Travelling through South East Asia you are continually confronted with young competent people out to make a living with whatever they have. Lifestyles are simple, but their lives are complex. Their energy to get up and dive in the deep end of the pool, into all kinds of projects and wealth generating schemes in order to earn an income for their families.
They can manage money as well as I can, as well as manage a business, raise animals, make product to sell and provide services to foreigners. All come across as capable citizens, and yet in discussions on broader issue of knowledge, they can floor you in their ignorance.
Travelling in Laos I made friends with a local tour guide in the Luang Prabang region who was kind enough to take me back to the village where he was born and his extended family continues to live. This village is not connected to the electricity grid, however it generates small amounts of electricity using small hydroelectric generators. A village that without the use of machines can harvest many acres of mountainous rice fields ever year. A village that with very little support or health care is able to bring in the world numerous happy, playful children which will form the next generation and continue the work of their parents. A village where meals gathered from the countryside are healthier and more balanced than many of meals eaten in developed countries
But this glossy image was easily blown away and demonstrates the gap between those with well structured governments and institutions and those in villages that largely fend for themselves.
It became immediately apparent, when in order to explore my guide's knowledge, I looked up at the bright full moon in the sky and mentioned that one man had walked on the moon. My guide turned to me, and with wide eyes of disbelief asked me to explain this to him.
I started off with the straightforward explanation., A rocket was built and it flew to the moon and dropped the people off. But, unable to comprehend this he pulled me inside where I could get some pen an paper and asked me to "explain everything! I need to understand this!"
Once inside I started to draw diagrams of the solar system, with lines showing the sling shot trajectory of the rocket towards the moon. But this too was insufficient in relaying the issue. I guessed that more fundamental information was missing in order for the young wide eyed guide to understand me.
That's when he asked, and I paraphrase - what happens when you get to the end of the world? Who far can you go before you fall off? My jaw dropped, clearly I had assumed too much.
Struck with these questions I realised just how much rudimentary information would be required in order for him to come close to understanding how a man landed and walked on the moon. That the world was a sphere and the moon rotate around it was incomprehensible! Gravity, unimaginable! I started to proceed with the twelve years of basic physics and science in order to give him and understanding of the globe and its place in the universe, in 30min. Unfortunately, I received little indication that my efforts were successful.
I was then asked a follow up question "why does it rain?" Obviously he knew it came from clouds but broader climate and water cycles were unbeknownst to him and again I struggled to convey the full image.
My guide was also not the most ignorant. This was a student that had completed many years of schooling, dropping out in late high school to start earning a living, and has been in constant contact with foreigners over the past few years. And his competence in transgressing his two worlds of the tourist the city, as well as hunter gatherer country is impressive to say the least.
Certainly there was nothing stopping him intellectually from understanding these things, however by never getting the opportunity to learn or exposure to these ideas, one cannot hold it against him that he doesn't know. I don't think I grasped that the world is a sphere the first time it was told to me.
Schooling consists of language, arithmetic, maybe some English and some national history but little more. Science, geography, economics, engineering, world history and similar topics are not covered. This curriculum is defensible as these skills are not required in the broad Laotian economy. But it goes to show just how far things have to go and how little opportunity these kids have to make big advances into the modern economies.
So for my tour guide the world remains flat, but only because nobody has ever told him otherwise and nothing in his world would suggest otherwise. At the same he time he will continue to guide wealthy tourists through the rough and wild Laotian countryside.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Happiness as a function of expectation
Happiness is relative, relative to many factors including, freedom, agency, and importantly to this note, expectation. Travelling in developing countries it is not hard to find genuine happiness in the people, even though they may have little food, no TV, no night clubs and street cafe's. With little to expect from life, each small thing received, experienced and gained can bring happiness. On our TV's we have seen the tears of happiness of a person who receives a gift we wouldn't look twice at. If it is unexpected, the smallest event can bring genuine happiness, even in circumstances of great poverty.
For the developed world, with its many distractions and opportunities, a crisis of happiness seems to be a topic of increasing concern. If people with so little can gain happiness why, when we have so much opportunity and freedom is it so hard. I suggest the following.
In today's media driven the world, a principle driver of expectations is what we see on the TV, and advertisements. These foster an expectation that certain emotions are delivered through consumer spending and the acquisition of goods. This consumer culture is criticised as being the source of unhappiness as it supplies an instant gratification but not a sustainable or meaningful happiness. This consumer culture is further embedded, due to a critical mass living a consumer life. In addition to the media, it is the drive to live as ones peers do that drives a consumer happiness culture to become a larger collective movement.
However the consumer culture may not be the direct source of this unhappiness but an indirect source. Maybe it is the expectation that surrounds that consumerism that is the problem. By presenting images to the community, that bear no resemblance to that of the average life, we build expectations that we should be living the life presented even though it is an artificial construct.
When the purchasing of goods fails to deliver the lifestyle as presented, or we are unable to purchase to goods to get the lifestyle that we believe others seems to have, our expectations are unsatisfied leaving us depressed. A sense of inadequacy and failure can enter the mind against for what is in reality a false idea in the first place.
With so much of our information about our world, viewed through the lens of media, rather than directly and personally, are we able to discern what the normal and real life of others really is, so that we can set our expectations more realistically?
For the developed world, with its many distractions and opportunities, a crisis of happiness seems to be a topic of increasing concern. If people with so little can gain happiness why, when we have so much opportunity and freedom is it so hard. I suggest the following.
In today's media driven the world, a principle driver of expectations is what we see on the TV, and advertisements. These foster an expectation that certain emotions are delivered through consumer spending and the acquisition of goods. This consumer culture is criticised as being the source of unhappiness as it supplies an instant gratification but not a sustainable or meaningful happiness. This consumer culture is further embedded, due to a critical mass living a consumer life. In addition to the media, it is the drive to live as ones peers do that drives a consumer happiness culture to become a larger collective movement.
