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China: Off the beaten path

Chinese Lion stands guard at Gate ofSupreme Harmony in the Forbidden City

Article By: Dan Cooper

lf you're planning atrip to China - andyou want toventure beyond thetour bus - here'swhat you need toknow.

As more and moretravelers prepare to visitChina for the 2008Olympics and the World

Fair in 2010, some survival tips may be in order for the independenttraveler.

We're not talking here about about the tour group that gets pickedup at the airport in an air conditioned bus, dropped off at theirwestern-style hotel, then shuttled from tourist site to site led by a flagtoting English-speaking guide. No, this is for those braver souls whowant to rub shoulders with Chinese locals on small tour busescrammed into seats too small for the North American frame. You'rewilling to drag your suitcase down dark, dirty streets at night lookingfor that special "atmospheric" hotel.

lf you're the type who does cruises or stays in five-star hotels, thismay not be of interest to you. On the other hand, if you like to travelon your own and you plan on doing more than the usual Beijin-Shanghai-Xi'an route, then read on. Some of these tips could proveuseful - even life saving.

China is gearing up for the invading Olympic hordes by addingEnglish signs in major cities, building new hotels, and teachingEnglish to Beijing €b drivers. Admittedly, therefore, it's becomingeasier to travel around China on your own by plane, train and buswithout a travel agent pre-booking everything for you.

Airplanes here are modern, safe and convenient. And 70,000kilometres of new track have recently been laid for a rail system thatcrisscrosses the country linking all major destinations and most ofthe less frequented ones.

A modern highway system does the same with newly paved roads.Although most are toll highways and foreign visitors are forbiddenfrom driving on them, the roads are in excellent shape. So it'sdefinitely worthwhile, and fairly easy, to hire a local driver if you wantto see some of the sites off the beaten path.

But easy isn't necessarily safe or comfortable. No, the majorproblem here isn't the travel infrastructure and the ease of physicallygetting from point A to point B, it's the language barrier. Even thoughmany English signs have been added throughout China on streets,subways, and airports, they're usually in "pinion", the Chinesephonetic equivalent of their symbol script. The signs may look likeEnglish to you, but try to pronounce them in any way that will soundlike Chinese to a local and you'll end up lost and frustrated.

There's a Chinese expression "Ping ding zi" that literally means"hitting a nail", but is more accurately translated as "banging yourhead against a wall." And that's what often happens when you'retrying to speak Chinese to locals.

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lfs all in your toneThe reason is that chinese is a tonal language, with up to fivedifferent tones for the same word. This makes 'irna" eiiner ',mother.,,"hor$e", "bad", or a question depending on the inflexion in your '

voice. Not only can the wrong tone lead to frustration, but ii can bequite embarrassing as well. Once my wife and I almost ended up ona flight to Taiwan when we tried to buy a plane ticket to Taiyuan,

"city north of Xi'an. we thought we were siying the right woid, but it€me out .Taiwan"

to the chinese ticket ageni in Larizhou.

Finding a travel agent who speaks enough English to book yourtickek can help avoid these potential disasterq but that's not alwayspossible. Even then, mistakes can happen. our Lanzhou travelagent spoke decent English, but still heard Taiwan instead ofTaiyuan.

$ome basic chineee lessons wiil help immensely. Even therudimentaries like the numbers 1 to 10 will go a [ong way. \ fith theseten numbers, you can create the days of the week, bnc inonth, andthe months of the year fairly simply. Days of the week are just t'd.yone", "day two", and eo on. The months are similar.

A small portable calendar will also be very handy for both pfanningyour itinerary and for pointing to your traver date. And all travel -agents and stores have calculators to show you the prices. Thechinese also have a clever system of hand signals for the tennumbers. lt's easy to learn and will generate a smile when you u$ethem.

Buying ticketsFortun_ately, airports use rnosily English and the bigger ones evenmake flight announcemenh in English. Trains and buses, however,are all in Chinese. This makes buying tickets and locating yourSatform, bus or train car difficult. Even finding the right tiiliet boothcan be time consuming and frustrating as you are shunted from onewicket to another - all the overhead signs are in chinese. Add onthe ever present lengthy lineups in China and you will need to aflowextra time for this process.

