NEW YEAR 2016/17

New Year's Eve is something I've shifted my values on since I've grown older. When I was in my 20s/30s I used to see it in every year: in fact I did so last year and never recorded it in this blog, so here it is: I went into the old town with a couple of friends I sadly no longer see, but we saw in the year as I recall and had a very nice time. The Chinese love it! So here are a couple of photos from last year!

When I came to China in 1997 I stayed up till past 4am and called my parents, pretty drunk and they found it hilarious. Fancy dress parties and staying up till sunrise were part of the picture when I was younger. Now I don't feel the same, but I don't mind. Of course what I've no intention of doing is staying at home, however the nearest thing to a celebration I can find is a plan to drop into Route 66 for a few festive drinks, so I'm sure this will be fine, it's like a traditional pub night in England!

On the Friday before then I start booking hotels for my Guangxi voyage, and having finished my assessments in the morning, spend two hours in the afternoon finding suitable places to stay and making the reservations. I still don't manage to do all of it: one thing I do decide to do on account of my train to Guilin leaving so early, is to stay as close as I can to Beijing West railway station, so I find a place 10 minutes walk away. I stop for the time being and and go out for a few beers at R66, where I bump into the usual crowd. I don't stay too long as it's a little dull: I imagine people are saving themselves for tomorrow. Anyway the next morning I finish my reservations and partially clean my flat: it hasn't been done properly for about 2 weeks owing to various commitments and I'm becoming embarrassed about it! I know Iris has a friend who does some cleaning for the other teachers but I prefer to do it myself as I'm unlikely to be satisfied with anyone else's work. The kitchen still has pots and pans in it from my prawn curry of last week! I go out for some noodles, write some blog entry and do a little shopping.

Thinking about wishing people a happy new year I feel uncertain about this in such troubled and volatile times. How can we expect happiness when faced with political uncertainty in Europe and America, the danger of populism giving rise to neo-fascism and on a domestic level, the impending loss of my village community in England to urban sprawl? So I wish for a hopeful new year, after all I'll see Sarah again in the summer!

At any rate New Year's Eve is more or less as expected, however the weather is terrible: heavy smog again and snow. I have to hail 4 taxis before finding one who will take me on the meter. I can understand taxi drivers wanting to charge a bit more in such awful weather but remember that the Gregorian New Year is not a Chinese festival. So I tend to object in principle when they try to overcharge me : so do the Chinese for that matter! I arrive a bit early with few people around yet so I have something to eat as I wait for it all to wind up, but it's OK in the end,, I have a good time although I only stay till 11.30 owing to the terrible weather. I have thoughts of being stranded and begging to stay on someone's sofa!  

The next morning I wake up as usual and open my curtains to a whiteout: opaque whiteness like the inside of a ping-pong ball. Completely surreal. There is a ghostlike quality to everything and an eerie silence permates everywhere.

I'm a bit tired of going out and the weather is so horrible that I treat myself to a couple of nights at home!

I read some travel blog somewhere which describes somebody's pet hates about China: one of these apparently is being called “lao-wei” meaning “foreigner” but having the same negative connotation as “gringo” or the “n” word, pretty much what we tend to do in England. Actually I couldn't help wondering if China was the right place for this chap: he came across as not liking the people very much and if that's the case are you in the right country for you? But it did remind me of my own frustrations so I listed these but to balance it have also listed my 10 likes about China.

1. Mundane jobs become huge projects: Maybe it's the same in principle in any foreign country when you don't know your way around, but obtaining a simple product like emulsion paint turned out to be prohibitive in China and halted my painting project! Changing money at the bank, buying train tickets, simple household goods like a pop-up toaster or a standard lamp, all of these require a team of assistants to achieve and seemingly endless time and patience. It's a good job I'm not looking for a house!
   
   
2. Driving: It would be false to say the Chinese are the world's worst road users, but they hover precariously between caution and irresponsibility, the Chinese idea of courteous driving to be moving slowly when performing a dangerous manouvre usually prohibited by road law in order to allow anyone in the way to move so as to avoid being squashed. They drive vast cars not much smaller than American RV's along narrow hutongs, use cycle lanes and hard shoulders as extra traffic lanes and in short drive everywhere except up flights of stairs. Nothing short of an earthquake would cause them to halt their vehicles for any reason!
3. Electric Scooters: These are everywhere and while they may be a green and cheap form of transport they are also silent, very fast and driven with reckless abandon, often with children aboard. One has to be alert all the time to dodge these deadly missiles, sometimes referred to as “buzz-bombs” and “stealth bombers!”
4. Endless noise from house renovation: There does not seem to be a week that goes by without my having to wear ear-plugs to mufflle the ear-shattering noise generated by mega-heavy-duty hammer drills being used in the flats, or heavy hammering. No day is sacred: Sundays are often blighted by this racket, and it made me particular unhappy to hear it on Christmas morning! The only piece of good news is that DIY doesn't seem to exist in China, at least in these buildings, so it tends to stop at 6pm.