However the consumer culture may not be the direct source of this unhappiness but an indirect source. Maybe it is the expectation that surrounds that consumerism that is the problem. By presenting images to the community, that bear no resemblance to that of the average life, we build expectations that we should be living the life presented even though it is an artificial construct.
When the purchasing of goods fails to deliver the lifestyle as presented, or we are unable to purchase to goods to get the lifestyle that we believe others seems to have, our expectations are unsatisfied leaving us depressed. A sense of inadequacy and failure can enter the mind against for what is in reality a false idea in the first place.
With so much of our information about our world, viewed through the lens of media, rather than directly and personally, are we able to discern what the normal and real life of others really is, so that we can set our expectations more realistically?
Friday, October 3, 2008
Fast trains and bureaucratic encounters - the end (Asia trek pt 28
We'll we are almost there, unfortunately I keep on thinking of more things to write, and so it seems like it never ends.
After another night of watching the football, I woke up in preparation for my tour to Suzhuo. thinking that there would be more people from the hostel going on the tour I was surprised when I was the only one to rock up in the morning. Provided with my own personal van taking me to the centre of the city where the tour bus was waiting. Something clicked. I did not see any other foreign tourists in the area and certainly none of them were getting on my bus. It turns out, as I should have realised given that most of the tourist industry in China is local, that it was a Chinese tour
delivered entirely in Chinese. It would have been nice if the person I had booked with had let me know!!
As a result it was a quiet day for me as I did not talk or listen much. I just followed the herd as best I could, with the tour guide helping me out occasionally with the little bit of English she had. The drive from Shanghai out to Suzhuo takes about an hour through the flat but developing area west of Shanghai. On arrival into the city which is not exactly clear the bus winds through small streets before dropping us of at the first garden. Suzhuo is famous for it Chinese garden though there aren't many left is what the tourists come to see. And they come there on mass. The peaceful tranquility of these gardens is largely lost as the masses of Chinese tourists herd through them,
with guides carrying flag and trying to use portable loudspeakers to the best effect. But despite this unique insight into Chinese style tourism, the gardens are impressive in their complexity and beauty, if there weren't another 100 tourist walking around at the same time.
The tour is built to be entertaining but also to make money. As can be found on tours in other countries, part of the cost of the tour is subsidised by companies paying for tourist to come through their shops and hopefully buy something. This was entertaining as I was taken to a silk factory (interesting to see the difference between handmade silk in Laos and Vietnam and the fully industrialised process here), a tea pot factory, which sold tea pot that were air tight and very expensive. In addition a short boat tour through the canals, and row boat exit out of one of the gardens and temples with hefty nine storey pagoda's. These provided view across grey skies over the small part of the old city that are left with the newer buildings in the backgrounds, which stand out in there repetitiveness.
All these things were entertaining but the most eventful moment was being watched by all the others as I struggled with the menu at lunch. With a little help I managed to get there and actually enjoyed a good meal. but that stage people started to warm to me and though they couldn't communicate with me smiles of acknowledgement and a willingness to try an help became evident. Back on the bus the afternoon viewing continued before some confusion about who was on what bus heading back (i had no problems here) to Shanghai. On the way we passed an endless stream of in progress apartment block, high voltage transmission lines and roads heading in different directions. It is clear from this stretch of road why the Chinese are consuming so much concrete and other resources even though on a per capita basis the people of
China are not being showered with wealth. May you be blessed that you have a backyard.
Arriving back in the evening, the coming night was the big clash between the Netherlands and Russia to qualify for the semi-finals of Euro 2008 (yes I am a little late in writing this). By this stage I had made substantial contact with a few long term residents of the hotel and we arranged a big night ahead culminating in the game at 3am in the morning. The evening started off with a few drink at the hostel before heading off to one of the more foreigner dominated clubs in town, and at 100 yuan entrance fee you can understand why. however, given that you are located on a top floor balcony on the Bund overlooking the river and Pudong business region all lit up like times square on the it is kind of worth it. the club had a good DJ with a live saxophone player wandering and mingling with the crowd throughout the evening. Outside on the deck the chilled atmosphere and warm air made for quite experience. The night wore one and I was becoming increasingly anxious about the match, so I hassled my companions to leave and leaving some behind took of in a taxi to the French Concession, where there was a supposed expat bar. My sidekicks new a bit of Chinese making it easier to navigate but even then we could find the exact place so we got dropped of on the street
Now, we hard heard that there was quite a party going for the European championship at a ex-pat bar in the area. So we walked around, got half lost , asked for directions and eventually ended up in the right place. It was clearly evident we were in the right place as we descended into a sea of Orange with hefty chants going on between the majority Dutch and a small but centralised group of Russian. the game was a up and down but the Dutch weren't playing the football that was winning many fans in the earlier matches. This led to an increasingly subdued Dutch crowd as the game wore on, only spurred by the occasional chance on goal. Eventually the Russians ran away with the game an dreary Dutch fans started filtering out of the bar on to the streets, where for the following hours you could see small bands of orange men wandering with head bowed to find the scarcely available taxi's
That night was the beginning of my last day in Shanghai. After returning to the hotel, after a stop a Macdonald on the way, I pulled a few hours sleep before go out to check off a final few things. first on the list was the Maglev. Shanghai has the only commercially operational (i doubt viable) Maglev train in the world, which transports
people to the airport. Beginning at one of the exterior metro stations in shanghai it makes the 30km journey in 7 min and 20 sec reaching a top speed of 431km. I was full of expectation of a very fast comfortable ride in a whisper quiet space age train. Unfortunately reality was a little more, well? Reality! Far from being a smooth ride the Maglev bumps a jots the same if not more than an average train. It is however a special ride especially when the two train across with a cumulative speed of over 600 km per hour. The train almost hits you as it comes past and is gone before you know it. Hoping to take some photo's I pulled out my camera only to realise that I had left my batteries back at the hotel.
those short 7 min ended and I got out of the train and wandered off to get some batteries while a significant amount of other passengers walk out of the exit and straight back through the entrance. I guess I am not the only one to take the train for no reason. My batteries secured I got on the returning train, where I was able to take some blurry photos of the country side whizzing past with car almost looking like they are driving backwards. But to no surprise the return trip was much the same as the way there on these almost entirely computer controlled trains.
