Notes From Xi'an 西安随感

This time last year I offered a “Contemporary Chinese Nod Towards the Ubiquitous New Year Calendar“. This year, I will continue in a similar vein but this year the images will come from a recent trip to the small canal town of Xītáng, which is located not far from Hángzhōu.

We took a Christmas break to the Eastern canal towns and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. It was cold but not too cold to happily wander around, though, we were lucky we had the sun on our side. Being the winter season there weren’t too many people around, which was also good. I really did enjoy taking it easy by the waters of Xītáng, but I was also impressed with the thought that has gone into developing the city of Sūzhōu, compared that is to many other Chinese cities – Hángzhōu and Xīān included.

*With this not being a “real” calendar the images all come from Xītáng during our visit in December and are not representative of the different seasons that the months below might suggest – and as someone recently questioned.

JANUARY - A whole bunch of dedicated art students braved the cold to enjoy some fresh days and produce some fine work.

FEBRUARY - The boatman drink a lot of tea this time of year, but it was a pleasure to watch a few of them still manoeuvre their boats rhythmically down stream.

MARCH - This is a tourist town but it is still a good spot to take it easy, especially this time of year - and certainly between monday and friday - when there are few tourists around.

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Over the last few years Xi’an has become the place I refer to as home. However, that has not stopped me from recently suffering a few re-integration issues after returning from 2 months back in my official homeland. It felt like no normal re-acclimatization process this time, although, maybe it actually was; it was just not one I am used to experiencing.

When I first arrived in China, 5 or so years ago, I was coming off the back of quite a few months of travel in India. So, as far as I was concerned, Xi’an was an oasis of calm and modernity. Not quite the sentiment others often express when arriving here for the first time, I know. Even if many people backpacking around China do usually find Xi’an a pretty chilled place to hang out for a few days.

The point being, that from my first impressions until recently, Xi’an was a pretty relaxed place to be. I have never felt in need of the advice that was passed on to me when I first arrived in India. There I was told by a few thoughtful and prescient old hands that I should always be aware of looking out for places to retreat to for a few days, or even for the odd week or two.

Whether that place was an isolated beach community, a mountain forest hideaway, a nature reserve, a nice hotel, a temple sanctuary, or just a good bookshop, it was important to find some space and time to escape the intensity of street life in India, which, from time to time, could seep into every pore of your being and every aspect of your thought. (Which is not a criticism by the way). It was advice I took, and it certainly served me well. When I lost sight of it, while moving across the north of India, I suffered.

This isn’t something that I have ever felt applied to life here in Xi’an. My recent re-introduction to Xi’an life, though, has made me re-appraise that perception. Xi’an has by no means reached the epic intensity of daily life in India – it is still so much quieter, cleaner and calmer in comparison, and it does still have a somewhat laid back atmosphere – but there is an indelible mark that a life lived here can now leave on you.

Getting out and about town with the masses in the mornings is to feel the full force of the life changes going on here. Taking a taxi ride around the second ring road, let alone the third, is to get a sense of the scale of the development that is recasting this city. While getting down in amongst the small chéngzhōngcūn(s) at night (city villages), those that still exist, is to really feel the lifeblood of this urban centre. Life here really can grip you.

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It was this time last year that my wife and I came across a few pictures of the lakes of Xinjiang and decided to pack our bags and head north west.

We knew about the turmoil of life up there, we knew some of the history, and we knew something of Kashgar, but we were just heading for a holiday. We wanted to leave city life behind us and get up in the mountains and amongst the lakes. And, that is what we did.  Though, while riding the trains and buses with the locals we did discover more than just the geography of the region. This is the Note I wrote upon returning to Xi’an last year.

I am going to add a small selection of the pictures we took as a nod towards the holiday season that is again just around the corner. I have split these photographs into two sets, one, simply entitled “Arid Lands”, one, “Lake Oases”. This is a simple distinction that represents the amazing contrasts that are encapsulated within the borders of Xinjiang: the lush, alpine valleys and immaculate mountain lakes, and the dry, arid towns and rocky desert-scapes. It is a region in China that is well worth discovering. (Part II – Lake Oases)

A quiet back street in the "new" old town of Shan Shan, near Turpan (تۇرپان - 吐魯番 - Tǔlǔfān)

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It was this time last year that my wife and I came across a few pictures of the lakes of Xinjiang and decided to pack our bags and head north west.

We knew about the turmoil of life up there, we knew some of the history, and we knew something of Kashgar, but we were just heading for a holiday. We wanted to leave city life behind us and get up in the mountains and amongst the lakes. And, that is what we did.  Though, while riding the trains and buses with the locals we did discover more than just the geography of the region. This is the Note I wrote upon returning to Xi’an last year.

