Really Wednesday, Sign

The spelling error on here gains it a place. I find it funny.

Sick in Beijing

Sunday I woke up and was feeling horrible. Matthew and I decided to try and go to the Great wall the next day. The only problem was that I was running a fever had a horrible cough and just felt horrible. At least I wasn't having stomach distress though.

Lotus was really good to Matthew and I and she let us just hang out in the room we were in. Finally after realizing that most of my time in Beijing was going to be spent looking out the window at the gray sky and bear tree branches, Matthew and I gave up on going to the Forbidden City and Great Wall. I tried to send Matthew to the Great Wall without me but he didn't want to leave me. I have to say that I slept a lot but would have missed him had he gone. He did go out and find a nice coffee shop where he could use the internet.

Finally on our last full day in Beijing I decided we needed to go out and at least see something of the city. We got a cab and went down to the part of Beijing where we could go shopping. It also happened to be in the old part of Beijing so we could see older buildings. It was nice to get out but it was drizzling and not a very nice day. While I didn't have a fever anymore I still had a cough, which was debilitating. Every time I coughed I would hold on to Matthew and hope not to fall over. Our day out ended with us not being able to get a cab back. We got in a motorcycle taxi after him agreeing to 40 yuan, however when we got there he said no he wanted 40 US dollars, we would not pay him that and he was really upset. In the end we payed him 100 yuan which was really expensive for a taxi ride. I was so tired by then that all I wanted was to go to bed.

Tienanmen Square

Today Matthew and I went to Tienanmen square. Matthew and I had a hard time getting there but we made it eventually. I think we ended up walking most of the way there even though it was pretty far. When we got there we were having a hard time figuring out how to get across Peace Boulevard, to the square. Eventually we found an under pass and got to the right side of the road. From there we could see the entrance to the Forbidden City. Mao's had was really big on the front.

To finally get to Tienanmen Square we went under ground and through a security check. They didn't really check Matthew and I as we looked foreign and thus not a threat, I guess. The Square is one of the largest in the world and follows the rest of the Mao asetic. In the book I am reading called "Wild Grass" the author quotes Mao as having said he wanted to cover the city with steam stacks, and Beijing does have that feel to it. The city is not a very pretty city it feels like and industry city. Even the housing seems like industrial housing.

The history of Tienanmen is greater than the actual place itself. While it is an amazing space with people selling the little book of quotations, Mao watches, flags, postcards of Mao, and just about everything you can thing of which has something to do with Mao. In some ways it is a strange place. Because of the security it is not an easy place for gathering.

At one end of the square is the Forbidden city and the other is Mao's Mausoleum. The one interesting thing about Mao being preserved is that he didn't want to be on display but wanted to be cremated. The mausoleum is only open certain hours of the day as they do not want to have Mao deteriorate more than he has. Some of the reviews said that he was looking waxy. Matthew and I did not arrive early enough to see him though.

After a while we left the square and headed through the oldest gate in Beijing, the only one left from what had once been one of the four city gates with a wall around the city. The wall and other gates were torn down and now where the wall was is the inner most ring road. In some ways it is really sad that Beijing is getting rid of all of what was old and moving to the new and modern.

Matthew and I had to go back under the road and then we started walking down a walking road. There were many expensive shops along the edge of the road. Many of them western stores. We kept going into stores that sold many things and pretending to look just so we could get warm. When we got to the end of the road we got a taxi back to Lotus Chen's apartment.

I decided to take a nap and ended up just going to bed.

Train to Beijing

On the 24th we relaxed in Guilin instead of going to see the rice terices like we thought we might. It was a nice day for not doing much. It was raining so we went to a cafe and played cards. Matthew played chess.

Yesterday we got on the train to Beijing. It is going to be a really long trip. We got a sleeper compartment so that we could sleep. In the station we sat and waited on the train which was late. sitting across from us was a couple and a baby. The man was eating melon seeds and spitting them on the floor. It was pretty gross. I kept hoping he would stop but he didn't. Before we got on the train they held the baby and tried to get it to use the bathroom I was really happy that it didn't as that would have been really disgusting. I have to say that I was happy to get on the train and not have to see them any more.

