Mother of Egg

And then it was just the two of us, alone in a world of Chinese. Many more dumpling breakfasts, noodle soup lunches and meat surprise dinners kept us going as we made a bee line to Sanya, China's own Gold Coast, on Hainan Island. A late night train to Yichiang found us following a Dutchman we'd befriended to his hostel only to find he'd been ripped off so we walked the streets at midnight until we found a clean, comfortable and cheap hotel (with an honest hotelier). Three days later we managed to escape this crazy town after 'hiring' an agent to get us an onward train ticket. He said, with a straight face, that we would not be able to buy the ticket (we knew that) and that he had a special relationship with the ticket seller. We visited the mighty three gorges dam, which was big... and were shooed out of a restaurant being snapped at as 'waigoran' (White Ghosts) - our first sense of explicit racism since the border town of Mengla, four weeks earlier. Fortunately, we were met with many acts of kindness along the way that helped us forget some of the simpler folk out there.

So on we went, having dealt with the mix of pleasure and frustration that comes with visiting a town with no other Western tourists. We had to get to Sanya, then back up towards HK to celebrate mum's birthday in early October.

Looking over the Three Gorges Dam ($34 entry for foreigners, 2minute bus ride and body frisk included). It was a massive structure and did seem to be drawing the crowds (from Beijing and Shanghai) though I can say that I probably won't need to see it again if ever I return to the region.

This is from the same platform, 180' around, I was impressed a little bit here. They have a five-tiered boat lift (It does have a proper name) which seemed to have four large boats in each lane, rising and falling. The crowd with yellow caps and a leader with the tour flag were leaving so I didn't get to see the whole process.


Back down in Yichiang (while our agent was working his magic at the train station) we walked along the Yangtze and sat watching this team for a while. The were carrying what looked like oil drums, hoisted up with bamboo poles, and sang a Chinese shanty song as they ran down the gangway in unison to load the boat over and over again.


Once on the train we relaxed and settled in to our 22hr sleeper to the bottom of Guangdong. As was becoming the trend, someone in the carriage knew a bit of English and was keen to have a chat. This fella (Rike) was a tour guide who had no interest in Lisa but wanted to be my friend, using the Chinese/English dictionary to exchange pleasantries. He was very helpful, jumping off with me at one of the main stations to get some snacks. He stopped me from buying noodles for no obvious reason but when we got going again, he walked over with some noodles and two other items left over from the supplies for his group. The first was an egg, described as 'an egg'. The second he struggled with describing but eventually came out with 'egg mother', being a cryopacked chicken leg of course. Rike and I stayed up into the night, and he got very excited when we stopped at the birthplace of Chairman Mao. Eventually I got to bed but was woken up at about 0630 by Rike who wanted to give me a mooncake for breakfast! He helped arrange a great taxi fare (which we shared with the M&D in the picture below) that went for almost 100km. Train is definitely the way to travel in China.

We made it to Sanya after a few days in Hainan's capital, Haikou, where everyone is a little happier than on the mainland. Sanya was a pleasant enough place to celebrate our anniversary. We treated ourselves to a few nights in a relatively fancy hotel on the beach and had some nice meals out. Strangely, Sanya is mainly patronised by Russian tourists even though it is fairly close to Indochina, sprawling with the usual backpackers. We met no Australians and most touts spoke to us in Russian or Chinese. Most restaurants had Russian and/or Chinese menus and the beach was littered with Russians dripping in gold and coconut oil. My travelling companion did not permit the publication of any sunbathing shots on this post.

On our last night in Sanya, we ate on the beach then wondered why so many Chinese were setting up incense circles and sandcastle altars in the moonlight. Curiosity got the better of us and we wandered amongst the groups. Lisa got talking to one group (pictured) who confirmed it was the moon festival and it was moon cakes all round! We were given some orange cordial to wash down the extra gluggy cakes, a Chinese delicacy involving duck eggs and sold in every food store in fancy red packaging. An acquired taste. I went for an early morning swim the next day and was a little put off by all the rubbish in the water but reassured by the teams of workers sweeping (seriously) the sand.

Dad was flying into Macau soon and Mum to HK just after so we got moving northward, another train trip, another fella wanting to talk to me for the full 17hrs, another series of instant noodles. We made it to Zhuhai and stayed in our first home in a while, that of Tessa, Harvey and Sissi - friends of M&D from the University where they worked. We were made very welcome and spent four days with the family, playing with the ducks, dining out, learning about the zhizhu and generally enjoying the good company. Eventually Mum and Dad arrived and we very much enjoyed both their company and local knowledge for a few days.

One of Tessa's school students was employed to give Lisa a facial, one of the best she's had. I declined.

This is the zhizhu, a stringed instrument that is pleasant enough to the Western ear and played here with a lot of flare by Sissi. Harvey is her biggest fan.

