of their homes to make room for the development along the river. Classic Communist Propaganda for sure.

More Photos

Not sure if people are still reading this, but I kind of enjoy it. I think I might give an attempt at a blog again. I did for for a few weeks on political issues, but then I decided that I don't really care. Well, I do care, too much probably. But since I have decided that this country is quickly becoming a fascist place, I dont know if I will devote too much time to that issue. Of course, I have plenty of things good and bad to say about well, pretty much everything in the world.
But the real blog will have to wait. For now, I wanted to share a few more pics. I took way too many pics and it is going to take awhile to download them all off my photo bank, and to figure out what is good and what stinks. But just a few fun ones for now, to test the waters and see if anyone is still out there.





This is the donkey meat I was raving about in an earlier post. Man....seriously good stuff. Just looking at this pick, my mouth is watering a bit.








Ah more great food. The one on the left is bean curds or something along those lines. That was the hardest one to eat I thought. The Middle one is Chicken Stomachs, or stomach linings probably more correct. And on the right is Buffalo Tripe. That was really good. It was no donkey meat, but still great.














Not sure if this pic does it justice. But this is the first image from Chongqing I have posted I think. So the stairs at the bottom of the picture, and the kind of porches you see in the middle (by the sign) are all part of some housing project. Now notice what is above the housing project: yeah, thats an expressway. A busy one. Further down the river, the railroad goes underneath the expressway. And underneath both of those, is more housing. In a booming city like this, with a WIDE gap between rich and poor, every available space is used.



Ah the rare picture of me. I don't like taking photos of myself as it is, and traveling alone was a big excuse/reason for not having a lot of pics. But I managed to get a few on the cruise when I could ask a fellow westerner to do it. Given the attention I got around China, I did not want to bring more attention to myself by asking for and then posing for a picture that a Chinese person was taking of me. (Which reminds me, two things were running through my head in China a lot-"Last night I had the strangest dream, I sailed away to China in a little rowboat to find ya....Ain't no one gonna break my stride, ain't no one gonna slow me down, oh no" and of course "China man took my legs in Korea" or "The Chinaman who pissed on my rug, I can't go give him a bill" "The Chinaman is not the issue here Dude."

Neon Neon everywhere!

I couldnt get this pic to fit on the other post, but I wanted to include it as my little teaser because I really like it.

China Trip-A few quick highlights

So I have a lot of photos to sort through and figure out what they are. Once I do that, probably sometime this week, I will post a bunch of good photos on here. But for now, to wet your appetite, I thought I would post a few on here now.

This is the Bund at night. This was taken in the house keeping stairwell, with me lying on my belly because the window was on the same level as the floor.






Above is a picture of the Dragon's Gate, the start of the Three Gorges on the Yangtze. Just a teaser, more pics to come later!












This is the People's Hall in Congqing after a rain storm. Very nice indeed. It was a storm that was a mere foreshadowing of the massive downpour I would get stuck in the next night.

To the right is some fishermen along the Yangzi river. Next to them, the number ten is part of a numbering system along the river showing how high the water level will rise next year when the dam is complete.

August 6th-Best Hotel Ever

Well I am writing this blog from back in Richmond. After 30 hours in a few planes and a few airports, I made it safely. Some guy on my flight from Charlotte to Richmond this morning was complaining about having to get up at 5am, when I casually mentioned to him that I have been traveling for 24 hours already. He didnt have much to say after that.
Also, in good timing/great irony it was in Seattle that the typical traveler's ailment (especially those that are trying new foods) It will keep me tied up for a few days, but thats ok. The memory of Buffalo tripe makes up for it. (Might be one of the best travel experiences I have had so far-Its right up there with a cabbie in Prague proclaiming "Americans!" and then putting Frank Zappa on the radio, blaring it as we drove through the castle district)
My last night in Shanghai I stayed in the highest hotel in the world, The Grand Hyatt Shanghai. My room was on the 77th, so near or over 1,000 feet in the air. It was easily the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. The food was a bit pricey, and a bit too normal (although my stomach was thankful for that) I enjoyed getting out of the sun and sending some time in the highest pool in the world, especially since I think i am suffering from a little heat stroke/dehydration at this point.
The hotel I stayed in is in the building on the left of the pic, the Jin Mao tower. THe building on the right is not done yet. It is the Shanghai World Financial Center. When finished, it will be the world's tallest skyscraper if you go by roof height. (although the Burj Dubai is already the tallest, but will be under construction for another year or so)
Here's the autrium of the building and yes, I have no clue how to spell Atirum...Autruim ok enough of that.




