Tuesday 24 November 2009

Dangfang to Wuhan

On the morning of the 16th of November, having learned out lessons from the following day, w made a supreme effort to wrap up as well as we possibly could, for the snow was still falling. it felt a little like putting on armour in anticipation of battle, with three layers of socks, and plastic bags between various layers on hands and feet.

When I checked out of the hotel room I was met by three giggling chamber maids. As I made it down the landing towards the lift one of them shouted. "I love you!" to which I responded "I love you too!" More giggling. And they shouted "I LOVE YOU!" again to which I responded, "I love you MORE!" Fits of giggling from all three, and they all disappeared into a bedroom for, no doubt an uncontrollable giggling session.

On the way out of town, in driving snow, I asked a fruit seller for a couple of plastic bags to go on top of the socks I was using as mittens. She carefully placed them on my hands and tied them on my wrists with the delicacy of a tailor.

It didn't take long, however, before our hands and feet seemed like frozen ice blocks and incredibly painful, despite our best efforts with gloves, plastic bags and socks placed in some very inventive places. We found a barn where a group of men had lit fires from breeze-block style charcoal bricks in terracotta bowls (one brick per bowl.) It took a long time before the pain left my hands and feet, which produced a lot of steam.

Needless to say, for the second day running, we stopped early due to the weather conditions. The town was freezing cold, as was the hotel which was lacking electricity, although this later came back. Restaurants don't bother with any heating and everyone simply goes about in multiple layers and coats. Wartime spirit!

The following morning, having eaten a very Chinese but satisfying breakfast (largely consisting of tofu, vegetables and steaming hot rice porridge) and having loaded up the bike, I noticed my tyre was flat. With an ever growing crowd, despite the fact that this was in the hotel lobby, I repaired my spare, and fixed it to the bike. All along, the crowd had been growing, and when I started pumping up the tyre outside the hotel I had attracted a serious gathering. When I removed the pump there was a loud pop and a hiss of air. The valve from the shoddy brand new chinese made inner tube had broken off. This produced fits of uncontrollable laughter from the crowd, at which point, incandescent with rage at them, I told them all to F off very loudly and crossly. They don't understand English but I have found that if you drop the F word it gently lets people know you may be a little irritated- it's not as belligerent as it would be to English speakers. This only produced more laughter. In provincial China, westerners are seen by many as, as I have mentioned before, fascinating exotic creatures. In this case, I got the distinct impression I was more of a clown. Even when you are cross you are funny.

When I went inside to find my trusty Halfords inner tube, padded in 12 patches but Not Out, the class idiot followed me inside and started rootling through my things. I raised my voice again, and he copied what I had said, parrot like, and sniggered. Noel pointed to the broken Chinese innertube and said loudly "Zhon Guo bo hao!"-"China- Not good!" Usually I would be a little embarrassed about such a outburst, but on this occasion I chipped in "Zhon Guo bo hao!" and "Ing Guo Hun Hao!" -"Britain very good!" (pointing at the trusty world travelled inner tube from Halfords) This wasn't a particularly nice thing for us to have said. The army of chamber maids were an injection of calm and peace, soothingly helping to hold things where needed and actually being quite helpful. In all other countries, when people stop when you have a puncture, it is nearly always to try to help or at least to try to chat or communicate. In China, it is simply to watch- usually without even saying Ni Hao (hello).

Luckily the old tube was repaired and we were on our way, much later than hoped. Noel didn't whinge about all the wasted time which was good of him. At lunch, Noel's chain broke and he attracted a similar crowd. Shop assistants had stopped working to stare at him through the window displays. Luckily he is very nimble and repaired the link very quickly.

The town we stayed at that evening really didn't understand about winter. It was truly freezing. Families were sitting outside their homes eating, chatting and playing board games. All doors were open, and you could look into the houses and see the bedrooms. The doors to the hotel were wide open, as were the windows and when we complained that one of the bedroom windows was missing a pane, the woman didn't know what we were complainig about. We spent a long time looking for a restaurant that had closed its door for supper, and when we had made out choice, we then realised that the back door was wide open. On the way into the hotel after supper, Noel closed the front door as we went upstairs. 2 minutes later I went down again and the door had been propped open. Breakfast was served in the hotel lobby, under the hood of my down filled jacket.

The following day the weather was marginally better, but still cold. We passed through one area that was devoted entirely to stone carved statues, mainly of dragons and Glorious Chairman Mao. It was extraordinary to see such skillful work being carried out in the streets. That evening we stayed in a truly world class hotel in Nanyang which would have cost an awful lot of money back home, but in China it only set us back less than 15 pounds each.

This was the point where we had planned to part company, Noel to continue for Shanghai and I to branch off South for Hong Kong. Noel left first, and left me to check out. When I did so I was handed both our passports back as he had forgotten his. I texted him to return, and I had looked at the map and decided that a good route was to continue east for another couple of days and turn south at Xinyang. We therefore had a further 2 days cycling together, which was good.

