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Peter Vanderlans, 2004

Peter Vanderlans

Cycling in China

Email from the Road

Part 4

Copyright © Peter Vanderlans, 2005.

 


Stuck in Yangshuo

Stuck in the middle of Yangshuo, that is what happened the last two weeks. Of course I am also waiting for Tom who will arrive today or tomorrow and I haven't seen him for three years so that will be great fun too.

But it would have been much more difficult to wait if I hadn't had so much fun the last week. In the restaurant I am almost furniture now I play Chinese chess, teach other white guys the game and lose from the Chinese who pass by. It's a good place to be. With William (the restaurant owner) and Tom (USA) I found two others interested in cycling. Rory (Ireland) joined later on and the last days we cycled every afternoon for a few hours. The group almost became a huge platoon of cyclist on Thursday. Some of the days it's so hot we needed to have a shower. Fortunately the river is clean and easy to reach. The water is fantastic and so is the scenery. Who is willing to leave such an area. Life is good to me! And the food is wonderful and so is the company. Great to be here.

Even the staff of the restaurant is so nice. They gave me a birthday pie with my name and let me blow an amount of candles, of course not the amount of my age otherwise there would be not pie to be seen. Hard to get old in that circumstance!

But in a few days I'll head south and east to Guangzhou. It's 5-6 days cycling but who knows when I'll start that leg of the journey!

Three days

After three weeks in Yangshuo I finally left the town. But it was not all ok. I was willing to leave last Sunday but unfortunately my credit cards were that day stolen. William and Betty of the 7th Heaven Cafe helped me with the police business and William even found out who dun nit. That same night we got a phone call. I could buy my own cards back for Y300 each, a night later the price was up to Y600 each. For those who do not know the rate, $1-Y8, you can count yourself now!

Anyway, my cards were already blocked but I need an address where my new cards will be sent.

I also need a new visa and a new passport. So obviously I should have them send to Hong Kong. There I have a friend and I have asked if it was ok to send them there. But, as things go this way, no answer came back. Maybe I do it different and let the cards send to Yangshuo. The owner of the 7th Heaven has offered me this anyway and I can trust him. But I need anyway a new visa. If I can arrange a 6 months visa it's no real problem. But it also makes my plan less flexible. Sending the cards to Hong Kong would have given more flexibility.

Anyway, I left Yangshuo for a 100 km ride through the karst mountains. East of Yangshuo the karst scenery goes on and on and on this national highway with excellent asphalt and no traffic I rode easy.

karst2.jpg (14580 bytes)

Karst Hills

The second day I had a bad breakfast and that broke me up during the day. The climbs at the end of the day were not difficult but they caused some problems. In Xindu I decided to stay for a night.

Then today I left the town for a long 140-km ride, that is to say, I thought it would be that much but it turned out to be shorter and much easier then expected.

Still, I need some good food. So tomorrow I'll head for Guangzhou and see what will happen there. That ride is about 125 km and it won't be easy. It's not the distance and certainly there will be no real climbs but Guangzhou is a monstrous city and I am not looking forward to cycle in such a city. Still, one of my friends live there and I want to meet her!

Football

The most popular game in the world is probably football or soccer as the Americans call it. Soccer is big in China too. Every match is on screen and international (ex) stars are invited to give their view on the match. Ian Rush was there. Why? No idea. Maybe he played once for a Chinese team?

Yesterday night I watched China playing Brazil with some Chinese. After one half it was clear the Chinese felt ashamed for the play of their team though China didn't play that bad. There was a class difference between both teams but China wasn't over classed too much.

And they worry Turkey (I would do that too if I was Chinese) The popularity of football is so big here in China that all players are in advertisements and make good money out of their business.

But for me it was this morning time to leave Guangning for a 135 km ride to Guangzhou. I feared it a bit. It was all unnecessary. The road was 4 lanes wide but hardly any traffic up on a few kilometers from Guangzhou. So I had no problems. Even in Guangzhou I found easy a place to stay though I have to admit I pay the highest amount of money so far, Y100 for a single room. Cheaper wasn't possible and I wasn't fit enough to search the whole town. As usual the dorms were full (who says China knows nothing of discrimination? The Chinese pay Y10 when the foreigner pays Y100, nice:))!

But it's fine now. I had my shower and have some dinner in a couple of minutes. So far, so good.

Beauty

"You still look at the girls?" asked my friend. "Of course I still look at the girls. Let's have a walk in the park. I want you to tell me what you see there". We walked in the park near the river. "Tell me what you see" I asked my friend.

"Well, I see the skyline of the city, some trees in the park, dirty water, a cafe with glittering lights" "What about the people?" I asked. Have you see that couple at the entrance who do not dare to look at each other?" Indeed, at the park entrance there were two kids hand in hand. They were looking at the river and didn't talk to each other, busy with their thoughts.

A bit further on there were two middle-aged men sitting. There trousers were rolled up to their knees. The white socks and shoes looked strange to their white legs. The men smoked a cigarette in the evening but didn't speak a word.

Two older women came in my sight. They sat down and I could see their skirts were full of blood. Probably they worked in a slaughterhouse and had just killed some chicken of pigs. They lively chatted with each other. The women were not young anymore as their grey hair proved but they looked still young in the eyes.

I wanted to make a photo of them but they refused. They were not dressed for it. The fact that their skirts were full of blood was an even more powerful thing to have on photo was an alien idea to them but I respected their view.

Two young and pretty girls came walking up to us. They wear miniskirts as this kind of weather makes it possible. One was wearing shoes with enormous points and the other had enormous soles. How they could walk on them was a mystery to me. They knew they were pretty and they knew people were looking at them but they simply ignored the looks. A couple of young men tried to get their attention but seemed to fail.

