I'm on the train right now heading for Xian city …
I left Rishikesh on April 25 … saying goodbye to a spectacular five months. Thinking on it now, it will really be something for me to return there in a couple of years. Not only did it prove to be the generating site of my Paper, but I feel it was the time of my greatest 'phoenixing' to date. A tremendous push into new heights of clarity -- in understanding my self and my place in the world.
In Nepal I didn't get around to doing much. In Pokhara I had an accident coming down a mountain road on a bicycle, flipped over the handlebars and did a brake-stand with my face. Cleared the skin off about half my face. It took me two weeks to look somewhat normal again. In Kathmandu I ate like a cookie monster, wandered streets, watched movies, and visited a few temples.
I have a hard time denying to myself that the Tibet of old is a dying memory, following the assimilation of the North American Indian in exactly the same manner. Nobody is going to argue with 1.2 billion nuclear Chinese who are currently experiencing the greatest period of economic prosperity in their 4000 years of history over a minority people numbering 'a mere few million' -- know what I mean?
From Lhasa to Xining (via Golmud), to Batou and Dongsheng (via Lanzhou and Inner Mongolia). Visiting the mausoleum of Genghis Khan was neat; I slept in a Mongolian yurt (tent). There wasn't much to see actually, but the name is fascinating.
Beijing was a city I stayed in for two weeks, eating in a Mcdonald's for the first time since Istanbul. You would think with the name "Beijing" along would come scenes of unsurpassable splendor, the crown of centuries of Chinese arts and artifacts. Well, it's not. It's true that the Forbidden City is there, and the Summer Palaces, Tiantan Temple, several monasteries and temples -- but that's about all there is: buildings.
When the communists took power in 1949, the government that fled to Taiwan in exile packed up tons of China's treasures and took it all with them, where it is now on display in Taipei. Get this, in Beijing I could probably count on a couple of hands the number of exquisite works of ancient China. In Taipei I read in a guidebook there is over 600,000 rare treasures in the city's museum. A collection so vast that it ranks as one of the top three museums in the world and has to be rotated because it can't be shown all at once.
So aside from some interesting architecture and getting to see the richest, modern city in China, I did eat tons of good food, took in a performance of the Beijing opera and, of course, arranged a trip to the Great Wall (Mutianyu). In retrospect, a decent two week investment.
I left Beijing on August 5 and went for the city of Tai'an. Here I climbed the holiest of five sacred mountains, Mount Taishan, adored by Confucianists, Buddhists and Taoists alike. Six thousand stairs and seven kilometers later I was peaked in the clouds and in a strong rainstorm. Despite not seeing the famous Mount Taishan view I had an enjoyable time with the climb.
From Tai'an I went to a smaller city called Qufu to pay my respects to a very great sage in China, Confucius. It was here he lived, died and was buried. Out of all the attractions in China, it was this one I was most looking forward to. I don't think Confucianism has the pull it once did in China, but with me it certainly does. The place did not disappoint.
The man himself was buried in the Confucian forest along with sons and grandsons. It was a really neat place to wander around in for several hours. Throughout the forest were scattered hundreds of steles, tombs, statues of animals-sages-soldiers-warriors, archways. Combined with the sweet smell of the trees and a few kool-aid-like popsicles, I had a blast darting to and fro along forest pathways!
Next up, Qufu to Luoyang city, home to Buddhist caves carved 1500 years ago. From statues only inches in height to huge ones 17 meters tall, stretched about one kilometer along a river bank, there were hundreds of caves and niches. Buddhas everywhere. Some wild imagery.
Ta-da! Here I am! Just left Luoyang a couple hours ago and heading for Xi'an city on the train …
My average daily expenditure through the countries I have traveled in Asia look like this:
I'm on the train right now, passing from the city of Xian to Chengdu.
What's going on? I'm breaking up. That is, in the process of going broke.
By far the best thing in all of China is the food. Hands down, China beats every country I have been in. Cheap and damn well everywhere and anything. Nibble on a chicken head, pig's snout, or chomp some squid. Peanuts and chicken, noodles galore, pork up the yin yang. Ahh! Exterminate the peasants, save the cuisine!
Xian city, the center of Chinese civilization from the Zhou dynasty to the Tang (1100BC - 907AD). Lots of temples, museums, steles, and terra-cotta warriors. From an excavation of Emperor Qin's tomb, an estimated 6000 of these terra-cotta warriors are in the ground, with some 1000 of them on display. What you have here folks is a gen-u-ine glimpse of Qin's netherworld army, arranged in battle formation, dressed to the hilt in armor and loaded with weaponry.
Qin ended the Warring States Period by kicking the other five states' asses and unifying China for the first time ever. (Q='ch', so 'Qin' = 'Chin' = 'Chin'-a.) Him and his people adopted the Legalist philosophy, which I reviewed in India a while back. A brutally harsh approach to governing folks, which accounts why Qin didn't last long -- from 221 - 206BC.
I'm heading to the West of China: cheapsville. I currently have $470 US with me. Divide that by $11 per day. One month approximately, then the last $100 to get me into Hong Kong, then a plane filled with chickens to get me back to Canada.
I do have options rather than return to Canada. I could teach English in Taipei or Seoul for good money, but still not as good as the Canadian north. Quite simply because I can minimize expenses in Canada. So I'll just return for 2-3 years, slam as much as I can into an account before I go crazy working, then split again.