Another puncture, another crowd, despite being in the middle of nowhere. They were amazed as I put my socks on my hands over my gloves. What a fool I am! Socks go on your feet! On the way through a town we passed a couple of carts selling fish. Tethered to the carts were the cormorants used by the fishermen to catch the fish.

The staff at the little hotel we stayed at in the small town (by Chinese standards) were all standing to attention in grid formation as we returned from breakfast. It is not ususual to see this in all places and establishments, from petrol stations to restaurants. More hilarious is the dance routines that often they all have to perform together in the street first thing in the morning. It can be quite strenuous looking!

In Xinyang we went out for a final supper together, and ordered a sweet and sour pork- it looked more like a cocktail, served in a pineapple shell. The best either of us had ever had, although at GBP 3.50 it was very expensive by Chinese standards.

Noel very kindly tore a couple of pages out of his Chinese road atlas before we parted in opposite directions the next day. The weather was great- sunny and verging on warm as I entered Hubei province. I am hoping that when I get down to the tropics it will be reliably nice and warm!

There has suddenly been a re-appearance of water buffalo. I haven't seen these much since Azerbaijan. Back then, all you could make of them was their heads and horns as they peered out of the mud but now there is no need for them to wallow. They produce gigantic mounds on the roads, and they are largely it seems used to pull ploughs.

In the small town where I stayed in a comfortable room they were burning rubbish, including plastic and leaves in the street. This is a very common sight. There was a lively market the following morning where I took breakfast and wandered through. There was only one shout of "Lawai!" which may be a record.

The weather was still good, and I put in a very long 140km day to get to Wuhan,the capital of Hubei province. There were droves of sugar cane sellers in the streets for much of the day. Wuhan is a city of more than 4 million people, and I was surprised to see B&Q and also Wal Mart. The town sits on the massive Yangtze River, an awesome sight from the bridge across it set against the night time (by the time I reached the bridge) city-scape and laser shows from many of the buildings. Enormous hulking barges and ferries plough constantly through it. Reaching the Yengtze brings another feeling of accomplishment, rather similar to having reached the Great Wall back in Gansu. I am truly now in China's heartland. There were lots of smooching couples all along the bridge. Cheap date! With the help of some very kind members of the public who led me to the correct road, I found the hostel. It is very nice, but they have that leave-the-doors-open problem and the room isn't heated. I shouldn't grumble- I have been severely spoilt by the incredible hostel in Xian.

Yesterday I spent most of the day finding innertubes, which proved successful. The hostel staff were very kind in sorting out this important issue. There was a superb lunch market near the bike shop selling all sorts of goodies. I had some garlic-grilled oysters, sugar can juice and a chicken kebab. The kebab was pleasant enough, but there were pieces of chicken cartillage between the pieces of meat. Crunchy!

I then took the ferry across the Yangtze. As I bought the ticked I was reminded of the formalities of Chinese queueing when a woman craned her arm past me and held her money into the small glass window opening in the hope (haha! in vain) that she would be served before me.

The ferry reminded me of the old ships that constantly stream across the Bosphoros in Istanbul between Europe and Asia. The sun was just setting and there was a pleasant (pollution induced?) blue-grey pastille hue to the sky and the sky skrapers. On the other side of the river, I wandered down the main commercial street; it is extraordinary how affluent some of these Chinese cities are, when there are farmers only a few kilometers away who are using buffalo to pull a plough.

The glitz of the shops would easily rival London, Hong Kong or New York. Many of the shops are still however chinese brands, selling brand names that wouldn't be allowed in the west such as "Polo" instead of "Ralph Lauren Polo" and "Crocodile" instead of Lacoste, with very similar logos. The name "BBC" made me laugh for a clothes shop, expecially as there had been a clothes chop in Xian called "Tony Wear." "Playboy" is considered quite a respectable designer brand here in China- people have no idea of the pornographic implications of the trade mark in the West. Pornography in China is banned so there is no reason for them to realise it, but is rather disturbing to see respectable middle aged people wearing Playboy jackets. When I told one of the receptionists about the connotations of the brand, she was absolutely amazed. Leopards really can change there spots in China; anything is possible here, as we are constantly reminded.

I ventured out to the supermarket last thing where there were tanks full of toads and another of terapins! As I approached the tanks, a large fish jumped clean out of the water, splashing me and I noticed that there was another tank of little crabs. There is no need to visit the zoo in China, you can simply go shopping.

I had planned to leave Wuhan this morning, but as I munched my breakfast I was conscious of the fact that I am tired out and need a full day of rest, which is what I have done today- next to nothing.

I am still, despite a few frustrations, really enjoying China. It is invasive and unpredictable and frustrating, but that must be part of its addictiveness. It must be said that the people, although en mass, they can sometimes be a little irritating, are almost without exception utterly charming and helpful individually.

I have done more than 16,000 km from Buckingham Palace, and more than 10,000 miles. 5,000 of those kilometers have been in China alone and there remains about 1,200 until Hong Kong, the final destination which should take me less than 2 weeks. I hope you are all happy and well. Thanks Jam Pot.

1 comment:

  1. wow it awesome i am just noticing the good parts. that a long journey .
    meet and greet at stansted

    ReplyDelete