shifty buses & Chongqing hills

What i didn't have a chance to describe last time was the memorable experience of New Year's eve 2009 in the city of Xi'an. After spending the day of 31st dec riding a miniature rented bicycle around town to the Eight immortals temple, Big & Small Goose pagoda and back to city centre, my knees bumping against the handlebars the whole way, i peddled the last few kms with a flat tyre before settling back for a few moments rest at the hostel, pondering how to spend the evening. I might have passed the evening in a nonedescript way as most Chinese do, except for the lucky chance that the day before, in the Muslim street market of Xi'an, i had bizarrely bumped into a English photographer from Beijing who i had met and befriended on a bus from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou about a month earlier. I don't know so many Westerners in China, and to bump into one of them randomly like this in a street of a huge city that is neither of our home, the odd's seem long indeed. Anyway, as i had no other expat contacts in Xi'an, i took this as a sign that i should hang out with this guy and his GF for NYE. About 10pm i headed out, on the way hooking up with a couple of other revellers departing the hostel and taxied down to the Bell Tower in the centre of town- which i'd heard would be letting out a mighty tolling as the calendar ticked over to 2009- and was dramatically lit up under floodlights for the night. From there i explored some bars on a popular drinking street Gu Xiang, busy bars, live music, and overpriced drinks. After meeting up with my photographer friend and checking out a couple of these bars- we headed back to the a busy underground hostel bar with live music that was packed and crankin, downed a few shots and a LIIT or two, b4 making a run for it back to the bell tower in time for 12 o'clock. As it turned out, there was no tolling of the bell, but instead crowds of hundreds of young Chinese had gathered near the tower to release red lanterns into the sky and let off fireworks- as a way of bringing good luck for the new year, the atmosphere was excited (though not drunken as most NYE crowds i've known!) and people helped each other to light and launch their symbolic wishes. So as the clock chimed midnight, and the burst of fireworks and screams of revellers gave away that the new year had arrived, we got into the spirit and joined the throngs to fire-up and launch a lantern into the sky, making a wish while watching it sail up into the stratosphere.
Later on back i the bar, a few drinks and games of pool later, having chatted to various expats and locals alike, met up with some cool crowds and coupled up with a charming girl named Chalne, who, as it turned out, would become my travelling companion for the next week.
The following day i managed to awake in the afternoon in time to climb up on top of the city walls for a overview of the busy streets, historic and modern architecture, and crowds of tall apartment buildings surrounding. Watching the sunset over the city moat with my friend Chalne, as citizens exercised in parks below, the sky glowed red and the lights of the towers began to shine, it was a peaceful moment and a refreshing start to the new year, it even felt like almost anything was possible......
My goodbye gift from Xi'an, while on the bus on my way back to the hotel after visiting the terracotta warriors, was the theft of my wallet, niftily picked from my pocket by a young girl who blocked my passage as i pushed to get off the public bus. So all the coinage i had saved by mastering the public bus system (reading those routes maps in Chinese so i can get on the right bus was always a fun challenge...) to get around instead of taking taxis was instantly lost....She was really deft, and though it seemed strange that i had to push so hard to get through, i noticed no feeling as she reached around to the far pocket of my trousers and yanked my wallet from my all too shallow pockets. As i turned back after getting off the bus, the same girl who blocked my way, was smiling at me slyly from inside the bus, and it was only moments later that i discovered. I think she had spotted me as a potential target near the combined train/bus station (these busy transit areas are places to stay very alert- lots of hawkers and prowlers hanging out for a chance to grab a left-behind bag or dropped valuable or phaps worse). So a warning for travelers to Xi'an- this is one of the main tourist towns of China, and as many locals also warned, it supports a population of thieves and shikesters, don't be afraid, just be on your toes when in tourist areas.
From Xi'an, the only way to my next destination, Chongqing was by overnight bus (as the train was full) to Chengdu, from where i could switch in the morning to get to Chongqing. It turned out to be quite an unpleasant trip, taking 11 hours instead of 9 as promised, and sitting in the front row of seats meant that we were constantly swallowing the 2nd hand smoke of the addicted fools who sat beside the driver in order to light up. I told off a couple of them as i'm sure there's a law against smoking in these buses, but as they kept returning to light up, and there was no reference to no smoking on the ticket or bus itself, and the driver himself was often lighting up, i had to give up, voicing my protests instead through choking coughs. Not much sleep that night.....
