SOUZOU - Part 1
Golden week is one of China’s national holidays. Since 2000
it’s been extended to a seven day national holiday! Originally it was a
celebration on 1 October in honour of the founding of the Peoples Republic of
China in 1949 (apparently this actually happened mid-September, but 1 October
was the day it was celebrated in Tiananmen Square).
I was aware that people would be travelling, but I figured
it wouldn’t be any more chaotic than a long weekend in, maybe not Australia,
but the UK. So off I went on a research binge into potential cities to spend my
seven days off work.
Lets just say I was selective in my research so when an alert popped up: WARNNING – DO NOT TRAVEL HERE ON GOLDEN WEEK… I ignored it, imagining a charming romp in a quiet and pristine Chinese town.
It wasn’t until I was squished on a train for 16 hours that
a tweet buzzed up on my phone… “GOLDEN WEEK HELL IS UPON US! 589 Million
tourists travel around the country” Five hundred and either nine… WHAT NOW? A
sudden lurch in my stomach, had I embarked upon a journey to my version of
purgatory?
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
As I mentioned Suzhou is about 14 hours south of Tangshan.
By bullet train it’s a six hour comfortable journey… if you are travelling on a
budget, its 16 hours in a hard seat sardined between other passengers and their
luggage.
Why Suzhou? Well, Tangshan does lack in nature and history,
I was intent on seeing some traditional Chinese architecture, a pagoda or two,
some gardens and ideally an ancient water town. Suzhou is promoted as the
Venice of the East given that 42% of the city is covered by water. It was built
in 514 BC, and has been added to the UNESSCO World Heritage Sites list for its
classic historic gardens. So it ticked a lot of boxes…
Myself, Therese and Robyn headed out for Pizza one night and
tucked in my rucksack was my travel plan, my potential itinerary and
spreadsheet of things to do in Suzhou. Presenting this to the ladies I advised
that this was my plan for Golden Week and they were more than welcome to come
along. All agreed and we carried on enjoying our first Western Cheezy delight
for some time!
It was about a month out til Golden Week and I jumped online
to arrange train tickets and accommodation. Finding a central place on
Booking.com with what appeared to be very pleasant sleeping quarters, I
confirmed five nights. I then get to sorting out train tickets for the three of
us… THERE WERE NONE! No tickets left! No sleepers! No hard seats – how was this
possible?
Clammy handed, I looked at the next day, the day before,
return trips, different locations… good heavens – was everyone in China
travelling (mind casts back to the warnings… well yes, everyone in China IS
travelling!). Eventually I found some tickets… not the best times, and yes, it
would be a hard seat (meaning you literally had to sit at a ninety degree angle
for the entire trip), but I lost two days of our travel – but I couldn’t give
up, couldn’t bear the thought of spending a full week without work in Tangshan?
I’d go nuts! And I was here in China to teach, but also to travel!
It was all coming together, but there was a knot in my
stomach and after some thought I realised it was the fear that we would get to
Suzhou (at 3am!) and the hotel would turn us away. I went up to Lilly, our
liaison for all that’s too hard for a non-native speaker, and asked her to just
confirm our accommodation and double check they were ok to check in so early in
the morning…
“No”, said Lilly
“No? They cant check us in at that time?”
“No… they don’t take foreigners”
I stared at her. Lilly is adorable and her English is quite
good, but I refrained from my immediate natural response to this sudden
frustrating situation in order for her to retain her innocence, such was the
vocabulary spinning in my mind.
ARE YOU KIDDING?
I mean really… Kidding? After the drama in Jinan I had been
so careful to review and check on Booking.com that the accommodation I booked
would take foreigners… How could this happen again! There were two days until
we left. We’d already paid for our train tickets, we couldn’t head there
without somewhere to stay and hope for the best! CRISIS!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, travelling in
China is not a relaxing experience, it takes a lot of deep breaths, a lot of
research and a lot of patience. It’s worth it, but I think I’ve had more than
my fair share of mini panic attacks thus far!
I was back on Booking.com… (which by the way I will NOT be
using again and will be writing a strongly worded letter in the not too distant
future!). There were two options remaining, everything had been booked out! I
found a hostel for an inflated price that advertised being close to all the
main attractions we were hoping to see… It was this or nothing… I booked. I
emailed Lilly asking her to double check they’d take foreigners and would check
us in at 3am – YES!