We had a really hard time trying to get our luggage into the space we had. Matthew and I shared the compartment with an older couple who didn't speak any English. This made it really hard for us to talk with them but we used our translation books. And were able to say a little.

The train had squatty potties and they were pretty clean when we started the trip but they kept getting grosser and grosser as it went on. The train allowed people to smoke in between cars. We had a compartment at the end of a car so it got smokey sometimes. About half way there my throat stated hurting but I thought it was because of the dry air and smoke.

When we finally got to Beijing the next day we tried to call our couchsurfing host but couldn't as our phone wouldn't work. It turns out it just had a dead battery. The couple in the car with us helped us get a taxi and made sure we were going to get to the place we were staying. They were very nice to us.

We made it to the couch surfers and she took us to dinner. It was a good dinner. We had chicken and yest that is a chicken head on the plate. Lotus our host is a journalist with one of the papers in Beijing it was really interesting to talk with her and see what she thought of the news and media. I was really tired from being on the train so long so we called it an early night.

Really Wednesday, Chips

Cucumber Flavor? They really have them here. I ate almost the entire bag and unlike Matthew who had an immediate revulsion to them I couldn't decide if I hated them or didn't mind them. I would eat a couple and contemplate the cucumber of them and then eat a few more and think okay that is enough and put them down but then a couple minutes later I'd have another one. So did I like them or hate them is hard to say. I wouldn't get them again. They were very different from what is expected from chips, they did stimulate the taste buds, into wondering, "what the hell did you just give me?"

Down the Li Jiang River

After a night of sleep on the first real mattress we got up and went to met the bus that would take us down the river. The mountains we couldn't really see last night were amazing during the day. The city of Guilin was right in the center of the mountains. It was kind of strange to see it like that. We rode in a van for around an hour and then we got to the place where we got on the river. Li Jiang is not a very large river and as there hasn't been as much rain it was low. Luckily we were able to use a bathroom before we went down the river.

On the river we were on a boat that was made out of PVC pipes. It was run by a motor that looked like a weed eater with a propeller on the bottom instead of a blade. It sounded like a weed eater too. By the time we got to a place where we stopped I was really glad not to be hearing the motor. However, I understand why they had it on there it would have take us much to long to float down the river.

The trip down the river took about 3 hours. I thought we might see cormorant fishers but we didn't see any fishing. I did see the cormorants on the shore. I kind of wanted to see them fish but I guess it was okay not too. We saw some water buffalo down by the water drinking. They would stick their entire head in the water to drink it looked funny. About half way down the river we had to stop and wait for a bunch of big tourist boats to go by. I'm not sure why it was so popular as it was really cloudy and looked like it was going to rain. It didn't rain while we were on the river though, if it had it wouldn't have been as nice.

When we got to the end of the trip we got on a little gulf cart thing and drove to a bigger bus. On the way there we passed the picture which is on the 20 yuan. All of the Chinese had been looking for the mountains while we were going down the river. It was funny as they all started pointing when we saw it. They were really excited to see it. The bus took us to a town which was right on the Li Jiang river, called Yang Shou. It was a real tourist town. We went to lunch and it was the first place where we saw dog on the menu I guess it was going to happen at some point on our trip. While we were eating the next door cat was climbing out of the window and trying to get down. It was really entertaining to watch. I had a good tofu dish. However, my stomach wasn't very happy, and hadn't been since the morning.

In Yang Shou we looked at the all  of the stuff for sale. Matthew was over whelmed by all of the people trying to sell him stuff. We did get some gifts and a nice painting of us. I got a dress/skirt which will be nice if it is ever warm again.

We took the bus back into Guilin and had dinner and waited for Emmanual to get done at work.

Trip to Guilin

Today we left Kunming and got on the plane to Guilin. My stomach was up set so I let Matthew pack. It was a good thing I had done a lot of the packing the day before. I didn't know if getting on the plane was a good idea but I didn't think it would make me feel any worse so away we went. The airport was much closer to where we lived than I remembered.