On the grass field a couple of young kids were playing with a tire. A stick they used to get the tire rolling. They were so much into this game that they didn't see a younger kid on the grass who was willing to join them but didn't dare. This child was sitting on a new little bicycle while his father was working on a remote control of a toy car. In the end the remote worked but the child wasn't interested as he was still watching the other children with that tire.

After himself have played with the remote toy car for awhile, the father put the whole thing in the back of his black car, set his son in the backseat and drove away.

The two pretty girls were out of sight now and the two older women with the blooded skirts were also gone. Only a beggar was left now. He was counting his small money he had begged. The he picked up his bag full of bottles and walked away. "Let's have some dinner", I proposed my friend. I have seen enough beauty for now

Guangzhou

For those who have never been to China it might be good to tell something about this city. Canton as the city was called was partly forbidden for foreigners for many centuries. Some sources said it was because of the Tong, the local Mafia that made Canton a dangerous place. Tintin in his adventures in The Blue Lotus made the legend to me only more acceptable. Or was this in Hong Kong? But the scenery from those little streets drawn in that book made me curious to the real thing.

And so I went in the back streets. I found there very small streets with little motorized traffic otherwise then motorbikes and bicycles. Out of the house traditional Chinese music could be heard. Men sitting in chairs reading the newspaper. It was like The Blue Lotus. The Human Horse as the Men (walking) rickshaw sometimes is called doesn't longer exist here in Guangzhou as the city nowadays is called. But the streets have still the atmosphere of a hundred years back though many buildings are of communist style and streets have decent bricks.

In the small streets I recognized tiny restaurants with two tables and child chairs, those that the Chinese like so much. The smell of noodles, rice and dumplings and soy milk come towards me. The noise of the main street could hardly be heard here. Still, the main streets are never far away but it's still easy to get lost in the streets.

Guangzhou is famous in China for it's excellent food. The animal market is a notorious place where almost every living being is merchandise. From beautiful little birds to big snow owls and cats and dogs in tiny baskets and monkeys, everything can be bought here if you know where to go. I am quite sure the endangered species as leopards and even tigers can be found. Of course this is illegal but what is illegal if a policeman can be bought. Corruption is still a big problem in China.

Big snakes lie together in a glass bottle and reptiles and colorful fish are ready to be eaten in the restaurants. The restaurant fisherman catches the fish you want (or the crab, lobster, starfish etc. etc.) and brings it to the kitchen.

Not for nothing do people say about Guangzhou that people here eat everything from no legs to a million legs except tables and chairs.

Dried stuff is also popular. A certain part of the market is filled with anything that can be dried. This means that literally everything can be found here. The smells are sometimes so overwhelming that you have to flee in a side street to get away from it.

And television is everywhere. In these days its football, world cup games everywhere. Of course the Chinese feel very uncomfortable with the results of their own team but they feel usually much better when I tell them that we Dutch do not even reached the finals with probably the best players in the world (do I sound arrogant???!!) .

Shamian Dao was traditionally the place for foreigners and it's still the place where foreigners hang out. This little island in the heart of Guangzhou is of course the double price area but it's pleasantly quiet with it's colonial buildings build by the French and English. The river is nearby and that gives a pleasant sunset if the rain doesn't disturb that.

Guangzhou is no longer comparable with the Blue Lotus story of Tintin. Still, the old heart of the city has still a lot of atmosphere, which makes it a great place to hang out at day time. At nighttime I sleep so I can't tell you about that!

Narrow eyes

I know why the Chinese people have such narrow eyes! I found the answer when a little song by the English band The Television Personalities (who remembers them????) came to my mind. The song, "I know where Syd Barrett lives" has actually nothing to do with the answer to this question. And who was Syd Barrett? Do I hear that question? Syd Barrett was the original founder of Pink Floyd, the mega band that dominated the 70's and who are still active though it should be considered if they are still relevant!

Anyway, Syd Barrett wrote the for me immortal words:

"I've got a bike

You can ride it if you like

It's got a basket, a bell that ring

It looks good

I would give it to you if I could

But I borrowed it"

And what happened to Syd Barrett? Television Personalities know it:

"He was very famous

Once upon a time

But no one knows even if he's alive"

And later they explain:

"But to know where he lives

In a forest near Cambridge"

So that's what happens when you use too much of the different drugs and get mad and never get out of it. And I have many of this sort of things going on in my head. The Chills from New Zealand and the Canadian Tragically Hip are such a useful source. And Dylan's lines:

"It's a wonder you still know how to breathe"

made me think about to whom you would say this! I can't imagine someone. But Idiot wind is such a song about the horrors that can develop in relationships. Anyway, I am drifting far away from the original quote: I know why the Chinese have narrow eyes!

It's simple, the light of the sun is so bright here, people have to narrow their eyes and in time it became part of their genes. Have thought about this myself. One hurrah for me! Hurrah!

Another thing happened since this morning. I am more or less employed here in Guangzhou. Through a friend here I was asked to help a boy of 15 to improve his English with a sort of private lessons. I have accepted it for a week and then we'll see if both parties enjoy the cooperation or not. Besides, I need to go to Hong Kong for a new visa in about 10 days. So instead of spending money I am saving some. For two hours work I get Y300, around $40 which is not bad, especially because the only thing I have to do is make this kid talk. He'll go to England in a couple of months and his fluency is poor though his overall knowledge of grammar and words is quite good. But as it goes here in Asia, there is hardly any attention at the schools for developing fluency. So I think this kid will have a hard time in his first year at school in England.

Next: Part 5


Peter Vanderlans - Cycling in China: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 |


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