The China Chronicles
8/17/2004
breakfast was wonderful, more of those dumplings and congee i love,
though the drinks were a bit odd. now I'm on the best bus ride of my
life. a sleeper bus on the road to Wen Zhou. I'm in seat 11, which is
on the bottom right, next to me is a lady dressed in a red army uniform
and a kid up front looking at me. we're spread out, angela behind
the driver, rick two over on my left and Krista up top. rick doesn't
like it much, no room for his bag, but I'm loving it. i much prefer a
bus ride if i can stretch out rather than be stuck in a seat made for
someone two feet smaller than me. Wen Zhou is krista's hometown and has
a beautiful mountain area. looking forward to it. i'mmuch mor
comfortabe now, having exchanged long p0ants/socks for deet mosquito
protection. shorts and flip flops are the wy to go in china in august.
so, now i sit back, listen to my jim white,and watch china move by.
the bus exitw the freeway and drops us at teh side of the road.
somehow, there are drivers there that kirsta engages to take us to the
hotel. we bundle into this mini minibus, 6 seats in al, including the
driver, and barrel into leqing. Leqing is krista's hometown. it's a
'suburb' of wenzhou, kinda like katy, tx or alhambra, la. and is famous
for its proximity to the yanang mountains, a popular resort location for
chinese. hightlight on chinese. there was virtually no mention of
wenzhou or the surrounding areas in any english guidebook i read, which
is great. off the beaten track you get the gold. we arrived at an
interesting time. the day before, typhoon reinmin made landfall at
wenzhou, and this was the strongest hurricane to hit china in seven
years. the papers are filled with news of devastation, and
leqing/wenzhour was particulary hit hard. the evidence was everywhere.
the bus bumped over debris and mismatched roads as our eyes re orded the
stripped roofs, and washed out roadways. everywhere were people
cleaning up, rebuilding and airing out bedding to dry in the riverbed.
the river was beautiful, but now was choked with rocks and debris from
the mountains and roads. we checked into the yanang mountain villas, our
prior choice being damamged in the typhoon. it's a nice hotel where we
met another of krista's students. the rooms were small, nice, with fresh
boiled water and a snifter of tea laid out. we hired the driver for the
day to drive us around, and first stop was the students house for a home
cooked meal, the restaurants being not safe after the storm. downtown
leqing was a mess. i've only experienced hurricanes in the us, where
they barrel over flat lands and pass overhead. here, with th emountains
at the back, i can only imagine the force of wind squezzed with no place
to go. debris was everywhere, broken glass and stone, roofs battered
and draining water. the student made us a nice meal of the local
noodle, with picked vegtables and lychee. quite good. we then drove to
the foor of the panang shan to walk the nature preserve to the long
waterfall. China has done a good job with the natural parks weve seen so
far. The pathways were well laid out with desscriptive plaques every so
often in chinese and english. the area is famous for its natural
sculptures of volcanic rock, and we read and saw great examples of
motion rock, bubbles, and other rhyolites and pyrolitic rock. the area
is in a valley, and is lush with greenery fed by the river and rains.
lining the river were tiny terraces of tea. every so often we'd hear a
'hallo!' and smile and respond in turn. everywhere the chinese have been
intrigued by our prescence and always friendly. after a long walk up
and into the valley we entered a vast open space, bounded on all sides
by mountains with various sayings painted or carved into them (again,
the feeling of people being here a long time.) Ahed was the dragon
waterfall, it's easily the tallest waterfall i have ever seen. the
other side of the mountain holds a lake that feeds the waterfall, and a
sheer cliff and pool recieves it. as the pictures can attest, it is
beautiful and calming to look at. we were interviewed by a cute girl of
9 or 10 years of age who wanted to practice her english. "Where are you
from?" "I'm from Los angeles! where are you from?" "I"m from china!"