We got to Guilin and it was to early for us to meet our couchsurfing host. After Kunming Guilin was really humid. Even in the airport the humidity was really strong. Sitting in the airport I was starting to feel a little better. Matthew however, was not feeling that great. It was strange. I was able to get a hot soup for dinner and that was nice. We got a taxi into the city and got to our hosts apartment on the university campus there. Emmanuelle was a great host and we were really glade we decided to stay with her. She helped us get a ride down the Li Jiang river tomorrow. That is one of the things we really wanted to do while we were in Guilin.

Last Day in Kunming

Today was our last full day in Kunming. We went out and had one last meal at Prague cafe. On the way there we saw a family that had there dog up on a stool so that it could be at the table with them. It was pretty funny.

Our meal was good. It is strange but now that we will be leaving it seems like maybe we could have stayed longer. However I think we will both be happy to be home as well.

Jingpong took us to dinner. It was our last night together. We ate at a little northern place. The food was not my favorite but it was good. I think I'm not nearly as adventurous about food as I though before I left for China.

When we got back after dinner Matthew and I gave the vase we got as a gift to Jingpong. We were lucky that Phillum was home as sometimes he wasn't there. So we were able to get a picture with everyone.

ShiLin, Stone Forest

Today we got a later start than we had planed. It was made even later by the fact that we couldn't find where bus 60 started from. So we wandered around by the train station trying to find the stop and hoping that there would still be a bus out to the Stone Forest when we got there. We finally found the bus and were on our way to the Western station. When we got there we weren't sure what to do, as in how to get a ticket. I'm sure we were looking lost because a guy from Vietnam came to and helped us get tickets. Then we had to wait on the bus.

By the time we got ShiLin it was after 1. We got lunch at a little place. I ordered a vegetable soup but it was only nappy cabbage and bugs. Not really what I wanted to eat for lunch but it was alright once I got the bugs out. What Matthew got was much better than my soup. He got a bean dish and it really did taste good.

The admission price was pretty steep but it was really nice to be there. When we first walked in there was a lake that the stones reflected in, which was pretty nice. There were lots and lots of people and the guides were trying to get you to go on their tour. It was really kind of annoying.

The stones were pretty amazing. The one thing Matthew and I were worried about was that we wouldn't be able to get away from all of the people. Whoever we were able to get away pretty easily just by walking up into the outside of the park. We stayed away from people for most of the day. Which is what we wanted. We didn't see the elephants or anything but we did get to see other things.

The path we took was meandering and I'm not really sure where we ended up walking. We did see some pretty funny descriptions of what the stones were looking like. They each had names like candle and wanders. The paths we were hiking on had small cracks you had to walk through between the stones. It was really pretty cool. However, it wouldn't have worked in the States because over weight people wouldn't have been able to get through. I have to say it would have been upsetting but I guess maybe the more populated part of the park was more accessible.

It was really pretty warm and I was trying to keep from getting a headache by drinking lots of water. What this resulted in was me have to look for a bathroom and having every one be closed. Why they were all closed I don't know. However it wasn't like I wanted to just use the wilderness as they had cameras out there. It was kind of strange to see the rocks and then there be a camera watching you suddenly. I guess it was to make sure people didn't get lost out there but it was a little strange to be out there and then see a camera.

Between some of the rocks we did get a break from the heat and that was nice. We saw some squirrels chasing each other. They were making these really loud pursing noises. When we saw them we were trying to find "cliffy paintings". We were following the signs but it seemed like we were not getting any closer. We did finally find them and then we were going to go looking for the "Eternal Mushroom" but we didn't make it there as we had to get back to the bus by 6.

Walking back we walked through a small town. It was strange to see the gardens in amongst the stones. In some ways it seemed normal like they had probably been there for a really long time but the water buffalo they used to plow didn't look happy to be out in the middle of the field.

The stone forest area that Matthew and I hiked in was really pretty dry. There were lots of dried pine needles and such on the ground. I'm surprised there weren't more warnings about no fires. The only place there was water was the lake at the front and a little pond by the village. The village pond was pretty low on water though.