Sissi is also a budding veterinarian. This is one of three ducklings that she combed on this fourth floor windowsill every morning. Sources have confirmed there are now only two.

A ferry trip to pick up mum in HK, 24hrs of shopping for the girls and a few flash meals saw my wallet much lighter though we were better for it, enjoying a brief reprieve from China before jumping right back in again. At about this time, I wrote to Wanda and Jonas, asking if they wanted to meet up again, joining us for a trip into the country with one of Dad's ex-students. The four of us were re-united in 48hrs and joined Dad and Ben Lee for a trip north to Fuxi, still in Guangdong.

At the markets en route, meat products for everyone.

This is Ben Lee below. He took us to DanxiaShan, a mountinous NP not far from his hometown. It was quite a climb so some adventurers hired the locals for a few dollars to help then up the hill. Notice the fella in the botom right of the shot above- most men took their shirts off as it was well into the thirties and humidity was well up.

It is tradition for the men to prop up the rock with sticks, so I did what I was told.

It was quite a hike to the top from water level. We drank the litres of water that we'd brought from home fast so handed over whatever the stalls wanted when we saw some.

At the summit, we struck the local pose and prepared to descend.

The downhill run was well signposted.

Ben, Wanda and Jonas hold on for dear life. OH&S is yet to take a hold in the Middle Kingdom.

Ben Lee translated the sign by this monastary. If we could reach right around together, we'd found the right partner.

We eventually made it to Fuxi, Ben Lee's hometown. On arrival, his mother, Mrs Lee, had a banquet prepared with all manner of tofu, chicken, water lilies and other local specialities. Ben's grandfather has worked the rice padies for most of his 80 odd years and every grain on the table was his own. Plenty of pijiou (beer) and thankful gestures as we ate up. Cousins, Uncles and Aunts etc. helped fill the room with plenty of laughter. This was one of these experiences that no tour group can manufacture. This town is a few hours east of Shoguan and Ben's late Grandmother could not remember seeing a foriegner before my father visited a few years ago. Lisa and Wanda were the first females!

We ate breakfast in the Fuxi market. This women (like Mrs Lee) cooked everything on a wood-fired stove.

She was very excited to serve these strange looking visitors. She also had some pretty crazy dental work with a whole lot of gold and silver.

We spend most days shopping, though we rarely buy. This hat is much heavier than it looks. It was presented as a wet weather hat. I think it has a few layers of fibreglass on top.

As well as being the consumate host in the kitchen, Mrs Lee fixed my rucksack with her leg powered sewing machine. When she heard I was going down the road to use a cobbler, she would hear nothing of it.

I asked Ben if he could recommend a barber. he was a little worried but not as worried as the barber was when I walked in the door. A crowd gathered as my blonde hair hit the ground with all the black locks.

I look concerned because I am. This was 'think ahead motoring' at the most extreme. The good people at Yamazuki Motorcycles in China came up with a design in late 60s and they stuck with it.

Here is the family: Grandad, me, Lisa, Mrs Lee, cousin 'Suzy' who was Lisa or Wanda's best friend, depending on her mood and Ben's Uncle all outside the Lee family mansion, high on the hill. Wanda and Jonas left a day earlier as she had to rush home for Uni from Shenzen. We said fairwell again, but who knows?, we may see them before Christmas as we don't plan to be too far from Munich...

One afternoon, Ben took us on an excursion to 'Old Fuxi'. As we drove on, he explained that one of his Uncles owned a mine out in the hills that he wanted us to see. It was eventually understood that they were mining uranium for power, and it doesn't exist on any map...

The entrance, where we were presented with helmets and no lights. The tracks on the left of the shot are active - a little train with two dripping carriages creaked past us on two occasions. It operates 24/7.

Ben looking unconcerned, Lisa wondering why she's standing in an unofficial Chinese mine. We took the right pathway, meeting 'pants only' miners along the way. The party was pleased whe I suggested we head back after about 300 stairs at 45'.

The view from our bedroom at the Lee house. The valley had this fog every morning and the million ducks in the yards just below got very rowdy at sunrise.

Back in Guangzhou, we met mum and the four of us celebrated her birthday with another three ex-students. A fancy French meal with some good wine near the Concert Hall was quite a treat after going without rich, creamy dishes for so long. These three had ordered a silk dress for mum, made to measure, by those in the know. We shared breakfast in the morning and Lisa and I headed for HK to catch our plane that afternoon to the Middle East.

After almost seven weeks in China, across five provinces, we were ready to move on. Noodles, plumbing, mystery meats and the challenging mix of the language barrier and an alternative logic made for some occasionaly draining adventures. But this is being written some time after we left (China has censored the subversive blogspot!) and looking back, it is such a fascinating place as so many aspects of their culture are beyond comprehension. Though I don't know when, i'm near certain that I'll make a fifth trip at some time in the future, probably after watching the Olympics from a safe distance.