Back in the city I headed back to the hotel to do some shopping in the local area. I shoe shop I had walked past everyday for the last few day, provided the perfect opportunity to picking up some new footwear. The Chinese branded shoes, i expected, would fall apart immediately, however six month later they are still providing sturdy ankle support. It seems the Chinese can make good product, they just don't export it, as with their electric motorcycles?
The other shops provided nothing of interest, so I packed my bags are prepared for the trip back to Beijing at the end of the evening. I shanghai the metro provides easy mobility at the train station is sufficiently indicated in roman text, that I was able to navigate my way to the right platform and train. Another comfortable overnight sleeper to Beijing, where I pretty much woke up as we were pulling into the station.
Arriving in Beijing the public transport situation is much less desirable with buses incomprehensible and the metro network not being anywhere near the train station. So taxi is pretty much the only option but the lines are long. Seeing the initial line I was hoping that it would diminish after a while so I went and sat on the vast station square and watched the people walk by. After an hour though the line hadn't diminished so I joined the line like everyone else, leaving behind a now superfluous pair of shoes for someone to collect. In end the wait was not long as there were many taxi to pick people up.
I asked him to take me too an area just south of Tiananmen square, a despite my best efforts to speak in Chinese, only the lonely planet could save me from ended up in the middle of nowhere. The are has a lot of 'hutong' which are small streets that used to occupy a large section of Beijing but since the modernisation began a lot has be replaced. However this small area, popular with tourists still provided a lively impression of what was one more common in Beijing. Walking down the street, busy with builders preparing the city for the Olympics, I made my way to my pre-booked hotel for one night before my flight the next day.
Finding the lively and friendly hostel I walked to the front desk to check in. Handing over my passport all was well until she checked my visa. While the 30 day visa had today as the final day on it, officially the via expired the previous day, and anyway my flight was the tomorrow. I had without a doubt overstayed my visa. I did this knowingly, and I had checked the Chinese government website and foreigner were officially given 10 days grace to get out of the country. After showing my flight ticket the next day she and her manager that was brought to assess the case they were still unconvinced. So they called the local police bureau in order to get clarification on the rules, but after multiple phone calls and explaining there was no option for it. I would not be able to stay there. Dejected and a little angry I left to find another hostel, but after trying two other hostels each had the same response, all that was left for me to do was go to the PSB to try and get my visa extended.
I left my baggage at the hostel, which they kindly put in a store for me and hopped in a taxi to the PSB office at the other end of town, Kassa-ching!! Arriving at the large bureaucratic office building with a fine fitout, I walked upstairs to the visa section, where I found an enclave of ex-patriots waiting in line to apply for/extend visa. Fortunately the overstayed visa section had no line so I skipped to the front and awaited my turn.
As I walked to the desk, watching reams of paperwork being signed an copied by the preceding person I was not counting my luck. I approach the lady behind my desk and pleaded my case, handing over passport and ticket and evidence. After a moment she pass and clarified, 'you are leaving tomorrow?' 'Yes' I replied hoping for a break. Then she looked at me a said, I can't do anything as it takes ten days to create a new visa, you need to call this number. She scribbled a number on this paper. I took the paper with little clear idea as to what the number was for and headed down to the front desk where I was told there was a public phone.
I managed to get my message across that I needed to make a phone call to the lady behind the counter and dialled the number full of trepidation. The person on the other end of the line spoke and understood a broken English and to this day I am not sure what message I got a across and what it achieved, but I got the assurance that everything would be fine if I left tomorrow and there was nothing more they could do. this was all good and well, and I was somewhat reassured but it still didn't help me find a bed for the night. I returned to the area where I had left my bag but further discussion yield no opportunity to sleep. So once again leaving my bags I wandered the area in hope of finding a not so smart attendant that would not look too closely at my passport and allow me to stay.
I found one a little out of the way that asked the question but when I said I was leaving the next day were happy to take me in. I think that while I personally was not in any great difficulty the police that could come around and check who was staying at the hotels, could slap the hotel with a hefty fine or revoke the licence if found to be housing foreigners who had overstayed their visa's. I had secretly hoped that something difficult and distressing would happen on my trip and on the last day in Asia I managed to achieve such a thing. I checked in to a dorm room where two other girls were sleeping, but after about a minute I decided to leave that room and take a whole room to myself. There is something about travelling in plane that makes you want to have a bit of privacy and a good night sleep before you fly.
After checking in and freshening up I took the new beijing metro to take me to the pearl market for some cheap shopping. There I bought a few t-shirts for the family kids and and a few other small things. With a light rain falling through the grey clouds, I walked into the nearby temple of heaven park to pursue a last errand for myself. A week earlier I had seen some paintings apparently painted at a school in Xian, but being shown and sold in the park. I um'd and ahh'd at the time to buy it and had since decided while in Shanghai that I I would purchase the four paintings at $40 a pop (which now after some internet research seems to be overpriced) . The painting each reflecting one of the four seasons, was quite an impressive set. However now walking into the park and going to the store I was to found it shut. With a wad full of cash in my hand and nothing to do with it, disappointed I returned to my hotel.
