Trip to Changsha, China

Well, I went on a little trip to alleviate some stress. The school was feeling so empty, everyone was gone, both work and school were out, I decided to get out of town. I had a friend who lives in Hunan Province invite me out to visit, so I gave it a shot and went. I took an overnight train from West Beijing Station. That building is an awesome structure visually. It is really big, daunting and has a distinct Chinese flavor.

I rode in a soft sleeper car on the train. The soft sleeper cars have many small rooms, each with four beds. I could fit snugly into one of the beds. The beds were clean and comfortable and each had a TV on one end, by your feet, and the headphones, channel and volume control by your head. I left Beijing around 6 Pm and arrived in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province, at 7 Am the next day. I heard Hunan Province is known for a few things. It is where Mao Ze Dong was born and raised. I hear Mao’s little hometown, about 2 hour drive from Changsha, has become a small tourist spot. Another thing is Hunan food is pretty spicy but very delicious. Chinese people outside of Hunan are very prejudiced towards men from Hunan. I guess men from Hunan are very rude, boorish, ill-mannered, and all around bad. However, based on my trip I can not attest to that.

Anyway, Changsha has about 3.6 million people.Its amazing to me how many cities in China are huge, 3 or 4 times the population of Phoenix, and I had never heard of them until I came to China. As I was entering the city, I could see from the window some somewhat common sites. New huge modern high rises towering over ghetto-like housing and crumbling buildings. Piles of trash just heaped together on the ground left to the elements. That reminds me, I have rarely seen garbage trucks to the scale that we have in the states. In many places garbage collection is done by street workers with a dustpan and broom, or guys on bicycles pulling a cart.

After arrival, I unfortunately discovered my friend was busy most of the time I was there and I would have to do explore the city on my own. Fortunately I can attest that Hunan food is pretty good. I was able to eat at a few good restaurants, but it was really spicy!

The highlight of my trip was Yue Lu Mountian, on the outskirts of the city. The mountain is home to a big Buddhist temple. I climbed the mountain and explored the temple. I was surprised when a Buddhist nun gave me some apples and nuts. People usually give to the monks and nuns, not the other way around. I like the smell around a temple. The incense smells so good and makes one feel like they are in another world.

Back in the city, I went to Buxinjie, the most lively, clean, and modern part of the city. I have to admit though, I think I may have been the only white person in the city. I didn't see any others except near the train station, and everywhere I went I got stares, long looks, startled expressions, and called at "Hello!" You can tell when people are talking about you when someone looks at you, then nudges their friend, and their friend turns around and looks at you too and they start talking.

Most people all over China are bilingual to some extent. People are taught Mandarin, standard Chinese, in school. However, with family and friends people use their regional dialect or language. Some dialects are similar to Mandarin such as the Beijing dialect. However, most are as different as English is to French. I could not understand what Hunan people said among themselves, but we could converse in Mandarin one-on-one. We are lucky that in the states we can use regular English everywhere, maybe with the exception of some places in Kentucky or Arkansas. Just kidding! However, in China, the reality is many people have to study Mandarin so they can talk with people from other places or watch the National news etc.

Finally, on my way back to Beijing I had a startling discovery. I was looking in the mirror and found what looked like a colorless hair on my head. Upon further inspection, I found it to be a white hair! Wow, my first one!

Coincidentally, the next day back in Beijing, I woke up and opened the curtain to see the biggest snowfall of the winter. The entire city turned as white as a dove.