Again a local travel agent, often at your own hotel, can arrangetickets for a smafl commission and so avoid the hassles of triin andbus stations. But sometimes you're just going to have to deal withthe lineups and confusion yourseff. The baeic chinese numbers, acalendar and a calculator will get you through most negotiations.

Staff at the train or bus station are usually very helpful as well even ifthey don't speak English. Once a friendly sweeper at a train stationtook us from wicket to wicket until he found the right agent whocould sell us a soft-sleeper berth on an overnight train. lt was difficulteven for him; it would have been impossible for me.

After buying your ticket, always carefully check to confirm that thedestination and date are correc{. lf you're traveling with a partner,ensure numbered seats are together. Hold on to your train ticket.$ometimes you will need to show it on the train and you will almostalways need it to exit the train station at your destination.

Airlines have special requirements and ticket agents need to enteryour passport number and name into the computer. hdake sure it andyour name are accurate. A common mistake they make is to enteryour first name as your last, which is the practice in China. Thismistake could mean you won't be able to board your fiight.

Also, k*"p your baggage claim stubs. china is the onfy country wehave visited lately requiring you to show your baggage stub whenyou exit the airport with your bags.

MapsAnother useful toof for booking tickets is a road map with Englishand Chinese names. Take it with you and point to the ChineJe scriptfor your destination. or have someone write down the name inChinese characters on a piece of paper for you to show to the ticketvendor to avoid confusion.

Mape are useful not juet for inter-city travel, but also within a city aswell. Afways pick up a map with both English and chinese nameswhen you first arrive in a new city. A{th this in hand you can point tothe Chinese characters of your destination for cab diiver$ or i:eopeon the street. And always pick up a business card frorn your hoteland carry it with you to show cab drivers when you want to return to

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your hotel.

But possibly my most used travel tool has been a small picture bookthat has drawings of food and clothing items, planes and trains, andessentials like police and hospital. In fact, my wife and I havesuccessfully used it on several continents to order meals inrestaurants, find a pharmacy, or be driven to the bus station. ourfavourite is a slim, plastic-coated pocket book called "The WordlessTravel BooK', but there are others for sale on the Internet or at travelbook stores.

Cell phonesThe chinese have a love affair with their cell phone$. They areconstantly talking on them - while driving, eating, walking, riding thebus or even riding on their bicycles through a maze of traffic andpedestrians. Very scary!

\ffe have trouHe even crossing the street in China and these guysare weaving through the maze with one hand on the handle barsand one on the cell phone.

But this addiction can come in very handy if you're lost or need tobook a hotel. All you nead is the temerity to ask and most Chinesewill be glad to offer you the use of their cell phone. once when wewere turned down at a hotel because we didnt have our passports,a cab driver called around to several hotels until we found one thatwould take us in with just the photocopy that we always have withus.

Another time, on the very top of Hua $han mountaiR, a local whospoke some English called our driver at the base of the mountain tolet him know we would be arriving earlier than planned. This avoideda lengfihy wait at the bottom. Very useful indeed.

TrafricTraffic in china is crazy. lt's far worse than in South America orBangkok even. Besides incessant talking on the cell phone, thereare two additional risk factors.

First, a lot of the scooters are electric, which means you can't hearthem when they speed along the sidewalk behind you or zoomstraight at you through the croud of pedestrians trying to cross thestreet. For sorne reason in China, they are exempt from the trafficlaws that have other vehicles stopping at red lights. so they and amillion bicycles weave their way through the pedestrians, lf you stop,you're dead.

The saying "look both ways before you cross" was never truer thanin china. Bikes ride on both sides of the road -- as do taxissometimes! Pedeetrians are at the bottom of the totem pote here,ready to be crushed by the sheer volume of traffic.

The second risk factor is that because the scooters are electric, theydontt use their lights at night in order to eave their battery. $o, inaddition to being silent, they are a$ invisible as $tealth aircraft. Evensome of the cars do this at night.

Tractor carts (small, noisy, open-air tractors with bike steeringwheels and a cart at the back) are ubriquitous, in the countryside and$ome cities. At night, they drive without lights even on the highways.What a fright to be booting along a highway at 120 kph and suddenlysee a dark shadow in your lane. You don't know whether it's astalled truck, an oxen or one of these tractors. What's worse is I

don't know if our driver can see it and I don't know the Chinese for'Watch out for the crazy Kamikaze tractor!"

