A Februrary 14 Post

I experimented with posting by emailing and needless to say, the experiment failed. Around the time I emailed a post to my blog via blackberry, the blackberry decided to stop working (yet again). I have been trying to get it fixed ever since to no avail, and now I must finally admit defeat and type up this post by hand.

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We finally got out of Xian on the 11th, taking the 12:30 pm train to Chongqing that arrived at 6:00 am. Charming. And you thought transatlantic flights were painful. We spent the day in Chongqing, a hilly city on the Yangtze River that reminds me of San Francisco, minus the rampant liberalism (Liberalism? What's that? I think I've been in China too long, the country that doesn't have a racism problem because it doesn't have any black people and homosexuals exist only in OTHER countries). The city is famous for its food, so what did we do? We spent the day eating. Early lunch consisted of every different type of street food we could get out hands on including steamed and flavored buns, oily pancakes, couscous-on-lamb with a lot of spice, and the usual jaozi and baozi. Afterwards, we went to Carrefour and stocked up on enough food to last us through our upcoming four-day Chinese boat ride and then found a hot pot restaurant and ate for another two hours. Hot pot is the region's specialty, so we couldn't let the opportunity slip us by. It was great! I think I burned off all my taste buds, but it was well worth it. That night we did something that goes against all knowledge and good sense that I have gained in my time in China: we joined a Chinese tour.

The Chinese love their tours. Complete with nametags that you wear around your neck and a flag-waving, megaphone bearing tour guide. I'm sure you've seen them around; a Chinese tour group passing through your area is hard to miss. While traveling to Hainan (that beach resort island off the southern coast of China) last semester, the people that I met always asked me which tour group I was with. When I responded that I wasn't with one, I was just traveling with my two friends, they looked shocked and asked "But why not?? You can see the island much faster with a tour group!" Maybe I don't want to see the whole island quickly! Maybe I want to find a peaceful nook and hide out there for a few days, or, heaven forbid, explore non-touristy areas on my own. It was almost as shocking as letting on that I had either skipped a meal or not planned my next one. The world is ending if you skip a meal here.

The ship isn't all that bad. Well, it is cramped and dirty and smelly, but it has its charm. In order to view the Three Gorges, we had to take a 6 hour-long tour, starting at 8:00 am. Sure enough, we were met by a smiling, brightly colored, flag and megaphone bearing tour guide who ushered us to our tour boat. The entire tour was accompanied by someone screaming into the megaphone at us, in Chinese mostly. The boat stopped at what was supposed to be a peaceful riverside village for sightseeing. It turned out to be a single road leading up the hill lined with street stands selling overpriced tourist goodies and....that was it. The street dead-ended with no sign of a village. An actual, literal tourist trap, and the Chinese tourists loved it. We were ushered around a few other locations, all the while being loudly informed in Chinese of I have no idea what before being returned, somewhat bedraggled, to our ship.

It was an experience, that's for sure, and something I recommend everyone try at least once. But in terms of a mode of travel, I do not recommend relying on tour groups while in China.