I am going to add a small selection of the pictures we took as a nod towards the holiday season, that is again just around the corner. I have split these photographs into two sets, one, simply entitled “Arid Lands”, one, “Lake Oases”. This is a simple distinction that represents the amazing contrasts that are encapsulated within the borders of Xinjiang: the lush, alpine valleys and immaculate mountain lakes, and the dry, arid towns and rocky desert-scapes. It is a region in China that is well worth discovering. (Part I – Arid Lands)

The road from Bu’erjin to Lake Kanas was in itself worth the trip this far north.

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Images first, explanation second: but we must be clear from the outset that I cannot take any credit at all for the images that I have included below, even if I would of course love to. I will just have to be happy simply basking in the reflected glory that comes from presenting this small selection of Sue Anne Tay’s work. These photographs are taken from Sue Anne’s website Shanghai Street Stories, which she kindly gave me permission to use here (each picture links to the original image and the story behind it).

street focused - sue anne tay's shanghai street stories - 24th may 2010

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I was back on a high-speed train again this week and returning to another of those ancient Chinese centres of historical significance, Zhèngzhōu, with its pre-dynasty stories, Luòyáng grottoes close by and modern day Henan Provincial Museum. All of which can help fill the gap between our modern day sense of what China is (a quick look around Zhèngzhōu certainly gives due reminder of what that is) and our knowledge of the epic historical layers upon which it is built. It was great to be up with the March morning sun, out across town, and wandering in through the gates of the museum with a handful of other early birds out there catching the proverbial worm.

However, not only did I have a few thousand years of ancient Chinese artefacts waiting for me in all their peaceful and inspiring splendour, within what is an Indiana Jones-esque, pyramid-like structure of a museum, but I also had Laszlo Montgomery along for the trip. He was to accompany me around these great halls of everyday Xià (夏), Shāng (商) and Zhōu (周) Dynasty artefacts, and around those precious Suí (隋) and Táng (唐) Dynasty treasures, giving my time there a more uplifting feel.

Laszlo Montgomery, for the un-introduced, is a curator of sorts but not one of the museum kind. He is the creator, producer and custodian of a super set of Chinese History Podcasts which he presents in his own idiosyncratic American and Putonghua ways, broadcasting from down in: “lovely and quaint Claremont, California”. His series of podcasts have covered Chinese history from the Xià to Mao in very manageable chunks, easily accessible to those unaware of the complexities that make up ancient and modern Chinese history, a group I am certainly a member of.

It’s always a bit too easy to get exhibit-overload on a first and singular visit to a large museum or gallery, and as I had known a couple of trips to Zhèngzhōu were coming up, I had resolved to check out one floor each time I came to town (there are only 3). This time I decided to get Laszlo’s knowledgeable articulations to accompany me. That way it was easier to be introduced quickly and in a lively manner to the Warring States, Liú Bāng (刘邦) and Xiàng Yǔ (向隅), and a host of dates, other characters, bizarre rituals and battles that this museum and geographical area celebrate. (more…)

Whatever might be said by some and whatever some people might tell you, there is no question that this is an amazing country, at a particularly incredible stage of development.

Xi'an's New North Rail Station

Of course, no one really knows where it is all going, but when you are being zipped along by an immensely smooth 350km/h fast train and you look out to see still-underused, but ready-to-go wide-laned motorways, as well as gleaming new train stations, dissecting and standing out respectively from within the terraced fields that make up the majority of this new route, you think the future may not be too bad at all: those chuffing chimneys aside. Well, at least not too bad for those actually riding the train, may be less so for those still working the fields.

Although, when I was talking to a couple of village labourers recently they were seemingly very proud and excited about the new gāo tiě 高铁 (high-speed train), and were aware of its speed and the various destinations along this new route. Time will tell how long it takes for them to be riding it, but that may well be missing the point, or it might actually be hitting it straight on (more on this below when I move away from this unadulterated positivity and highlight some of the concerns that are surrounding this rapidly developed rail project).

This is a country whose people have historically travelled by train; there has been a boom in air travel recently, but if the government continues to play its cards right (or wrong, again see below), this may well be a people happy to return to the tracks, rather than continuing to take to the airways.

And if this experience is anything to go by, that’s no bad idea. I must say from a personal point of view, I would choose this 300-mile train journey in roughly 2 hours, with half an hour cab ride each end, over the shorter flight and longer airport waiting time and travel. These trains are comfy enough, the seats recline and the legroom is fine, they could be a bit wider, but then I could be a bit smaller, and the average Chinese person actually is. Plus, give me a choice of looking out at some fields through a landscape-wide window or a pokey view of some clouds from a plane porthole and I’ll take the fields all day long.

I have also come across quite a few Chinese people who are not actually that enamoured by the air travel experience. If you don’t have much of a choice and money isn’t a factor but time is, which no doubt it often is, then the plane is for you. But when you’ve got more of a choice then that decision is not so straightforward. Whether the majority are able to ride these trains or not, there is a lot of pride swilling about at present, and they have got a pretty amazing system in development to be excited about. These developments may well also have some considerable environmental benefits, if they are not too careful.