Next pic is the highest pool in the world, where I spent a good hour going back and forth between it and the men's locker room jacuzzi. Very relaxing indeed.

August 5th-One more thing

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the weird food of the day. I didnt want to put this at the end of the last blog, didnt want it to get lost in the shuffle. Sitting at the Yichang airport restaurant today, scanning the menu. Oh my, there it is-can it be true? The thought had crossed my mind of trying this as I had heard it is actually kind of good. Do I dare actually do it though? hmm...yes....yes I do. I had donkey meat today. While its not as gross I guess as Buffalo tripe, it is still something I dont think I have ever seen on a menu in America. And I gotta say, it was really good mean. Lean and with a nice flavor to it.

August 5th-The Green Bay Packers

As I was packing my bag this morning to depart the ship, I started thinking about Brett Farve. I had completely forgotten that he was going to show up to camp, and that this whole drama was going to unfold. Later on the plane ride to Shanghai, I saw a few headlines of the English Language China Daily paper, and realized that I have no clue what is going on in the world right now and I kind of like it. I sit here writing this at a computer in my room in Shanghai, and I have resisted going to a news site to find out what has been going on. (cnn.com is blocked by the great firewall of china)
I like this felling. Its like living in a totally different world, one that exists only in the moment which you find yourself in. Did Farve show up? It doesnt matter. What is important is where I will eat my next meal. Did Batman break any more movie total records? Dont know, too busy watching the street scenes of Shanghai at night.
The whole mind frame of travel is one I enjoy. More and more as this trip goes on, I find myself more inclined to be that kind of person that just goes away for a year or so, and travels the world. I especially think this during the bad times of the trip. Because those bad moments, like thinking that both of my cameras have just broken because of a stupid Chingqing rain storm, are wonderful moments when measured against the daily life I live in reality. Sitting at a desk bored all day versus sitting in People's Park in Shanghai being bored....well....its really not a contest at all is it.
You always here that statement people say after holiday (maybe that should be another requirement for a partner-they have to use the term holiday instead of vacation or is that just oo british?) about how they had fun but they are glad to be back. As I dozed in and out of sleep on my flight today I thought about this. I will not be glad to be back. Its not because I dont like my job or because I dont like where i am living (i dont like Richmond that much at all) These opinions factor in to it, but its mostly because no matter where I am living or what my job is, if given the choice I would rather be living out of a backpack, seeing the unfamilar, and doing nothing in someplace different. I think I would be content spending my last day in Shanghai sitting in the park reading a book. I like the change of scenary that travel brings. I like that if I am becoming too familar with my scenary I can change it like that. I enjoy that thing I mentioned earlier of poping in and out of people's life when you travel. (This happened a lot on the cruise ship) I liked having a conversation last night under the neon lights of Nanjing street with three youths. It was of course through them that I found out that the night market I was trying to find, if it is still real, was very far away from where I was. But either way, I liked having a nice moment with people I will never see again. Like the british girl on the dock, whose name I got from her friend later. We had a nice moment. It was a good conversation with someone different and it ended just as quickly as it began. There is nothing more to it.
Going back to Richmond, to that daily routine and the boredom and frustration that comes with it I will not enjoy. If people ask, I will have to tell the truth and say that I had a good time on the trip but I am not glad to be back.

August 4th-Is there anything I can really say?

