Return from Exile

This story begins two weeks ago when we were given a surprise long weekend due to GaoKao.  GaoKao is a very intense three days of university entrance exams for the graduating class, probably the most important three days in a high school student's life.  The school goes into lockdown and all other classes are cancelled.   They cover the classroom walls with green cloth and wrap a police line around most of the school entrances.  So I went to Guilin.

Guilin is a city in southern China, not too far from the Vietnam border.  The area around the city is known for stunning landscapes of karst rock towers set along scenic rivers and rural village life.  In fact, pictures I saw of the Guilin area years ago were part of the reason I wanted to come to China.  Of course it's the reason why everyone else wants to come to China too, and the whole area has a tourist-mecca quality to it.  This was no problem for me as I've been in China for long enough that real bars and non-Chinese food are a welcome break.

Despite all the tourists, the quiet surrounding countryside felt a lot like the "real China" you imagine from a Chow Yun-Fat movie.  This goes beyond seeing villagers working their green fields in triangular rice hats; it's the feeling a place leaves with you.  It's what you see when you peek inside open doors and see what the homes look like.  It's following a trail of villagers carrying live chickens home in order to find the market.  It's swimming in the river with a water buffalo.  I loved the place and would go back in a heartbeat.  For now I'll just have to make due with the image on the back of the 20 yuan bill.

Going to Guilin was a bit of a spontaneous thing.  Going to Xi'an last weekend had been in the cards ever since I had bought really cheap flights, over a month ago.  It ended up that the two trips were separated by one day of teaching in Leshan.  It's all a bit ludicrous, especially if you had any idea how complicated all the connections were.  I'm almost at the point where I've taken more flights in China than in Canada.  But, when I'm back home and far, far away, I'll be even more glad I made the most of the free time presented to me here.

 In Xi'an I met up with Eugene, a classmate from Waterloo, and some of his friends.  I was excited about visiting the city, known as being the ancient capital of China.  They say that if you want to see the China of today, go to Shanghai; if you want to see the China of 100 years ago, go to Beijing; and if you want to see the China of 1000 years ago, go to Xi'an.  Obviously whoever 'they' are must know lots about China.  

Well I wasn't super blown away with Xi'an.  The town has a vibrant Muslim Quarter but is pretty much like any other Chinese city, with a little less honking than Leshan but many more homeless, agressive touts, and lots of garbage.  It's one of the few cities still enclosed by a protective wall, which is nifty enough to walk on until you realize you are a few kilometers from an exit, without water, and getting cooked in the heat.

The city is most well known for its Army of Terracotta Warriors which you might remember from an episode of Carmen Sandiego.  They are a big deal, part of a huge burial complex for the first Chinese Emperor and over 2000 years old.  But with all the hype, and being called "the Eighth Wonder of the World" (heard that one before), I was a little underwhelmed.  No doubt the statues are incredible and well preserved, but something about their presentation, seen from high up in a huge airport-hangar type of building, subtracts from the mystery.  Some sights, it seems, are best left to National Geographic.

My highlight of the weekend was a trip up (yet another) holy mountain of Hua Shan. Apparently night hikes up Hua Shan are all the rage, and we started with some excitement and high spirits at around 11pm.  We were surprised to see Chinese people hiking at all, let alone through the night, and our surprise turned to shock as we discovered hundreds of trekkers along the route.  Little restaurant stops were packed with what must have been high school graduating students newly freed after finishing their GaoKao exams.  Red Bull cans were everywhere.  The hike itself was much more interesting and challenging than others I've done, and in some of the steeper sections - with names like Heavenly Ladder or 1000 Foot Staircase - there were huge queues.  The sunrise from the top felt like a sort of Chinese parade, and the crowds were as memorable as the wicked views from the rocky, sheer cliffs.

Mistakes always happen on the way down.  Thankfully we had none, but the thought crossed my mind a few times during the Plank Walk, a terrifying narrow walkway thousands of feet in the air along a rock face.  You thankfully wear a harness, which I'm sure meets all the not-so-stringent Chinese safety standards.  Pictures might do it a bit of justice.  If not, this video certainly will:

This combined post doesn't do justice to either Guilin or Xi'an, and even with many pictures it doesn't cover some of the smaller moments: eating snails, rice terraces, eating frog, angry flight delays, psychedelic cave lights, and a music show on the river.  Regardless, it was a great two weeks.  The only misstep was neglecting to consider weather, so shoes, pants, and even long sleeves were a bad choice for the steam bath of Guilin and the desert of Xi'an.  Returning to Leshan for rest, laundry, and to try to save my dying plant feels like coming back from exile (or going back into exile, depending on how you look at it).  Either way, this is the last week of school and almost all my ducks are in a row for the coming month of biking.  I sent home 10 lbs of junk which is making my legs happy already.  The end is near.