the good and the bad

I have always said that China is a paradox (though i suppose most countries are the same, though China might be more than most). Though most of last week was actually quite unpolluted (1 day i could see 'as far as the eye could see' for the 1st time ever in Xi'an), on friday it started to get bad again, and especially dusty (since all the building near the apartment). Thus, yesterday we went down to the Qin Ling Mountains a couple of hours away for some fresh air.

There are at least 8 panda reserves in these mountains, and we ended up in the worst. The 'zoo' is more like a jail in a war zone: full of concrete and metal bars. There is more money and space devoted to the trees by the paths in the zoo than on the animals in the zoo. It really was that depressing. There was no grass inside any of the cages -even the leopard was stuck in a 3x3m concrete and steel jail cell. It is a crime. And so depressing. Ironically WWF do a lot of work with other panda reserves and zoos in this area; I presume they do not even know that this zoo exists. The highlight of the zoo trip was when a peacock opened its feathers; the lowlight when some kids threw stones at the leopard trying to get it to move.

Thoroughly depressed we almost ran out out of the zoo angry at all things Chinese (not all zoos are this bad in China, honest) and drove West parallel to the mountains, spotted a village by the side of the road and thought that would be a good place to start our camping trip. The driver thought we were a bit weird; the locals in the village thought we were even more so, as we sauntered through heading along a small river in a valley, deep into the mountains. The village was named after a 1,000 year old pagoda nearby which we quickly checked out and discovered that most of the pagoda complex had been destroyed during the cultural revolution (10 year period from 1966 where Mao encouraged everyone to destroy anything of cultural value and defy elders and academics -which is somewhat weird, since China's 5000 year culture is based on the 2 elements of family and education; but hey, that is Mao -the evil dictator)

Thankfully the water, the green, the smells and the exercise made us forget the morning and after a few hours we were exploring villages that consisted of 3 buildings in a 1 mile stretch with the only transport to them being a footpath. It was great (again) to be in places untouched by development. No phone lines and even no electricity at the farthest village we reached to, and the views of the mountains were beautiful.

We camped along the stream and spent a while talking to a local who had 4 sons (20-30), but none of them were married (as no woman wants them, they are so poor) and only 1 was left at home (the others were working in the cities). He only had 2 cows for ploughing but spent ages telling us about the plants that could be eaten and the ones that could be used for medicine. He had lived on the hill for 50 years (though he had been to Xi'an infrequently). It is a joy to still talk to some of those 25-120 million people who are still in relative poverty in China (25m is china's number of extreme poor, 120m is World Bank's definition of poverty) who Plan is focused on helping (though we do not work in the area we were hiking in). Although this guy (in his 70s but still working the fields) is probably in the 120m bracket not the 25m, he lives mostly off what he grows and a few things to trade to buy other food. If anyone is near Xi'an; I highly recommend heading south and then west tot he edge of the mountains, picking a village and go off exploring. We'll be doing it again, that is for sure.

The water was so fresh and clean, as to be drinkable (according to the man, and verified by us); the people were so kind to us strangers it really is the opposite of Chinese cities where people and cars seem to actively barge or crash into other people and cars; where there is trash and pollution everywhere. I guess I'll be talking more about China over the next month in the UK to my Plan colleagues, and of course to friends and family, most of whom I have not seen for 18 months.

Chai

Chai (拆) is the character for Destroy and last month started appearing on a couple of the buildings on my little alleyway where i live. It is, the ultimate alleyway, with all kinds of shops selling useful and yummy stuff. A real, bustling, street full of people shopping and with a great vegetable market and small restaurants to sit outside of and eat in the summer. However after my 2 weeks out of Xi'an (Beijing -Thailand -Beijing), I returned to find 3 buildings already knocked down and another 10-15 marked. I guess it is only a matter of time until my alley with just a couple of apartment buildings becomes yet another cluster of 20 storey buildings and cars parked everywhere. Such is China.

