Spotted this at a newsstand here in China. In late April a couple new cases were reported in Bejing or Shanghai. We're told there's no worry. But seeing this on the front page of the paper just roughens the edge a bit.
Time to get out of the big city. Guangzhou. In Hong Kong we secured airline tickets on China Eastern Airlines to fly from the booming industrial metropolis of Guangzhou to the peaceful retreat of Guilin and the surrounding villages that dot the Li Jiang River and its offshoots and arteries. We had to be at the airport by 3:30ish in order to make the 5pm flight.
The Guangzhou Airport is a dump. Dirty, unorganized and extremely confusing. This didn't hinder my efforts in finding tucked behind the chinese tourists and students camped out on top of their luggage in front of the check-in agents, pass the fruit vendors the correct agent for our flight. A charming Chinese lady with a smile to put any of my stress miles elsewhere. OF course, the computer generated sing listing the flight number and destination wasn't above her station. It was above her neighbors. With airport tax paid and all of our documents in order she informed us the flight was delayed. For how long she and no one else knew. But it was going to be late.
We cruised through security and pass more fruit vendors, and happy knick-knack sellers hawking rid-yourself-of-wrinkles wardrobe steamers and whole fish wrapped in cellophane. With a Chinese original watercolor scroll art tucked under my arm it was quite amusing to my travel mate and the 2 other travelers who had to summon me back to wherever I left it behind. In all the hubbub of course. Soon we were in the gate area. Patiently we waited for news of departure.
The amazing thing about Guangzhou Airport is the paging system used for gate announcements. Even more primitive than the bullhorn used by cops trying to convince criminals with "we've got the building surrounded come out with your hands up...there's no way out," the young airline employee carries her paging equipment to each gate then belts out indecipherable Mandarin and screeching volume in full distortion. "No what'd she say?"
Good god. Will we ever get to Guilin. And how will we know? The beautiful pictures that make up the Chinese written words flash in blood red LED lights. Then a bit of roman letters. Hey. Maybe we can decipher this yet. Sure enough we soon discover that it will be 8pm when our flight finally takes off for the hour flight to Guilin.
Relief. At least we knew. But then again, at 9pm we began to wonder. Hmmm. Did we miss the flight. Lots of gate announcements but nothing that resembled Guilin.
Nobody at the airline customer service desk spoke English. And not a chinese student in sight wishing to practice English. A few words of English were managed: "go delayed flight desk". No things were getting clearer. Must be a lot of delayed flights here that they've dedicated a whole "desk" for the cause. But finding said desk would prove to be challenging. After going pass security and back through again (and yes, leaving that scrolled artwork behind for good measure) I could find no such desk.
Back at the customer service desk I pleaded that we just be guided to the desk. My request was honored and we were soon guided from the Delayed Flight Desk to a bustop curb side outside the airport. Now the jaded and adventurous part of me was happy thinking "gee, we're getting kidnapped and going along easily." But the pessimist in me (which is rare) decided that we were being ushered to a hotel for the evening because they hadn't sold enough seats on the flight and weren't going to burn the jet fuel to carry me, Bryan and a handful of others looking for peace and serenity in the Chinese countryside. No way.
Soon we were ushered onto a bus with a couple dozen other Chinese and winding through the dingy back streets of Guangzhou's airport district. A young boy was sent along to carry our bags. When we finally unloaded a mile or two from the airport we were greeted by a Chinese girl who was to be our liaison; call her our translator. She explained that we were to get some rest. The boy took our bags to a room on the fifth floor where we were pleasantly surprised to have a view of the courtyard below complete with a replica of the statue of liberty. Odd. Never did get the connection. But another trip to China and a delayed Guangzhou flight and I'll report back!
I paced the room while Bryan commanded the remote in search of anything English speaking on the telly. I start blogging. Feeling like the TV is rather loud I ask Bryan to turn it down. Neither of can understand it. Silence would be just as effective. He's asleep. Ah. The rest the airline promised. Yet before he could drift deep in REM sleep the phone rings and 100mph of Mandarin and click. Hung up. Wrong number? I figured. But the phone rings again. This time our translator. They're sending up food.
