Lijiang

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Monday, August 9, 2010 | 5 photos

If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.

On my way home from England to Australia I stopped over in Hong Kong for two months. Staying at a hostel on the outskirts of the main city, the stories of two French backpackers traveling to Lijang captured my imagination.

Having traveled Europe for two years, I was fairly confident in my ability to get across country. Europe also broke the bank, so to get to Lijang I needed the cheapest means of transport. Upon arrival in Shenzen i realised communication was going to be an issue. I bought a map and pointed at the place I needed to go.

What followed was four days on a bus with stopovers in cities I still don't know the names of. An assumption that I was on the correct bus at each stopover. A horizontal bed on the bus that was not made for people my size. It is the longest I have ever gone without speaking English.

The first day, I stepped into an mysterious industrial Chinese city. the first thing I was aware of was the stares. Apparently I was a bit of a novelty. I also noticed how external the city was. In European cities we tend to be quite insular in the way that we function. In China people would work outside for everyone to see. I caught three Chinese kids sitting on a couch outside smoking, when I pulled the camera out they hid them behind their backs. I walked past a market and gasped at the overpowering odors.

A place is only as good as the experience you had in it. When we think about this in terms of traveling we often think about it in terms of the hotel, or the people we met. This trip in China was a life experience. Though I didn't enjoy every minute, the things I did enjoy stand out more vividly in my mind. Travel is about capturing strong emotions as memories. Travel China.