Another hazard on the highway$ are the street cleaners. Nomechanical, gas grpzling sweeper trucks here; these are men andwomen standing on the side of the highway - even in the fast lane -sweeping away leaves with a broom made out of branches andtwigs. Their only protection is an orange vest. No helmet, no safetycones, no warning sign, just a vest.

All of this explaine why they don't alloru foreigners to drive on theirroads.

In spite of this we have witnessed only 1G accidents in ourtwomonths in China so far. That's not counting the motorbike that hit meon the sidewalk in Lanzhou! Yes, both motorbikes and cars drive onthe sidewalk.

Eating

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Finding an English menu is difficult outside of the major tourist citiesand large Western-style hotels. To make dining out more of a joythan a chore, look for restaurants that have pictures on their menus.Alternatively, use the "Wordle$s" picture travel book mentionedabove and point to a picture of the kind of food you want. As a lastresort, look at what the locals are eating and order the same. Thismay result in some odd culinary surprises, like the pig's tongue youthought was steak, but food is inexpensive here and you can aFwaystry something else.

Food is not only strange here, but it changes from region to region.So just when you find a favourite dish, it vrrcn't be availaHe in thenext city. Worse the pronunciation of it changes as well. We thoughtwe had mastered something as simple as white rice. In the south itwas "Bai fan", elsewhere it's "Mei fan". In the north, the waitress justlooks blankly at us when we order "Bai fan" until we change it to"Mei fan".

Three other peculiarities about food ordering. First they only giveyou one menu for two Fople; they have lots, but I guess they don'twant to get them dirty. Second, they stand beside your table waitingfor the order. For some reason, they a$sume you're going to scanthe 100s of items on the menu (even in Chinese) and order rightaway without giving it any thought. Very annoyingl Third, they bringonly one meal at a time as if they only have one wok. To add insultto injury, they often won't bring the rice to the table until your maindish is cold or almost finished.

Food servinge in China are huge and are designed for group diningfor four or rnore people. They're far more than two people can eat.As a couple, we like to order two dishes for variety, but this meansleaving food on the plates. As a result, we'll sometimes sacrificevariety and just order one dish with two bowls or rice. That's plentyof food for two people.

Finaf ly, don't tap your chopsticks on your rice bowl or stick themupright in the rice, The first is supposed to lead to bad luck and thesecond means someone has died, Neither is good form in a Chineserestaurant.

Local ColourFolk dancing has been consistently varied and beautiful throughoutChina. There are over 50 ethnic groups in China, each with theirown culture, costumes and music. The costumes are bright and thedancing is energetic, almost gymnastic in some ca$es. Oneperformance in Kunming was so enthusiastic, with its upbeat,complex choreography that we just stared with our mouths opensaying to each other "How are they doing that?" We've seenperformances in theatres and on the street by several ethnic minoritygroup$ so far and the artistry and music have definitely been a wow.

Also, because we're traveling a bit off the beaten path, many of thelocals that we see in flaces like Shangri La or Kashgar are notdressed up in bright robes and hats just for the tourists; they actuallydress that way every day. This is one of the rnain reasons to travelindependently and off the beaten path. To avoid potential problems,however, always ask for permission to take someone's photo beforeshooting.

WashroomsOn the down side, besides the pollution, s$tting everywhere (evenin restaurants, buse$, and right here beside us in the Internet cafe),are the squat toilets. lf you've been to Asia, you know what I'mtalking about so I won't go into detail here. $omehow, even in smallcities, they have fancy LCD screens in front of urinals that are autoflushing, but no toilets.

In a country that probably makes 80 per cent of the toilets and toiletseats in the whole world you would think they could put a few intothe airpofts and bus stations.

But if you're thinking of coming to Asia, here's a travel tip for those ofyou who like me are "squat challenged". Get in the habit of having amorning cup of tea before breaKast. Every hotel in China has tea inyour room and a nice tea cup to brenry it in. This wifl motivate yourconstitution BEFORE you get on that five-hour bus tour and you'llnot have to worry about squat toilets.

Failing that, buy some "portable" toilete from Magellan, Our goodfriend Lynn gave us some as a bon voyage gift before our trip. We'reetill saving them for emergencies, but it sure is reassuring knowing

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that we have them in our backpacks when we're driving across theTibetan highlands.