A knock on the door and we're handed two plastic bags containing a couple styro boxes each. Rice and a stir-fry. Don't ask what. But it tasted like chicken. I called back down to our translator.
"Can we get some beer. Tsing Tao?" I asked in my best broken English.
"Yes. I go to market and buy for you," she promised.
"Bryan. We're getting some beer," I explained just as the phone interrupted our rest time again.
"Sorry. No Tsing Tao beer. Only blue beer," our liaison offers. Explaining blue beer is fine she's on her way. Blue beer, I thought. I wonder if this is a lost in translation issue or if the beer we'll be getting is actually blue.
Another knock on the door and another plastic bag. This time with 4 beers. I pay the pittance and thank our liaison. Reaching into the bag I pull out the blue beer. Good god. Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now I know I'm lost in some wacky David Lynch flick. The stuff was terrible.
It wasn't much more than 15 minutes later when we're summoned by the phone to get to the lobby. The plane is ready and the bus is waiting. We power down rice, chicken like food and bad beer and as we whisk down the hall I hand the two extra beers to the girls just waiting to clean rooms or do whatever else they do. Giggling they accept the beers. But I'm confident they were not consumed. At least by the girls.
At this point the airport is closed. It's nearly midnight. We wait. And wait. Wait. And wait. After two hours a Chinese man gets irked. Words are thrown at the gate attendant. But no words are fired back. She just stares blankly as the man let's off steam. I guess he coulda used a bit more rest at the hotel. All of us could. We sat for more than two hours in the most uncomfortable plastic seats that were certainly a knock off of a 1960's Herman Miller Eames design.
Sometime after 3am we landed in Guilin and were on a bus heading downtown. To be sure, we had no hotel reservation. We expected to arrive at daylight, check out the town and choose a hotel that suited our fancy. What were we going to do at 3am in downtown Guilin? The bus dropped us off in the middle of a corral of Mandarin yelling Taxi drivers, each grabbing our luggage and trying to convince us to get in their cab. It's a scene that's oh so familiar in small Asian towns. I asked Bryan to be patient. Thinking it would be better to just wheel our luggage toward town than take a chance in getting shuttled to some mosquito infested dive, when one of the taxi driver's hands me a cell phone. It's Jerry and he speaks English. Smart taxi driver. I tell him the name of the hotel I had in mind and he calls and arranges a room for us. This cab gets our business.
At 3:30am we're in Guilin. It's only 12 hours since we arrived at the Guangzhou airport for an hour flight. Ah. But we feel great.
Photos: (1) Amazing selection of fresh fruit sold by airport vendors. (2) Then again, if you want a snack for the plane ride, consider a fish wrapped in celephane. Not refridgerated. (3) The high-tech paging system used for gate announcements at Guangzhou International Airport; (4) The gate waiting area at Guangzhou Int'l Airport -- when the airport was open.
A quick observation as we continue our Chinese adventure: the name badges worn by workers in the hospitality industry in China simply read a number. There's no name. Not in Chinese and not in the Roman alphabet. Sometimes these plaques that are pinned to the uniforms of housekeeping staff, bellmen, front desk and at restaurants simply display a 4,5 or even 6 digit number. Of course, I find this odd. But not really. After all, I'm in the "Peoples's" republic of China, not any one person's China.
Also interesting to note is that whenever we catch a cab from our hotel to go anywhere there is a sole person dedicated to providing us with a yellow slip of paper that informs us of the number of the cab we're taking. I guess just in case we leave something in the cab we'll know how to find the cab. This of course is assuming we could communicate such a misfortune.
Looking forward to traveling west. Away from the big city.
