C - My Long March

Last Saturday, I took part in the "5th Annual Dalian International Walking Festival", an event organized by a Dalian travel agency to promote walking, health, peace, and communication. There were four paths to choose from: 5K, 10K, 20K, and 30K. I'd heard my friend Lizzy complain a few weeks ago that none of her friends were willing do the 30K walk with her last year, so I told her I'd be willing to give it a try.

We met at 7 am on Saturday morning and took the tram to the walk's starting place, the enormous Xinghai Square. The tram was packed with people wearing the same t-shirts and hats as us, which was my first clue that I would be part of quite a large herd for the day.

When we arrived at the square, we had to search for the student group from our university that Lizzy had arranged for us to walk with. This was more easily said than done, because Xinghai Square is supposedly the largest public square in Asia and everyone was wearing the same shirt and hat. We finally found the students and I was introduced to them. I attracted quite a bit of attention, as there were some law students in the group who were really interested in studying law in the United States and seemed to think that because I am going to law school in the United States next year, I could give them some tips on how to make it more accessible and affordable for them. No such luck, however.

I also got some attention from a reported who was interested in a U2 quote I'd written on my tag (those things runners have pinned to them with their number on it, I'm not sure what it's called!) saying "What you got, they can't steal it, no, they can't even feel it; walk on." Lizzy translated it for the reporter as I quickly whispered to her not to mention that it's actually a song in support of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese pro-democracy activist.

We eventually got underway at about 8:10 a.m. Lizzy and I had an interesting conversation that made the time pass quickly, but the crowd was so large that we were forced to trudge along at a snail's pace. After about four hours, we stopped at a small restaurant for lunch. I didn't know that lunch would be provided, so I'd brought granola bars, apples, and raisins. It was a good thing that I did, though, because the lunch consisted of rice and whole fishes that had been chopped coarsely and fried in the usual Chinese brown sauce - fins, head, bones, and all. I had a bone lodge itself in my throat a few weeks ago while eating similarly prepared fish, so I really wasn't interested in trying this batch.

After lunch, the leader of the student group announced to Lizzy and I that they were done walking for the day and that their bus would be arriving any moment to take them back to the university. Lizzy and I decided we weren't ready to quit; except for some blisters, we actually felt quite good. The group leader told us that there were only seven or eight kilometers left, which surprised me but sounded good nonetheless.

We soon learned, though, that we were just barely halfway there. We came to a point that we thought was the end until we saw a sign that said "You have finished 18 kilometers." Although that information was quite the morale-killer, we pressed on as the trail got steeper and the sun got hotter. Lizzy and I talked much less, and I was less polite to the strangers who approached me. The crowd thinned out substantially, and we made it to the end at about 3:30 in the afternoon. Not counting the 45 minutes for lunch, it took us six hours and thirty-five minutes to walk 30K. We then had to walk a bit further to find a bus and then a taxi, so by the time I got to sit down, I was quite tired!

Overall, I enjoyed the walk, even though the concept seemed a little silly to me. One of the random people along the way who wanted to speak with me asked me if we had similar events in the US. I told her that there are many competitive races and charity events that are somewhat similar but that I'd never heard of an event being held simply for the purpose of walking. As I feasted on Indian food that night with David and friends, though, the walk felt more than worthwhile!

Here's Lizzy at the two-thirds mark:


And here's me:


I'm already thinking about taking the same walk next Saturday!

D - Gotta Go to Gou?

Last weekend, we went to a "resort" in Liaoning Province known as BingYuGou, which translates as "Ice Cavern Valley". It's northeast of Dalian towards the city of Dandong. The closest town is known as ZhuangHe. If you ever visit the Liaodong peninsula, where Dalian is located, you will very quickly notice that it's actually quite rugged. The peninsula is covered in green sloping hills and small mountains wherever you go. Dalian has some lovely sights where you can see the urban environment mixed in with smooth green peaks. Essentially BingYuGou is advertised in China as the mecca of these small mountains, scattered around small lakes in rivers. It's also known as "Little Guilin", Guilin being a famous city in southern China known for its beautiful scenery. After hearing about this place, a number of foreign teachers at our university were interested in going. Our friend W, who is the most advanced in his Chinese (he studies constantly), took it upon himself to organize a trip there with a Chinese touring company. With only a small assist from one of our Chinese friends, he booked a 2 day, 1 night from Dalian to BingYuGou and back. The trip included transportation and driver, tour guide (not English-speaking), admission to the park, lodging, 4 meals (lunch,dinner,breakfast,lunch), and a side trip to a local hot springs on Sunday. All of that cost only 300 RMB per person (about $39).

