There’s always that uncertainty of hailing a cab in a new place. Are there certain rules that everyone else knows that I don’t? should I have known that trying to get a taxi at a Chinese airport at 10:30 pm was an impossibility? And you just stand there convinced that everyone else is aware of these unwritten rules except for you. Except maybe they are actually written rules and I just can’t read them.
I remember the first time I got screwed by taxi changeover time in hangzhou. I was just pissed off by the irrationality of it all. Compounded by the fact that I was very publicly an idiot trying to hail a cab during this mystical time. Let’s just say I don’t hide my perceived futility well.
Anyway, called the inn and the chick said the shuttle was the way to go. Fair enough. If I don’t have to make choices of bus or destination, then things are significantly easier. No paying attention required. Just know that when the bus stops, you get off and only then do you worry about another subsequent mode of transportation.
The sign said 22 kms to town, so how long could that take? Really? About an hour over a totally chewed up, muddy road. But I felt my first bout of the random kindness that ultimately peppered my vacation. I had the one big backpack in back and the smaller one wrapped around the front. A very helpful man at the back helped me disengage from my stuff and arrange it so it wouldn’t fall on top of me. I didn’t have to ask or look more needy than I already was. And of course there was the immediate flinching when recalling dark bus horror stories I’ve heard before—pickpockets and other unsavory types!—but I don’t really consider these to be things that would happen to me. There’s definitely a skewed rationale that I’m karmically sound after jiaxing. Nervous laughter…
Anyhoo, 22 kilometers. It looked (and felt) like a war zone. At least what I would imagine a war zone looked and felt like, having never actually been to one. There had been heavy rain the week prior, so everything was washed out, rocky and muddy.
When I got to civilization, most of the taxis rejected me. Again, that feeling of “what am I doing wrong?” I’ve got the address in Chinese and am saying it, but nope. Finally, one dude ripped me off to the tune of 10 rmb. All the other cabbies were looking at me like I was an idiot and at him like he’d just struck foreigner gold, but seriously, 10 rmb. And it didn’t turn out to be some place like 100 yards away, which would have made me feel incredibly stupid. But fuck, it was 11:30 at this point. I’ll take what I can get. He stopped at the edge of a street where the proprietor of the inn in which I was staying was waiting to escort me down the side streets. Another very nice thing that I wasn’t expecting. Kind of strange to get out of a taxi at night and have a stranger in a new city greet you by name and take your bags. That’s alright by me.
An inn is a new thing for me. Like a hostel, but more compact and lived-in feeling. Maybe the Chinese version of a hostel, which just means the courtyards are more elaborate. I’ve yet to pinpoint the distinction, but it’s there.
My room was small and shabby, but charming. The hot water seemed to be unending, which was good because the nights there were actually chilly. Jacket or sweater weather in the evenings! Delightful. Drank a couple of large, local-ish beers, chatted with the peeps who worked there, got the best sleep I’ve had in a while.
Day 2 Having purchased a map, I resolved to go get lost in the labyrinth that is lijiang old town. Mind you, I’d purchased a large bottle of sunscreen and it was ready for me to use. All I had to do was spray it on. I just didn’t. for some strange reason. Chongqing is fucking humid, but I don’t get sunburnt. I was transferring that experience to this one. My bad, which I would realize at the end of the day.
Anyhoo, a mere street over I stumbled upon “Fall in love” café, or something equally suggestive. It was run by a very friendly and helpful former shanghai dude. He directed me up to the roof to drink my yunnan coffee, which he gave me a discount on. Sweet! (another instance of random acts of kindness from Chinese strangers). Blue skies, a breeze, clouds, mountain. Idyllic as fuck. I remember thinking “I don’t know when was the last time I saw a sky like this.” but if I had to guess, I’d say it was the last time I was home for my vacation in Missouri. Midwestern skies are pretty nice, if I do say so…
Sitting on the roof I had a full view of the old city grid spread out before me. Tiled roof after tiled roof. Strong black coffee and a map with intended destinations, including lunch. the man suggested a place with good “organs;” but he saw I was more a fan of bbq and noodles, non-organs. My plans were to eat at a market and head to a temple. Haggled 80 rmb off a 180 rmb bracelet along the way. Saw the same bracelet in dali a few days later. Starting price: 80 rmb. Fuck! But I didn’t let that deter me on my quest to haggle well. Ultimately I think I came out on top. Ate 3 rmb noodles at a market full of naxi women, baskets and babies. Never found the temple—let’s just say that it’s easier to get lost in lijiang’s old town than it is to end up at the place you were aiming for.
Temple substitute was mu’s house. Some famous Chinese dude who had a palace. Go figure. I guess it’s the same with temples. Once you’ve seen a temple or a palace or anything old and Chinese, they all tend to lose their intrigue. i think I had this epiphany after visiting Tibet 5 years ago. Nothing has ever compared to a tibetan temple. But now I’m just being an asshole “I remember when I was in tibet…”
Anyhoo, at mu’s house there was a very helpful guy who bought my ticket to the other park, whatever the name of the highest point in lijiang is. we can see that this is a very scientific record of my travels…
I met him when we were both struggling up some stairs. he wouldn’t tell me his job or what he studied in university. It was all “secret.” But he was nice enough. Funny how receptive one becomes to talking with Chinese people when they’re not constantly singling you out as “other.” Or maybe not “funny” at all. I had a completely pleasant experience with a random stranger because the city itself didn’t make me feel like a total fucking alien, and by “make me feel” I mean there wasn’t the uber-conspicuous pointing, whispering, laughing, or (everyone’s favorite), the slap on the forearm of the person next to you and then the pointing to direct their gaze to me. Or maybe there were all of these things, but people in lijiang have somehow mastered subtlety. both are a credit, and both are okay by me.
So that was nice, and unexpected. to be able to lose the hostility for a day.
I ventured out to eat some of the local food, which was some sloppy dish with a whole chicken and what I can only describe as crinkle-cut fries. I’m sure that’s the technical term. But it was 80 rmb to eat a whole chicken. the people in the shop seemed shocked that I didn’t really care, even if it meant wasting a bunch of food. But I said I didn’t have any friends to eat with and this mother and daughter invited me to come sit and eat with them. but at that point I’d noticed that the whole chicken part of anything with a whole chicken in it in china isn’t actually the greatest. Whole lot o’ beak and feet action. It’s like they take the good parts and hide them. seriously, breasts and thighs, where they at? Heh heh.
Ultimately, dejected and desperate (okay, not really), ended up at a Sichuan restaurant. I have no idea what I ordered. While I waited for the items I pointed at, the waiter just walked up to the fish tank and grabbed one out, no net, no nothing, just bare hands. Or bear hands, maybe that’s it. it wasn’t for me, but it seemed noteworthy.
One of the waiters got a nose bleed and stood there patiently while another waiter very meticulously fashioned a tissue bullet to plug his nose and even inserted it for him. that’s one funny thing about china, no worries about having tissue up your nose. The little kids do it, the adults do it. blood seeping from a wound isn’t something that necessarily needs to halt activity. efficiency rears it’s ugly head in the most random situations.
end of day 2. tiger leaping gorge up next. overall impression of lijiang: not a must-see. if i never go back to this city, i'm okay with that. it's a nice place to buy things and eat, and the sky is beautiful. but as far as actual activity, look at it as a starting point for the gorge. my humble opinion.
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