It's All About the Guanxi: Changzhou

Guanxi definition: the interplay of a complex network of personal and social relationships. It can be understood in terms of it not being just what you know, but also whom you know. This is still a central concept in Chinese society.

Staying with Wen's family in Changzhou was a great experience - her parents, brother, sister-in-law and nephew all live in the same apartment. Learning the little intricacies of Chinese lifestyle was fun - slippers, drinking hot water, how insanely spoiled kids are (thanks to the one-child policy, I presume?), showering at night, the food, etc. I spent most of my time with Wen's mom (a professional Chinese opera singer/actress) who speaks the Shanghai dialect. Combine that with my terrible Chinese and it could have led to disaster. Luckily with patience and hand gestures we were able to have (limited) conversations.

I also spent some time with friends of my dad and Wen's, discussing possibilities of an import/export business - we'll see if anything comes of it - I know absolutely nothing about business, not to mention starting one.  One of the friends introduced me to a TCM doctor in Changzhou, and I got to spend some time shadowing her at a hospital and asked loads of questions.  The biggest difference between acupuncture in China and the US? PAIN. The acupuncture I watched was nothing like the pleasant and relaxing experiences I've had back home.  Other than that, I spent my time in Changzhou taking long walks, eating dumplings, volunteering at an English learning center, and watching terrible Chinese soap-opera.

Also thanks to guanxi, I was able to get a train ticket to Beijing in this crazy Chinese New Year travel period (I'm just one of the 230 million people currently traveling, mostly by train) thanks to Wen's family's connections with a police-officer. Corrupt? Maybe.

Maybe it's because I can speak a little of the language, or because I'm a Lao Wai (foreigner) girl traveling alone, but people have been extremely helpful. Thanks to the TCM doctor I met on the bus in Huaihua who helped me pick out cold medicine, bought me lunch, and made sure I made it on the train safely. Thanks to the woman I met on the train who helped me navigate Shanghai's metro system, also bought me lunch, and called Wen's family for me to give them details about when my train to Changzhou would be arriving. It's these little things - the kindness of strangers (and friends and family) that has really made my trip amazing.

Yin, Yang, Trains and Snow: Kunming and Huaihua

Woke up this morning to a few inches of snow! It's hard to imagine that a week and a half ago I was swimming in a waterfall in Laos.  After a 30 hour bus ride to Kunming, I spent a few days adjusting to China and have realized two things - my Chinese sucks and good coffee is hard to come by.

Luckily I got a train ticket to Huaihua (Chinese New Year is right around the corner and this time of year is the largest mass migration in the world). So traveling (especially by train) is utter insanity. I did manage to get a sleeper bed, but it was the top bunk (you can't even sit up), right next to the speaker, and also right next to the smoking cabin (it wasn't the smoking that bothered me - but the Chinese men who seem to deliberately make as much noise as possible hacking up phlegm). The speaker was only a problem at 6:30am when they started playing a terrible version of "My Heart Will Go On", followed by an instrumental version of "Hi-Ho" from Snow White, then the Kenny G. Christmas album (which I didn't mind as much). Seriously where do they get their soundtracks?

Currently I am sitting in a freezing cold room (buildings generally aren't heated in China) at Zhongfang International Red Cross Hospital. I'm taking a week-long course on Traditional Chinese Medicine, focusing on basic theory and acupuncture. I'm the only student. It's really interesting and I look forward to my "classes" everyday. There is loads of information to take in and it's somewhat overwhelming, but at the same time it has made me realize that pursuing acupuncture/Chinese medicine really is my path.  The doctor teaches in Chinese, which I can vaguely follow, but there is a translator as well.  The hardest part for me so far has been trying to shed my Western medicine view of the body/physiology - in Chinese medicine, organs have more holistic functions, and everything is more interconnected. 

Dr. Lili, my teacher, and I at the hospital (and an acupuncture doll)

Huaihua, as a city, is pretty much a dump. Luckily the hospital is really nice (and new), my room has a heater, and all the doctors/translators/administrators I've met so far have been extremely friendly and helpful. And there's even an exercise room! It's quite a walk to the nearest store (I made the venture yesterday), and there aren't really sidewalks (combine that with a busy highway, snow/ice, and crazy drivers), so I think my ventures off hospital grounds will be few and far between. So pretty much I'll be living off of Nescafe, oatmeal, instant noodles, bananas and apples for the next five days.

