Invisible again

Beijing was an instant respite from the celebrity like status I felt in many of the past cities. Plenty of westerners, and plenty of English (at least in hotels and restaurants). The city itself is not particularly attractive. Construction everywhere for the upcoming olympics, heavy smog, skyscrapers, upmarket hotels and shopping. But there are some decent attractions amid all the "cityness". Walking in Tiannamen square under the persistent gaze of Mao's giant portrait, it is hard not to be moved by all that has taken place there. The Forbidden city is full of stories of concubines and royal excess, not to mention a Starbucks whose symbolic value is unmistakable. There are ofcourse plenty of temples too if the dozen or so I had seen in the last month weren't sufficient.

After a couple days in Beijing, I started my Silk Road tour. There are only five people in our group, so it's all very manageable. The type of tour I am on prides itself on being very "untour-like", so we will get plenty of free time to soak up the culture. Besides, the areas I am going to would have been more tough to organize alone.

Probably the best thing thus far was going to a spot of the great wall a few hours outside of Beijing that our leader was keen on. It was an ambitious hike, but well worth it and there was even a zip-line over a lake for the final bit!

After a visit to Xian and the Teracotta warriors, we took an 18hr train ride to our first real stop along the silk road. I just arrived, but I know that in these areas, the people are of the Uiger minority group. They have their own language and are Muslim. Feels incongruous to see Chinese people wearing Muslim caps and saying "salam alekim" to each other.
(Needs some lightening)

This is one of those cities that you can tell was driven by communism more than capitalism as there are wide streets with few cars and state subsidized hotels with few occupants. A little like a modern ghost town.

While writing this, my roomate and I just got a predictable phone call. Its 10pm, and he was asked if we would like a "massage". Actually. it was all chinese, but he got the meaning. I have never been in a country where prostitution is so institutionalized. Most hotels either have something on the premises, or they have someone call your room at night. When I first figured this out, I got a knock on my door one night (after they tried unnsuccessfully to communicate on the phone) and a women came into my room speaking chinese. I was slow to pickup because I thought they thought I had requested something. I told her I didnt need anything but she kept making quack quack motions with her hands. It was kind of amusing till I realized that she was imitating a massage and then I was clear that I wasn't interested.

The challenge of communicating has been a continuing them of this trip. I have been working on my Chinese throughout, but its hardly just about memorizing vocabulary. For example, "ma" means four different things depending on your intonation. I remember that one is "mother", and one is "horse". So if I were to ask to ride someone's horse, and I got this off, I might find myself in a bit of trouble.

The classic Chinese street scene (notice the Mao jacket)