Through the Heart of Grime
Published by Emery under on 4:11 PM
Slow stretch of the tour. We spent the last day idling around Beijing's Wangfujing Jie, enjoying the food and taking it easy. I have had a niggling cold for the last few days, with a sore throat and some stuffiness. The pollution is also annoying.
But! Highlight of the day was finding an English translation section of Chinese works. It's extremely rare to find good translations of Chinese literature, and so I was suitably ecstatic to find a four book translation of Three Kingdoms, one of the canonical epics of Chinese literature. It's like War and Peace combined with The Three Musketeers. I also grabbed a few nice translations of Lao Tzu's Taoist texts.
Other than that, it's just been cruising along the tour. I have to say, the tour is planned very comfortably. We have a LOT of free time, the meals are scheduled for reasonable hours, and when we visit a tourist attraction, it's usually only an hour or two affair. I couldn't have planned it better myself.
The other thing of note is the sleeper train. We took a sleeper train from Beijing to Datong at 12:30 am to 6:40 am. While the hour was late for me, it was a pleasant trip. I barely felt like I was on a train. I got on, laid on my cot, and promptly fell asleep. Totally not the undeveloped country discomfort that I had feared.
I can't say much for Datong though. The hanging temple was boring. It was cool to see the temple was a fusion of Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian worship, but the architecture was nothing special and consisted of the typical Chinese color scheme found all over. I didn't feel like there was anything to distinguish the three different religions, although I know from my studies that the three have significant differences.
It wasn't unpleasant. It just lacked character. My tourist rating for the Hanging Temple: 4/10.
After that I spent time shipping a 40 kilo bundle of luggage back to the USA, which was an interesting trip. Jenny, our tour guide, took me to the post office about 15 minutes from the hotel. On the way, we jabbered about what I did for a living, what my family did, where I lived, the difference between China and the USA, and whether I would consider moving to China someday.
It was a fun conversation because the taxi driver initiated a lot of the talk, although Jenny was full of questions as well. Chinese people show a HUGE interest in other countries. I'd say it's much more than an American would show. They ask detailed questions about tax rates, income levels, education standards, and living standards. The typical questions I've seen American people ask a foreigner are "is that in Europe," "how is the weather there," and "what do you do for fun?"
At the actual post office, the mail lady was very helpful, very proactive, very good at packing things, and just had a vigor to her that was satisfying. I've come across some places in China where the service was appalling and the workers looked like they'd rather be waterboarded than work. This was a pleasant surprise.
I managed to get everything squared away, although the office lady asked where I was from, and was yet another person to exclaim at my Mandarin. (They all say my Mandarin is very good for an American-born). It ended up costing 600 yuan, or roughly $72 dollars. Yucky. Oh well, live and learn. Do NOT pack a lot to a foreign country.
On the taxi ride back, Jenny was again full of questions. This time she wanted to know if I was a devout Buddhist. I told her I was and she said that was very surprising. She asked if my parents were devout Buddhists and I said no. I clarified that I only became interested in Buddhism during the latter years of my life. She said I didn't seem like I came from a hard life and wondered what would draw me to religion.
I then explained that I was not a worshipping Buddhist, but rather a philosophizing one. To which she nodded with understanding and said that made much more sense. Basically, I enjoy the ethical system and morality of Buddhism. I like the life lessons it teaches on how to deal with "life" and the world around me. Rather than spending my time burning incense and kowtowing, I read books and contemplate philosophies. It sounds rather pretentious, but it's really as simple as reading the texts and thinking about the material.
Then Jenny got into questions about Barack Obama. Obama is a FAVORITE topic of Jenny's. She seems extremely fascinated by the man. To be fair, it seems that many people in China are quite taken with the new president. Even when we were climbing the Great Wall, the peasants peddling junky souvenirs knew who Obama was. Really fascinating stuff. I highly doubt a hick out in Boonies, USA would be able to recognize who the hell Hu Jintao is. Although, if I mentioned Hu Jintao to a hick, he'd probably just keep mumbling "Who's gin what?"
Anyhow, Jenny wanted to know where Obama came from. I told her Chicago. While that's not where he grew up, that's where his political career was born, so I figured it was more what she was looking for. Then she asked if there were many black people in Chicago. I said yes. She responded by asking how black people are treated in America. I said it depends on where and when you're talking about. She said in general, and I said they're treated poorly in general but things are much improved.
She then asked why white people treat blacks badly. I explained that white people view blacks as former slaves and there is an inherent social discrimination because of the past history of slavery. While it's not the most detailed explanation, it's a pretty good Cliff's Note.
She seemed very surprised, as if she'd never heard that white people enslaved blacks. So I asked her if she knew that white people had taken Africans to America as slaves. She replied that she'd never heard of such a thing and asked why white people would do that. I told her it was because they wanted to grow tobacco but needed people to work the fields. She nodded in understanding, and looked quite happy about it, as if something had clicked into place for her.
She then asked why Americans picked Obama if he was black. I told her it was because he was good at giving speeches and inspired people to think positive. She responded by saying she thought Clinton's wife was really capable and didn't know why people didn't vote for her. I told her Hillary Clinton got caught lying on the news, kept badmouthing Obama, and was disliked for being so negative.
She took a few moments to digest that then asked about McCain. I was surprised she knew all the candidates so well. I'd be hard pressed to name the successor to Hu Jintao or anything like that. And I'm Chinese!
I told her McCain was old and most voters thought he was senile. She thought that was hilarious and asked how old he was. I told her he was in his late sixties, and if he'd been elected, he'd be the oldest president in history. I then summarized the 2008 election by saying it was a choice between the first black, the first woman, or the oldest guy ever. She thought this was great fun. I also reminded her Obama gave really good speeches and she agreed, which makes me think she's heard some of his speeches.