Early on Saturday morning, the "bus" arrived. When I say bus, I actually mean extended minivan that could in theory hold 12 people. The van had 2 seats up front (occupied by driver and guide), and 4 benches. To give you an idea of the spaciousness of the seats, it was literally impossible for me to sit down where my legs had a seat directly in front of me. The hip-to-knee portion of my leg was longer the space between seat back and seat front. Fortunately each bench featured a fold out seat, which allowed me to angle my legs to avoid amputation. We departed around 8:30 and arrived at the BingYuGou area around 12:30. Strangely our driver seemed to insist on taking the most remote roads possible, despite our route paralleling the DaZhuang expressway. The journey of course featured the usual insanity of Chinese driving. On narrow country roads, the driving experience is essentially an extended game of "chicken", as vehicles refuse to allow someone in front of them to slow them down at all. I can't imagine cruise control ever getting heavy use in China...

Our catered lunch at a local Chinese restaurant outside the park was less than delightful. It's a little difficult to eat family-style with 9 people. In addition, the food in northeastern China is very heavy on sauces and oils. When food is hot, it can be really delicious, but as soon as it gets cold it becomes unappetizing smothered in a salty brown sauce. And of course, we are a sight to the very common people and tourists in the area. Getting stared at is par for the course.

From the restaurant, we drove another 30 minutes to the park. To get in, you take a short boat ride from the entrance gate. While in the boat, some people tried to take a picture of us sitting next to their friend but we held up our hands and said "No!". Chinese people need to learn that foreigners, while interesting, are not zoo animals. We don't mind genuine curiosity, but no one wants to be part of a freak show.

Here's the entrance to the park: The full set of pictures can be found in our online photo album.

An example of the scenery...

Overall, BingYuGou was a strange experience. The scenery was quite lovely, but it was filled with chincy tourist attractions. One such attraction I took advantage of was a zipline that you could take to zoom from one side of the river to the other. I may be posting a movie of that soon. But there were many other things like this. Lots of cheap Chinese trinkets, a fake waterfall, swinging Indiana Jones bridges, etc. There were no hiking trails and no real sense of connecting with nature. It was overprogrammed to say the least. I think most of us were disappointed. After about 5 hours, we returned to the small town just outside the park to get cleaned up and then go to dinner.

C and I paid a little extra to get our own private room with private Western bathroom. Another couple did the same, but the remaining five members of our gang shared a room, and had a bathroom out in the hall (no shower, no western toilet). The beds were slats with a thin sheet on them. Ah, touring in the Chinese fashion. I truly felt like one of the common people. Somebody get me a Mao suit and a bouffant Kim Jong-Il hair style please! Dinner was a slight improvement on Lunch. The rest of the evening was split wandering around the truly tiny town and then downing a few beers in the hotel with our group.

The next day we got up bright and early for a quick Chinese breakfast. Now I know my blog entries are more on the negative side, but Chinese breakfast is awful. I really do like China overall, but let's face it, focusing on the differences is more entertaining. Your average Chinese breakfast consists of a boiled egg, and something called "baozi", which is essentially the most tasteless piece of dough man has ever intentionally concocted. It's a steamed bun. I think the plywood on our backbreaking beds probably had more flavor. Anyway, from breakfast, we proceeded to our final tourist destination of the trip, a hot springs for which we brought our swimming attire. In my mind, I pictured a beautiful cave full of elegant stalagtites and stalagmites, with gently steaming waters and winged Chinese women gently strumming the Chinese harp and perched upon rocks like the Sirens of Odysseus. Perhaps that description is a bit overblown, the phrase "hot springs" inspires fanciful thinking. I also briefly considered the famous Blue Lagoon of Iceland. What I got was a massive locker room full of naked Chinese men scrubbing each other down. I was a bit out of place wearing my baggy bathing suit, but I tried to block it out. When I finally got the courage, the hot spring pool was actually quite nice. My skin turned bright red with all the heat, but it was indeed relaxing. For those seeking a more co-educational experience, you could also emerge from the single sex area to a general family pool that used significantly cooler water.

After an hour or two, we departed the hot springs and headed back to Dalian. Using W's rudimentary Chinese, we begged the driver to take the highway. We eventually did so, but not before driving on the countriest of country roads. The plus side was that we got to see a lot of Chinese farms and farmers. There were people plowing with mules, and with donkeys pulling carts along the roads. Unfortunately for the people, the land appeared quite dry. I think of Dalian as being a wet city, but I think there's an overall drought in Liaoning province.

We forwent our final lunch on the way back, and survived another death-defying drive. All in all, it was a worthwhile trip, if only to experience touring Chinese style. If you're thinking of going to BingYuGou, you'll get no objection from me. Just don't think you're getting the natural experience. BingYuGou is all about the new China, custom tailored to the interests of unadventurous Chinese tourists seeking a weekend distraction.