China coast to the deepest interior

FROM THE BEACHES OF QUINGDAO, PUTUOSHAN, TO THE DESERT OF URUMQI

a de-brief on the excitement of these last two weeks....

friends Reid, Isabelle, and I were on a mission to find a nice beach to hang out on, and fulfill our nostalgic memories of good times in Cali.  Thus we were hoping on and off buses along the coastline searching for a nice nook where we could do some serious chillin'.  China is becoming rapidly a tourist wonderland though (95% of which are chinese tourists) so most places have some authoritarian scheme of tickets, passes, tours, whatever... which we attempt to avoid at all costs.  the best move we made was to buy an old tarp off some fishermen, which meant that suddenly we had shelter, given we could find a few long sturdy sticks.  this the local chinese always found very amusing, whole hordes would congregate and watch our operation, trying to figure out what these foreigners were up to.


we were setting off one fine morning to a hike, got talking to some Korean lady, and ended up getting dragged up to her restaurant for lunch.  this was a serious gourmet chef that had decided to set up on this beach here in China - gastronomical wonders, a whole bunch of beer - these Koreans were a rowdy bunch.  we tried to bail after lunch without losing too much face, given we could never hope to pay for the meal (they were treating us) but instead they insisted we all go together and do some karaoke - the favorite pasttime of these people.  very odd dynamic, them singing in korean, we in english, communicating with one another in chinese.  more beer was had.  so yeah, basically we ended up sleeping in their restaurant that night.

at some stage we arrived in this cool place called Yang Kou, a long beach surrounded by mountains, kind of a touristy/fisher village.  figured this was the spot to be, set up camp and went out for dinner, leaving some of our gear behind.  had felt a weird vibe from some characters hanging around our camp before, but didn't pay attention - there's always chinese hanging around checking out what you are up to, there is no such thing as privacy in china.  anyway back from dinner our bags were missing!!  the full moon was out and we saw them scattered around the beach.... very very bummed.   not much stuff was stolen after all, but we are over it, find an overnight security guard nearby and crash on his doorstep. 

back in Qingdao we are in the endless struggle to try and get money.  It's really curious, each of us has a 'Bank of China' account in beijing but aparently all the other 'Bank of China' building around the country are somehow... different.  meaning they don't have a clue as to how we can access our money, with our Bank of China ATM cards, or other means.  The most ironic moment was when this one bank representative told us to go to the Construction and Communication Bank, they might be able to help us; which obviously resulted in us getting laughed at when we got there - feel helpless.  The most wonderful thing though was when i happened to notice a random little Bank of China ATM inside a department store - we knew the department store at least would have it together, they want our money after all.  so that scabby little ATM worked, but the main bank branch accross the street couldn't deal with us.  don't ask me how this country functions financially, it's beyond me.

ran through Shanghai one day on the way to some islands - crazy building everywhere, kind of cool eastern twist on modernity but people are mean capitalist bastards compared to the relaxed feeling in Beijing.  but it was worth checking out i guess - the best part actually was leaving Shanghai by boat, steaming our way through the old ports with super glittery building on either side, humongous billboards in chinese and english, a funky cargo boat chugs by.  was all kind of cool.

our beach explorations culminating in the islands southeast of shanghai.  the first destination was supposedly the less touristy option, but they had strict tickets to get into the beach, we were fooled.  we clearly didn't pay a dime, but managed to get sunburnt and wet anyway.  that night a massive tropical rainstorm hit.  crazy lightning cutting the skies, fatty rain pouring down.  the outdoor restaurant we were at refused to see us huddle under our tarp and absolutely insisted that we sleep in their room inside.  Reid and I really wanted to watch the storm so we managed to leave after a long time convincing these people that we would not die.  Was amazing how much they felt obliged to take us in though, Isabelle really had no option i think they would have tackled her and dragged her in before allowing her to go out and watch the storm with us.

so then we head to the more touristy island, which was super cool, it's one of the 4 Buddhist sacred sites in china.  Stayed in this lady's house, who hijacked us as soon as we were off the boat, was a nice mellow setup.  Sneaked into beaches during the day and night.  found big old ruins that the army used ten years ago - we were going to stay there one night but got freaked out and ran back to the beach to camp, tails between legs.  too scary, thunderstorms in the distance don't do much to help.  On the way back to Shanghai on the boat, these wild chinese from the north decided they wanted to toast a drink with us, which turned out the be a 2hour drinking ordeal straight from hell.  bad news since we are on a boat, no where to escape to.  alcohol is a serious part of chinese culture, i remember on our trip to Inner Mongolia our teachers told us to at least 'fake' drinking the god awful white liquor to not offend our hosts.

So....   

now Isabelle went back to Beijing, she starts school earlier than Reid or I.  we decide to throw a 180 degree twist on our vacation, get on a train heading northwest for a long, long time.  51 hours later, Xinjiang province, city of Urumqi, the world's furthest metropolitan area from the ocean, who would have thought Kristian Beadle would arrive here one day.  I wish i had a world map just to see where i am.  The air is fresh and dry though, and there are all sorts of Uygurs, Kazahks, Chinese, Pakistanis around.  Arabic and Chinese script everywhere.  hope to find some nice lakes and mountains, hike around. 

Beer fest and robbery

last time i did let you people know i was heading down to Qing Dao, where the Tsing Tao beer fest was taking place- we never actually took part in that wonderful event, since it looked so tacky and cheesy, and ended up on the beach camping.  been doing it ever since, many misadventures, such as being treated by Koreans to great food and karaoke, having some of our gear stolen while we were out eating, getting blasted by a tropical rainstorm.  so far so good.  Currently in an island south east of Shanghai - will fill in on more details later....

The relationship between beer and massage

massage is the key to life in China.  there's five hundred hair dressers on every street, for $1.50 they wash your hair and give you a head/face/back rub for 45 minutes.  but that is not enough.  Bathhouses are where it's at, a bit more expensive but it's full on.  first you strip your clothes and are thrown in this big communal shower - you need to have consumed at least 2 beers beforehand to feel comfortable.  next they give you a miniscule excuse for a hand towel which is the only thing to cover your vital organs and plomp you on this table and work you for an hour and a half.  many innovative technique are used, including some salt like substance which exfoliates your body like no other.  then you're given a robe and thrown into this room with couchs and beds, everyone is chilling watching TV.  at this point one of two things have happened.   1, women come up to you aggressively and offer to give you the "big airplane", otherwise known as the great ride., usually combined with suggestive hand gestures.  2, bunch of interested blokes come up and talk to you, and the only english word the know is 'gay'.  that's right, at that point we usually leave.  the funny thing is that my buddy Nick, who just so happens to be Buddhist, and very down to earth and righteous lad, is most often the main instigator of our late night massage pursuits.

leaving today with my buddies to go to this coastal city where the country's largest brewery is.  they're having a 'beer fest' this weekend, all tickets by train are sold out but this afternoon we'll go to the train station and figure it out.