Since my arrival in Mainland China, I've found the people here to be warm, friendly and extremely honest. While Guangzhou certainly sees its share of western travelers, stepping off the main drag and away from the large Western Hotels and restaurants that cater to western businessmen the appearance of a fair skinned westerner brings about much attention and the gazing and staring eyes of the curious Chinese. Upon catching the stare I'd make eye contact and flash a big smile. Sometimes when sitting in taxi and an industrial truck with a load of chinese in the bed, I'd simply smile and throw my head toward them with a friendly and welcoming nod. No matter what I did the reciprocial result was a warm smile and often a wave.
Passengers on the back of motorcycles would crane their necks taking in as much visual of this western unitl the bike disappeared into traffic. A young woman working an exhibit booth recognized me from Chicago where I visited the Housewares Show in April. Feeling like a new found friend she smile, greeted and offered pleasantries as I looked at her wares.
"I remember you, she said with a smile.
"Oh, really. That's so nice. I remember you, too." perhaps stretching the truth but there was an air of familiarity I found in her smile.
"You were so fun. Happy. And talked to me," she expressed.
This made me feel warm inside. True many people graze from booth to booth at large shows. If you've been on the exhibitor side you know how many people just shrug you off or walk by you as if you were invisible. I guess I made an impression. And I'm glad it was positive.
When I was at checkout at our hotel in Guangzhou the cashier took a phone call in the middle of hte transaction. At first I felt this was rude and she should finish our business and let one of the 5 other associates working behind the counter take the call. But upon hanging up she said, "you leave small bag black in room."
She was right. There was a small zipper bag I used to carry loose items. But the zipper had failed and it had seen one too many trips. I thought I put it in the trash. But I'd left it on the desk.
Also, in Guangzhou I left another small black bag. This one with my digital video camera and my digital still camera. The hotel Together perhaps worth almost the annual income of an English speaking hotel worker. I know this because we met Sindy, a young woman offering her services as an interpreter or an agent. We took her out for a beer while in Guangzhou. She used to work for one of the bigger 5 star hotels in town. After a six year affair with a regular visiting Frenchman she moved to France to get married. After two years of dealing with his philandering and drinking she came back to Guangzhou. Now she was hoping to do business for herself. But tired of the hotel business and its pay -- Monthly salary for a front desk clerk at a mid-range hotel was 1,400 - 2,500 RMB a month -- that's $150 - $222 per month. Think about that for awhile.
Whever I went in China the smiles welcomed me. Walking down the crowded tourist mecca of West Street miles from the smog, noise and crowds of Guangzhou in Yangshou three teenage giggling girls came up to me. The bold one, about 5 feet with a perfectly round face and almond eyes surrounded by pristine complexion contrasted and framed beaufifully by striaght jet back hair tied with a yellow bow.
"Can I take a picture me with you?"
"Of course." I said as she primped herself and handed the camera to her friend. Soon the others gained the courage and asked to have their picture taken with me, too. I guess I'm as much as an oddity to them as the wrinkled and weathered Chinaman farmer wearing a bamboo had while guiding his water buffalo plowing the picturesque rice fields. I'd like my picture taken with him.
On a long hike down the Li Jiang River from Yangti to XingPing we ran into a bunch of students celebrating the May 1st laborers holiday. When the sky opened up and drenched all of us hiking one of the young students offered his umbrella for Bryan and I to share. He didn't want to see us get soaking wet by the rains.
Traveling to China. If you're interested in more great travel stories as I make my way from Hong Kong to China don't miss the following posts. Some difficulty in upoloading my blog entries in mainland China so Bloglet subscription updates won't go out because these are dated from a few days ago.
Take a moment and read through the following (and in the following order):
Or simply jump to the Travelogue section of The Digital Tavern and scroll to the bottom and read up. There are a few other posts from my arrival and days in Hong Kong if you haven't read those either.
And stay tuned for more exciting stories and photos as I make my way into the heart of mainland China and away from the big industrial cities.
Guangzhou is a busy and therefore booming and bustling. Home to about 8 million Chinese the city is also known as Canton (Kanton). Seems most major cities have a few names attached to it and why not a couple different spelling variations thrown in for color.