After Huaihua I will head to Changzhou to spend Chinese New Year (or part of it) with Wen's family. 

{Note Tracey went to login to her blogspot account from China and found it was blocked. Therefore I'm (Brooke) posting for her from Seattle. Yea censorship!} 

Journey up the Mekong: Luang Prabang

It would be really easy to get stuck here. Really easy. I've already been here for six? eight? no...nine days. And I could stay a few more weeks. Or months. And in all honesty, I haven't really been doing much.  I did bike 40 miles out to a waterfall (for some reason I thought it was going to be flat...but no), so I think that makes up for my eight days of not doing anything.

Excellent coffee, magnificent views, baguettes, real cheese...but the real gem is the people. So far, people in Laos (I suppose I'm generalizing - people in Luang Prabang) have been the most welcoming, friendliest, and kindest I have ever met. 

Swimming here was awesome. Especially after the longest bike ride of my entire life. 

The wall between foreigner and local seems to be a little shorter here. I celebrated New Years with the family that runs the guesthouse (and they refused to let me compensate them for the copious amounts of beer I drank), spent the day yesterday exploring caves and temples across the river with a local student I met while volunteering at an English conversation center, and even bargaining at the night market is always done with a chuckle.  The tuk-tuk drivers are not as aggressive - maybe they're all stoned? (They sell much more than just tuk-tuk rides).  The other day I accidentally gave 1000 kip (about 12 cents) too much for a bottle of water to a woman who runs a small shop outside of her home - and she came running down the street after me to hand me my 12 cents. Again, I'm generalizing, but I don't think that happens much in Thailand (or China).

Only one more full day in Luang Prabang. I really wish I had more time to explore more of Laos - obviously my view is limited being in this touristy, ex-French colonial town (hence the baguettes) - but without a doubt I am returning.

Goodbye good food, friendly faces and people not trying to rip you off at every opportunity. Hello, China.

Forgot to mention the 10,000 kip ($1.20) vegetarian buffet at the night market. Best. Thing. Ever.

A Green Christmas: Northern Thailand

Wat exploring with hostel friends in Chiang Mai,
Sharing mentos with a monk on the minibus to Pai,
Barbecued duck and searching for the perfect tree,
It wasn't quite Christmas like home but still filled with glee.
After parting ways with my Danish travel buddy,
Hopped a bumpy bus to the border and slept quite ruddy,
Thanks to the karaoke bar next door.

Floating lanterns on Christmas Eve

Temples and Crickets: Cambodia

Cambodia was beautiful and heartbreaking. The temples of Angkor were best explored on bicycles with friends. Ruins only slightly spoiled by bus loads of tourists, but I suppose we were part it. Parting ways with Keelin and Ian was strange, part of me felt like I should have been on the plane with them back to Seattle, celebrating the holidays in the cold and rain and with family.

Early morning at Angkor Wat

After parting ways I hopped on a bus to Phnom Penh, ate some crickets (tasty snack, as long as you don't look at them for too long before putting them in your mouth), and braved crossing the streets (you just have to commit).  Two days in Phnom Penh was enough - big cities aren't really my thing, so I took a bus to the south coast. Really, though, I wanted to go to the Northeast and cross into Laos from there.  Dodgy border and unreliable transportation made me wish I wasn't traveling alone, so I took the safe route. Sometimes you have to sacrifice.

Cambodia was difficult at times - shoeless children trying to sell you their bracelets, land mine amputees begging everywhere - it's hard to know what to do. The wounds of the Khmer Rouge are still fresh, but even the beggers and amputees, after just smiling and wishing them the best, find it in them to smile, genuinely, back. Except for the five year old who tried to sell me a bracelet that called me a "tight ass white girl" after I (kindly) refused.

Next stop is Northern Thailand. Bangkok for one night was enough, but I'm glad I got to experience Khao San at midnight on a Saturday: eighty cent pad thai, drunk Westerners passed out, literally, on the street, tuk-tuk drivers trying to get you to go to 'ping-pong shows' (don't even want to know), loads of lady-boys, and endless trinkets, clothes, bags, shoes, etc. to be bought.