It will be a shame, I like the cheap food and being so close to 'real China' where migrant workers live and work. I hope those who are losing their homes are being compensated enough (they are usually not). Keep watching to find out how quick the buildings disappear and what will replace them... there could be a miracle and some green space might appear, but it is unlikely!

Last night, leaving a club (the 1st i have been to in Xi'an in 8 months, since I normally stick to restaurants and bars) that was (predictably) pretty crap, me and my friends started chatting to the kids who were selling roses on the street. We gathered they all live together and some guy is looking after them. They say they are surviving ok with money, food etc; but who knows how much they get for doing what they do. They don't live with their parents, anyway.

There is a big problem of children being kidnapped, or being bought from their parents, to work for 'paymasters', and then (sometimes) returned to their parents later. In this case, parents are often so poor (or do not want their kids) that they willingly give up their children (though often without knowing what will actually happen to them). We are not sure how these children are (abused or not etc); but they said their parents are still in their hometown, so it seems likely they were either sold by their parents or kidnapped. Neither is good. So sad, and not just a Developing country problem, but one that is closely related to poverty and gender issues.

It seems that having an (new) Australian flat-mate is going to cost me money and brain cells with the amount of alcohol she consumes and the impact it has on me. Oh dear, perfect preparation for the trip home and plenty of partying at Ian's (Uni flat-mate) wedding in a few weeks!

Work and Fun in Thailand -a tough life

A 4 day trip to Thailand has been great for recharging the batteries. Remembering how beautiful nature is (i seem to need this reminder on a monthly basis due to the urban sprawl and lack of nature in Chinese cities!) I spent a day on a slightly random island which houses a few thousand muslim Thais, who that night just happened to be celebrating the birth of Muhammed.

So what would have been an incredibly boring night on an island with about 2 local shops, no other tourists (although i met 2 friends there) and no alcohol (when all the other islands are full of alcohol, parties, people, music and so on) ended up as a cultural experience as my 2 egyptian friends were able to talk to one of the locals who has studied the Koran in Egypt and thus explain everything to us. Good luck to Fadi who will spend another 3 months on the island (working). Good job he has the satellite thing for internet access otherwise it would be a lonely few months -but hey, at least his Thai will have to improve!

I suppose the island was what i though Indonesia might be like. 1 day maybe i'll find out. The beach though was beautiful -especially since there was no one on it; and i had fun riding a scooter around the island checking out the local's way of life (economy is all fishing). Then the next day, catching 1 of the 2 boats that leave the island each day I headed to a bay/island full of backpackers and cafe/bars that were all wooden shacks and fit in perfectly. It was, as Echo had promised, the 'pretty people beach' since everyone headed over there for rock climbing. I only had a few hours for lunch, so i missed the partying and was not keen to embarrass myself in front of so many climbing experts who were talking in another language all together. But it was still worth going to see the 'pretty people' especially since the other beaches nearby were full of their fair share of 'non-pretty' people. In other words, the overweight 50 somethings who like to sunbathe topless and get so red they glow in the day-time!

Yesterday was a work day at a conference that went well; despite UNICEF over-running and using up some of my presentation time... grr, damn UN people. Never mind, I am sure my presentation was better than theirs! Today was going to be half-pool and half-palace visiting, but the palace just was not as important as the pool-ipod-sun combo which lasted until the sun went down. Who cares about big empty golden buildings anyway?

Thailand is an unusual country, with a very very strong buddhist population yet huge problems in prostitution, trafficking and drugs. They have a vibrant democracy with frequent protests and an open media, yet admire their King like a god and have military coups every 3 years, like clock work. They have wonderful wonderful food but are so thin; 1 huge city but almost no others... The country is so full of foreigners it is crazy: beach-tourists, backpacker-tourists, sex-tourists and more. I am not used to seeing so many white people! Having said I am not used to seeing so much sun. And I am sure I won't be seeing too much sun in the next couple of weeks either -Sand storm season is coming, yay!