5. Honking Horns: the Chinese love their car horns and practice using them at every opportunity: this can create monumental anxiety ans you would normally only hear this kind of honking in a disaster film!
6. Backpackers: Blonde, usually American, German, Scandinavian and occasionally British, overwhelmingly female, hot-pant and flip-flop wearing, with huge packs on their backs and full of undergraduate expressions like “Awesome”, these dreadful people blight the experience of everything you do when visiting a place like China. Epitomising middle-class privilege and with mildly contemptuous expressions on their faces, they seem oblivious to the fact that very few people have the opportunity to go around the world doing just as they please. Naive, often supported by wealthy families or with established professions to return to, they tediously write travel blogs about worthless husbands or wimpy boyfriends they have left behind to “find themselves”. Expect ersatz lectures on climate change, globalism, computer science, politics and general drivel about their “awesome” lives! Plus a panegyric about the benefits of “backpacking!"

7. Smog; Nightmare subterranean gloom descends on Chinese cities in winter, acrid tastes permeate everything and everyone wears a mask. It's truly horrible and makes me long for fresh air!
8. Internet Access: Too much has been written elsewhere to weary anyone with the details of this: but it's so slow, intermittent and dependent on VPNs that suffice to say when you can't talk to your family overseas, you are frustrated beyond endurance! Some have left China because of it!
9. Here today, gone tomorrow; The Chinese are so friendly but their friendship sometimes seems based on your novelty value or a perceived indebtedness especially if you've bought them dinner! One day you'll send a text or email to a Chinese friend and receive no reply: then you'll send a raft of follow-ups until you realise they've lost interest in you. It makes me feel like a discarded toy: unpleasant!
10. People who persist in talking to you in Chinese when it's obvious you can't understand a word they are saying! This is so embarrassing and has made me walk out of restaurants so often I've lost count!

10 Likes;

1. The People; The Chinese are so pleasant, courteous and helpful, even when they don't speak your language it's impossible not to like them! They are also a deeply humble people and overwhelmingly hospitable!
2. The Culture: There is a richness about Chinese culture rooted in its history. Even in this ever-changing modern land you will find the Chinese playing simple instruments, practicing Tai-Chi or even quietly playing Mahh-jong by the roadside! Fireworks are everywhere especially during Chinese New Year!
3. The Landscape: The natural beauty and diversity of China is truly thrilling. It's a shame I can only experience a part of it but after Guangxi, if I could visit Tibet I would have ticked off most of my “bucket list!” Some parts like the mighty Yangtze river you can find out about online: there are enough blogs and images for you to have a taste!
4. The Variety of Cuisine: At it's best, Chinese food is unbeatable: this is tempered by the fact that you often find truly awful food as well, but once you begin to know your way around you find endless variety, colour, taste and sensation!
5. The Architecture: Fascinating, diverse and steeped in history, Chinese classical architecture is truly glorious. I feel privileged to see a small part of it. Sadly I don't have the same degree of enthusiasm for modern Chinese architecture, but sometimes you can be very impressed, especially in Beijing and Shanghai.
6. The Trains: Cheap, punctual, efficient, comfortable and fast, China's rail service epitomises the modern Chinese economic miracle. The rail network connects China comprehensively and if there is a downside, it's incredibly busy: the Chinese prefer this as their method of travel!
7. The Hutong: These warren-like alleyways of China's cities are an unmissable part of China: quietly fascinating, they form the essence of Chinese community, with a real pulse of life within. Here you can lose yourself in old China and escape the monolithic, headlong rush of the city outside. How long for, I don't know, as the Chinese government seems to place little value on them and they are disappearing rapidly as China continues its breakneck pace of modernisation!
8. The Customs: Sometimes baffling but always interesting: a Chinese wedding,if you can attend one, would be an experience. The holidays are times of family get-togethers, eating dumplings and cooking. If you are fortunate enough to have a meal with the Chinese, they will not allow you to pay!
9. The Hospitality: The Chinese are incredibly welcoming: walk into a restaurant or bar and they will clamour for you to sit and join them, buy you endless drinks and food and will be offended if you try to pay! If you need help they are only too glad to provide it often without being prompted. They will invite you to their homes for dinner and if you buy them a gift will buy you a bigger one!
10. The Arts: Chinese music, dancing and calligraphy are endlessly engaging and fascinating. You will see human beings performing acts of agility you never thought possible and in Beijing opera see inimitable costume and performance art. Modern art is a little conservative, but still well worth seeing!