Dropping off my new found goodies I headed out for my last meal in China. Fortunately there was a hot pot restaurant in the alley where I stayed who warmly coaxed me inside. Sitting down I ordered with some assistance from the waitress. What I ended up with was a big bowl of hot water and endless vegetable and meat to cook in it. It was a feast for four, but there I was on own. Drawing the gaze of all those that entered the restaurant. I took me well over an hour to get through the food without leaving too much behind and I was thoroughly stuffed. I waddled around the streets for a while looking for somewhere to drink another beers. However the long day got to me and instead I returned to my bedroom, to rest and get a good night sleep before my flight the next day.
in the morning after check I wandered up the alley, to the main road to get a taxi to the airport. The long 40 min drive to the airport is the only accessible via taxi,
which are luckily still very cheap. Crossing over onto various ring roads, it was my final salute to China and Asia as I left after 6 months of wanderings. The greyed out and polluted sky still unrelenting, despite a mere month until the Olympic games. Arriving at the the Beijing airport, which is a model of simplicity I was almost out of the country when the lady behind the check in counter got concerned about my overstayed Visa. I explained the situation and after she brought the manager over and all was sorted. Immigration didn't even blink a eye at my passport as I moved into airside, neutral territory, ready to depart. Hoping to do some duty free shopping on the way out, I was disappointed that the airport had almost nothing to sell that was of interest to me, as I could not buy liquids as I had a connecting flight in Europe. This was further exacerbated when my flight was delayed for a few hours. So I sat there and waited. Once on the flight as went as usual as I peered out the window as a final goodbye.
The six months had been interested, perspective changing and fun, even though at times I was tormented with loneliness and had to stave off my demons. But I got through it, with nothing negative of significance occurring. A pocketful of memories to take with me, I knew and know that I would miss Asia and wish to return particularly to China, where I only had one month to explore the vast country. There is so much more to these countries than I have been able to tell you, but I hope I have given more than just a travel diary, but more of an isight into how these countries work and what makes them tick.
I thank all who have stayed will me on this journey and taken the time to read these at times excessively long narratives. Also, I would like to thank those travellers and people that accompanied, advised, guided and put up with me over those six months. May you travels and lives be as lucky as mine.
Thank you for reading! :)
P.S Don't forget the actual website were additional materials and photos can be found in abundance! "ignatris.blogspot.com"
After another night of watching the football, I woke up in preparation for my tour to Suzhuo. thinking that there would be more people from the hostel going on the tour I was surprised when I was the only one to rock up in the morning. Provided with my own personal van taking me to the centre of the city where the tour bus was waiting. Something clicked. I did not see any other foreign tourists in the area and certainly none of them were getting on my bus. It turns out, as I should have realised given that most of the tourist industry in China is local, that it was a Chinese tour
delivered entirely in Chinese. It would have been nice if the person I had booked with had let me know!! As a result it was a quiet day for me as I did not talk or listen much. I just followed the herd as best I could, with the tour guide helping me out occasionally with the little bit of English she had. The drive from Shanghai out to Suzhuo takes about an hour through the flat but developing area west of Shanghai. On arrival into the city which is not exactly clear the bus winds through small streets before dropping us of at the first garden. Suzhuo is famous for it Chinese garden though there aren't many left is what the tourists come to see. And they come there on mass. The peaceful tranquility of these gardens is largely lost as the masses of Chinese tourists herd through them,
with guides carrying flag and trying to use portable loudspeakers to the best effect. But despite this unique insight into Chinese style tourism, the gardens are impressive in their complexity and beauty, if there weren't another 100 tourist walking around at the same time.The tour is built to be entertaining but also to make money. As can be found on tours in other countries, part of the cost of the tour is subsidised by companies paying for tourist to come through their shops and hopefully buy something. This was entertaining as I was taken to a silk factory (interesting to see the difference between handmade silk in Laos and Vietnam and the fully industrialised process here), a tea pot factory, which sold tea pot that were air tight and very expensive. In addition a short boat tour through the canals, and row boat exit out of one of the gardens and temples with hefty nine storey pagoda's. These provided view across grey skies over the small part of the old city that are left with the newer buildings in the backgrounds, which stand out in there repetitiveness.
All these things were entertaining but the most eventful moment was being watched by all the others as I struggled with the menu at lunch. With a little help I managed to get there and actually enjoyed a good meal. but that stage people started to warm to me and though they couldn't communicate with me smiles of acknowledgement and a willingness to try an help became evident. Back on the bus the afternoon viewing continued before some confusion about who was on what bus heading back (i had no problems here) to Shanghai. On the way we passed an endless stream of in progress apartment block, high voltage transmission lines and roads heading in different directions. It is clear from this stretch of road why the Chinese are consuming so much concrete and other resources even though on a per capita basis the people of
China are not being showered with wealth. May you be blessed that you have a backyard.
