RAIN

You guys! I have so much to tell I could spend all day writing! Many of you want to know more about the feeling of being here: smells, sights, sensations. Others want to know more about the shopping experience. I'm gonna try to go into more detail on all this and more, getting a bit more into the nitty gritty of what I've seen so far. Don't start reading this unless you have a good 20/30 minutes to spare cause this promises to be a lengthy tale.

Xiushi market was hilarious!! No, they don't take credit cards, it's cash only, so you have a wad of bills to negotiate with. You have bills for half a yuan (5 cents of a Euro), 1 yuan (10 cents of a Euro), etc. up to 100 yuan which seems like a fortune (and yet for us it's only 10 Euros). However, the bills are red, which in my head is associated to danger so anything nearing this amount must be looked at carefully, particularly in China, where everything is so cheap. We got caught in the excitement of the first stall by the entrance on day one. They had imitation Custo shirts of all kinds. We hadn't walked half a metre and were already negotiating prices. We couldn't try them but even so, I ended up buying 3 shirts. As it turns out, when I tried them on, I didn't like how they looked so I had to go beg for an exchange the following day. I got a Polo imitation sweater in black in return, for about 12 Euros. Hilarious cause the sweater says "100% cashmere"... what a nerve!!! You touch the thing and it's at least 50% polyester!!! However, I couldn't really see anything else I wanted so...

Then we moved on upstairs to the jacket ssection. I was reminded of my friend Marta, who travels here quite often and once told me I'd be able to buy and entire new set of ski clothes for a bargain price! I didn't really need another ski jacket, but I couldn't get me eyes off a grey & light pistachio colour green one with an inside zip off fleece, imitation of North Face. I haggled it down from 1800 Yuan (180 Euros) to 400 yuan (40 Euros). But then, I was very jealous to see Maica, super negotiatrix, haggle hers down to 300 yuan! Damn, she's good!! You should have seen her! We walked into another place one day that also had stores but that wasn't the haggling type place, and she wanted out claiming it felt like, the people didn't really want her custom! hahaha.

Now, a bit on China and how this place feels. I have to say, so far, the GREAT WALL climb has been the most exhilirating adventure. China is somewhat different, but terribly similar to what we know the west to be. It's striking to be walking down an alley here. The street, although paved, is full of dust and stone where the buildings are literally falling apart, where everything is dirty, the lighting is dim, and there are pot holes everywhere. Then you look up and across that same street, on the other sidewalk, is a bright, neon-lit skyscraper with pristine glass windows, at least 40 stories high. It's like being in Kosovo and NYC all at once. It's not all like that, but those kind of contrasts are apparent everywhere.

I am not sure how to describe China. At times I find myself in the most developed street, with 6 lane wide avenues, tall modern buildings and nice landscaped gardens lining the sidewalk. Here I feel like I could be anywhere in a US city (cause European streets are never that large). But then, I turn into a small street, more like an alley comparatively, and I enter the land of smoke, where I pass by 1001 stalls selling snacks and dumplings, where the steam of the kitchen slowly penetrates your skin and sinks through to your tummy. The dragon in my stomach awakens with a growl here; everything looks sooo good, despite the dirtiness of the walls and floor surrounding the place. There are bamboo steam pots everywhere, all cooking up dumplings and other delicacies. The street is lined full of huge brightly-coloured signs in Chinese leaving the meaning to my imagination. The roof of these places is low, and here I feel like I am transported back 60 or 70 years. Many of the buildings are a mix of 70's style soviet blocks and London tenement housing from the 20's, or so it would seem based on the films I've watched. The streets are full of rusty bikes, cooks in their uniforms, children playing with whatever they can find on the floor, and the odd dog. NO cats though..hmmmm I wonder where they are!

China is polluted as one cannot imagine. I never thought I would be able to fully understand what that feels like until I got here. When you are in the towns - well, not really towns as such since most of them are larger than Barcelona - you breathe in a mix of dust, carbon dioxide from the truck exhaust pipes and steam from the nearby dumpling restaurant! I've had to resort to my allergy medicine on a daily basis and a good wad of tissues to keep my black boggies at bay. I know this is disgusting, but you guys asked for the details. Now, about the spitting: yes, it's true, people spit ALL the time. Thank you Marta (again) for warning me about this. I do believe that the pollution causes this as people seem to have phlegm on a perennial basis. I have followed the Spanish saying of "allá donde fueres haz lo que vieres" so I indeed have done a bit of street spitting myself!!! hahaha I think I've still got a bit of practising to do though, cause most of the time, I end up with the stuff on me!! ("must project further, must project further"). I have tried to capture the sight of even the oldest of ladies spitting right beside me, but somehow I can never catch someone doing that roaring gurgle sound pre spit at the time I am filming. My camera is suffering here. I am not sure whether it is dying on me or what, but I am considering getting another one. I am hoping some of what I have captured in the past few days will make it safe and sound.

I've managed to catch a cold, don't ask me how. I think the 3 hour trek up to the Bamboo Temple yesterday did it. It wasn't cold but I hadn't gotten much sleep the past 2 nights. I met this really nice Mexican girl at the hostel and so we rented two bikes, more like two pieces of rusty metal creaking at every turn of the chain and without gears - surprising in a country like China where so many people ride. As per usual, we ventured on a 16km ride that we thought would be a breezed of flatland, only to find it was a 3 hour uphill trek. For those who know, this would be like climbing up Valvidrera mountain in Barcelona, but remember the equipment we had hired! Needless to say, we had to dismount and walk uphill dragging the so called bikes with us. I do feel very fit with all this walking though, and I felt like I earned my lunch at the Tibetan temple. My ass, on the other hand, is not too fond of these events. I think I may be developing a permanent bruise and blister on my ass! I dare not look at my rear in the mirror at nights. Instead, I observe how rapidly my hair is growing back, and wonder whether it is true I will eventually shave it again in a few weeks.

I cam across the saddest sight last night. Upon returning the bikes at 7PM and getting our 100 Juan deposit back, we walked past a McDonalds and Carrefour in what looked like London's Picadilly Circus; a square full of neon lights, large colourfully-lit advertisements of cosmetics and clothing and beautifully landscaped gardens - yes I am still in China. As we walked further down the sidewalk, and the light grew dimmer, we happened upon two children, no more than 4 years old, kneeling down on the sidewalk, with their faces turned to the cold stone, begging. For what? I don't know. I couldn't read the sign that lay before them, nor could I hear their voices. They lay still, in the cold evening air. And I stopped and stared and looked around and wondered what I could do? Whether I could get them some warm food or a blanket. What could I do? I began to cry, at a loss for words or action, like paralised. Lola, my Mexican friend explained how giving them food or clothing would only perpetuate their begging....and so unwillingly, I walked away, feeling like a piece of shit, actually, and realising how spoiled we are and how unfair things can be in this world. We commented on how the parents were probably using the children as bait for the more affluent who felt pity, and how horrible that was. Nothing so far has touched me like the sight of those children, not much older than my nephew, at their own risk, or maybe at the service of some pimp, begging on the street on a chilly November evening. Thanksgiving will have a far deeper meaning for me this year, and I will forever wonder whether I did the right thing by walking away.

Today it's raining and I have stayed in, taking some meds and dedicating some time to all those of you who patiently read my blogs with interest. I have bought my ticket to Lijiang for tomorrow where I will be trekking the Tiger Leaping Gorge, and where I hope to find a more traditional piece of China where the Cultural Revolution has not completely erased tradition, customs, architecture and history, like it appears to have done everywhere else I've been to.