TRAVEL IN CHINA

Location:
China

FOOTLOOSE SAFARI

By Hafeez

CHINA The flight to Beijing was very comfortable. Air-bus A340 of Emirate Airlines had all in-house entertainments one could wish for: a personal interactive TV to enjoy latest movies, TV shows, music and a full view of the world below via the on-board camera. The aircraft landed at the Beijing Capital International Airport in the afternoon of July 3, 2007. Immigration formalities were brief. Soon I was out the terminal building. I had already booked a room in a downtown hostel through www.sinohotel.com Also; I had a print-out of my hostel booking with necessary tips to reach it using public transport. Accordingly, I paid Yuan 16 (about $2) for a bus ticket bound for Beijing Railway Station. To double-check, I showed the print-out to the bus driver who nodded in approval. Soon the bus moved out of the terminal and hit the Airport Expressway at full blast. It slowed down a bit on entering the city limits. I admired the infrastructure as flyovers and underpasses kept on coming one after another. In about 60 minutes, the bus stopped and I picked up my carry-on to get down. The bus driver was kind enough to advise me to take a taxi as it would be difficult for me to continue on my own. That sounded plausible as the hostel was located in one of the Beijing Hutongs, centuries old areas known for narrow twisting streets. I got into a waiting taxi and placed a paper containing the hotel address (in Chinese) in the middle of the dash-board. The driver took a look at it and put the taxi in motion. It was a bright sunny day and I could see endless buildings, plazas and shopping malls thronging with people. About 10 minutes later, the taxi slowed down and turned to a side street. I could guess that the end was near. The modern buildings gave way to small grey-tiled houses. The roads became narrower and narrower and that too occupied by aged residents in their boxer shorts for playing cards. Soon the taxi stopped in front of a two-storied building with a name description of "Far East International Youth Hostel". I paid around $ 3 for the ride and gave a sigh of relief. All those worries of being ripped off faded away. I slept well that night in the Hostel (90 Tieshu Xiejie, Xuanwu Dist: phone 010-51958811). The next day, I braced myself for a day long walk. The hostel staff was very friendly. They explained to me the way to Tiananmen Square and scribbled it down in Chinese. After about a 20-minute walk, I was facing an enormous open area said to be "The Largest Square in the World". In its middle stood a large obelisk known as "The Monument to the Peoples' Hero". In the same vicinity was Chairman Mao's mausoleum. At the time of my visit, it was closed for repairs for an extended period. I wish I could have seen body of the great leader lying in a glass coffin. Even though the Square was a vast open place, it was filled with tourists. Many were in groups wearing the same color of shirts and were led by a high flag of the matching color. Sometime, I had to muscle my way through the crowd to move on. I had no intention of going into any of the buildings around as I was just mentally noting the plac es to see in the coming days. I kept on moving till I saw a big red gate known as Gate of Heavenly Peace. Also, around the Square, I found the Chinese Parliament, History Museum and the beautiful Qianmen-Gate, an old city gate from the Qing-Dynasty. On the North side, there was a magnificent building commonly known as the "Forbidden City" and reputed to be the world's largest palace complex. I was dead tired by the daylong walk and sat down on a raised ground. As I was sitting & enjoying the fading daylight, a group of soldiers came marching out of the Forbidden City to lower the huge flag at sunset. I visited all notable places later including the drawing card of China, the Great Wall. It was quite a distance away, about a 2-hour bus ride, and said to be the only man-made object on the earth visible from the space. When I reached its base at Badaling, I was astonished to face a massive structure spreading as far as one can see. The wall could be reached by a wide staircase. Taking a deep breath, I ventured up slightly bending myself to scale the 35-degree incline of endless stairs. At every 200 meters or so, there was a tower rising above the wall. It provided an opportunity to enjoy the awesome sight of the green valley below. When I reached a point, I thought the highest, I was in for a surprise. The wall was stretched in many directions and there were many places further up. I saw the tourists moving like ants on the snake-like paths through the mountains. I had no intention of competing with them and made a u-turn at some distance later. Incidentally, the Great Wall had recently been chosen as one of the "New Seven Wonders." Initially, I had a grand plan which included a visit to Tibet and Chengdu, the Panda Town. But China is a huge country and distances are formidable. So I reduced my travel plan. My next stop was Pingyao in the