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Postcard from the Edge 15/5/2002 Nine word summary: lost luggage, food, drink, Water
Rats, anonymity & stone carvings [pictures at the bottom] Surprise, surprise I am back in China.
We wandered out of the airport (slightly dazed) in Guangzhou &
immediately found a taxi. The man helped me load my bag into the boot and drove off -
without me! I chased hit down the
road, thumping the car until he finally stopped.
Before he said or did anything, I opened the boot, ripped out my bag and
walked back to my colleague who was absolutely aghast what had just happened.
The driver was pulling the old "well wait a minute, I can
explain" face. It wasn't good
enough for me. We was off in
another taxi. I am lead to believe
he was avoiding a fine for something, but I was still feeling peeved Once we found the hotel, we went for a stroll. Many
restaurants keep live animals so they can guarantee fresh food for their
patrons. Usually there are tanks of
fish with the occasional cage of frogs or tortoises.
You hear the occasional chicken, but I am quite sure they don't keep live
cows! We walked past one place that
was absolutely showing off - snakes, worms, yabbies..... and a cage with 5
crocodiles, each over 1 metre long. Interesting,
but I’ll stick to fish on a Friday....... We had "baijiao" with one of the dinners.
Otherwise known as Maotai. Paint stripper.
Rocket fuel. Satan's urine. Even hours after drinking it - burp - and your mouth and nose
are reminded of that very unique experience. It must work though; anyone who
knows me knows that I actively avoid karaoke.
Well that night I sang Elvis, Simon & Garfunkel, Beatles and a few
more. We were out in the boonies where the are no western
TV stations. I did a quick
channel surf to find Water Rats …… dubbed into Mandarin.
I wonder if Steve Bisley knows he speaks Chinese. At a dinner, Mike my colleague was about to spoon some
reddish brown gellish substance onto his plate. Having had some before, I though I had better clarify its
origins. “Is that ducks blood or
chickens blood?” I asked. “Chicken” said in a very matter of fact way.
Mike considered it and carefully put it back. Mike and I went for a walk. We came in after an hour.
We walked straight into the lift and at the same time, so did one of the
many hotel staff. Being courteous,
we let her press the elevator button first.
She hit her floor and then proceeded to hit Mike’s and then mine.
I guess that being the only westerners in the hotel, everyone knew all
about us. Another time Mike came
down for breakfast, but didn’t see me. He
started to go back to the foyer, until he was gently guided by the hotel staff
to where I was sitting. I might
make it sound like we are laboratory mice at times, but on the whole, it is just
a keen interest on their part. There
have been countless occasions when people have shared food with us, practiced
their English with small conversation or helped us with directions.
On the whole, I find the Chinese a very kind, courteous and helpful
people We had some time off one morning, so we went from town
(already an hours flight from Beijing) down to the local stone carvings:
In some caves , there are over 1000 carved Buddhas.
Must dash. Mike |
