Wednesday, April 18, 2007
China never fail to amaze me ...Not only in terms of its geographical beauty, culture and lifestyle, but also the sanitary conditions and the ease at which people cleared their throats in public & spit with a vengeance. U would be be lucky if u managed to avoid the spit landing on your shoes or on the path that u might accidentally stepped on !
I had been warned of the unsavoury bits of travelling there but despite all these, China always manage to lure me back. Let's see ... the last trip was my 4th to China... but Im not yet done with the country.
To be fair, I have to say that they had improved tremendously. The city of Beijing & Shanghai have progressed far beyond my expectations ... Just look at way the toilets have improved from little huts with canals for you-know-wat, to proper toilet system plus water-taps with sensor installed at wash basins ! That to me, is marked improvement. In the past, every lady travelling in China has to bring along an umbrella to cover their modesty in case they need to relieve themselves among bushes or on farm-land. How different it is now ...
But one thing remain unchanged ... people being Chinese, are as shrewd as they are reputed to be. The more you try your hands at bargaining, the more you realise that the principle of "ethical business" does not exist in this society. They try to cheat you alittle here & there. The things sold are so ridiculously priced that you can slash from RMB 200 to RMB 30 for a simple fake polo T-shirt ! That makes me wonder if Im still over-charged even when Im paying only 1/10 of the asking price ...
Shrewd & rude people aside, highlight of the trip gotta be the Great Wall. Chairman Mao once said,
不到长城非好汉。 But for many people,
爬完长城满身汗！
Wah, cant imagine how the soldiers climb from station to station in the past esp when the wind was howling away ! Got to salute the people who build the great wall thousand of years ago ... how do they survive roughing it out with that kind of terrain with the scale of contruction ?!?
It's a pity also that I didnt sign on with a more reputable agency that ensured customers spend ample time to tour from place to place & soak in the atmosphere. They were more keen to bring us shopping than anythingelse & I'm mighty pissed. I could have climbed up the Tiananmen Gate to catch the majestic view of the plaza, but I didnt. I could have toured a greater section of the Forbidden City to better understand the life of royal family living in the palace, but I didnt. I could have been brought to see the extraordinary "Echo Walls" of Tian-Tan, but I didnt have the opportunity. For all these sights that I did not catch during this trip, I probably have to pay another $1k to go back & Beijing. Argh ...
What was more astounding was the lecture we received from the tour-guide who was terribly disappointed with a handful of us for not contributing to his commission at the designated shops, which were meant to fleece tourists. Such audacity !!!
One of the lakes in Lady Ci-Xi's Summer Resort in Cheng De.
Mini "Potala" Palace
Actually, there is so much to see in China & the experience should be great if not for the sucky attitude that most Chinese nationals possess. The west part of China, which I saw in bits & parts during my previous Silk Road trip, is relatively less commercialised and untouched by tourism. This is one place to visit if you are really keen to see another side of China, which carries heavy Islamic influence. I tell you, you wont regret it....
Cant wait to pack my bags to go for another trip !! hmm .. where's next ??
Tibetan Nun ~ Om Mani Padme Hom
1:29 AM
Chants for inner peace but secretly aspires to be a *bellydancer*
Laidback but not yet a slacker, nothing captures my attention for long... 