Phew! Sweet relief! Our holiday was finally confirmed. One
day to sort out packing and buy snacks to get us through the long long long
train ride and we’d be OFF!
The great thing about
trains in China, and there is literally… only one in this case, is that they
have a wee hot water faucet so you can fill up your cuppa noodles and have a
nice wholesome meal while getting from A to B. So, I’d purchased six packets of
noodles to share with my travelling companions, a few Kinda Surprises (food and
entertainment in one delightful chockie egg… or so I thought),
pringles-that-arent-actually-pringles, and some mini Snickers. Ofcourse, a good
amount of loo role for emergencies only, and two litres of drinking water each.
Laptop for movies and battery packs for phone charging.
We collected our tickets and jumped on to the train… with
the hordes… The seats are certainly made for a certain type of physique… for a
big boned Westerner, it’s somewhat of a tight squeeze. The three of us sat in
our allotted seats and stared at one another bug-eyed as bags were pushed, and
flung above and below, people swivelled into creaks and cracks and if you are
someone who likes personal space… best of luck to you!
I will tell you that this was one of the most arduous and
uncomfortable experiences of my life. It still haunts me in my dreams. At times
I thought… is this it? Am I in hell? Or at the very least purgatory? How is
this possible… HOW CAN THIS BE HANPPENING? Panic rising as I realised I could
not get out, I was in for the long hauls – and this was after 5 hours with 11
to go.
I don’t know if I can
even relive this experience for you! So lets pop it in a nutshell;
1.
While trying to nap in your cramped seat there
are people wandering up and down the isles shouting in the hopes of selling
their wares, be it fruit… food… drinks… battery packs… and belts – I mean…
belts? Milk lollies (these were little tablet things that you pop in water and
TA-DUM you have milk… THAT’S NOT MILK! DO NOT TRY IT!)
2.
If you are smoker, be sure to only smoke UNDER
the non-smoking sign and not in your seat… the non smoking sign is near the
toilet… we were sat about three rows from the toilet… I chose the wrong time to
quit smoking, I think I would have coped with the smell better had I still been
a smoker!
3.
Like smoking, hocking and then spitting on the
floor is not prohibited. Fortunately, there is a man that goes up and down the
isles of the train mopping up the spit. This however down not improve the fact that a man diagonally across from me was coughing up his left lung without putting a hand over his mouth and I could almost see the bacteria flying across the isle heading straight for my breathing stream - this will feature later when I get a cold that I'm still trying to shake. To this man - I hope you get bronchitis!
4.
To distract myself from the invariably long
train ride I’d packed my laptop and Robyn had kindly downloaded a few episodes
of THE VOICE (excellent American version), so I nestled in to my crook, laptop
on my… well, lap – that’s why they call them that! – and prepared for an
enjoyable escape… except for Smiley…
a.
Smiley had been with us the whole trip. Smiley…
was, weirdly, a very smiley Chinese man who presented as somewhat homeless and
made a bee line for the ‘whities’ aka Westerners, as soon as we jumped on the
train. From that point on he decided he was our bestie and when ever we
laughed, he did… if we talked, he tried to be involved and when I was trying to
watch my show, he was inclined to lean over me and watch, his smiley reflection
in my laptop… making strange eye contact through said laptop… he then moved
across from me and felt it was his turn to watch the laptop… my laptop… why are
you touching my laptop???
i.
I do not miss Smiley
5.
The toilet… one for all and all for one. There
are tongs… there are tongs in the toilet. Why are there tongs in the toilet?
Well… first of all it is a squat toilet, so sometimes the number two has been
disposed of too far from the ‘hole’ and remains where it was first deposited.
So… TONGS! We can make use of the tongs to move the defecation to the
appropriate spot in order for it to be flushed. Alternatively, you can pretend
you don’t see the thing that did not come from your body, do your business and
vacate the room having not breathed for a good five minutes and pretend the
whole experience is just a dreadful dream
6.
There isn’t really a limit when it comes to how
many people can get onto a train or a bus… or even a taxi. So… our train ride,
we had our seats, but the company also sells ‘standing tickets’, therefore you
have person after person after person standing in the isle, then leaning in the
isle, then sleeping in the isle. For hours you could not even see the floor but
for people. I hate to think of their emergency evacuation process…
7.
