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China beckoned: Saturday was nice and lazy for me (I think I'm starting more and more days with that sentence) as it was the weekend and that meant the kids had things to do, so of course so did mum and dad! I felt a little slow, thinking perhaps that was just 'comfort' kicking in.
After packing for China, everyone tuned up and we had a lovely family lunch on the terrace. With a lush green backdrop, the sun now gleaming giving a deep warmth, I could have been back in England in June, only the bird song was different. I was in too much of a soporific mood to leave for my plane, but a short bus ride took me to Chek Lap Kok, an opportunity to look around Foster Airport. However, I hadn't realised that domestic airlines flew from Terminal 2, a smaller building tagged on to the main terminal leaving me a little trek to find the check-in.After an easy flight, with perhaps only one or two other westerners, I passed through immigration with simply a careful glance; I felt quite satisfied with myself that I had managed to smuggle in a copy of Wild Swans, a book by a Chinese author living in the UK about three generations of the authors family, still banned in China. But I don't think my achievement was particularly significant in improving human rights here.
During my long taxi ride into Guilin I was handed a mobile phone by non-English speaking driver and was surprised to hear a clear English voice on the phone. It was a sharp travel agent with the hard sell, offering to come around to my hotel this evening at 9.pm to discus my proposed itinerary. I took his number, but that was all.
The journey, however, will go down as one of those memorable ones I wish I could have avoided. Driving in this country is without rules or regulation, I do not exaggerate, at night some cars have their lights on, and maybe a few bikes, but they are the minority. Vehicles overtake irrespective if anything is coming the other way; the driver is simply expected to move over. There cannot be such a thing as an MOT, and passengers often stand/sit holding bundles of items over the side hoping they will not fall off. Into the city, the conditions worsen, whole driving up one-way streets bikes and cars will come the opposite way necessitating a swerve to avoid an accident, there are no give ways, so everyone just merges sometimes pushing the other cars or bikes over to the other side, and pedestrians, they cross where they wish, but no one stops, everyone just moves around you.
It was a terrifying experience entering Guilin, though after a few days I started to see patterns, the unwritten rules, or maybe there is just the one, just try not to hit anyone or anything! So most vehicles rarely exceed 20mph, reflecting the congestion, so I'm not sure how successful the 'rule' would be in, say New Zealand! I felt so straight, wanting to impose order on these people, but especially the bikers, many carrying their entire family on board, without lights dinking and darting through the traffic, I wanted to shout, "you'll live longer if you flick your switch to on!"The hotel was ok, a decent location but a large non-descript business hotel, but at 30 GBP per night, a reasonable buy. After checking in I wandered the streets absorbing the chaos; the cultural differences are massive, this was a difficult place to relax, especially as I couldn't find anything to eat. Meat, more meat, and meat in every guise; but for vegetables, "there was chicken". I feeling a little odd too, so I nearly gave in at the sight of a large yellow 'M', but I simply couldn't forgive myself for not eating ethnically, never mind caving into a McDonalds Veggie Burger! After an hour or two I found a bar with a menu vaguely in English, and I managed to choose some French fries and cheese pieces.
However, I hadn't realised that my insatiable desire for dinner, combined with a slight light-headedness was linked, and overnight it hit me like the proverbial freight-train. I spent the next 36 hours in bed with a flu virus that left me shivers and the sweats. I now was grateful for that anonymous business hotel, they left me alone, only when the fever broke and I ordered a breakfast at 2pm did I encounter a problem. Room service sent up a waiter to translate that I couldn't have breakfast. So the closest thing to a bread roll was a plain pizza, it never touched the sides!
Sunday, no there was no Sunday in my memory, Monday morning I managed to arrive in the restaurant 15mins before breakfast was due to finish, and I was served by a surly waiter with a few micro-waved warm breads and instant coffee. But I managed to get out into the 'fresh' air, actually around the river, which the hotel faced the air was ok, only around the town and on the motorway could you smell, or rather taste an acrid flavour befitting a chemical plant.
My local tourist attraction stood only 100m away, the limestone outcrop know as Fabo-shan, after a slow and unwise climb to the top I decided that lighter pursuits were in order, so a gentle stroll along the river ensued.As I wandered towards 'Elephant Trunk Hill' the second of listed attractions I met Lee, an English teacher who had time to burn over his 3 hour lunch break and asked if he could walk a while with me to improve his English. Lee was an interesting man, and the walk gentle so I didn't mind the company. Nice guy that he was you started to realise everyone here wants something of a 'foreigner', so about an hour later I should not have been surprised that we found ourselves at Lee's sisters Tea shop, where I was, happily treated to a varied tasting session of the many types of Tea in China and educated in their herbal remedies. Of course I felt obliged to buy some, perhaps as a present for my Hong Kong hosts, but Lee's shrewd sister wanted 16GBP for a small container! I managed to half that in bargaining, but I new I had still be had. Lee later showed me where his other sisters restaurant was, and she spoke a little English, and where his University professor worked in between classes, an Art Gallery, where I explained I really could carry a painting with me!The problem was, they were all really nice, even though you know they want your money they certainly are beguiling, and mean no real harm.I left to explore Elephant Trunk Hill, a lucky symbol for Guilin and a popular Chinese tourist spot, full of additional entertainment, with acrobats and dancers. The actual limestone formation that is meant to resemble an elephant drinking through his trunk is a little tenuous but the park in which it stands is very nice, I wandered slowly around munching on Lychees (spelling?) bought from a local hawker. I met Andrew, my first encounter with a westerner, from Leeds, for a chat of 'where we have been and where we are going' then I meandered back to the hotel.After gaining strength later that evening I returned to Lee's sisters restaurant on the promise of food ordered in English, it was excellent, and cheap, but still perhaps 3 times more than the locals were paying. By 'coincidence' Lee arrived at the restaurant, as he mentioned earlier that he was going to a Chinese theatre with friends and would be able to get me a 'cheap' locals price ticket. Although you could scream at the point, "no Colin, don't go" I really believed his sincerity, which proved to be correct, he merely benefited from a free taxi ride (costing about 1GBP, yes a pound) and he bargained for my ticket, and that was the last I would see of him. The show, a combination of ballet and acrobatics was impressive, and I enjoyed a near front row ticket for a nominal amount.
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