I slept on this blog. I am not sure what I can write that can really describe the Three Gorges. I dont think pictures even really can show the beauty of it. There are just these jagged peaks that sore out of the river. Often the peaks themselves are just sheer cliff faces, or the part of the mountain that hits the river is the cliff. These are 4,000 foot mountains we are talking about, so it is not just mere bumps in the road. I will have to post some pics when I return to the States to see if that can do the job that my words can not. (But if you want words, try doing an internet search-Chairman Mao himself used to write poems about the Gorges)
Everywhere along the river you see signs that simply say "175". This is what is believed the be the final height of what is fast becoming a 400 km lake as oppossed to the 3rd longest river in the world. There are no longer any homes really below this mark, as most of them were moved when the initially stage of flooding occurred a few years ago. But what one does see is farm land that is stil being worked that will disappear. In the current global food crisis, and in an improvished region such as this, that land is essential. But by the end of this year when the dam is coomplete and the river rises another 30 meters, it will be gone.
Unfortunately as we went through the gorges, the river guide on the boat kept a running commentary in both chinese and english which meant he was talking most of the time. But it was interesting to hear what I think can only be described as a bit of propoganda. Well, maybe. It seems like most of the Chinese really believe that the Three Gorgres Dam project is a good thing. The guide kept commenting on how navigable the river is now, which is true. And is a good thing for the most part. The amount of commercial traffic and shipping of goods on the river has increased. This has helped to lead to the boom of Chongqing. The guide also talked about flood control, which is a very good thing and in many ways was the really purpose of the dam. Electricity is a minor part of it. True, right now it supplies about 10% of China's energy. But in the next 20 years or so there are plans to build 4 more dams on the Yangzi. When they are done, the Three Gorges Dam will provide on 1% of China's energy. The guide also talked with great pride about the Neolithic sites that were found on the river banks, and almost off handly mentioned that they are now under water. There is a great amount of history that has been lost/will be lost in the flooding. One wonders if it is really all worth it for 1% of your energy needs.
The biggest part of the propoganda was in the last gorge. There is a poem inscribed on the wall from the Premier of China who greenlighted the project. The river guide says it was put there by the people of the local village because they are soooo behind the project. He then casually mentioned that the people of that village who have lived there for generations, were moved to a different village in a different province entirely. Imagine that all your family has now has been living on the river and fishing and living that lifestyle. This is how is has been for generations until the government tells you that you have to go for a a construction project.
At night, after going through part of the last gorge, we docked by the dam project itself. At night, it didnt look that impressive. I would find out the next day that its not even the biggest dam in the world (thats the Anwar Dam in Egypt) but it has the biggest locks and given all the other stuff being built around it, it is the biggest construction project in the world. Docking sucked because I was fancying a british girl, and when the boat started to pull in they sounded the horn, and that just kind of killed the mood entirely. Boo to the captain on that one.

A brief Commentary on Chinese Television

Chinese television, which is all run by CCTV, the government television stations, is very weird. There are some overdramatic shows on there, and some really dumb comedies that are very outlandish in their nature. However, There are a few points I have to highlight that make me really enjoy Chinese Television.
-There is a show called "King of Sports" Google it or go to youtube. I am not sure if its out there, but its great. One of the events they do is a long jump but you have to do a face plant. They have a 60 meter slid and slide that contestants run and try to slide on their feet as far as they can go. Its great.
-There is a drama that i think is called "Win" because thats the only word in english in the opening credits. Its amazing. I wish it was on every night in american, but in Chinese still. It appears to be about a college tennis team. They have a lot of problems with each other. They have issues with their emotions. They are grown men who cry in almost every scene. And their problems of course translate to the tennis court. But the best part is the kind of sterotypical supernatural dimension to their game. When one guy decides that he has had enough and wants to show his enemy who is boss, he breaks out his super shot. He drags his racket along the court, creating sparks (that are badly computer animated-the ball in every single shot is very very very badly computer animated as well, adding to the greatness of the show) Once he has enough power, he manges to hit a ball that curves in an almost 180 degree arc around the poles on the court. Another guy hits a serve that has so much spin on it that it hits the court on the opponenets side, and then bounces right back across the net into his waiting hand. Words can even describe its suerpiority as a tv drama.