In my wee corner I had a woman who constantly
lay her head on her lap, her elbow on MY lap and her hair on me! HAIR! If there
was less smoking I’d have taken many a deep breath, unfortunately I had to keep
saying to myself, “all part of the experience… all part of the experience”.
8.
Getting of the train? The three of us had our
backpacks and suit cases, we elbowed and pushed our way through the melee
eventually coming to the door that was literally littered with Chinese people
sleeping on the floor. When you accidently bumped in to them in an attempt to alight,
they grumbled and complained… “I’M SORRY…. Who is the one laying on the floor
in the corridor? And you’re mad at me?!”, fortunately the people didn’t speak
English so the confrontation was just me expressing my frustration.
Around 10pm my phone buzzed in my pocket, it was the hotel;
“Hello… checking you will still be arriving”
“Yes, our friend called yesterday to confirm. We will be
arriving at 3am”
“OK”…
Then… a couple of hours later:
“You cannot have your room as you did not pay”
“What do you mean? We booked the rooms and I just confirmed
with you that we would arrive at 3am…”
“You have not paid in advance”
I sent a screen shot of the booking.com confirmation which
clearly indicated that payment would only be accepted upon arrival. “See! We
were not asked to pay upfront! We are coming and have the correct cash”
“But now I will need to wait to check you in”
My response… oh… you need to do your JOB!!! What the
heavenly heck is going on!
“Well yes. We have cash”
“We have given your room away”
“What do you mean you gave our room away? We booked this! My
friend called and confirmed with you. I just confirmed with you!”
“I am not at the hotel, my father is at the hotel. He did
not know you were coming. He gave the room away”
Ummm how is this my problem?!?!
“How is this possible? We have nowhere else to go. We are on
the train right now!”
“Ok… I will sort something out”
Unnecessary stress let me tell you. Particularly difficult
because of the language barrier but I hoped and prayed that when we got to the
hotel we would be given admittance… just a bed… we were all desperate for a
bed!
Needless to say we were all a bit at the end of our tether
after 16 hours. Each of us unfolded ourselves back to our normal height and
standing stature then headed toward a sign that looked like a taxi.
In preparation for this journey I’d Google Translated
everything I thought we might need into Chinese I flashed my phone at the taxi
driver, he seemed to understand, and off we went… starting at 15 kwai before
we’d even left the train station! It was going to be a pricey ride!
There were twists and turns and u-turns and stops and
starts, and I think a couple of times I saw the same shop… so potentially we
were taken for a ride in more than a literal sense. Finally, at 60 kwai, the
driver stopped in what appeared to be a dark and empty street, lacking in light
or any form of English interpretable signage.
“Hotel?” we asked
He pointed down an alley way,
“Can you take us there?”
He shook his head and continued to point…
Well this was a lost cause. Resentfully we collated our
cash, handed over the fare and piled out of the vehicle uttering a few choice words
There was a FoodMart across the way that looked open, with
hopeful hearts we trailed across the road and the doors slip open - whoa! Thank
goodness! So at 3am I flashed my phone at the shop attendant, he waved vaguely
toward a direction, he tried to show me on his phone the correct direction.
We headed out the door and turned left… it didn’t seem
right… we turned and headed that way… nothing… the lights were out, there was
no one we could ask along the empty streets, I could almost cry out for lack of
sleep and utter frustration.
Ah! A hotel! I bounded in… approached the lady at the desk
and showed her my phone with the name of the hotel. She called over another
person who started pointing… more pointing? Pointing was not helping us…
pointing was not a direction… argh!
I think he saw our desperation and suddenly he walked out
the hotel, indicating for us to follow… we scooted… hoping he was taking us to
the hotel and not our deaths!
After a few twists and turns and scooting across streets we
came to a dark window, a dark door and a dark sign… Our unintended tour guide
tapped on the window, then banged on the window. The three of us looked at one
another in confusion…
Suddenly a light turned on, a head popped up behind a
counter, another head popped up on what appeared to be a waiting-couch. The
door swung open. We thanked our guide and with some trepidation entered the premises.
Whom I imagine was my text-persons father immediately thrust
a notebook infront of me, “Please pay ###. You will be in rooms # and #”. Ok… I
thought, we collated our cash once more, handed it over with some exaggerated
hand gestures, smiles and thankyou-thankyou.