It is essential, however, to carry your own toilet paper. Rarely willyou find it in anything but the larger hotels. Small packs of tissue$that can be bought in any grocery store in China make veryconvenient substitutes for a roll. Also wry small change around withyou for the pay toilets. lt will avoid frustrating delays waiting forchange on the way to the loo.

Just as rare in washrooms are hot water and soap. Bring botiles ofhand sanitizer from home; you won't easily find it in China.

Hotel roomsBooking a hotel room can be fairly straightforward even withoutknowledge of Chinese. f f you're arriving late at night, it's best to bookyour hotel in advance by phone or on the Internet. Copy or havesomeone write down the Chinese characters for the name of thehotel. That way you're not wandering around the dark streets tryingto find accomrnodation when you first arrive in a new city,

Otherwise, you can get good deals right at the front desk. Rackroom rates at three- and four-star hotels are usually posted on a signat the front desk and you can simply point to "Standard Room".

Rates are always negotiable except at the highest season or onChinese national holidays. The derk will write the openingdiscounted rate on a piece of paper or use a calculator to begin thebargaining process. Don't forget to confirm that breakfast is includedin your discounted rate.

Before you check in, visit the room to verify that everything worksproperly. lf you don't like the room, the AC wont turn off, or the toiletdoesn't flush (a frequent occurrence), ask to $ee another roorn.Oddly, standard room sizes and quality can vary from floor to floor inthe same hotel. Also, discounted rooms are often beside noisyelevators or stairwells. lf you're a light sleeper, ask for a differentroom. Staff are very obliging.

It's always wise to lock up your valuables and passprt in the hotelsafe. Some hotels have one in the room, others at the front desk.But if you use the front desk safe and you have an early morningflight to catch, it might be best to take your valuables out the nightbefore. Once we risked missing our flight because the rnanager whohad the key to the safe wasn't on duty until 9:00 a.m.

Make a photocopy of your passport, including your Chinese entryvisa. \AIth your passport safely locked up in the hotel safe, you canuse the photocopy for booking airline tickets or at the Internet cafesthat sometimes demand them. You will, however, need your originalfor most hotels.

Most hotels in the three- and four-star category do not take creditcards. At check in, you will need to make a cash deposit equal toone or two times the value of your hotel room times the length oryour stay.

Unfortunately, this mean$ carrying lots of cash around. \Allrile we'venever felt threatened in China, ifs wise to use a hidden moneypuch. I find that the kind that attaches to your belt and hangs on theinside of your trousers is the least visible and one of the mostcomfortable.

Every hotel we have visited in China has been "clean" andcomfortable. Some are more spartan than others, but they all havetea, toothbrushes, slippers, and a comb, and some even have abottle of water. Plus they are fairly inexpensive compared toCanada.

Three-star hotels and higher have electric kettles to boil water for teaand to sterilize the cups provided in your room. Some have a largefresh water bottle combined with a heater that boils water for use. ltworks surprisingly well.

As an added bonus, breakfast is included. lt's usually a buffet styleand they all have boiled eg6, which have become our staflebrealcfast food. Some have "Century Eggs", eggs stained darkbrown because they've been boiled in tea; but these, in addition tohing unsightly, may be unsafe to eat, so avoid them.

There's usually some combination of fruits, bun$, cakes and usuallyvegetables, which we don't dare eat because they're not hot. But

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$ome $aces make omelets and our hotel in Lanzhou madeLanzhou's famous Beef Noodle soup for breakfast, with freshnoodles made right before our eye$.

lfs a fascinating proce$s to see as the "Chef' starts with a lump ofdough and stretches it to make thinner and thinner noodles witheach pull, sometimes slapping the whole bundle on the table with aloud "whap" just for ehow.

ToothbrushesAgain on the plus side, every hotel, no mafier how cheap, haspckaged toothbrushes and a tiny tube of toothpaste. Save some ofthese for those long train or bus rides.

PricesAccommodation, air, bus and train transportation, and meals inChina are all inexpensive. What we find surprising is the cost ofthings like running shoe, coats, technology. The prices in legitimatestores are almost as high as at hsme, even though they're all madehere and the average monthly salary is less than you make in a day.And there are literally hundreds of stores selling the latest brandsand modefs in every city. we've yet to see any locals buying thisstuff. But as rny wife correcfly points out if only 1 per cent of China's1.4 billion popufation buys something, that's still a lot of Yuan!