Matthew and I made it back to the bus with plenty of time so we got to eat a snack before we got on the bus. On the ride back we noticed that the buses unlike in the states are the fastest vehicle on the roads. In China it seems like the biggest vehicle is the one that rules the road.

I'm really glad Matthew and I made it there as it was a really amazing and I don't think I will see anything like it again. I have to say that by the end of the day I was really worn out.

New Volin

I know it is rather late in the trip for me to be getting a violin, but I wanted to get a violin that I would be comfortable traveling with. I don't want to take my Grandmother's as it would be devastating to have it stolen. I started looking to see if I could find a used violin back home but I couldn't find anything which was of a good quality for the value I wanted to spend.

Today, Matthew and I had originally planed on going to the Stone Forest but all the meat from last night's dinner upset Matthew's stomach and made mine grumble, so we decided to stay in Kunming and got tomorrow. In the afternoon when Matthew was feeling better we went out to the street with all of the musical instruments. Matthew came along so that I would not buy the first violin that I saw. At the first shop I asked if they spoke English and they kind of laughed at me. I went in anyway and started looking at the violins, there were some that were really nice and when I asked how much they were they said 20,000 quai. That is a lot even in dollars. My goal was to find a nice violin for under 1,500 quai. The owner then showed me the cheapest violin they had which was 700 quai. I played it a little but I didn't like it. The violin was too heavy and the sound was not what I was looking for. I also really wanted one that had a maple back. I had Jinpeng write it down for me so I could ask about that and when I showed the question he said no and got out the next violin which was 1,600 quai more than I wanted to spend. I played it and it was much lighter and the sound was better. I didn't know the maker of the violin I can't say that I know more than maybe three and they are German. The back of the violin was maple and very nice.

We couldn't find the word case but Matthew asked about a box and they got out a case and bow, and told us 1,200 quai. At which point I was thinking that I didn't want to pay that much for a case and bow plus the 1,600 for the violin. But that was what he was saying the violin, bow, case, and shoulder rest would cost. There were two violins at this price and I played both of them liking the second one more. They seemed about the same but I think the second was a little fuller than the first. Also the pattern in the wood was nicer. So Matthew who was supposed to keep me from buying the first violin told me to buy it. So much for looking more. However, I am happy with it. Now I just have to play some more. When we got back we looked it up and turns out that I got the violin for about 400 dollars less than I would pay for it in the US. Which makes me even happier.

After we got the violin we went and picked up my pants at the taylor's. Because of the time when we left the violin shop all of the buses were packed with people and we couldn't get on. It took us over an hour to get there and we could have probably walked faster. This pair of pants were longer and I think will be better for me. After getting the pants we went to get a bit to eat at the Hump Hostel. A slightly tipsy man wanted me to play him the fiddle. I think he would have been sorry in my choice of music. It isn't really something you would play in a bar. We walked through the back allies one last time to look at the jewelery and headed back to the apartment.

Western Mountain

Today we went to the Western Mountain. We got a little lost on the way there but were able to ask for directions to find out what bus would get us there. They had changed the bus routs just before we arrived in Kunming so sometimes the directions we get just aren't that good. However, today our problem was that we had to walk to a different station and get on a bus from there.

The bus dropped us at the bottom of the mountain. Instead of taking a ride up, Matthew and I decided to walk the 6km. On the way up we stopped and looked at a couple of Buddhist temples. As they were still being used they didn't want you to take pictures.  I worked really hard to get a picture of the warrior gods on the outside of the building I ended up taking pictures of through the incense smoke so they aren't as bright as they really were but they are still pretty impressive.

Inside one of the buildings there were all of the gods and they were made out of bronze or something that made them look gold. Some of them were slightly scary looking but others were really pretty. As it had been really hot outside it was nice to be inside with the metal gods as it was cold inside. I'm sure all the metal gods had something to do with it staying cold inside.