wondeful. Angela and I both took turns and went down below the
waterfall. Against the wall you can get behind it and look up at the
cascade, a little spray gets you and cools your mind as well as the
body. great video and photos were had here. it was also cute to see
krista's student be our interim leader, showing us around and pointin
gout eh various atrefacts and stones, all without speaking a word of
english.. After the majesty of the falls, we climbed into the taxi and
went to destination #2, the plank road . After negotiating streets that
were washed out due to the rains (often driving on the sidewalk betweek
trees and bicycle taxis) we climbed high into the mountains. the plank
road is an old walkway carved and blazed on the side of the mountain,
home to many buddihst temples in the 90's the planks were removed and
replaced with more sturdy concrete and stone stairs, a fact i was very
happy for as we ascended and often found ourselves literally hanging off
the side of a cliff. before that though, we had to get up to the
entrance. a group of enterprising people had crafted chairs from bamboo
and would carry us up, two people a team for a fee. We declined, i
don't feel like having someone carry me when i can easily walk it
(though i may have eaten my words when we were walking down.). Krista's
student's mother worked at the facility, so we got in for free. we
walked up the pank. the scenery was always beautiful, views of the
valley below, the mountains beyond, and the rhylotic rock the plank was
carved into. we entered a buddhist monnastery and offered donations and
a prayer. it was a short walk up more steps, and a two level affair.
traditional red sides and chinese roof, the so9ne walls weere lined with
carved plaques of writings. inside they had life size replicas of
various buddhas of the chinese pantheon (none of which i know, molly,
lend a hand?) you could purchase red candles for offerings, big things
the size and width of my forearm, and those famous huge incense sticks
as well. krista moved us along, apparently this was one of many temples
along the path. Around here i began to get afraid of heights. I've been
mildly acrophobic for most of my life, but by and large have either
avoided situations or gotten around them. planes are no problem, the
view is so high up as to be a cartoon of reality, but certain bridges
always give me a thrill in my ankles. Well, being on a walkway with
sloping rock on one side and railing on the other, with the beyond
after that, i was getting more and more nervrvous with each step. 1/4 of
the way through i was walking as much with my left hand on the wall as i
was with my feet. Angewa and the rest of course, were not affected.
"Hey danie, come stand near the edge and look. Whoooo, pretty far down,
eh?" "Yes....pretty...far....down." Krista and student stopped at the
next temple for a prayer and benediction from the resident monk, and it
was good to rest the feet and inner gyroscope in the enclosed walls of
the temple. The path got higher and higher, and at places, the wall
became roof overhead for us to stoop. A sense of dread was forming in
my stomach as i realized the bridge i saw between two peaks on the ride
up was at the end of this pathway. Soon enough, we were there. neat
cafe area had been carved out of the rock, and a lady was sweeping,
mopping and cleaning the refuse from the typhoon (glad i wasn't here for
that!) it was disheartening to see a hose flowing water down the side of
the bridge supports "why is she eroding this clif even more?" Ok, this
bridge. it is a modern update on a rope bridge. Remember that rope
bridge in "temple of doom"? That's the design. Steel coil rope repaces
twine and a segmented fence has been placed on the sides. the floor
underneath is aluminim slats, and a steel pole acts as railing on both
sides. it's a basic suspension deisgn. But it's strung accross a
canyon, that is open to the wind, and for a good 2/3'rds of it, there's
nothing on either side of you past the railing. Everyone goeson the
canyon and i realize i have to do so as well (ahh, as i write this, i'm
in an air china flight enroute to beijing, the turbuence is baaaad.)
Ok...i will face my fear...i will face my fear...I step on the bridge.
Ok, so far so good. wait, still on rock, damn. Ok, i will face my
fear...walk...walk..they guys are half way across. angela is taking a
picture over the side. Over the side...ohshite. look forward, look
forward i will face my fear.i will face my fear.i will face my fear.i
will face my fear. Krista walks behind me as i inco across the bridge,
face and eyes looking only at the opposite end and hands on either
railing. You know, it really sucks when the wind blows, and the dman
thing shimmys from side to side, and as the guys reach the middle, their
wieght ripples back to me. goddamnit,t here is not a signle stable step
on this thing! walk...walk.."i will face my fear.i will face my fear."