August 3rd-Tourist Hell

I really dont have much to write for this day. The cruise gets under way. The first day involved traveling to Fengdu and going to the Ghost City, which at one point was supposedly where spirits went to be judged before going on to the next life. Of course, most of those buildings were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. All the buildings we saw where built in the last 20 years. And the three temples on top of the mountain (700 steps to the top) had giant gift shops in them. There are two things I am sure the Chinese do well. They create legends and stories for everything in their country in order to make a tradition that they destroyed in the past. And they use every chance they can to sell you stuff. I got seriously harassed in an attempt to get me to buy a panda t-shirt my last night in Shanghai at the Astor House. In the temples they sold total junk.
I hated Fengdu. I will come right out and say it. I didnt like the ghost city. I wanted to go across the river to the New Fengdu. The old Fengdu was destroyed by the first round of flooding from the Gorges Dam project and all 80,000 residents were moved across the river into a planned city.
This would actually lead to an interesting discussion with a cute british girl later this night at the bar. (seriously, even without the accent, I think I need to find a girl willing to humor me and use the xpression "I fancy" as in "I fancy a cup of tea"-hottest thing ever. Of course, the girl should also find that whole thing kind of funny) Anyway, this girl has always gone on guided tours when she goes on holiday. She couldnt understand why I wouldnt do it or why I never have. I guess there is a whole conversation to have about this, but i dont get it. It is so much more fun to strike out on your own then to have everything planned out for you. If I came to China with a tour, I would not have had tripe or the street food in Shanghai.

August 2nd-Finding something in Chongqing part II

Well, the second day of Chongqing started with the ground still wet from the massive rain storm that I got stuck in briefly last night. Luckily I had someplace to take cover. The sky was overcast, but then again it is always overcast in Chongqing. So I thought nothing of it...more on this later as it bites me in the ass.
I decided to explore the city today before meeting my guide at 4pm who would take me to the cruise boat. I will cut out comments on the growth of Chongqing since the last post was sooo long and I wanted to keep this one kind of short. But basically: ITS A BIG CITY! ITS NOISY! IT SMELLS WORSE THE SHANGHAI!
As I was heading north from the docks towards what is labeled on the map as "Food Street" a chinese guy starts talking to me. I am wary. But I remember the little girl from yesterday and I talk back to him.
We exchange normal chit chat. Then he starts talking about cruise ships and how he can get tickets. Oh no. I try to be nice since we seem to be walking the same direction and he is keeping pace with me. I remember the little girl and play nice. I tell him I already have tickets. He says ok, and the conversation moves on. I was a bit shocked by this, but still a little skeptical that eventually he would try to pull a scam on me. I ask him how to get to the liberation monument. He offers to show me. I am sure he will then try to sell me watch.
But we get to the Liberation monument and he doesnt do anything. Doesnt try to sell me anything. I ask how to get to "Food Street" and he says "oh you want to try some food huh?" and says follow me. I can see that we are heading to some kind of restuarant. And although I am a bit worried he will try something still, I am getting excited about going to a chinese restaurant in a city that has NO english menus or signs or anything, so I follow him in. It is called a snot if I heard him correct. basically is a food court, but with good food. Holy crap. I am having an amazing travel moment!