Matthew and I wandered around for quite some time and then head up the mountain again. I was getting pretty tired by the time we got to the next temple. This temple wasn't as big but it was nice as well. It had really nice views of lake Dian. They had really pretty pretty gardens. Matthew and realized that we weren't going to be able to get to the Dragon gate if we didn't start going faster. Our guide book told us that if we didn't go to the Western Mountain and see the Dragon gate we hadn't seen Kunming. So we didn't spend as much time at this temple as we might have. While it was smaller it seemed older.

We finally got to the top and walked up the road to the Dragon gate. The road leading up had lots of stalls set up. They had this one little thing that had a plastic bird in it and when it opened it played the same 6 or so notes over and over again. It was really annoying and not very pretty. I was pretty annoyed with it by the time we got to the top.

The actual Dragon Gate was the entrance to the long tunnels that let up the side of the cliff. A bunch of monks carved the tunnels in the the cliff face and built shrines. For someone like Matthew it was really not that fun. However the views of Dian Chi where beautiful as well as the views of the city. What was a little disappointing was that we didn't get to see as much of the city because it was slightly cloudy. The hike up the mountain was pretty long and the hike up after the dragon gate was even stepper. It was really pretty and there was even a tunnel through the rock at one point. I really don't think I would have had the nerve to be one of the monks that was cutting the rock.

In one of the areas there was the story of the making of the dragon gate. It was really very pretty. I will try and post the pictures of the story. On a different post. There were even more Buddhist temples and even a Buddha carved into the rock face about 20 feet up the cliff from where the path was. I have to say that the were right about needing to go to the Western mountain. It was really beautiful. It was a long and hot hike though.

When we got to the top we were going to take a cable car down but they had just closed so we walked down. We were meeting JuJu and Bravo for dinner so we had to take a taxi down into the city center. That took and while but the one good thing was we were able to stop at the Hump Hostel and wash our faces before we went.

We met them in the city center and went to a hot plate restaurant. They did the ordering so we ate a lot more meat than I would have liked. It wasn't bad, but I'm just not a big meat eater and as a result I didn't get as much food to eat as I would have liked.

When we went back to the apartment we were really worn out so we got ready for bed.

Dunan Flower Market Finally

Today Matthew and I finally made it to Dunan Flower Market. We tried to go yesterday but couldn't figure out the bus route and ended up walking around in a part of the city were everything is still being built. I'm just really glad that all of Kunming isn't like this. It was really dirty, dusty and just not as nice as the rest of Kunming. Yesterday we got up and got on the bus and headed out. We had two bus transfers and made the first transfer to 65 alright but then we could not figure out where to catch the 12. We ended up walking for a really long time on a big road with super highway, not finished yet, stretching up into the sky above us. We walked down to the end of the upper highway were it turned into a gravel road.

When we started walking back towards the bus stop we started seeing big semis with flat beds stacked high with boxes. We also saw big trees dug up and in put in the beds of trucks to be taken to be planted. They hadn't been painted white on the trunks yet which all of the trees in the city are.

The one thing I saw that I had been wanting to get a picture of was the little ponies pulling carts. Near our apartment they often pull carts full of watermelons or vegetables. Out here in the more industrial part of the city they seem to pull more parts for building, boxes, and pipes. The ponies seem really small to me compared to what they are pulling.

After walking for about an hour Matthew and I gave up on finding the right bus as we figured that if we got to the flower market after a certain time they wouldn't even be open or have any vendors. We had read something which said that they did most of their business at around 2 or 3 in the morning so that the flowers could get to the stalls for those early morning people. Matthew and I took it easy when we got back to the apartment. We had decided to take a plane to Guilin instead of a train. So we had to go and get money out so we could pay for the flight. Jinpeng booked it for us because we couldn't without a Chinese credit card. We got money and then walked over to the flower market near the apartment and got some Gerber daisies. We spent the rest of the day bemoaning the clouds and trying to plan out our trips the rest of the week.

Today we finally got to the flower market. We got on a bus and it took us all over the place. I thought I saw the airport but I'm not sure about that. We got stuck in traffic for a while and the woman standing in front of me looked like she really was uncomfortable. She kept clearing her throat and finally she took out a kleenex and spit in it and then she throw it out the window. I thought it was kind of strange but one does not keep a used kleenex for any reason. It must be discarded. So what I find repulsive, throwing it out the window, is just so that she doesn't have to do what she would find repulsive, keeping it.