Arriving back in the evening, the coming night was the big clash between the Netherlands and Russia to qualify for the semi-finals of Euro 2008 (yes I am a little late in writing this). By this stage I had made substantial contact with a few long term residents of the hotel and we arranged a big night ahead culminating in the game at 3am in the morning. The evening started off with a few drink at the hostel before heading off to one of the more foreigner dominated clubs in town, and at 100 yuan entrance fee you can understand why. however, given that you are located on a top floor balcony on the Bund overlooking the river and Pudong business region all lit up like times square on the it is kind of worth it. the club had a good DJ with a live saxophone player wandering and mingling with the crowd throughout the evening. Outside on the deck the chilled atmosphere and warm air made for quite experience. The night wore one and I was becoming increasingly anxious about the match, so I hassled my companions to leave and leaving some behind took of in a taxi to the French Concession, where there was a supposed expat bar. My sidekicks new a bit of Chinese making it easier to navigate but even then we could find the exact place so we got dropped of on the street
Now, we hard heard that there was quite a party going for the European championship at a ex-pat bar in the area. So we walked around, got half lost , asked for directions and eventually ended up in the right place. It was clearly evident we were in the right place as we descended into a sea of Orange with hefty chants going on between the majority Dutch and a small but centralised group of Russian. the game was a up and down but the Dutch weren't playing the football that was winning many fans in the earlier matches. This led to an increasingly subdued Dutch crowd as the game wore on, only spurred by the occasional chance on goal. Eventually the Russians ran away with the game an dreary Dutch fans started filtering out of the bar on to the streets, where for the following hours you could see small bands of orange men wandering with head bowed to find the scarcely available taxi's
That night was the beginning of my last day in Shanghai. After returning to the hotel, after a stop a Macdonald on the way, I pulled a few hours sleep before go out to check off a final few things. first on the list was the Maglev. Shanghai has the only commercially operational (i doubt viable) Maglev train in the world, which transports
people to the airport. Beginning at one of the exterior metro stations in shanghai it makes the 30km journey in 7 min and 20 sec reaching a top speed of 431km. I was full of expectation of a very fast comfortable ride in a whisper quiet space age train. Unfortunately reality was a little more, well? Reality! Far from being a smooth ride the Maglev bumps a jots the same if not more than an average train. It is however a special ride especially when the two train across with a cumulative speed of over 600 km per hour. The train almost hits you as it comes past and is gone before you know it. Hoping to take some photo's I pulled out my camera only to realise that I had left my batteries back at the hotel.those short 7 min ended and I got out of the train and wandered off to get some batteries while a significant amount of other passengers walk out of the exit and straight back through the entrance. I guess I am not the only one to take the train for no reason. My batteries secured I got on the returning train, where I was able to take some blurry photos of the country side whizzing past with car almost looking like they are driving backwards. But to no surprise the return trip was much the same as the way there on these almost entirely computer controlled trains.
Back in the city I headed back to the hotel to do some shopping in the local area. I shoe shop I had walked past everyday for the last few day, provided the perfect opportunity to picking up some new footwear. The Chinese branded shoes, i expected, would fall apart immediately, however six month later they are still providing sturdy ankle support. It seems the Chinese can make good product, they just don't export it, as with their electric motorcycles?
The other shops provided nothing of interest, so I packed my bags are prepared for the trip back to Beijing at the end of the evening. I shanghai the metro provides easy mobility at the train station is sufficiently indicated in roman text, that I was able to navigate my way to the right platform and train. Another comfortable overnight sleeper to Beijing, where I pretty much woke up as we were pulling into the station.
Arriving in Beijing the public transport situation is much less desirable with buses incomprehensible and the metro network not being anywhere near the train station. So taxi is pretty much the only option but the lines are long. Seeing the initial line I was hoping that it would diminish after a while so I went and sat on the vast station square and watched the people walk by. After an hour though the line hadn't diminished so I joined the line like everyone else, leaving behind a now superfluous pair of shoes for someone to collect. In end the wait was not long as there were many taxi to pick people up.
I asked him to take me too an area just south of Tiananmen square, a despite my best efforts to speak in Chinese, only the lonely planet could save me from ended up in the middle of nowhere. The are has a lot of 'hutong' which are small streets that used to occupy a large section of Beijing but since the modernisation began a lot has be replaced. However this small area, popular with tourists still provided a lively impression of what was one more common in Beijing. Walking down the street, busy with builders preparing the city for the Olympics, I made my way to my pre-booked hotel for one night before my flight the next day.
Finding the lively and friendly hostel I walked to the front desk to check in. Handing over my passport all was well until she checked my visa. While the 30 day visa had today as the final day on it, officially the via expired the previous day, and anyway my flight was the tomorrow. I had without a doubt overstayed my visa. I did this knowingly, and I had checked the Chinese government website and foreigner were officially given 10 days grace to get out of the country. After showing my flight ticket the next day she and her manager that was brought to assess the case they were still unconvinced. So they called the local police bureau in order to get clarification on the rules, but after multiple phone calls and explaining there was no option for it. I would not be able to stay there. Dejected and a little angry I left to find another hostel, but after trying two other hostels each had the same response, all that was left for me to do was go to the PSB to try and get my visa extended.
I left my baggage at the hostel, which they kindly put in a store for me and hopped in a taxi to the PSB office at the other end of town, Kassa-ching!! Arriving at the large bureaucratic office building with a fine fitout, I walked upstairs to the visa section, where I found an enclave of ex-patriots waiting in line to apply for/extend visa. Fortunately the overstayed visa section had no line so I skipped to the front and awaited my turn.
As I walked to the desk, watching reams of paperwork being signed an copied by the preceding person I was not counting my luck. I approach the lady behind my desk and pleaded my case, handing over passport and ticket and evidence. After a moment she pass and clarified, 'you are leaving tomorrow?' 'Yes' I replied hoping for a break. Then she looked at me a said, I can't do anything as it takes ten days to create a new visa, you need to call this number. She scribbled a number on this paper. I took the paper with little clear idea as to what the number was for and headed down to the front desk where I was told there was a public phone.
I managed to get my message across that I needed to make a phone call to the lady behind the counter and dialled the number full of trepidation. The person on the other end of the line spoke and understood a broken English and to this day I am not sure what message I got a across and what it achieved, but I got the assurance that everything would be fine if I left tomorrow and there was nothing more they could do. this was all good and well, and I was somewhat reassured but it still didn't help me find a bed for the night. I returned to the area where I had left my bag but further discussion yield no opportunity to sleep. So once again leaving my bags I wandered the area in hope of finding a not so smart attendant that would not look too closely at my passport and allow me to stay.