By this time we'd reached the hotel, so I went to my room and ate dried squid and mint gummi bears. Gotta love China.
But! Highlight of the day was finding an English translation section of Chinese works. It's extremely rare to find good translations of Chinese literature, and so I was suitably ecstatic to find a four book translation of Three Kingdoms, one of the canonical epics of Chinese literature. It's like War and Peace combined with The Three Musketeers. I also grabbed a few nice translations of Lao Tzu's Taoist texts.
Other than that, it's just been cruising along the tour. I have to say, the tour is planned very comfortably. We have a LOT of free time, the meals are scheduled for reasonable hours, and when we visit a tourist attraction, it's usually only an hour or two affair. I couldn't have planned it better myself.
The other thing of note is the sleeper train. We took a sleeper train from Beijing to Datong at 12:30 am to 6:40 am. While the hour was late for me, it was a pleasant trip. I barely felt like I was on a train. I got on, laid on my cot, and promptly fell asleep. Totally not the undeveloped country discomfort that I had feared.
I can't say much for Datong though. The hanging temple was boring. It was cool to see the temple was a fusion of Taoist, Buddhist, and Confucian worship, but the architecture was nothing special and consisted of the typical Chinese color scheme found all over. I didn't feel like there was anything to distinguish the three different religions, although I know from my studies that the three have significant differences.
It wasn't unpleasant. It just lacked character. My tourist rating for the Hanging Temple: 4/10.
After that I spent time shipping a 40 kilo bundle of luggage back to the USA, which was an interesting trip. Jenny, our tour guide, took me to the post office about 15 minutes from the hotel. On the way, we jabbered about what I did for a living, what my family did, where I lived, the difference between China and the USA, and whether I would consider moving to China someday.
It was a fun conversation because the taxi driver initiated a lot of the talk, although Jenny was full of questions as well. Chinese people show a HUGE interest in other countries. I'd say it's much more than an American would show. They ask detailed questions about tax rates, income levels, education standards, and living standards. The typical questions I've seen American people ask a foreigner are "is that in Europe," "how is the weather there," and "what do you do for fun?"
At the actual post office, the mail lady was very helpful, very proactive, very good at packing things, and just had a vigor to her that was satisfying. I've come across some places in China where the service was appalling and the workers looked like they'd rather be waterboarded than work. This was a pleasant surprise.
I managed to get everything squared away, although the office lady asked where I was from, and was yet another person to exclaim at my Mandarin. (They all say my Mandarin is very good for an American-born). It ended up costing 600 yuan, or roughly $72 dollars. Yucky. Oh well, live and learn. Do NOT pack a lot to a foreign country.
On the taxi ride back, Jenny was again full of questions. This time she wanted to know if I was a devout Buddhist. I told her I was and she said that was very surprising. She asked if my parents were devout Buddhists and I said no. I clarified that I only became interested in Buddhism during the latter years of my life. She said I didn't seem like I came from a hard life and wondered what would draw me to religion.
I then explained that I was not a worshipping Buddhist, but rather a philosophizing one. To which she nodded with understanding and said that made much more sense. Basically, I enjoy the ethical system and morality of Buddhism. I like the life lessons it teaches on how to deal with "life" and the world around me. Rather than spending my time burning incense and kowtowing, I read books and contemplate philosophies. It sounds rather pretentious, but it's really as simple as reading the texts and thinking about the material.
Then Jenny got into questions about Barack Obama. Obama is a FAVORITE topic of Jenny's. She seems extremely fascinated by the man. To be fair, it seems that many people in China are quite taken with the new president. Even when we were climbing the Great Wall, the peasants peddling junky souvenirs knew who Obama was. Really fascinating stuff. I highly doubt a hick out in Boonies, USA would be able to recognize who the hell Hu Jintao is. Although, if I mentioned Hu Jintao to a hick, he'd probably just keep mumbling "Who's gin what?"
Anyhow, Jenny wanted to know where Obama came from. I told her Chicago. While that's not where he grew up, that's where his political career was born, so I figured it was more what she was looking for. Then she asked if there were many black people in Chicago. I said yes. She responded by asking how black people are treated in America. I said it depends on where and when you're talking about. She said in general, and I said they're treated poorly in general but things are much improved.
She then asked why white people treat blacks badly. I explained that white people view blacks as former slaves and there is an inherent social discrimination because of the past history of slavery. While it's not the most detailed explanation, it's a pretty good Cliff's Note.
She seemed very surprised, as if she'd never heard that white people enslaved blacks. So I asked her if she knew that white people had taken Africans to America as slaves. She replied that she'd never heard of such a thing and asked why white people would do that. I told her it was because they wanted to grow tobacco but needed people to work the fields. She nodded in understanding, and looked quite happy about it, as if something had clicked into place for her.
She then asked why Americans picked Obama if he was black. I told her it was because he was good at giving speeches and inspired people to think positive. She responded by saying she thought Clinton's wife was really capable and didn't know why people didn't vote for her. I told her Hillary Clinton got caught lying on the news, kept badmouthing Obama, and was disliked for being so negative.
She took a few moments to digest that then asked about McCain. I was surprised she knew all the candidates so well. I'd be hard pressed to name the successor to Hu Jintao or anything like that. And I'm Chinese!
I told her McCain was old and most voters thought he was senile. She thought that was hilarious and asked how old he was. I told her he was in his late sixties, and if he'd been elected, he'd be the oldest president in history. I then summarized the 2008 election by saying it was a choice between the first black, the first woman, or the oldest guy ever. She thought this was great fun. I also reminded her Obama gave really good speeches and she agreed, which makes me think she's heard some of his speeches.
By this time we'd reached the hotel, so I went to my room and ate dried squid and mint gummi bears. Gotta love China.