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So I don’t know if you’ve heard, but China is pretty big. I severely underestimated the amount of time I needed to visit my ancestral homeland and ended up staying for about five months! And I haven’t even seen everything I want to see!
Places (July 2009)
Places (August 2009)
Places (September 2009)
Places (October 2009)
Places (November 2009)
Shíjiāzhuāng
September 3, 2009
For me, Shíjiāzhuāng stood out because I just couldn’t seem to find a place that would rent me a room for the night. After arriving in the afternoon, I tramped around town, asking place after place, only to be turned down because: A) They were full, or B) I was not Chinese. With evening coming on and still no lodging, I scrambled onto a bus towards Píngyáo, ending up in Tàiyuán (on the way).
Tàiyuán
September 3, 2009 – September 4, 2009
I arrived very late at night. The bus dropped us off somewhere south of town. I ended up walking several kilometers into the town center and did another hotel hunt, eventually finding a sketchy place with slightly stretchy morals. I discovered that I had lost my netbook’s AC adapter and panicked until I realized that there wasn’t much I could do about it. Making the best of the situation, I enjoyed myself the next day, sampling street snacks as I walked to the Shaanxi museum, which wasn’t busy despite having many beautiful pieces and being free admission.
In the afternoon, I caught a bus back into the city center. I got off earlier than I should have, but was treated to the sight of a crowd of locals watching a building being torn down. In the evening, I ran around looking for my AC adapter at the lost and found departments of three different bus stations. At the last station, I was given a number to call the next day. Wanting to press on, I took a late train to Píngyáo.
Píngyáo
September 4, 2009 – September 7, 2009
Píngyáo is famous for its old town, completely encircled by Ming-era city walls. I arrived rather late at night and walked through the city gates into the old town, dark and quiet. Luckily, I found an inexpensive room in a beautiful courtyard house. Píngyáo was beautifully old, often touristy in places (sometimes garishly so), but also decidedly non-touristy outside specific areas. It was a mixture of ancient and restored, decrepit and shiny. I really enjoyed my time in Píngyáo, especially when the weekend was over and the town quieted down. The local cuisine was tasty, especially the cat ear (not literal!) noodle soup.
Not all of the sights are within the old town walls. I biked out to Shuanglin Si, a nearby monastery, to see its exquisite Buddhist sculptures and statues. Art students stood around molding busts after the pieces on display. Although the temple seemed to be falling apart, with muted colors and fading murals, some work was being started. Since photos of the interiors were not allowed, I made some sketches in my notepad. On the way back from this enjoyable outing, I almost clothes-lined myself while speeding under a metal cable stretched low over the sidewalk.
I also took a day trip via bus and minibus out to the Wang family castle, a huge compound of courtyard residences filling the spaces within a large perimeter wall. Although they were visible from the castle walls, I did not visit any of the neighborhoods of cave dwellings on the hillsides below. Unluckily, I slipped and banged myself up (and my camera) due to the damp weather. It was nothing serious, and a good reminder to be careful. I lost track of time and almost missed my connection back to Píngyáo, but my luck held.
On my final day in Píngyáo, I did a self-guided walking tour around the old town. In addition to its several temples, a number of Píngyáo’s historical buildings are maintained as museums, many of them related to Píngyáo’s background of trade and banking. These included: the County Yamen (the old administrative center, with the jail, troop quarters, etc.), the Risenchang (one of the first Chinese banks), Millionaire Hou’s residence (one million was a huge sum back then), the Qing Xu Guan Taoist temple, an old armed escorts company, a Christian church, the Confucian academy, and the City God temple. I did a lot of wandering around the old parts while going from place to place. I followed up that full day with a walk along the city wall, and took so long that I almost missed the train back to Shíjiāzhuāng!
Shíjiāzhuāng
September 7, 2009 – September 8, 2009
During my hunt for a hotel this time, I finally understood why it was so hard to get a room in Shíjiāzhuāng as a foreigner. I ended up going with a tout and wound up in a residential apartment complex where some of the studio units had been turned into overnight rooms. It all seemed a bit sketchy, but it worked out in the end. I was giving Shíjiāzhuāng a second shot because I wanted to visit the temple suspended at Canyang Shan, which I visited as a day trip. After a bus from Shíjiāzhuāng, I missed the connection in Jingxing and ended up hiring a taxi to take me out to Canyang Shan. I ended up hiking past Canyang temple and up near the summit (with amazing views), including the temple/tomb of the Princess, although I didn’t have time to visit the last monastery, seen only from a distance. Luckily, on my way back, I just barely caught a series of connections that got me back to the Shíjiāzhuāng train station in time for a D express train back to Běijīng.