However, there are some logistical and quality concerns arising from this new system, a couple of which I will outline below these brief references to Xi’an’s new station: (more…)

Heading Home

I will start this slightly more personal Note From Xi’an, about a recent trip back to my fiancee Ling’s family village, differently and in reverse. I will begin with a track from the Bob Dylan album ‘Bringing It All Back Home’. The song is ‘On The Road Again’ and I was listening to it as I sat looking out at the fields disappearing into the evening light as we left parents, second parents, second brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts behind us, heading back to Xi’an.

I sat with my shoulders and legs aching and a heavy arm holding a soon to be sleeping Ling close to me, listening to Dylan’s perfectly loaded lyrics. The words were soon sending a smile across my face, the more so as I thought about their relevance to my own particular little qíng kuàng (situation). I glanced down towards Ling with a wry grin before continuing to watch the fields roll by into the darkness, Dylan’s words resonating ever deeper. The exact reasons, the lines I could exchange with his, I won’t of course fully articulate here. Suffice to say, in-laws are in-laws at the best of times but in the China village they are another field of rice altogether.

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Introduction

Xinjiang - An autonomous province in far northwestern China  Tranquil – Free from commotion or disturbance  Separated - To set or keep apart; disunited Raw – Being in a natural condition; not processed or refined  Changing - Giving a completely different form or appearance to; transforming.  Definitions taken from The Free Dictionary

Lake Kanas

The landscape from Bu’erjin to Kanas was in itself worth the trip this far North: fields of sunflowers mixed with craggy hill sides, desert plains and rocky outcropments, oases, dipping ridges, grasslands and deep descending forested valleys: sand, soil, rock and grass, lakes, rivers, wild flora, fauna and soaring eagles, with sporadic yurt communities scattered upon hillsides. Great.

Outside Bu'erjin

The Kanas Lake Nature Reserve is an amazing place to visit but it is now experiencing some pretty incredible levels of tourism. You arrive all excited, having heard tales of an epic wilderness. However, before you know it you are buying an expensive ticket and finding yourself herded with the unexpected masses onto a silky smooth coaching system, that deposits you into an ever growing village terminal. Here you end up on another bus wondering if this is actually the Kanas you’d heard so much about. Once you are off this coach, it is down to the lakeside with the motley dressed China brigade: in their office shoes, vests and white shirts or matching walking boots, waterproofs and carbon fibre walking sticks. If you want to continue to play this game of follow my leader, then it is onto the ferry system and its criss-crossing symmetry down on the lake.

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Although I love to travel and have lived in China for a few years, I have not actually travelled that much around this vast and varied country. I have also hardly taken any photographs here in Xi’an, where I have lived for most of that time. The first fact is not about to be rectified to any great extent, however, the second may well be. The link between these two points is my manual Olympus OM 10 camera, which I bought while travelling in Sri Lanka, on my way to India and not long before coming to China. Sadly, on my most recent travels I realized that a manual film camera is just no longer cost effective, with the additional price of film and developing it is just not practical these days.

I have now bought a Digital SLR camera and was looking back on the last photographs my old OM10 took. These included my limited travels in China. I have decided to add a few of my favourites here, to one, acknowledge the enjoyment I had using my old camera, and two, to kick off the inclusion here of a few more China based photographs, that I am sure my new camera will increasingly be taking, particularly here in Xi’an and especially now Spring is with us. Also, third, these places are actually quite good places to visit. These pictures were taken in Xiahe (Gansu), Langmusi (Northern Sichuan), Jiuzhaigou (Northern Sichuan), Bamboo Forest (Southern Sichuan), Lijiang (Yunnan), Lugu Hu (Sichuan/Yunnan border) and Litang (Western Sichuan).

Tibetan Locals (Litang, Western Sichuan)

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One thing that has increasingly struck me on visits to my fiancée’s isolated hamlet is how increasingly un-isolated it is becoming. First, the Xi-Han high-speed road dissected a local valley. At the beginning it was just an impressive stretch of glistening black tarmac without a car in sight, last year the odd car or lorry appeared every once in a while as a distraction from hours in the fields, this year it wasn’t possible to have a sequence of time where there wasn’t a vehicle on the road- the almost silence was deafening.

Secondly, on my first visit a few years ago there was only a mud road from the nearby town through neighbouring villages to this small hamlet, now there is a smooth line of concrete not only connecting these small villages to a larger town but the smaller villages to each other. Though, we have in fact just used some of the stone and brick fragments left over from one of the ubiquitous house rebuilds, even here in the hamlet, to help level the still rough track outside the family home. The engagement of a local girl to a laowai (foreigner) doesn’t seem to have meant that the couple are excluded from local chores, in fact over time it might just make me more responsible for them. One of the pressures that does seem to have come with engagement and impending marriage is the responsibility laid upon my shoulders, maybe literally if all else fails, to help rebuild the family home. (more…)