We were led through a small corridor, up some stairs, along
the walls were attempted ‘funky’ hand painted fish. The smell of old dank water
and old cigarette smoke permeated the air, carpet stains and old sheets slung
on the floor… I was prepared for a hostel… this was something else.
Robyn and Therese were sharing one room and I’d be located
in a room down the hall, right near the hot tub! A hot tub filled with empty
bottles, cigarette buds and business cards soliciting prostitution.
Deeeeelightful.
When we were first shown to Robyn and Therese’s room a
cockroach (apparently a giant cockroach by English standards) dashed out from
under the bed, across the floor and then disappeared. The three of us went to
my home for the next four days, I grabbed a tissue and returned with the team
to see about this giant cockroach.
“where is it?”, I said in my best Crocodile Dundee voice,
and moved one of the suit cases.
The wee beastie emerged and tried to make a run for it, but
my well trained foot located and set down upon its crunchy exterior, squishing
it to a point beyond return. I bent and scooped it with my tissue and with
chest pushed out in true super-hero style, deposited in the trash. I could
almost hear the MARVEL music in the background.
A day of accomplishments, including super hero bug killing
skills, I returned to my stench ridden room and simply through exhaustion, fell
into a deep sleep.
I woke to some bruising on my knees from the protruding
springs of the mattress, but with a sense of utter determination to make this
adventure just that… an adventure, and in a positive way.
The first item on my suggested itinerary (which… kinda was
less a suggestion and more what was gunna be), was the Humble Administrators
Garden. One of the top destinations of the city and originally built in 1131.
It’s been destroyed and rebuilt throughout the decades until 1513 when it was
taken over by a well known and respected politician and poet who took to
developing the garden as almost a therapy after having had a difficult life in
administration:
"I enjoy a carefree
life by planting trees and building my own house...I irrigate my garden and
grow vegetables for me to eat...such a life suits a retired official like me
well."
It apparently took 16 years
to complete, and has changed hands over the various years. It is now owned by
the government and is a must-see for Chinese locals and travellers alike.
We took a cab… big mistake!
Cost a lot of money, what with the incredible amount of traffic… but lesson
learned and we’d not be doing that again!... and came to the Humble
Administrators Garden- or atleast the street that would lead us to this.
I had had ambitions to go to
the museum while I was here but seeing the line… a que like a que I’d never
seen before, I decided that maybe I’d hit Beijing for museums another time if
the desire for history once again overcame me.
We wandered down a
people-littered street with shop next to shop next to shop, selling anything
from scorpions on a stick, dumplings shaped like pandas, fans and beads and
baubles and paintings and chopsticks…
After a few false starts we
finally found the Humble Administrators Garden, we were asking for directions
from what appeared to be an official when Robyn spotted he lable on his shirt;
“Humble Administrators Garden”!,
“We’re here!” she announced,
and we hit the pavement to grab some tickets and start the less stressful
element of our ‘holiday’.
First thing we saw? A rock…
what I decided and pronounced to be volcanic rock, infact these rocks are known
as “Chinese scholars’ rocks” or viewing stones. They really are beautiful, and
yet so strange. They’re porous and can be any colour, you just want to reach
out and touch them. Officially known as Gongshi they apparently occur naturally
in China.
Ok… so, keep in mind we went
to the Humble Administrators Garden at the height of Golden Week… which may or
may not have impacted my experience… There were people EVERYWHERE! I think I’d
consider going there again during down season, but who knows when I’ll next get
the chance to visit?
Ignoring the amount of
people milling about, the architecture and manicured gardens are nothing but
amazing. Waterways lined with giant lilly-pads, weeping willows and carp splashing
in the exposed ponds. The framework of the buildings, the flick at the end of
the awnings, it was like seeing the China I’d been dreaming of for the very
first time.
The bridges built of stone,
the intricate window panes, the art work upon the walls of the separate rooms,
bridges to move from place to place. Each space has a separate meaning or
reason, one room for music, another for eating, another for talking, another
for dancing… It makes the word contrived seem rather beautiful, purposeful. A
home or garden was thought about, what does one want to do in ones home, in
ones garden?
