Slow boat to China
CHINA | Tuesday, 27 November 2007 | Views [339] | Comments [1]
Day 4: Birthday aboard
I hadn't slept well. The dreaded snorer had struck and he demonstrated an impressive pitch and volume which penetrated my brain even through the music coming from the headphones I'd donned in an effort to block it out. But the bad sleep was forgotten now as I watched the humorous characters on the train to the port. One man was a newspaper collector whose job it was to get all the newspapers from the luggage rack above the chairs. There were a lot of newspapers and this man, 5 foot nothing, jumped all the way down the train like a jackrabbit. Another man walked though my carriage with a bag of women's gloves he was selling with one displayed daintily on his hand, black velvet with lace around the wrist, making him look like a gay Michael Jackson.
I stood in line, waiting for a cab to take me the last few k's to the port. The man in front looked at me and suddenly spoke in a completely unrecognizable language. "What" I said. "Port"? He simplified. I nodded. He pointed to me then him then the cab. I nodded again. At the port I gave him half the fare (only about $1), but he refused it. With some difficulty I learnt his nationality, Mongolian and his name, Bargen. Boarding the boat I again noticed that I was the only Westerner however this time the passenger list seemed to consist entirely of Chinese junior high school girls and one young Chinese man wearing black shoes, black pants, a black bullet poof jacket with SWAT written across it, a pair of yellow safety glasses, and a black cap that read 'ZOO YORK'. Once on board I sat down and ordered a coffee. The only other white person aboard approached me and introduced himself as Alex from Russia. We soon became friends and spent the rest of the trip talking between games of chess. He told me a little about growing up in Russia. The change from Communism occurred when he was a teenager and offered many business opportunities for entrepreneurs. He saw doctors and lawyers, well educated people, doing the same jobs as him but not as well because they were older. It didn't encourage him to get an education. One such opportunity that he took advantage of opened when Gorbachev decided to do something about the alcoholic problem. New laws restricted the amount of alcohol each person could buy. However, bribery could get you as much as you wanted which could then be sold on the black market at inflated prices. A regular Al Capone. He said that once a week a policeman would come by, pick up a crate of vodka, and walk away. Never a word was spoken. His entrepreneurial skills served him well when he left Russia for Canada and started a small canoeing business on Lake Ontario. During the Canadian Winters he leaves the lake to study or look for other business opportunities. One such Winter he studied Film Production and so was able to give me a few pointers on using my video camera. Now, he was on his way to China to study the Chinese language. When I asked him to what part of China he was headed he replied, "I don't have any warm clothes so I'm going south". He beat me 3 games straight. I felt a little better when he told me that he had once beaten the Korean chess champion though added that it was probably just a fluke. I felt better still when I finally beat him in the 4th, though that too was probably just a fluke.
The Korean meal that I ate on board was huge with so many different ingredients. Again I was impressed by the value. Back in Japan this meal would cost twice the price, for half as much and would taste half as good.
Day 5: Birthday Blues
The Yellow Sea conjures up images of the Orient; of Chinese junks and opium dens. I couldn't help thinking however, as I stared overboard, that the Yellow Sea was more of a muddy brown. We disembarked at Tianjin and got on a bus that would take us the remaining 3 hours to Beijing. Looking out of the bus at this mining town felt more like peering into a war zone. The great open cut mines left the land barren for miles while the dust hung thick in the air creating a thick smoke like haze. As the sun went down it's rays created a similar effect to looking through a yellow filter on a camera. The many buildings in varying degrees of deconstruction looked just like they'd been hit by bombs that had smashed whole walls to pieces. The distant road lights, glowing yellow in the haze could have been flares or distant fires. The thick dust blanketed everything, roads, trees and cars, creating a monochrome world, a black and white war movie.
In Beijing I would be staying with my friend Tim. I had sent him an email previously saying that I'd be arriving on my birthday and was happy that I wouldn't have to spend it alone. Sitting on the bus I looked forward to getting to Tim's place and having a birthday beer. My plans were dashed however when, upon meeting Tim, he said "You know it's not your birthday today"? "Sure it is", I insisted "My birthday is the 27th". "Yeah, but it's the 28th today". I couldn't believe I had missed my own birthday. I wonder if that means I can stay the same age this year.
Tags: Adventures
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