After a round-trip journey
of several thousand miles, via Hong Kong and Beijing, I find myself back in the UK at a
favourite watering hole from times past, Caffe Nero in Epping. The
ambience is pleasant, the staff friendly and very helpful and the
atmosphere convivial for a slightly tired flaneur. Some three years
ago, I spent much time in this particular cafe both researching and
writing a novel, a period that I have fond memories for. Oddly, many
of the staff who were there back in those far off days still seem to
be in place.
Now that I have left China,
for the time being at least, I thought that I would offer a few of my
own tips for anyone planning to visit that country. My list is of but
ten items, as space permits, but I feel I could offer twenty more
quite easily. There are many aspects, and many challenges, that the
would-be traveller will come across unless he or she is of the type
to go on the most organised of organised tours. So, with further ado,
here is my list:
- If you wish to
purchase fruit or vegetables, look to buy them literally off the
back of a lorry! Often, particularly near market places, you will
see flat back vans selling just one or two fruits or vegetables. As
likely as not, these can be farmers, or people working on farms,
selling goods directly. Often their prices are far lower than the
market place, although their scales are also not always that
accurate. Still, all in all, usually one finds there are bargains to
be had.
- Keep a supply of small
change, one yuan coins or notes, for the bus. Most city buses in
China charge either one or two yuan for any length journey within
the city. This translates to 10 or 20 pence (15 to 30 cents). As
these journeys can go on for several miles, this can be an
outstandlingly economic way of getting around.
- Although there may be
markings on the road that look very much like zebra crossings, in
China these do not seem to mean a thing to the motorists. Beware,
they will not stop! (It's only slightly better than 50/50 for a red
light, so be cautious there too).
- On a similar note, at
night one must be aware that many Chinese drivers will not turn on
their headlights or, indeed, any lights at all. I think this is to
save their batteries. Obviously, it leads to certain dangers. This
is often particularly the case with the riders of electric bikes
and, as these bikes are near silent in their actions, it is easy to
wander into the path of one.
- Most taxis within
cities are obliged to run on the meter. Make sure they do so as
negotiating a fare (or, more accurately, an 'unfair' in this
particular case) is often highly disadvantageous. Those of a nervous
disposition should avoid taxis altogether though – they drive like
complete maniacs (well, to be honest, everyone drives like a
complete maniac in China, but the taxi drivers even more so).
- Smile. The Chinese
people are a pretty friendly bunch who value social interaction
highly. Be relaxed and friendly, even if you cannot speak the
language, and be assured of much pleasant, albeit confused, social
intercourse.
- Stay away from Chinese
officialdom as much as you possibly can. They have rules, a lot of
rules, far too many for the comprehension of this humble flaneur,
and falling foul of any one of them can invalidate, or render
impossible, whatever it was you were trying to do or obtain. Try to make
sure that all your documentation is in order before you deal with
such folk. I would advise, if at all possible, have little or no
contact with these sticklers for detail.
- Join in! One of the
pleasanter aspects of Chinese life is to be found in the local town
squares and the recreation parks. Often of an evening you will come
across groups of people dancing en masse. In Shenzhen there must
have been two to three hundred people to a group, at the very least.
They really don't mind if you join in and will even find it a cause
for much mirth, usually at your expense but in a very friendly and
inclusive way. If you care to play table tennis or some other such
sport, again as a foreigner you will be the object of some interest
and be made to feel very welcome to play. Beware of table tennis in
particular though, they are very good at it ...
- Keep some tissues on
you at all time. This particular tip reminds me of 'The Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy' where the first piece of advice given was to
always carry a towel. Chinese loos are nothing like as bad as their
reputation, many guides are quite out of date as far as this
particularly aspect is concerned. Indeed, I have to say that in my
various trips to China I have been pleasantly surprised. You will
often find, however, that if there was originally a roll of loo
paper it would have been purloined long before you got there! Kinda embarrassing to get caught short in such a way. Also, many of the
restaurants charge extra for paper napkins, so having your own
supply will save you a few yuan each time you sit down for a meal.
- One needs to know
that, for the most part, there is no Google, no Facebook and often
even articles on the BBC are blocked. The Great Firewall of China is
all-embracing, omnipresent and very powerful, and also very, very
annoying! A blogger, such as myself, has to find inventive ways
around the restrictions if he wishes to continue to publish.
Thankfully, I have able and helpful friends who have assisted me in
this endeavour. Also, perhaps because of the sheer amount of
checking that goes on with the internet in China, it is much, much
slower than we are used to in the West. One wonders as to the damage
this must do to Chinese commerce but, hey ho, that is Chinese
politics for you.
For an extra tip, I would
urge people to be careful when using the roads in any situation,
whether you are a pedestrian, a driver or even being driven. Before I
came to China I checked which side of the road they drive on. The
answer given online was the right side but, this being China, that
only seems to be a general rule to be ignored whenever convenient.
Even to ask 'which side of the road...' is a bit misleading in itself
as it makes the presumption that the vehicles will drive on the road.