In Chengdu i joined the throngs at the train station to line up to buy tickets to Chongqing (the train less than half the price of the bus...only $10aud for a 4.5 hour journey). During the couple hour wait for our train, sitting in an empty restaurant top floor, Chalne and i ranged in a sleep-dazed conversation from topics existential to the mundane, until i eventually started describing to her the principles of impermanence as conveyed through Buddhism. Then after this conservation, on the train, by chance we were seated beside a Buddhist monk, the only monk on the long and packed train. So we began chatting to the gentle practitioner on various topics including life as a monk, Tibetan culture, different schools of Buddhism, temples to visit and types of meditation. It was interesting to see that he couldn't resist buying several of each of the toys put on sale in showman-like fashion to all passengers in the carriage by the railway staff. Presumably he has plenty of cash (monks are these days given a salary by the government), quite a far cry for example from the Jain Sadhus i met in India and wrote about in my other blog..... Anyway he couldn't resist gifting us a couple of toothbrushes he bought, and the salesman (plus the whole carriage!) had a good laugh at me when i gave the toothbrush a demo run there and then ('you shouldn't do it without toothpaste!' the salesmen cried). Following this journey, discussions of Buddhism, yoga and meditation techniques became one of the main themes of mine and Chalne's relationship. Amongst these discussions, we both agreed on the transient nature of things, and we instead tried to enjoy the moment, undisturbed by the looks of disapproval as we calmed ourselves through concentration on the breath as we rode the busy public bus.
Chongqing was more than i expected. Far from the dull, industrial metropolis i had heard about, to me, it's charm was palatable and its atmosphere captivating. The natural geography of hilly streets and high density housing, commercial districts amongst concrete and pylons that lifted the city's arteries one on top of the other, plus stone-lined alleyways, street markets and old-style architecture hidden amongst the tall buildings, on a narrow peninsula flanked by 2 large rivers, it really took on the appearance of a huge multi-level maze, but one where the pleasure, not the puzzle, was in getting lost.
The center of town and main commerical district, Jiefangbei, had wide vehicle-free promenades lined with neon-lit fashion, electronics, western take way outlets and traditional Chongqing hotpot restaurants. With the local pride for spice, Chongqing hotpot is known to be even spicer than it's cousin the Sichuan hotpot, even with Sichuan's formidable reputation for fire (the Chinese saying in relation to regional cuisines goes 'Sichuan is for spicy hot'), and Chalne and i (with some trepidation) decided this was the chance to take on the spice challenge, and we climbed to the rooftop restaurant overlooking the mall. With these hotpots, you cook the food yourself in a big pot of spiced broth which sits in the centre of the table, and my first tentative taste of the soup was a warning, as a tiny drip on my little finger burned my toungue immeadiately upon contact. The hundreds of tiny red chillis in the soup broth really got me sweating and i had to gag to stop choking from the heat, while tears poured out of my eyes, but i kept eating. Quite tasty in fact. I survived the evening, but it wasn't until after i went to sleep the following night that i was hit by an explosive case of amoebic dysentry that lasted a good couple of days (requiring drastic pharmaceutical dosing to survive the 10 hour bus back from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou the following day). Not sure if it was the hotpot or the alleyway 50c noodles i ate the following night (amongst a genial crowd of local workers- the real folk) that finally did it to me but i can say im sure the fire-spice dinner had its affect.
Otherwise in Chongqing, i spent my time (oft with companion) wandering the streets, riding cable cars and climbing hills for overviews of the rivers, skyscrapers and city lights. One afternoon i took the bus to Ciqikou ancient town, a charming place overlooking the Jinjiang river of roughstone alleyways, wooden shuttered windows and white-washed, brown-lined narrow multistorey homes, that seems hardly to have changed in 500 years. Nowadays also a tourist enclave for food and handmade souvenirs, while wandering alleys here and snapping plenty pics, i chatted to Pakistani chefs plying their trade to interested local tourists and visited a serene Buddhist pagoda situated over and above the tourist shopping mayhem. Meeting friendly people on the bus there- who made sure i didn't get lost (even frantically waving directions out the window of the bus after i'd got off!), and practising Chinese with then was half the fun of the trip.

Chongqing is also famous as one of the last strongholds of the Kuomintang in their battle with the communists. They made it their capital after the fall of the Qing dynasty and many bloody battles were fought in this area, with communist memorials in the hills outside the city from where the red army based themselves and eventually overcame the nationalists in the bitter struggle, tales of siege and torture aside (these civil-war battles are now depicted daily on state television in a way that outspoken local Chinese academics recently described as propaganda and brainwashing for their one-sided promotion of the Communists)
The people in Chongqing also seemed remarkably friendly (apart from one old attendant lady in a temple who seemed to get sadistic pleasure from yelling at a foreigner with camera...), people didn't seem to stare, look at me strangely or try to rip me off, they were polite and helpful.... Quite civilized it seemed. A possible reason being coz there are much less foreigners here than in Chengdu so perhaps ppl. more inclined to show their best face when one comes along......;)
Maybe also i was looked upon more kindly too for being accompanied by a charming young Chinese girl like Chalne...
HEY- I forgot to mention in my last post- happy birthday to my dearest mother- on 19th Jan turned 50+ years young!
More dedications to my dear parents later.... this Chinese filial piety thing is infectious! Confucius has had a bit to say about that in his classic 'The Analects'- which ive recently read- rest assured i'll offer some interpretations of his teachings in the next post.....
Bye for now
cheers
callum