South-West. For a small service fee, around 4 dollars, the hostel staff got me a sleeper on a night train and a confirmed booking of a hotel room with a pickup facility. Truly, a young lady was waving my name card when I came out of the Pingyao Station in the pre-dawn hours!!! She led me t o Yarman Hostel (69 Yarman Street, Pingyao). After a good rest, I went out of the hotel and felt I was being back in ancient times. There were no modern buildings, only narrow stone-paved streets with souvenir shops and cafes on both sides. There were food stalls offering noodles, dumplings, fish, snakes, quails and all sorts of things. While strolling in the streets, I noted a good smell of roasted beef. It was coming from a nearby Restaurant. I went in, ordered a plate and never regretted it. My next stop was Xian. Once there, I took a package tour for about $20 to visit The Museum of Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses. It had many sections. In one section, the actual site was open for public viewing. An Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, had been building a tomb for himself and buried thousands of life sized soldiers and horses to protect his tomb from evil spirit. These were discovered accidentally in early 70s and a huge complex was constructed for their exhibition. In the evening, I walked in the downtown and felt like I was passing though Tang Dynasty as most buildings, including the KFC, were built in Tang style (pagoda type). In the same city, I ran into the Muslim Quarters. It was good to eat BBQ beef-sticks and kebob. After Xian, I took a flight to Chongqing to join a 3-day Yangtze River Cruise. I opted for a First Class Cabin on a cruise ship named Yangtze Dragon. Lying on my bed, I could see steep cliffs with stunning greenery. The ship passed by many historic places like Ghost City and a spectacular sight: a 12-storied wooden red pavilion. The ship sailed through the three gorges known as Qutang, Wu and Xiling extending 193 km along the river. As a side attraction, we were shifted from the ship to small boats to enjoy a sail in shallow water. On the last, day, the ship stopped at a place called Moaping where we switched over to land travel and went to Yichang City, gateway to the 3-Gorge Dam. Free buses were provided for visiting the Project. It had already taken 17 years and a cost of US $70 billion for putting up a structure of such a magnitude. Eventually, it would produce 18,200 megawatts of electricity and transform the upstream river to a huge lake. The tour-company, China Odyssey Tours ( www.chinaodysseytours.com) had already taken care of my plan after the cruise. I had a booking with me for a bus to Wuhan with hotel reservation for night's stay and a sleeping bus ticket for next day's travel to Guilin. That saved me from going around like a lost cow to seek ways and means to continue traveling. Passing through a 14-km long tunnel, the bus entered into the South-West Region and headed for Guilin and later to Yangshuo near the Vietnam Border. Truly called "Backpackers Paradise", the area was not only cheap but also stunningly beautiful. For just $ 15, I got a clean room with bath, computer, internet, tea kettle and a refrigerator (Sihai Hotel 73 West St. Yangshuo www.Sihaihotel.com). I had memorable bike rides in Yulong River Valley, and a bamboo raft trip. I scaled the Moon hill and had a good day at Longji Rice Terraces. My last point was Shanghai. Though it was peak season, the hostel at Yanhshuo managed to get me a ticket on the sleeping bus which took 20 hours to get there. Shanghai was commercial and Industrial hub of China. It had memorable sights to see: Jade Buddha Temple, Yu Yuan Garden, Old French Concession Area, People's Square (pedestrian mall) and Shanghai Museum of Science & Technology where I played ping pong with a robot. The highlight of the city was the Bund, a boardwalk along the river with a mixed architecture of German, British and Chinese. Hangzhou was just a 2 hour train-ride away from Shanghai. It had a beautiful lake known as West Lake. There were also numerous historical sites and fascinating scenes around. I sat for hours on a wooden bench and enjoyed watching the daffodils waving. I also had a short cruise on a "Dragon Boat". On July 28th I went back to Beijing on a fast train which took 10 hours. I had one day which was used in visiting Summer Palace. The palace was surrounded by an enormous man-made lake. It was a very popular site. As many as 50,000 tourists paid a visit on that day. My tour was very pleasant, also inexpensive, roughly $40 a day. I found people very friendly and eager to help. Language was no barrier as I could communicate with them using body language. I used to dash in a kitchen and point out what I wanted to eat. I always worked. There was no concept of "tips"; everyone was performing the duty with heart. No one overcharged me or cheated me. Everyday went smoothly. On 30th day, I boarded the return flight with complete satisfaction over the time and money spent. Hafeezur Rahman Malik