When I was a kid I dreamt of
a house with a reading room, a writing room, a movie room (filled with bean
bags and cushions!), a balcony with vines creating the ceiling perfect for
drawing and tea drinking and…although I cant do it.. stone sculpture (watch
Stealing Beauty for reference!).
I feel like the Chinese in
historic times felt the same, that there should be a space (considering space an
essential right of a person, rather than ‘space’ as a non-entity) for all the
necessary moments of a persons daily existence, from eating to sleeping to
mediating to conversing or making music… I feel, having observed this that this
sped up society that both the East and West live in, have lost the essentials
that our ancestors honoured…
Enough of the philosophy
though!
We watched the ducks ducking
through the fronds, enjoyed peering at the ponds through blue-stained glass
windows, observed ancient furniture settings, we took time in the
bonsai garden with miniature tree after tree... I felt like they wanted to be
bigger but their destiny was very clear!
We eventually felt the time
had come to escape…I mean leave… the ‘peaceful garden’. We headed out and down
the lane, observing what I consider the most talented method of caricature I’ve
ever seen… a customer sat still across from the artist… the artist was not
using canvas and charcoal, but clay and a chisel, and it was incredible to
watch this mans ability to turn a ball of clay into a piece of art… or atleast
a caricature depending on how you view your face…
Ok… so what is next on the
itinerary? Pingjiang Road.
Not a long walk from where
we were, this is a long ‘ancient and traditional’ road. It’s about two man wide
with shops littered on either side. Theoretically there are no vehicles allowed
along the street, but theory and practise are two separate concepts so often we
were accosted by motor-powered bikes powering through.
We wandered the streets and
enjoyed the singing, the performance of vendors, the desperate request that we
eat this food or that.
The children pointing at the
whities, and us smiling in response. Oh there were some miraculous and
wonderful things and if I had the disposable cash, I’d have left with bags of
bits and bobs! There are intricate handmade bowls, steepled tea canters, animals
made from any type of material and beautifully presented.
After passing the feet
fish-therapy stall and a woman using a shell to sing to a dog, we decided to
take some respite at a ‘bar’… basically it was a place that served tea or beer
or wine assuming you were happy to spend 100 kwai…We were happy to spend 100
Kwai and were able to take a moment of respite with closed doors, an hour of
not being stared at is quite the thing when you’re stared at day after day!
We watched the gondola ride
down the river and enjoyed our beverages and silence for a good hour and then
started our trek to the next activity on the itinerary… Night boat ride on the
grand canal!
We wanted to go on a Gondala
Ride ourseives but hoped to go down the Grand Canal. We took a bus, then walked
down dark alleys. I hoped GoogleMaps would direct us to the correct location,
but no such lukc! We carried on… we went left… nothing… we headed right… nope…
we walked past what appeared to be a shop that lead to nothing but darkness…
As we wandered a woman
heading in the opposite direction looked concerned. I stopped. I looked at her.
I showed her my phone… she squinted and shook her head. She turned and waved for me to follow.
“GUYS!!!!’ I shouted to my
companions…. “I think… I THINK… this lady is going to show us how to get to the
river…”
And thus we followed.
We took a left and a right
and a straight and a right and suddenly we were on the river feeling ridiculously thankful and tried to indicate this to our saviour with grand hand gestures and a few bows from me!
It was a peaceful evening, there werent many out and we wandered along the river taking in the trees lit up by green lights, observed the city wall that followed us along, took in what appeared to be a giant statue of Confucius. To our left the city rose up in all the grand light-effects that have come to represent China for me... and finally we came to he boat dock.
At once we could sense tension... there was a large group of people, some trying to jump on the already-full boat, the officials were chasing them off and on and off again. The official guys were shouting, their faces contorted with anger in what can only be described as an attempt to herd cats.
Another boat arrived and the large group scattered, heading this way and that to sneak past the guards and jump on the boat, slapping their bums down on the first available seat.
Yeah - this was going to go well...
“Can we go on the next trip?”
I said via phone / translator
Hrmmm…. “Busy? What about
later” I used my translator to say
“NO!”
So... apparently this wasnt going to happen. Again, consider the time that you travel, Golden Week seemed to cause everyone a great amount of stress!
We decided to take the hint
and headed home for the evening,
Night Night time… what will
tomorrow bring?
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