Finally, after peering out the window and trying to read road signs to figure out where we were, we read the buses off the stop and there was 12. We got off the bus really fast. We stood there and waited and a C12 came. So we tried to ask if they were a 12 and the driver said no. So we waited some more. The bench at the stop was metal and was missing some of the bars. It only had two bars and was not very comfortable. But I was really tired of standing on the bus. I think we waited about 30 minutes for the bus to come then we were watching for the place we should have gotten on. When we found that we looked for where we should get off the bus to walk to the flower market. We rode past lots of greenhouse fields.

When we got off we started walking up a road. It had signs for the flower market so we hoped it was the right way. There were lots of greenhouses with all different kinds of plants. Some of them looked like a greenhouse but they had vases and really large pots. Matthew and I really stuck out here. I think we were probably the only white people and we really got some looks. We kept seeing people with big bundles of straw flowers but we still didn't see the big flower market. We were just thinking we should turn around because it looked like it was turning into a residential area.


We decided to walk up to the street a little bit farther and there it was. It was a not exactly what I had expected. I thought it would have been more like a large metal building, kind of like the tiny storage buildings that people put up in their yard. However, it was more like a big warehouse. By the time we got there around noon with all of the bus rides, waiting, and walking, there wasn't really much left. We did get to see the aftermath of the flower market. There were flowers strewn across the floor, and a big truck full of the discarded flowers and stems. There were a couple vendors left with flowers. They had everything in bulk. I don't think I could have gotten just one bird of paradise if that had been what I wanted. The carnations, straw flowers, and a flower I'm unfamiliar with, it looks a bit like a thistle, where bundled into huge groups.

The only thing that was really still there were the fake flowers and they had lots of fake flowers. More than I could have imagined. Many of them were not even that nice. They were very colorful and bright. There were orchids, daisies of all colors, and flowers that didn't look too much like flowers. I would rather have real flowers any day over the fake ones. We wandered through the building and then headed back to the bus. We didn't stay very long at the market because it was later and there wasn't really all that much to see.

I am glade we went as now I know were the flowers come from and it was interesting to see. It also took us to a new part of the city. I think that Dounan is a town and not part of Kunming even though there really isn't much that divides them.

While we were walking back to the bus stop we saw a police truck with trees in the back of it. Matthew wanted a picture of it so I took one. It turned out blurry, but one of the officers saw me do it. I thought for sure they would come over and ask us to delete it or worse, take the camera. They didn't do anything, though, so we got to keep our blurry picture and they camera.

Matthew and I ate a granola bar while we waited for the bus to come. It took a while for the bus but it was mostly empty so we were able to sit. We rode it to where we were supposed to catch the 1 bus which would take us back up to Green Lake and the part of the city we knew. We got on the bus and it stopped maybe once and they we were on the highway and Kunming was disappearing into the distance. We visited the Western bus station briefly and then got back on 1 and rode it back to the stop where we had gotten on. We didn't want to take a chance with it again so we walked until we found a stop with 5 which was a bus we knew would go where we wanted to go.

Getting to and from Dounan was quite an ordeal for us with the buses. If it hadn't been cloudy I think we would have ended up skipping it.

We had some lunch at Prague Cafe. A very late lunch. We went to the bird and flower market after lunch and I bartered for a Jade bracelet and looked for the tear drop jade earrings I really wanted. I didn't find them right away and when I did I probably paid more for them than I should have. We tried to find gifts to take back. For the most part China does not seem to have a really large dependence on tourism because it seems like there are not that many places that are really touristy. For Kunming the bird and flower market is really the place that caters to tourists the most.

We left the market and headed back to the apartment. I think we are going to try and get an early start tomorrow and go to the Western Mountain even it  it is cloudy as we are starting to run out of time in Kunming and they say that if you haven't visited the Western Mountain you haven't really been to Kunming.