I found one a little out of the way that asked the question but when I said I was leaving the next day were happy to take me in. I think that while I personally was not in any great difficulty the police that could come around and check who was staying at the hotels, could slap the hotel with a hefty fine or revoke the licence if found to be housing foreigners who had overstayed their visa's. I had secretly hoped that something difficult and distressing would happen on my trip and on the last day in Asia I managed to achieve such a thing. I checked in to a dorm room where two other girls were sleeping, but after about a minute I decided to leave that room and take a whole room to myself. There is something about travelling in plane that makes you want to have a bit of privacy and a good night sleep before you fly.
After checking in and freshening up I took the new beijing metro to take me to the pearl market for some cheap shopping. There I bought a few t-shirts for the family kids and and a few other small things. With a light rain falling through the grey clouds, I walked into the nearby temple of heaven park to pursue a last errand for myself. A week earlier I had seen some paintings apparently painted at a school in Xian, but being shown and sold in the park. I um'd and ahh'd at the time to buy it and had since decided while in Shanghai that I I would purchase the four paintings at $40 a pop (which now after some internet research seems to be overpriced) . The painting each reflecting one of the four seasons, was quite an impressive set. However now walking into the park and going to the store I was to found it shut. With a wad full of cash in my hand and nothing to do with it, disappointed I returned to my hotel.
Dropping off my new found goodies I headed out for my last meal in China. Fortunately there was a hot pot restaurant in the alley where I stayed who warmly coaxed me inside. Sitting down I ordered with some assistance from the waitress. What I ended up with was a big bowl of hot water and endless vegetable and meat to cook in it. It was a feast for four, but there I was on own. Drawing the gaze of all those that entered the restaurant. I took me well over an hour to get through the food without leaving too much behind and I was thoroughly stuffed. I waddled around the streets for a while looking for somewhere to drink another beers. However the long day got to me and instead I returned to my bedroom, to rest and get a good night sleep before my flight the next day.
in the morning after check I wandered up the alley, to the main road to get a taxi to the airport. The long 40 min drive to the airport is the only accessible via taxi,
which are luckily still very cheap. Crossing over onto various ring roads, it was my final salute to China and Asia as I left after 6 months of wanderings. The greyed out and polluted sky still unrelenting, despite a mere month until the Olympic games. Arriving at the the Beijing airport, which is a model of simplicity I was almost out of the country when the lady behind the check in counter got concerned about my overstayed Visa. I explained the situation and after she brought the manager over and all was sorted. Immigration didn't even blink a eye at my passport as I moved into airside, neutral territory, ready to depart. Hoping to do some duty free shopping on the way out, I was disappointed that the airport had almost nothing to sell that was of interest to me, as I could not buy liquids as I had a connecting flight in Europe. This was further exacerbated when my flight was delayed for a few hours. So I sat there and waited. Once on the flight as went as usual as I peered out the window as a final goodbye.
The six months had been interested, perspective changing and fun, even though at times I was tormented with loneliness and had to stave off my demons. But I got through it, with nothing negative of significance occurring. A pocketful of memories to take with me, I knew and know that I would miss Asia and wish to return particularly to China, where I only had one month to explore the vast country. There is so much more to these countries than I have been able to tell you, but I hope I have given more than just a travel diary, but more of an isight into how these countries work and what makes them tick.
I thank all who have stayed will me on this journey and taken the time to read these at times excessively long narratives. Also, I would like to thank those travellers and people that accompanied, advised, guided and put up with me over those six months. May you travels and lives be as lucky as mine.
Thank you for reading! :)
P.S Don't forget the actual website were additional materials and photos can be found in abundance! "ignatris.blogspot.com"
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Scammed in Shanghai (Asia trek pt27)
My last stop, Shanghai the most metropolitan city in China and aslo the city the most vareid skyline I have been to. With every building trying to outdo its neighbour leading to stunning vistas of the river from the Bund. Arriving at the train station in Shanghai, I was confronted with the first substantial rain that I had experienced in a while. Unfortuately for me I had to walk through it pack and all to get to my hotel. Doubly unfortunate the instructions to the hotel said I had to walk north which sent me in the wrong direction as it was actually northwest and only after walking in the rain for about 15min did it dawn on me that I walk probably not heading in the right direction. Backtracking, and trying to find clues as to where I should be I finally made it to the right place and checked in without hassles.
The continued inclement weather and unreliable forecasts made it difficult to plan when to do things. On the agenda was a day trip to Suzhuo to visit the old Chinese gardens. But with the uncertainty regarding the weather the planning became difficult.
After changing into some fresh clothes I decided to take on the weather with my umbrella and go explore the city. Shanghai thankfully has a very good and easy to
understand metro system that transports you seemlessly around the city. I decided to make headway for the museum in the centre and after arriving in the centre, was unable to find it, until half an hours of wandering. By this stage the weather cleared (as it would everyday) and I decided to walk the main street down to the harbour overlooking the Pudong district and the Bund. The Bund is a row of early to mid century buildings built for the financial district of which parallels have been drawn with Wall street in the US but I have not been there! On the whole the view is impressive and Shanghai for me is right up there with best skyline in the world, particularly due to the odd rocket shaped building that is the communications tower.
Watching the view and people taking photo's of people in front of the view, I was approached by three young Chinese students that spoke reasonable English. They are part of a scam that is also found in Beijing to sell cheap art work a inflated prices (according to the lonely planet, which I didn't rally read.) they invited me to look at their collection and with nothing better to do I went with them all the while to to there gallery on the 7th storey of an office building. They showed me through their
collections of works highlighting those works that they created themselves. the work on the whole was pretty ordinary, however some works which were created by the teachers were actually quite good. I wasn't intending to buy, but was eventually compelled to buy a set of four seasonal painting. Unfortunately I didn't have enough money (precisely to avoid losing too much money on scams) I had to make a deposit and then go all the way to my hotel and back to the city with the additional money. Upon my return, a little late the bill was settled and my three little assistants escorted to a relatively fancy restaurant, where I sat awkwardly on my own consuming my meal with a beer. I am still not sure why the girls escorted me to the restaurant. I did invite them in but they refused, saying they had a prior appointment.