First we have what I can only describe as home made twinkie. The filling was made of milk (yeah-that was deep fried along with the pastry around it) and a veggie spring roll. I offered to pay for everything (it was super cheap in USD) and my friend didnt hesitate to accept.
The second stop in the cafeteria was the weird food section. I saw it on the way in, and I had to try something off it. There was Chicken hearts. I passed on that, but regret it a bit. There was whole little birds that were deep fried, and still looked like birds. I passed on that and dont regret it at all. I did go for the buffalo tripe. I am not sure if it was just Buffalo, or water buffalo, but it was intenstines of some big animal for sure. Second choice was the chicken stomach strips. Yes please! And to play it save, i had what I think was bean or tofu sprouts or something like that.
I gotta say, the tripe was awesome. They dipped it in this sauce when we paid and it was just amazing. Same with the chicken stomachs. It was actually the safe choice, the tofu thing, that I couldnt stand. Didnt like the textures. But the tripe I would go back for in a second!
I think this was my reward, my redemption for my guilt over the little girl or something like that. I went to a cafeteria in Chongqing with a total stranger and had Buffalo tripe. Awesome.
And then the crap hit the fan. Long story short. It poured as I was walking back to the hotel to meet my guide. I tried to get him to meet me somewhere else, but he didnt seem to get that I had checked out of the hotel at 9am. I waited in a store front with an old chinese woman who seemed happy to have me there, but I didnt understand what she was saying. At about 15 minutes to the meeting time, I didnt know where in the hell I was. I had to go for it. It was still pouring at this point. And I am not making this up. (parts of the city did flood and flights that were 30 minutes out of the city were turned away and told to go back to where they came from-I found this out the next day after taking to some Dutch guy on the cruise about architecture)
I was soaked almost immediatly. After 15 minutes I found the street the hotel was on. And of course, it was flooded. Not only was it flooded, but the sewers were over flowing-thats how much rain there was. And when I say overflowing, I dont mean a nice trickle. I mean gushing sewage onto the street.
And I walked through it.
I had to, there was no other way to get to my hotel except to go back up the hill and go around-another 20 minutes for sure.
It was up to the mid point of my shins. And it smelled really really really bad. The locals were laughing at me, but this time they probably had good reason.
I got to the hotel and the guide asked why I got stuck in the rain. When I pointed out the stupidity of coming back to the hotel (especially since I had walked right by the boat earlier in the day) he suddenly got it and laughed.
Then I checked my bag.
There was a puddle in my bag.
oh no. My little point and shoot camera would not turn on.
Even worse, my big camera wasnt working. I was not having fun at this point
Neither of my cameras would work right until the mid morning of the next day. The battery that was in my small camera at the time is totally destroyed
But luckily, they worked for the Three Gorges. Had they not, that whole experience with the Tripe and my random Chinese friend, would have been for not.