I look up, and the student has reached the end of the bridge, and she
smiles back at me with an "it's easy" look, and proceeds to jump up and
down on the bridge. I stop moving and stand stock still as the ripple
reaches me and i feel my body raise and lower by a foot. I think i'm
near the halfway point, so there is nothing on either side of me.
Vertigo sets in. For real. My eyes rack focus, as the mountains in my
peripery move at a different speed from the bidge undulating at my feet.
"PLEASE STOP THAT!!!" She stops, blessed creature, and i continue,
royally freaked. the only thing stopping me from curling into a ball
iis the knowledge that i would still be in the middle of bridge over the
canyon. (for reference, the cars driving the road below are smaller than
hotwheels/matchbox cars. that's how high up we are.) i will face my
fear.i will face my fear.i will face my fear.i will face my fear.i will
face my fear. (Believe it or not, thanks to technology, there's video
of this.) i feel the bridge stiffen, as i come nearer the far edge.
angela is waiting to meet me and i step on the rock and into her arms
simulatneously. I've made it. Crossed the scariest bridge and height i
have ever experienced. "Ok, guys. It's getting dark, so we should
probably head back." "WHAT?!?!?!" Walking back was easier.
we head back down, giving two american dollars to the monk we
visited earlier (Krista:"OOh, he's so greedy!") It doesn't hit me until
after i give it to him, that although i thought two bucks was nothing, i
really give him around 16 RMB when most give 1-5. 5 RMB seemed a lot.
5, not 2. We crawl back to the taxi and think we're done for the day,
but krista has one more place planned, the famous night walk at the
lover's peak. Now we arrived at 1pm, after a 3 hour sleeper bus ride.
we're getting a lot in today. at the parking lot for the walk, theres
another strip of trinket stores. 90% are selling lighters and singing
dolls. How many lighters does one nation need? well, everyone smokes,
so i lot i guess. the important bit is they have cold drinks here, so
we splurge. Rick is exhasted at this point and i can feel my achilles
tendons. My legs are also quivering. But when are we going to be in
Leqing, China again> so we wait. the walk is pretty, but i know it
would be much more so if the night was clear with starlight or
moonlight, as it is, we're curesed with overcast skies. damn you
typhoon!. we exit the walk, utterly exhauseted. our student
disappears, claiming needing to go home for dinner. there are no taxis,
so krista calls her brother. he can pick us up, but needs 45 minutes to
gas up and get here. great. even the stores are closing, and we can't
stand up. krista suggests we enter a small, glassed over room and have
dinner. angela walks over to the glass fridge in the front of the
restaurant and declares to me privately that she's not eating there. i
look and see why. We mericans aren't comfy seeing plucked birds, white
glazed eyes and head intack, laying on plastic trays uncovered in the
fridge, next to numerous eels and fish prepped in the same way. (a note,
angela has been great with the food so far, this is the first place
she's been uncomfortable eating and i shared that decision) beers and
sitting around the table are ok, so we enter the door, and are hit with
one of thsoe post-typhoon, shellfish/fish/old/fungus/mold smells that
occur occasionally in china. Honestly, it's the same yeck smell you get
outside the rear doors of the better chinese restaurants in the states,
but this time its in the front. we're served beer and coke in cans and
for the umpteenth time i thank my grandfather for forcing the habit of
handkercheifs on me. i use it to wipe the brownish muck spots from the
coke can. luck intercepts us as krista finds bike taxi's willing to
take us back to the htoel for 10 qing. we walk a bit and angela and i
sit in the bike taxi, who tears off just as a car taxi pulls up to
krista and rick. Now it's not wise to leave your group when travelling
ever, so we apologize to the bike taxi (after some difficulty in getting
him to stop) and pile in the car. now beyond exhausted, we get to the
otel and crash. Crash is the operative word. The beds are in the
chinese style: hard. angela is feeling sick, so she pulls the eyemask
over and conks out. i look over our chengdu iteniery and turn out the
lights. i toss and turn, waking up at least 4 times in the evening and
having bad dreams throughout. amusing, i dream of trying to find
another hotel in the middle of the night with a better bed, only to wake
up from the dream bed in the real bed, still un comfroatbel.
morning comes that's it.