Afterwards tired and with little else to do I returned to the hostel, The hotel thankfully had a very nice common area in which to relax and heading toward the final stages of the European championships, I made good use of the projection screen with other football fans in the hotel. Supporting Germany in their quest towards a win.
Going to sleep early in the morning I woke up a little late and was lacklustre in my energy, and so hung around the hotel for while, eating breakfast. With wet weather still predicted I was in no hurry to get out there. As the day wore on the temperature increased and the sun started intermittently shining through the clouds. This compelled me to re-evaluate my plans and I decided to go wander through the French Concession, and area of Shanghai that was setup along side other international
settlements in the latter 19th century. this area which retains a lot of it low rise buildings and tree lined streets is good for shopping and wandering , with many boutique shops and cafe's. Me being on my own, I didn't stop to hang around and spent the time wandering, staring into peoples compounds and wandering past Sun Yat Sen's residence, before finding a seat in
the nearby park for a few hours. There I watched people dancing, practicing tai-chi, playing with their kids, talking and seeing a group of loud mouth foreigners making a mockery of a statue of Lenin.
As the evening rolled in I left the park and walked to the nearest metro station and returned to the hotel. Back at the hotel I started talking to some of the other guest. Interestingly China seems to draw a different type of tourist than the rest of south east asia. Many of the foreigners I met at the hostel were looking at staying in China for a long period of time and many were also intending to work. Something that I rarely came across in south east asia. They kept me occupied for the evening before returning to bed frustrated that the scheduled rains that were supposed to come, weren't arriving continuing to a vagary to my plans.
The next morning I woke up with a conviction that in-spite of the weather I would take a tour to Suzhou, on the recommendation of Anson the tour guide, so I went to the front desk and booked the tour with no difficulties. I thought I would spend the rest of the day at the Shanghai museum, which again cam highly recommended. Now fully
proficient with the excellent metro system I took the long way to get to the centre, to see a bit more of the city. Stepping out of the metro station I walked towards the museum. By this stage I was somewhat ready for scams, having been had by one, so when the first group of students approach me to share a traditional tea ceremony with them I declined, however the second group convinced me, mainly because I was curious rather than I wanted to lose my money.
For a supposedly very old and traditional tea house, it happened to be located on the third floor of a shopping centre. hmmm? Anyway, I was led into a small room where the students continued with their idle chit chat, before asking me to pick number between one and ten. Already a bit suspicious of their intent I refused to give an number until they told me what for. turned out what ever number you said was the amount of types of tea you would be trying. With the number trick failed we agreed that I would pick one and the other three would pick one each.
They then handed me the menu with the tea selections on them and the prices. I can't remember what exactly what they were, but they ranged from reasonable to 'hello, I am not a rich man!!' Anyway we selected our teas, with the cost being split evenly between the four of us. As we progressed through the whole ceremony with it's sniffing, eye moisturising and eventually drinking, we continued to share stories. By this stage the individual character started to emerge. There was a very self confident female that was starting to annoy me, a relatively nice and easy going girl and a guy, obviously new to the game, that was being harassed in not so subtle language by the two girls. time and tea rolled on and I was starting to get a little concerned about the price and some rather 'special' teas were starting to appear on the table. I made it clear to them that we should stop as I could not afford to pay. They said, 'its okay, just put t on your credit card!' Now it had been a policy of mine throughout my travels not to carry around my credit or bank cards in case I was mugged and to use cash as much as possible. It turned out to be a real blessing as I could clearly see how much money I had and that was the limit. Due to this the tea drinking was cut short and the bill was brought. This was lucky too, because after paying the bill I had little more than a few dollars left, which would be just enough to get me back to the hotel. One more tea and I would have been in debt which may have caused all kinds of problems!
The whole thing is a scam, but it was actually quite fun and at most I only lost about $30 on the whole exercise, due to me not having a credit card. As we left the tea house I got given a green something, which was immediately attached to my bag which was no doubt to indicate that I had been had and the others waiting didn't need to bother try me again.
Anyway the Shanghai museum is free, so I was still able to go. the museum is mainly a collection of artistic artefacts from the various periods and minority groups of Chinese history. I spent most of my time viewing the Chinese calligraphy, with
examples showing the different styles and evolution of the centuries. But other areas included traditional paintings, pottery and a section on minority group clothing with an impressive section of masks used in the theatre and ceremonies of the minority groups. It is an impressive museum and worth going to. I am told it is one of the best in China
Returning back to the hotel to get money, I then stepped out in the local district where a street market had popped up selling all kinds of clothing and food. None of the clothing really inspired me , so I stuck with the food, feasting on various BBQ skewers. Wandering the streets with an absolute sense of safety, much the same as I had experienced in China.
The continued inclement weather and unreliable forecasts made it difficult to plan when to do things. On the agenda was a day trip to Suzhuo to visit the old Chinese gardens. But with the uncertainty regarding the weather the planning became difficult.