August 1st-Finding something in Chongqing

Well....it has been awhile since I have blogged. It seems dmb to write this here in this post, but hopefully when I update the past few days, people remember to read from the oldest date first, otherwise my references to finding some kind of spirtuality in "The Mountain City" Chongqing will make no sense! Hmm...I will repost this warning on every post just to make sure.
Getting up a bit later, I made my way to the Pudong International Airport in order to hop a flight into the interior of the country to Chongqing on Air China.
A few interesting facts about Chongqing before we get into:
-It is in the Sichuan (spelling?) area of China, the most populated. In fact, if I remember my facts right, 1/8th of the worlds people live there.
-It is famous for its haze. It was the World War Two capital of the Nationalist Chinese Government (the ones that fled to Taiwan, not the communists) after Nanjing got overrun. Hopefully everyone knows what happened in Nanjing...) It was chosen as the capital because of the haze. Japanese planes would bomb the city all the time. Seven days straight, on every hour at one poinst. But because of the haze they could not hit their targets, allowing the communists and the nationalist to form a truce and fight back (along with the Americans who had a presence in Chongqing at the time) against the Japanese.
-Given the birth rate, death rate, and the amount of people moving to the city: Chongqing gains 1600 people a day. I am not making that up. Of course, technically Chongqing is the size of Maine-it is one the special provinces of China, along with Shanghai, Beijing and Schezen (and I know for sure that is spelled wrong-its the city right next to Hong Kong)
I stated that last fact because it is clear when one leaves the airport that this is a massive city. The future of China is not in oil or politicals or money or anything like that. The future of China is in construction. I can not even put into words, or have taken pictures, that would have really illustrated how many high rise apartment buildings are going up the minute you leave the airport, and stretching as far as you can see from ANY point in the main part of the city. Cranes dot the horizon and the sounds of work being done is clear. When one gets closer to the city, one also sees the other aspect of this booming city. You enter the city on a bridge over the river (the main part of the city is a penninsula with the Yangzi on one side and the Jinjing I think on the other) The city is on the mountain tops, and has large cliffs all around it. On the top of these cliffs is a highway. Under that is a monorail, on and off. (sometimes it weaves on to the top of the highway) Beneath the over passes of the highway and monorail, on the cliffside, are houses. Shacks. Built onto the highway support poles. When you are cruising along the highway that curcles the city, you can see into the nooks and crannies between these new high rise buildings and find little shacks in there as well. In Chongqing, the requirements for moving there are relaxed. (In China, you can not just get up and moved to a city or area as you would like. You have to have a work visa and permission to move from the government) In this city, you just have to find a job and an apartment. No visas required. Hence the boom in population.
Arriving at my hotel, it once again has a rock solid bed. I will not miss these when I leave China. I throw my bag in my room, and head out to find supper in the city. First stop is the People's Square, with the People's Hall. It looks a bit like the Temple of Heaven in Beijing (google it) and was quite nice. While I was taking photos, people were of course taking photos of me. If I was a bit out of place in Shanghai, I was like Chairman Mao come back from the dead here. Seriously. One pair of teenagers of coursed asked to have their picture taken with me. As I sat down to take a breather, a little girl of maybe 13 came to talk to me. She asked how I liked China, if I knew any Chinese (I do know the basics at this point, enough to get by, but there is no way i can ever spell them). I am very upset at this point at being laughed at and all that, and am rejecting this stranger in a strange land thing. Also, after having every other person ask me if i want a watch in Shanghai, I am very leary of the Chinese talking English to me, convinced that it will be a scam or something like that. So I was very quickly told the girl that I had to go, got up and left. After walking about 5 minutes, I felt terrible. Here was this little girl, probably taught English and has maybe never gotten to use it with an American, and I just blew here off. I honestly felt terrible about it.
I tried going to two different restaurants to try the local speciality, the Hot Pot. It is basically a version of fondue, but involves a chili sauce and really hot peppercorns and spices. The first place, there was a big language issue. The second place, they didnt want to serve me since i was alone. Hot pot is really a dish you need a few people for, much like fondue. If you were sitting at home by yourself, you wouldnt make fondue for dinner would you? Same thing with hot pot. As I am wandering the city, very hungry and really wanting the ONE food I just had to have in China, I was still thinking about that girl. I made a kind of deal in my head that next time someone tried to take my picture or talk to me, I would go above and beyond and do what I could to make it a great experience for them. At this point I saw a foursome of Brits I had seen earlier in the Square. They were being shown into a restaurant by their guide. Being hungary, I decided to cheat and try this place.
Good news was it was a hot pot place with lots of options for food. ( you can put pretty much anything in the hot pot, let it sit and boil for a minute, and then eat it)
Bad news: They started to laugh at me. They let me sit at a table. And pointed to the Brits and made some comment I couldnt understand. And then the young waiter came.
And he spoke English.
And he was more then willing to help me out.
I wont go into details about the whole process, but I will say that the Hot Pot was amazing. Some of it was mouth numbing hot, but thats a good thing in this situation.
Things were looking up. I went back to the park, waiting to see the lights turned on at the People's Hall. Then I saw the familar look on a couple's face. They were coming in for a pic. This was a new one. They didnt say a word in english, or ask at all. They looked at me like I was a monkey in the zoo. They quickly threw their kids next to me. Remembering the little girl, I made funny faces at the boy. He was not finding me funny. He looked scared out of his mind. But I smiled for the pic.
Some kind of redemption. I thought maybe this was finding the balance of good and bad, and finding the fun in the situation. I thought maybe my internal thoughts about the guilt over treating that girl bad had come to reality. I thought about the concept of finding faith in a place like Chongqing. (And I thought that something along those lines would make a good book title, not as good as "Things to do in Richmond with Miranda" but good)
Of course, if you read this post after the August 2nd post, then you know that this pic opportunity was not the real reward for good behavior. If you read this blog first, good for you! Move on to the next one!