B&E Photography: March 2013

Friday, March 22, 2013

Tunxi, China - Push it, Push it real good

Charming, historical, and well populated despite its small size, Tunxi was a great find for us. We had finished earlier than expected in Guilin and, after hastily researching somewhere to go and fill the time, found ourselves in a part of China with a great blend of culture and modern convenience.

We happened upon our hostel by chance when our other hotel had given us such bad directions that we were forced to find something else as the night was getting late. A great couple visiting from Shanghai randomly helped us along to their hostel located in the exact area we were trying to spend the night. The hostel was so cheap, clean, and centrally located that we ended up using it for our jumping off points.

The next day we woke up early to catch a 6 am bus to a famous mountain in Huangshan. The mountain had three ways to get up: ascend the difficult eastern steps, the treacherous western steps, or take the glorious and pain free Gondola. Take a wild guess which one we chose! After paying for our ticket, our guide book stated the line for the Gondola should take no more than 45 mins. What came next was Erica and I's biggest test of patience yet. We rounded the corner and viewed a line twisting and turning with absolutely 'no light at the end of the tunnel.' If the line were a snake it would have been an Amazonian Anaconda the likes of which the world had never seen. Why were their so many people? We quickly ascertained that it was Women's Day in China and that all Chinese women are admitted free of charge. Every grandma, aunt, sister, girlfriend, niece, cousin, mom, daughter and then some had come to see the mountain. To top it off people were not standing in line in an orderly fashion. It was chaos at best as people shoved, pulled, squeezed, and slipped through trying to get by one another without any concern for their fellow human's well being all while blowing snot and hocking loogies making our stomachs flip and flop with disgust. How is this the norm? We found ourselves forced to jockey for position or be left at the back of the line. Admittedly, when we did shove people around, without saying a word, they would look at us like, 'nice move.... touche touche'. It was without a doubt the most irritating and nerve racking ordeal we've ever put ourselves through. After three and a half hours, we reached the top and were so fried from the experience that we barely looked around, decided instead to just find some remote villages to see, and quickly set our feet in the direction farthest away from the crowds and confusion.
It sounds really bad, and sometimes it was, but it was such a contrast to have people be so helpful in with directions and then completely and seemingly ill-mannered. However, that is strictly just our experience and we hopefully are not deterring you from seeing a truly unique and wonderful culture and landscape; it's more of a warning so that the shock isn't quite as extreme for future travelers as it was for us.

Leaving the mountain, the village we entered was really unique. It was listed on UNESCO as a world heritage site and we could see why. The entire village had small water drains that ran through them like veins; matter of fact, it was built purposely to resemble an ox's entrails for a reason we never did find out. As we first entered, we noticed three women cleaning items in the stagnant lake water. Upon closer inspection our worst fears were confirmed: two were cleaning vegetables while one of the ladies was skinning a cat for dinner. Yep! I'd say this village is definitely just reached the level of authentic! On a less stomach wrenching note, one of the bridge's in the village had been used in the very famous movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

The next day we were suppose to travel, I got very sick with the barfs and China Belly and had to stay in bed. Erica took great care of me as I slept, complained, and threw up around her. It was definitely not my most handsome moment but she tackled it like a champ!

With the previous day dedicated to being ill, it was time to head to our next stop, Shanghai, where we look forward to meeting up with friends of friends and getting to see China's most modern city.

This was the crowd we had to contend with while waiting for our train

Our first bullet train of the trip, a maglev (short for magnetic levitation) travels at up to 240mph

All the alley's here are lit up with red, the true color of China

Where do these stairs lead to?

An awesome gateway to the old-town streets of Tunxi

Traditional style building at the foot of the famous Huangshan mountains

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Getting pushed and shoved for three hours really wears on your nerves

Just watching some traditional washing of the vegetables.....and....oh...yeah...the skinning of a cat for dinner

UNESCO World Heritage Site Village

Entryway to Chinese home

Famous bridge from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"

Erica ready to devour a hearty snack

Beast of burden

Busy day.....

These three little pigs went to the market

The alleyways in this village were endless which gave so much character behind every turn

Yummy!

Not sure how you do it, but I always wash my vegetables down by the river where most of the run off ends up

Sexy woman by the river

Village Pano

Village Lake Pano

Village Temple Pano

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

China - Guilin & Yangshao

We didn't have too many expectations for China, at least positive ones. We had heard that the people would be austere towards Westerners, the majority of the country would suffer from pollution, and there is a 50% chance of getting traveler's diarrhea; not exactly the idea for money well spent.The pollution part was right on the money, the runs is still a crapshoot, but the people we found to be surprisingly kind and helpful.
     Don't get me wrong, they have their quirks and cultural characteristics (as do all of us). Without tissue, men (and women) propel snot from their nose at supersonic speeds. Hacking up throat phlegm and distributing it on the street is common. And the all important personal space? Simply does not exist. Shoving, pushing, and line cutting is the norm and isn't considered rude; merely a way to get from point A to point B as efficient as possible.
     Sounds like a drearily painted picture eh? At first glance maybe, however you seem to adapt rather quickly because you'll either drown in thick mucous or get left in the dust of a Tuk-Tuk.
     We arrived in the famously beautiful city of Guilin. It's surrounding areas are the main attraction where we took a scenic bamboo raft and floated the always twisting and turning Yi river. This famed river feeds , not only the luscious greenery and tourism trade, but also the stomachs of the locals. Snails, baby eels, prawns, frogs, turtles, crab fish, and crabs are caught and distributed to the local markets daily.
     Unfortunately there are a lot more to the markets than first meets the eye, or nose. We had ventured into the produce section at first and, what looked like a normal farmer's market, turned ghastly and nightmarish in the blink of an eye. NOTE: If you are easily squeamish, please do not read the rest of this paragraph. Passing through a hallway into the next section of the market led us into a where-house packed full of dead animals and soon to be dead. Only, these weren't the typical animals you buy and certainly not packaged fresh from your local grocery store's meet department. It only took a millisecond to realize we were in the wrong place as we saw a duck have it's neck slit and hung out to dry. Jerking my head to avoid anymore eye contact with what just happened, we came upon a dog having the entrails removed. YIKES! Below the dog, and next on the chopping block, were the cats. WHERE IS THE EXIT!!!!!! Finally seeing the light of day, Erica and I made a mad dash towards the exit almost slipping on cow skins and bloody organs left for the pig scraps. The smell was overwhelming, the stomach acid now in our throats burning, and the images forever seared into our retinas were all a bit too much to take. This was a day that I wish I could forget, and yet, I most likely never will.
     Later that day we drove up the mountainside and went kumquat picking. For those of you who are not sure what a kumquat is, it can be summed up like this: a kumquat is to a tangerine as a tangerine is to an orange. Make sense? Anyways, it is a huge seasonal industry that provides great pride and wealth to the local villages and has been a family tradition for centuries. After our fruitful harvest, (no pun intended) we continued on to catch the sunset over the very well known hills of Yangshuo, but not first having bought a roll of fireworks that lasted over 25 seconds long. While I thought it was some of the most fun I've had yet, Erica rolled her eyes, lovingly laughed at my kid-like excitement, and politely apologized to the other individuals enjoying the once peaceful sunset.
     We learned a lot our first few days in China and we were ready to press on to the next province of Anhui where we would settle in Tunxi for our base of excursion.