After changing into some fresh clothes I decided to take on the weather with my umbrella and go explore the city. Shanghai thankfully has a very good and easy to
understand metro system that transports you seemlessly around the city. I decided to make headway for the museum in the centre and after arriving in the centre, was unable to find it, until half an hours of wandering. By this stage the weather cleared (as it would everyday) and I decided to walk the main street down to the harbour overlooking the Pudong district and the Bund. The Bund is a row of early to mid century buildings built for the financial district of which parallels have been drawn with Wall street in the US but I have not been there! On the whole the view is impressive and Shanghai for me is right up there with best skyline in the world, particularly due to the odd rocket shaped building that is the communications tower.Watching the view and people taking photo's of people in front of the view, I was approached by three young Chinese students that spoke reasonable English. They are part of a scam that is also found in Beijing to sell cheap art work a inflated prices (according to the lonely planet, which I didn't rally read.) they invited me to look at their collection and with nothing better to do I went with them all the while to to there gallery on the 7th storey of an office building. They showed me through their
collections of works highlighting those works that they created themselves. the work on the whole was pretty ordinary, however some works which were created by the teachers were actually quite good. I wasn't intending to buy, but was eventually compelled to buy a set of four seasonal painting. Unfortunately I didn't have enough money (precisely to avoid losing too much money on scams) I had to make a deposit and then go all the way to my hotel and back to the city with the additional money. Upon my return, a little late the bill was settled and my three little assistants escorted to a relatively fancy restaurant, where I sat awkwardly on my own consuming my meal with a beer. I am still not sure why the girls escorted me to the restaurant. I did invite them in but they refused, saying they had a prior appointment.Afterwards tired and with little else to do I returned to the hostel, The hotel thankfully had a very nice common area in which to relax and heading toward the final stages of the European championships, I made good use of the projection screen with other football fans in the hotel. Supporting Germany in their quest towards a win.
Going to sleep early in the morning I woke up a little late and was lacklustre in my energy, and so hung around the hotel for while, eating breakfast. With wet weather still predicted I was in no hurry to get out there. As the day wore on the temperature increased and the sun started intermittently shining through the clouds. This compelled me to re-evaluate my plans and I decided to go wander through the French Concession, and area of Shanghai that was setup along side other international
settlements in the latter 19th century. this area which retains a lot of it low rise buildings and tree lined streets is good for shopping and wandering , with many boutique shops and cafe's. Me being on my own, I didn't stop to hang around and spent the time wandering, staring into peoples compounds and wandering past Sun Yat Sen's residence, before finding a seat in the nearby park for a few hours. There I watched people dancing, practicing tai-chi, playing with their kids, talking and seeing a group of loud mouth foreigners making a mockery of a statue of Lenin.
As the evening rolled in I left the park and walked to the nearest metro station and returned to the hotel. Back at the hotel I started talking to some of the other guest. Interestingly China seems to draw a different type of tourist than the rest of south east asia. Many of the foreigners I met at the hostel were looking at staying in China for a long period of time and many were also intending to work. Something that I rarely came across in south east asia. They kept me occupied for the evening before returning to bed frustrated that the scheduled rains that were supposed to come, weren't arriving continuing to a vagary to my plans.
The next morning I woke up with a conviction that in-spite of the weather I would take a tour to Suzhou, on the recommendation of Anson the tour guide, so I went to the front desk and booked the tour with no difficulties. I thought I would spend the rest of the day at the Shanghai museum, which again cam highly recommended. Now fully
proficient with the excellent metro system I took the long way to get to the centre, to see a bit more of the city. Stepping out of the metro station I walked towards the museum. By this stage I was somewhat ready for scams, having been had by one, so when the first group of students approach me to share a traditional tea ceremony with them I declined, however the second group convinced me, mainly because I was curious rather than I wanted to lose my money.For a supposedly very old and traditional tea house, it happened to be located on the third floor of a shopping centre. hmmm? Anyway, I was led into a small room where the students continued with their idle chit chat, before asking me to pick number between one and ten. Already a bit suspicious of their intent I refused to give an number until they told me what for. turned out what ever number you said was the amount of types of tea you would be trying. With the number trick failed we agreed that I would pick one and the other three would pick one each.
They then handed me the menu with the tea selections on them and the prices. I can't remember what exactly what they were, but they ranged from reasonable to 'hello, I am not a rich man!!' Anyway we selected our teas, with the cost being split evenly between the four of us. As we progressed through the whole ceremony with it's sniffing, eye moisturising and eventually drinking, we continued to share stories. By this stage the individual character started to emerge. There was a very self confident female that was starting to annoy me, a relatively nice and easy going girl and a guy, obviously new to the game, that was being harassed in not so subtle language by the two girls. time and tea rolled on and I was starting to get a little concerned about the price and some rather 'special' teas were starting to appear on the table. I made it clear to them that we should stop as I could not afford to pay. They said, 'its okay, just put t on your credit card!' Now it had been a policy of mine throughout my travels not to carry around my credit or bank cards in case I was mugged and to use cash as much as possible. It turned out to be a real blessing as I could clearly see how much money I had and that was the limit. Due to this the tea drinking was cut short and the bill was brought. This was lucky too, because after paying the bill I had little more than a few dollars left, which would be just enough to get me back to the hotel. One more tea and I would have been in debt which may have caused all kinds of problems!
The whole thing is a scam, but it was actually quite fun and at most I only lost about $30 on the whole exercise, due to me not having a credit card. As we left the tea house I got given a green something, which was immediately attached to my bag which was no doubt to indicate that I had been had and the others waiting didn't need to bother try me again.
Anyway the Shanghai museum is free, so I was still able to go. the museum is mainly a collection of artistic artefacts from the various periods and minority groups of Chinese history. I spent most of my time viewing the Chinese calligraphy, with
examples showing the different styles and evolution of the centuries. But other areas included traditional paintings, pottery and a section on minority group clothing with an impressive section of masks used in the theatre and ceremonies of the minority groups. It is an impressive museum and worth going to. I am told it is one of the best in ChinaReturning back to the hotel to get money, I then stepped out in the local district where a street market had popped up selling all kinds of clothing and food. None of the clothing really inspired me , so I stuck with the food, feasting on various BBQ skewers. Wandering the streets with an absolute sense of safety, much the same as I had experienced in China.
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