FriendlinessEverywhere we have visited in China, w€ have found the peopleextremely friendly and helpful. But outride the big cities, w€ do getstrange reactions when people see us. Most of the time we are theonly Westerners in town. The children and even adults stare, but arealways quick to say hello or to smile and laugh when we said "Niha0".

They seem to derive a great deal of pleasure watching us eat withchopsticks or say the few Chinese words that we can pronounceproperly. Huddles often form around us when we pull out ourdictionary to ask for something in a store.

This also happens when either my wife or I start writing with our lefthands. Thafs just not seen in China where everyone is forced to beright handed. They come dose and stare over our shoulders inamazement. lfs a litfle disconcerting, but, again, it's an ice breakerand it brings out the smiles. $o be prepared to be the centre ofattention when you travel on your own in tfre less visited parts ofChina.

LineuprThe concept of lining up for anything doesn't exist in China. This isone of the most frustrating things fsr me. lt's always a mad rush forbuses, elevators, even airplanes. There is no such thing as boardinga flight by row. lt's a stampede and if you're late there wont be anyroom for your bag in the overhead compartment.

At the Post Office or a tourist site, you can be standing at the wicketand someone wifl butt right in front of you and shove their money atthe clerk. teveral times in department store$, l've had my hand outwith my money in it, but still someone will butt right in between uswith his money and item.

This even happens at airline check-in counters when youVe got yourpassport and ticket on the counter in front of you and your bags onthe scale. Someone will com6 right up between you and your bagnand try to get checked in. This is where extra caution is required toensure you dont lose your passport or bags. You'fl need a lot ofpatience as well.

We met a $wiss tourist who explained that he was buying suhrvaytickets at a machine when someone came up and pushed his ownmoney into the machine first. The Swiss was $o up$et he grabbedthe guys change and ticket when they came out of the machine andthrew them onto the floor. lf that's how ifs affecting the peaceful$wiss, you can imagine how bad it is.

The only system where lineupe work is in banks where they have awonderfuf system, even better than ours. When you arrive you takea number. Then you sit in comfortable seats until your number iscalled and they announce which wicket you should go to.Fortunately for us they also show the numbers on an illuminatedflashing screen over each teller. lt is probably no coincidence thatthe original Chinese banking system was modeled on Britain's,

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where queuing is an art form.

The advantage of independent travelIn travel, there'$ what you see * and what you find. A lot of tourgroups are herded from site to site like sheep in order to "see" a lot.But by traveling independently, you have more opportunity to "find'those treasures hidden just off the beaten path. And if you follow thebasictips l've outlined above, you learn to countto 10, and lool< bothways before you cross the street, your travels in China should besafe, rewarding and relativefy easy.

Tour Guides in China:Kunming: Jasmine (English name) Zou Qing (chinese name), cellphone: 13888683190, e-mail: zouqing040s@hotmail.com Jasminecharges around 150-200 Yuan for a whole day with you and she hasa tour guide card so she can enter any tourist attraction free ofcharge. Her vocabulary even of technical words was impresoive. Weused her on a day excursion to the local botanical gardens and theworld Horti*Expo Garden. The latter, by the way, is fabufo,us if youlike Chinese garden design.

Lanzhou: sally {English name}, cell phone: 1g0087sgg47, e-rnail:rainbowsally5?0@msn.com Sally ie amazing, efficient, very helpfuland her English is great. $he put us together with her driver, Mr. He,and arranged for him to take us to xiahe to visit the LabrangMonastery with a stop on the way at the remote Bingling sitaves.Road trips can also be arranged ovedand to Tibet.

xian: Miss Mao, Mao Qi, Manager, china Comfort Travel $erviceco., email: maomaoqi@hotmail.com Miss Mao aranged for a driyerto take us to the Terracotta warriors, Hua shan Mountain and the$haolin Temple.

Dan Cooper is a fee-lance trsvel writer and professional phobgrapher.He and his wife recently toured China for three months on assignment.View photographs from his travels around at world at:www. istockphoto. com/coopermoisse

Photo credit Dan Cooper

O 2007 Dan Cooper

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