Wandering around Shunde
This is my last day in Shunde, so I started by going to Qinghui Yuan, a giant imperial era garden across the street from this hotel. It was the primary reason I came here and it was well worth it. A really beautiful place that put me in a very contemplative mood. The attention to detail is remarkable, and the place is filled with wood carvings, pottery, old buildings, arches made of stone, and water running throughout filled with fish, turtles, waterfalls, and other beautiful scenery. It wasn't very crowded so I felt like I had it to myself more or less.
People stare at me constantly here. They look at me as if they have really never seen a foreigner, and not just a short look but a prolonged stare as I walk by. I'd say this happens 80% of the time someone sees me on the street. I am becoming more used to it, but it is a bit draining. They don't smile when they do it usually, though I do get a few smiles once in a while. Most of the time it is kind of a blank stare and even a smile from me is not returned. It's kind of disconcerting really. Sometimes I say hello in Chinese and that breaks the spell and has gotten a few laughs and questions, but more often than not it is just that same look.
It seems a lot of people here pick their nose and ears with impunity in public. There is no point to that observation, but I have noticed it a lot and thought it was kind of amusing.
I asked the hotel people today if there was any other vegetarian restaurant in town, and they pointed me to one which I couldn't find, so I stopped in the general vicinity where I thought I should be looking and I saw an English school, so I went in and asked for their help and one of the girls there took me and showed me where the place was. We talked a little bit, she has 40 students at her school and she is the teacher. Her English was better than most people I've met, but definitely not fluent or anything. The restaurant was closed so I decided I'd come back for dinner instead. I ended up going back to the Baolin Temple restaurant instead, which was again very good, and then walking back from there which took about an hour. On the way I paused a number of times to look around confused about which direction I should go. A lot of guys on motorbikes pull over to see if I want rides. One of them got off his bike and approached me speaking English about 10 decibels too loud. The basic gist was "I HELP YOU" and "VERY FAR VARY FAR" and then "5 KUAI!" which is 5 Chinese dollars. I declined but he was extremely persistent. It took a solid 5 minutes for him to drive off and give up and he seemed kind of pissed off about the fact that I wanted to walk. Either that or he was just a very loud person, and there do seem to be quite a few of those here.
People here do drive like maniacs. The lines dividing lanes is an extremely loose concept here and horns are very popular if the person in front of you is not going fast enough. The bus drivers do this as well. There are pedestrian lights at major intersections, but at most crosswalks there are no lights, so people just sort of wander freely whenever they feel they have a fighting chance of making it. They often stand between moving lanes of traffic waiting for the next opportunity to open up. There are also motorbikes, regular bikes, and both of those with large bins attached for cargo. You'll see a lady go by with about 1000 bananas hanging off the bike, or giant sticks of bamboo, or whatever else. It makes for a rather chaotic environment, though the roads on which I was walking today were pretty wide with big sidewalks for the most part it was subdued until getting into the busier more urban area. I took pictures of the temples and parks I've seen, but the city itself is rather dull as have been most of the other cities I've seen. There were a few interesting areas, but by and large the buildings and streets are kind of dull. I'm thinking about heading soon to something more scenic. I think my goal should be to find more people to meet and show me around places. I was thinking about heading west sooner rather than later and just start hitting the spots that I think will be truly amazing. I'm sure I'll catch reasonable glimpses of these cities of "real" China on the way.
People stare at me constantly here. They look at me as if they have really never seen a foreigner, and not just a short look but a prolonged stare as I walk by. I'd say this happens 80% of the time someone sees me on the street. I am becoming more used to it, but it is a bit draining. They don't smile when they do it usually, though I do get a few smiles once in a while. Most of the time it is kind of a blank stare and even a smile from me is not returned. It's kind of disconcerting really. Sometimes I say hello in Chinese and that breaks the spell and has gotten a few laughs and questions, but more often than not it is just that same look.
It seems a lot of people here pick their nose and ears with impunity in public. There is no point to that observation, but I have noticed it a lot and thought it was kind of amusing.
I asked the hotel people today if there was any other vegetarian restaurant in town, and they pointed me to one which I couldn't find, so I stopped in the general vicinity where I thought I should be looking and I saw an English school, so I went in and asked for their help and one of the girls there took me and showed me where the place was. We talked a little bit, she has 40 students at her school and she is the teacher. Her English was better than most people I've met, but definitely not fluent or anything. The restaurant was closed so I decided I'd come back for dinner instead. I ended up going back to the Baolin Temple restaurant instead, which was again very good, and then walking back from there which took about an hour. On the way I paused a number of times to look around confused about which direction I should go. A lot of guys on motorbikes pull over to see if I want rides. One of them got off his bike and approached me speaking English about 10 decibels too loud. The basic gist was "I HELP YOU" and "VERY FAR VARY FAR" and then "5 KUAI!" which is 5 Chinese dollars. I declined but he was extremely persistent. It took a solid 5 minutes for him to drive off and give up and he seemed kind of pissed off about the fact that I wanted to walk. Either that or he was just a very loud person, and there do seem to be quite a few of those here.
People here do drive like maniacs. The lines dividing lanes is an extremely loose concept here and horns are very popular if the person in front of you is not going fast enough. The bus drivers do this as well. There are pedestrian lights at major intersections, but at most crosswalks there are no lights, so people just sort of wander freely whenever they feel they have a fighting chance of making it. They often stand between moving lanes of traffic waiting for the next opportunity to open up. There are also motorbikes, regular bikes, and both of those with large bins attached for cargo. You'll see a lady go by with about 1000 bananas hanging off the bike, or giant sticks of bamboo, or whatever else. It makes for a rather chaotic environment, though the roads on which I was walking today were pretty wide with big sidewalks for the most part it was subdued until getting into the busier more urban area. I took pictures of the temples and parks I've seen, but the city itself is rather dull as have been most of the other cities I've seen. There were a few interesting areas, but by and large the buildings and streets are kind of dull. I'm thinking about heading soon to something more scenic. I think my goal should be to find more people to meet and show me around places. I was thinking about heading west sooner rather than later and just start hitting the spots that I think will be truly amazing. I'm sure I'll catch reasonable glimpses of these cities of "real" China on the way.
posted by Dan at 1:45 AM
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