Běijīng
September 8, 2009 – September 14, 2009
Arriving late in Běijīng, I applied my recently-developed philosophy of “best effort” and gave my best effort to get out to the electronics district to buy a power adapter for my netbook. All closed, but I had given it my best effort, so I wasn’t hard on myself. I eventually did get a replacement.
On this visit, I set about visiting some of the places I had been postponing for one reason or another. Usually, the reason was because I was getting up later in the day, and I expected these places to each demand a full day. First was the Summer Palace, out in the pleasant green outskirts. The historical context alone of the residential palaces was immense fun, but even with the crowds, the lake-side environs were pleasant, and often quiet off the main tourist trails. The Tibetan-style buildings, temples, “Suzhou market street”, the marble boat… I ran out of time, staying well past nightfall. But it was still a lot of fun and a great way to spend the day.
On another day, I visited the Forbidden City. I took a day, wandering through the different palaces and gardens contained inside its walls. Many of the palaces had been converted into museums, displaying royal treasures. While many buildings and walls had been recently restored, others were still in some disrepair. It’s hard to say which set was more appealing.
Afterward, I wandered around the area, with its mix of modern and older architecture, much of it distinctive. I went in search of a traditional Peking opera house in the area, but they were closed that day. Dawdling in the area, I revisited Tiananmen and Qianmen at night.
I eventually did catch two different Peking opera performances in two different venues. I also attended the Tiananmen flag-lowering ceremony at sunset. I sampled various delicacies at Jiumen, a sort of food court of traditional Běijīng snacks and dishes that might otherwise disappear. This stay in Běijīng, while punctuated by the big sites, was as memorable for the quiet, little places.
Dàtóng
September 15, 2009 – September 16, 2009
I had taken a sleeper train to Dàtóng to visit the Yungang Grottoes, a collection of ancient Buddhist carvings and statues covering the side of a cliff. In size, they ranged from tiny to huge. Individually and collectively, they were impressive! I walked around town later that afternoon. Unfortunately, one of the major temples was closed for renovations and new additions. I ended up walking along some food streets, butcher streets, etc. I saw people lining up for a popular mantou shop, waiting to buy large bags of freshly-steamed mantou.
I spent a long time at quiet Shanhua temple, sketching some of the old statues in the main hall and watching the sun approach the horizon. Before the sun set, I made my way to Dàtóng’s nine-dragon wall, one of the three largest in China (the other two are in Běijīng), and passed by the Drum Tower, now at the center of a traffic circle.
My final day in Dàtóng, a late start meant having to hire a taxi driver out to the Hanging Temple, built over caves on the side of a cliff. The temple itself was cool, but kind of small. My main memory of that day was when the driver kept delaying when I wanted to head back to town, hoping for more fares, even though I’d hired his entire taxi. I ended up nearly missing my train: A traffic jam near the train station meant I had to run about a mile back to the hotel in order to retrieve my backpack, then run to the nearby train station. I just barely made it onto the train. Exciting?! But then, since the driver kept driving slowly and pulling off on the side of the road and waiting some more, I did get to see a nice sunset.
Hohhot/Hūhéhàotè
September 17, 2009 – September 19, 2009
To be honest, Hohhot was an impulsive side-trip. Hohhot wasn’t that far from the famed grasslands, and prime season wasn’t all that long ago. Earlier, I had considered my map, and thought that Inner Mongolia was pretty darn close to Dàtóng, so I went there. I ended up in a seedy area by the train station, but it was convenient for transportation and food.
In town, I only visited Da Zhao temple, spending most of the day just walking around the city. Hohhot had a distinctly different atmosphere than what I’d experienced so far. Architecturally, the building styles had mixed in what I guessed were Mongolia influences. In addition to the usual Chinese Hanzi, Mongolian script was even more prevalent than English.
I eventually decided to skip a grasslands tour (given the generally poor reviews for the area), and instead took my time at the Hohhot museum, which had nice exhibits, although it lacked detailed English descriptions for most of the displays (apart from the title captions). Some of the displays were really interesting, and I found the security guards to be quite informative (as far as I could understand them with my limited Mandarin) and friendly, although they were quite strict about enforcing a no-photos policy in some of the areas. Unfortunately, I ran out of time at the end of the day, missing several exhibits. Next time?