For the first time since cruising the highway at a great clip we were in the chaotic mess of Asian city traffic. If you've been to Bangkok, Jakarta or the other great Chinese cities you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't think of your favorite American city at the busiest rush hour. Now strip away the lines on the road. Now get rid of the traffic lights and put in circles or roundabouts. Let's lose the crosswalks. And while we're at it, we may as well remove the pedestrian caution and fear of becoming a human pancake splattered on the tarmac. They simply walk out into the street without looking. Drivers race through the streets with one hand on the wheel and the other on the horn. Tooting in some rhythmic fashion making one think that the pedestrians and bikers must be tuned to the frequency and simply walk hypnotically. I wonder what the pedestrian fatality rate is.
Back to the streets. To mix it up and make it spicy throw in thousands of bicyclists, motor scooters and motorcycles. Oh, and let's not forget these motorcycles sometimes are carrying three or even four people. All these two-wheeled demons are on a death wish as they weave, cut and brake then accelerate and ultimate make their way through the urban snarl. I was always at odds about rolling the window down during the many taxi rides I took while here. The spewing dirty diesel fumes, the perpetual grey smog-infested skies and the incessant coughing and hacking of the population just made me nervous. But air. I need air. The window comes down.
Yes. We're officially in Guangzhou. And this time of year it's busier than most. Because in addition to the millions of residents nearly 100,000 foreign visitors attend the Canton Fair. Officially, The Chinese Export Commodities Fair (CECF) is the largest trade show in China. Operating two sessions annually (Spring and Fall) the Fair has been operating continually since 1957. In recent years the fair has grown from a meager offering of 10,000 or so products and commodities to over 100,000 products and approximately 7,500 exhibit booths. It has grown so much that the show is now in two massive exhibition halls including a new complex located 20 km on the other side of the town from the original complex. The show also spills into some of the bigger hotels.
After spending many years working with high tech clients I've seen the biggest of the big shows including Comdex in Las Vegas, which saw its peak in the late 90's and CeBIT in Hanover, Germany. So to imagine Guangzhou you must think Comdex at its peak. Where during Comdex a $89 hotel room is $300 or the Motel 6 runs $150, in Guangzhou the four and five star hotels run $300-$500 nearly 4 or 5 times their normal non-fair pricing of $75 or less. Then again, after spending time in Guangzhou, the only reason to spend time in Guangzhou outside of the fair is if you really have to. Not because you want to.
The fair (trade show) is massive. We planned two days to explore and learn. This would prove to be barely enough time. With a focus on a new business venture we avoided the old exhibition hall altogether. But wondering through the maze of booths and products it quickly becomes clear that China is the 'factory to the world'. With glassware, housewares, shoes, bags, backpacks, toilet seat covers, shower curtains, ceramics, plastics, wood products, petroleum products, animal by-products and you name it -- you can find it at Guangzhou. And if you're a wholesale importer distributor, you will find it cheaper than virtually anywhere. But that doesn't make it better -- even for the bottom line. Doing business here is what I've affectionately call the "China Challenge". More on that as we explore.
Photos: (1) Traffic snarl in Guangzhou; (2) Pazhou Complex (new Exposition Hall) at Chinese Export commodities Fair (CECF) in Guangzhou, China; (3) Everything is made in China. Though when you travel in rural China you won't find these seats because they have no toilets, simply foot pads and a porcelain hole on the floor.
Spotted this at a newsstand here in China. In late April a couple new cases were reported in Bejing or Shanghai. We're told there's no worry. But seeing this on the front page of the paper just roughens the edge a bit. 
Time to get out of the big city. Guangzhou. In Hong Kong we secured airline tickets on China Eastern Airlines to fly from the booming industrial metropolis of Guangzhou to the peaceful retreat of Guilin and the surrounding villages that dot the Li Jiang River and its offshoots and arteries. We had to be at the airport by 3:30ish in order to make the 5pm flight. 
Another knock on the door and another plastic bag. This time with 4 beers. I pay the pittance and thank our liaison. Reaching into the bag I pull out the blue beer. Good god. Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now I know I'm lost in some wacky David Lynch flick. The stuff was terrible. 
