The Beat December 2002

Story and photos by Mark Bausenhart

After teaching for several months in Busan, there comes a time when the doctor prescribes a vacation. Of all the interesting destinations in this part of the world, I chose to visit Korea‘s giant neighbor to the West. China has had such a great influence on the development of Korean culture, I thought that perhaps a trip to the Middle Kingdom would allow me to learn more about my adopted country, about Asia in general and maybe even a little about myself.

I wanted to go solo and not deplete my meager savings, so a package tour was out of the question. Besides, the last thing I want on a holiday is someone telling me when to stand, when to sit, when to eat and when to shit. Luckily, travel to the main parts of China these days is virtually hassle-free, straightforward and thoroughly enjoyable.

The cheapest way of getting to China, short of swimming, is by taking the twice-weekly ferry from Busan to the port city of Yantai. The boat is quite a luxurious affair; it has a swimming pool, sun deck, two bars, a karaoke lounge, a duty-free shop...the works. If you go in the off-season, you‘ll probably get an entire cabin completely to yourself, like I did.
From Yantai, trains and busses go in all directions. I went straight to Beijing, a 15-hour train ride. Beijing is home to the handful of guys who rule over one fifth of the earth‘s population. The city is monumental, huge, surreal. There are plenty of sights to see. The most pleasant way of navigating the center is by bicycle. Rentals are cheap and Chinese cities are a cyclist‘s paradise. There are bicycle lanes everywhere. Cruising through town with the cool breeze in your hair watching the Chinese getting on with the business of everyday living is like a dream.

Tiananmen Square is a great place to hang out as long as you don‘t get down and start meditating a la Falun Gong. Mao Zedong‘s mausoleum sits right in the middle. He‘s in there, pickled and preserved for all to see. In the square there are also groups of cute young girls who approach foreigners to practice their English. It‘s a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

From Beijing it‘s an easy day-trip to the Great Wall. This should not be missed. It‘s simply awesome. It snakes up and down over the peaks for thousands of kilometers in various states of decay or preservation. There are several places to view it. No matter where you go, you‘ll be impressed. The cheapest way to get there is by public bus.

After Beijing, I proceeded to Xi‘an, one of the ancient capital cities, 15 hours by train. This is the jumping-off point for day-trips to the 2000-year-old Army of Terracotta Warriors. The sculpted soldiers are all lined up, thousands of them, guarding the tomb of their emperor that has long since been looted and trashed. It‘s quite impressive. The Warriors are easily reached by public bus.

The city of Chengdu was my next destination. This is a thriving, modern and developed city. But my main purpose for going there was to see the panda bears at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, a one-and-a-half-hour bike ride from the center of town.

Panda bears must be the cutest, most adorable animals I‘ve ever seen. They live a great life, just chilling out and chomping on bamboo, totally indifferent to the tourists shooting them with their cameras. No one leaves this place disappointed. The museum on the grounds has an interesting bit of information: “The male panda‘s penis is so short, and the female‘s vagina is so long, that insemination is made difficult.” There is even a jar with a pickled panda penis so you can size him up for yourself.

A short bus ride from Chengdu took me to Leshan, home to the Grand Buddha, the largest in the world (71 meters). And the setting at the confluence of the Min and Dadu rivers is spectacular. Another short bus ride took me to the city of Chongqing, the starting point for boat trips down the Yangtze River, to view the beautiful Three Gorges before they get inundated when a huge hydroelectric dam project is completed in 2010. There are all kinds of boats in all price ranges. The best thing to do is to go to the pier yourself and shop around. I found a real cheapie and was the only non-Chinese on board.

On the first day down the river, the scenery consists mostly of ugly concrete towns and smoke-belching factories. But on the second, the boat passes through the Gorges. They are simply magnificent: huge rock walls jutting out of the water skyward. At the end of the second day the boat docked at the town of Yichang where most people get off. Boats continue all the way down to Shanghai, but that would take another five days, so instead I took a combination of bus and train to get there.

Shanghai rocks. The views from the Bund (the walkway along the Huangpu River) are great. The hundreds of colonial buildings built by the European powers back in the day, who made fortunes here and turned Shanghai into the “Whore of the Orient” still stand and give the city class. There are so many things to see and do in this fascinating city. Whatever your tastes, Shanghai can cater to them.

From here I took a 20-hour train ride north to Qingdao, the former German concession and home to the Tsingtao brewery, established in 1903, which exports its brew around the world. I was surprised by how much German architecture still survives. It makes for a very picturesque city.

My time was coming to an end, so I headed back up to Yantai. When I was about to fall asleep in my hotel room, the phone rang.

Hello?

Hihihi, messagee, OK, OK?

A message? How could I have a message? Nobody knows I‘m here!

Messagee, messagee, OK?

No message. Goodnight. I hung up.

It didn‘t take long for me to figure out that the girl on the phone was talking about a massage. The guy next door clearly knew what was going on; He indulged. And judging by the sounds of ecstasy and the banging of his bed on the adjoining wall, it was a real good one.

The ferry going back to Busan was late, so I arrived one day after the expiration date of my re-entry permit. The immigration officials were not amused. They told me my visa would be cancelled and I‘d have to apply for a new one and then go to Japan and get it. Yikes! Well, after a lot of bowing and apologizing I eventually was let off with a stern warning not to screw up next time.

The whole trip took three weeks and cost me about US$ 600. China is not the cheapest destination in the world; but it‘s still a lot less expensive than Korea. The point of a vacation is to escape and forget about everyday life for a while. This trip certainly accomplished that.