A year away: May 2010

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Kunming Part 2 - Dragon's Gate

Descending down the more beaten path I reached the famed Dragon's Gate complex of tunnels and temples carved into the stone cliffs overhanging Dian Chi. The work that the builders of this complex must have put in is quite extraordinary, and it really begs the question why would you bother building something like this? Regardless of the practicality of the structures, the result is pretty cool.

May 4 & 5, 2010 - Kunming, Yunnan, China

From Caohai on the western side of Guizhou I took a local then overnight train to Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan province. Kunming is a nice city and I stayed at a pretty good hostel there - Cloudland hostel (I assume the name makes more sense in Chinese). I spent part of the day in Kunming buying a replacement USB flash drive (note to self - DO NOT leave anything in PCs at internet cafes when you intend to get on a train and ride for 10 hours) and the next day headed out for a walk around Xi Shan - the west hills. My route up and around the hill(s) could certainly not be called conventional but I made it to the top via trail, road and finally a bit of cross-country. There were very few people on my route, which made some sense as it was very much the long way up. The views of Dian Chi lake and Kunming city from the top were quite spectacular.

Caohai Lake, Part 2

Some pretty interesting things go on on lakes in China. BBQ insects anyone?

Weining, Part 2b

Some more interesting sights in Weining.

Weining, Part 2a

The land around the city is even more ravaged than the surrounding countryside (you can see it in the background of the elevated street shot). The city held some interesting sights.

May 3, 2010, Caohai Lake, Guizhou, China, Part 1

The next day after a quick breakfast at the market I headed out to the lake. Caohai is known for the massive quantity of over-wintering birds that visit in season. Since it's spring the birds were thin on the ground (or water), but the lake was very peaceful anyway (once I had managed to teach my boat companions to listen to the sounds of nature rather than yelling at each other. I have this theory that Chinese are afraid of silence since they grow up in such a crowded society and as such they seek to make noise wherever they go, to avoid the horrifying sound of silence. I told this to the Chinese I was with and they shut up. It was great!). I know, I am smiling in one of these photos. No rice wine required this time.

Weining, Part 3

That night I took a walk out to the lake and got some photos of the sunset. While walking I met a group of young locals and started chatting with them. They invited me to eat dinner at their house/restaurant (and they wouldn't let me pay) and then to go out drinking with the older ones until midnight or so. They were incredibly friendly, which was super cool.

Weining, Guizhou, China

I spent the afternoon in Weining before taking an evening walk out to the lake. I found a guy to fix my shoes and bag and paid him 6RMB (about 90 cents) for his efforts (he set the price, not me). I was only in the market for shoe and bag repair but he could also have replaced the bottom of my cooking pot had I worn one out, or cut me a new set of keys.

Liupanshui to Weining/Caohai, Guizhou, China

The last leg of the journey by bus from Liupanshui to Weining I passed through some of the most decimated and marginal agricultural land I have ever seen. In sections it seemed like this land has been so stripped of fertility that it cannot support anyone, and there are almost no residents. In others, people farm land that is so rocky you have to wonder if it's worth it.

Weining is a lively place with a bustling market and cute orange taxi trikes.

May 1-2, 2010 - Across Guizhou to Caohai - The Grass Sea

The journey to Caohai took basically a day and involved 2 buses, an overnight (hardseat) train and another bus the next day. At least they served "REEB" to make the time pass a little faster! At one point in the juction town of Liupanshui (allegedly the poorest city in China - it looks every inch of it) I was unable to locate the bus station. After asking a local cop for directions I was offered a ride in their police van! How very kind of them. Amusingly the bus station was only maybe 200m away, was one of the only decent buildings in the whole city, was directly across the road from my hotel and I had walked past it 3 times! I suppose that's what you get for not being able to read Chinese. The ride in a Police paddy wagon made the initial confusion worth it though.

Fanjingshan Part 4

On the way back down I snapped the picture of these guys working on the roof of a new temple (or maybe a hotel that looks like a temple, in China you never can be too sure) and shortly afterward I was drinking cheap Chinese red wine mixed with Red Bull (yum!) with some of the cable car employees. They seemed freindly but I think they were basically trying to scam me. They initially offered to let me stay with them in their employee dorm, but when I found out that they wanted 110RMB for the bed (no mattress, no blankets, flithy pillow, no heating in the room and no washing facilities - a proper dorm bed in a real hostel goes for 20-25RMB!!) I bailed and found another option and snuck into the mountain top restaurant for the night. Sleeping in the restaurant I wasn't exactly warm, but was incredibly thankful I'd brought my camping sleeping mat with me so I slept at least a little. I woke before dawn, went up to the veiwing area in the hope of seeing a sunrise, but didn't it wasnt to be. I snapped a few cool photos in the dawn then started down the 7,000 stairs again. All in all the experience of Fanjingshan was much nicer than Huangshan - I was so happy to find silence on the top of a mountain in China untainted by tour groups and cell phone music. From Fanjingshan I took a sleeper train clear across Guizhou to see Caohai, the "Grass Sea" in the west of the province.

Fanjingshan Part 3

Fanjingshan Part 2

After summiting the first peak in the rain I headed down some pretty precarious steps (but a hell of a lot better than the way up) and sheltered in another temple. The weather cleared quickly and I quickly climbed the other summit, catching some pretty cool views along the way.

April 29, 2010 - Chengyang Wind and Rain Bridge near Sanjiang, Guangxi, China

From Zhaoxing I took the bus to Sanjiang and visited a little town famed for its Wind and Rain Bridge. The setting was very pretty indeed as you can see. Interestingly, the waterwheels actually work although they look ready to fall apart at any moment, and are used to pump water up from the river to the fields, probably 3 metres at least!

A feast in Zhaoxing

After my exploration of the area on foot and a failed attempt to climb to the top of one of the peaks in the area I returned to Zhaoxing. As I was relaxing with a beer I heard a blood-curdling scream and raced outside to see what all the commotion was about. It turned out that 3 pigs were being slaughtered (I have left out the more graphic images, I can post them if you want, just let me know). A feast was being prepared to celebrate the passing of an important person in the village and dozens of people were working to kill and prep the pigs and cook the rice. Even at this preparation stage (the day before the main event) the mood was festive and all everyone was helping out. I was invited to sit with them and I watched the proceedings for quite awhile.