Finally, I visited Baitai (White Pagoda), hiring a lady taxi driver to drive out to the middle of nowhere. She actually came in with me, as she had never seen it before. I guess locals are the same everywhere – they rarely bother seeing the tourist attractions on their own. 
Xī’ān
September 20, 2009 – September 27, 2009
After a sleeper train to Xī’ān, I did the usual hotel hunt, walking from the station into the section of town enclosed by its city walls. The city walls were built during the Ming dynasty, but what was even more impressive was that the Tang, an earlier dynasty, had an even larger area walled when Xī’ān used to be known as Cháng’ān.
As usual, I wandered around the streets, making my way in the evening beyond the south gate, catching some organized dancing and singing in different parks. Another evening, I attended a production of some traditional performances, glammed up for modern sensibilities. Not really my style, but I still appreciated it. I walked through the Muslim district, sampling some of its fine dishes. Xī’ān was a food town for me: yangrou paomo; baozi with chili flakes; a dumpling banquet where the dumplings were shaped and sculpted (ultimately disappointing); ròujiāmó!
But mention “Xī’ān”, and if anything comes to mind, it will be the army of terracotta soldiers excavated at the burial site of the first Qin emperor. I made a fun day trip of it. In addition to the three excavation sites, the museum with the miniature bronze chariots and carriages pulled by teams of miniature horses were incredible.
On a separate day, I hired a taxi driver to take me to the mausoleum of Jing Di, a quieter, higher-tech excavation, but no less enthralling due to its own terracotta figurines.
I was also on a bus that was inexplicably held up by police, before spending a pleasant afternoon at the Shaanxi provincial museum. The museum was excellent, with many interesting sculptures and pieces. I unfortunately ran out of time that afternoon. I also visited Big Goose Pagoda, although I only admired it from outside. There was a lot of new development in the area, notably a huge shopping arcade with Tang stylings.
Huàshān
September 27, 2009 – September 28, 2009
Huàshān is one of China’s five sacred Taoist mountains. It has five peaks that are supposed to resemble the petals of a flower. Huàshān was a two-hour bus ride from Xī’ān (I very nearly had a bathroom emergency due to the ròujiāmó from the previous evening, but I just made it!).
Huàshān has a bit of a reputation for being a difficult climb, not simply from the elevation ascended, but also because some of the sections are trickier or much steeper than others. There’s actually a fair bit of hype on the internet about how dangerous it can be, but it wasn’t all that bad (for me, at this time of the year, with all the safety measures that have been added). From the start, I skipped the cable car to the top, choosing to ascend the eastern route (the “soldier’s path”). On the way up, I passed a number of people on their way down. The climb up the stairs was strenuous, but fairly pleasant. Once at the top of the first peak (joined by the crowds who had taken the shorter route or the cable car), I followed the trails to the western peak, finding a bunk in one of the hostels. I watched a cat exhausting its prey, and heat lightning along distant peaks.
The next morning, I woke well before dawn, and waited at one of the observation points for sunrise. Watching the sun rise over the sea of haze was enjoyable, but I found that it’s one of those things I don’t really need to do so much. (Good to know!) I dawdled after sunrise, watching the shadows change, and then resumed my hiking circuit around the other peaks. Oh, and there was also the plank of death. 
I took a different route down to catch more sights, and emerged back in town. In the end, I was happy that I visited Huàshān. Although it’s not mountain climbing, it’s still strenuous hiking and a lot of going up and down thousands of stairs.
Luòyáng
September 28, 2009 – September 30, 2009
Getting to Luòyáng was a little odd – I had to catch a hurtling bus from the side of a smog-obscured freeway. Other than that, and a huge traffic jam to cross into the neighboring province, the trip was straightforward. Hotel hunt, wander around, food, all the usual.
Luòyáng also has the Longmen Caves, close kin to the Yungang Grottoes. The Longmen Caves are, in some ways, even more spectacular. I underestimated (misunderstood) the scope of the site, so I ended up missing one whole section. I went back the next day, which is a little unusual for me in that I rarely return to a site. The second day was even better, as the lighting was better earlier in the day. I also visited some of the temples and parks in the area.
But Luòyáng wasn’t just about the historical places. It was also about the local scene, the night life, the people, and the food. Sure, the area I was staying was more than a bit seedy (it must have been the brothel center of Luòyáng), but it still had its charms. As usual, I liked to return to places I enjoyed eating at, even when I’m only in town for a day or two. The staff usually do recognize me on subsequent visits (probably because I take photos of my food).
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