At times, for instance when there is some kind of blockage in the
road or they would have to wait in a queue, then the pavement is
blithely used without a care of any sort for the people walking
there. You may believe yourself to be having a pleasant stroll on a
Sunday afternoon, as befits a flaneur, only to have your ruminations
rudely ruptured by the random recklessness of a driver who not only
feels he has the right to the pavement as well as the road but will
even be very demonstrative about exercising that right. The Chinese
Highway Code need only consist of a single page and three words,
'Might is Right'.
I hope these tips will help
keep any budding traveller to the People's Republic of China safe and
assist in the enjoyment of this fascinating but frustrating country.
There is nowhere else quite like it that I have ever come across in
my travels, both from the positive and negative points of view. It is
perhaps, the most capitalist country that I have ever been too, both
on the micro and macro levels. It is nominally communist but only
nominally. There are some aspect of state capitalism, as opposed to
the strictly privately owned variety, but little evidence of any
communism whatsoever.
If anyone intends visiting
China, my recommendation would be to get away from the East Coast and
large cities such as Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen and head inland
several hundred, or even thousands, of miles. The aforementioned are
all completely over-developed and highly polluted. On the other
hands, there is much that is beautiful further to the West. My own
recommendation would be Yangshuo, but China is a huge country with
many beautiful areas and fascinating sub-cultures to choose from.
Over time, the governments desire to cover everything in concrete
will erode away the character of even these areas, so I would
recommend going relatively soon before everything that was Chinese is
turned into an ersatz West by the powers that be.
Sometimes,
in order to continue the flaneurial process, one has to jump through
a few hoops put there for the entertainment of administrators from
various lands. So it is today that I find myself in the
delightful 'Coffee Happy & More'
in the backs streets of Ratchprana 3 in Bangkok. The coffee shop
is much to my liking
and the owners friendly and helpful. I
am having a quick Americano and metaphorically girding my loins before
setting off for the challenges of the Chinese
consulate. It has the reputation of being a somewhat difficult
process so I have tried to cover every eventuality that may arise but
… I still find myself somewhat less than confident of success
today. Reading several
accounts from the
internet, others have come along similarly well prepared and failed.
I am only a day out of
Kanchanaburi, but already I find myself missing the place. Somehow,
apart from my initial enthusiasm a few years back, I have never
really enjoyed Bangkok. In the constant heat the noise and the
traffic become very wearing after a time and, apart from a few of the
main roads, it is no place for a quiet and thoughtful saunter as
befits the role of a flaneur. One of the things that one very quickly
notices about Thais is that they don't really have very much use for
their legs, apparently being there solely for the purpose of keeping
the torso upright when need be which, in itself, is not very often;
the preference being for sitting or, if at all possible, being
completely supine.
For the indigenous
population it seems, even the shortest of journeys warrants the use
of some kind of mechanized transport, the ubiquitous scooter being
the mode of choice. One will often see the girls in the local bars,
when in need of some supplies from a Seven Eleven or a Tesco Lotus,
will invariably take their motorbikes, even when said store is but 50
metres distant. The pavement, or what the Americans call the
side-walk, is there for the purposes of parking these bikes or for
the purveyance of various 'street foods' and not, perish the thought,
for actually walking along.
I was very tempted to use
an old joke at this point along the lines of 'what do you call a
pedestrian in Thailand?', the answer being 'a farang (a foreigner)',
but I thought I had better resist the temptation …
The pavements here,
perhaps because of their lack of use, are invariably either not fit
for purpose or so obstructed as to be unusable. This means that those
who would choose to saunter around town often have to do so with the
ongoing risk of being scooped up by a pre-occupied scooter rider,
often engaged in either texting or attempting to hold their child in
one arm while tryiing to control the bike with the other, or
flattened by a mini-bus driver who has perhaps chewed a few too many
betel nuts (they sometimes do this in an attempt to keep themselves
awake in order to attempt to complete an overly rushed schedule).
For all this though, I must
say that I have a preference for the driving here in comparison to
China. In Thailand it is lazy, a little carefree or maybe even
careless but there is a kind of consideration, a generosity to the
attitude of the drivers and the riders that you just don't see in
China. In that land one is often struck by the meanness and
ruthlessness of those on the roads, one might even say callousness,
whereas in Thailand, for all their laissez-faire attitude, one rarely
feels the same sense of threat.
To some extent, this
reflects the differences between the two cultures, the first is very
focussed on whatever it is that they want whereas the second is, in
general, far more generous and far less selfish. This is, of course,
a sweeping generalisation but going from one to the other one is
immediately struck by the differences in cultural attitudes.
Having said that, I will
still opt for the slowest means available to get back to Kanchanaburi
tomorrow. This will either be the slow coach (quite literally) from
the Southern Bus Terminal or maybe even the train. Mini-buses are
available and are a cheap and cheerful alternative, but I sometimes
wonder if the sheer stress of riding in those things will takes years
off of one's life, so any time gained is strictly illusory.
Part of the role of the
flaneur is to move slowly and, in this case, travel slowly. It seems
to be that there is almost an inverse ratio between the speed that
one travels and how much one can allow oneself to enjoy the
travelling. Speed is fine, in context. I very much enjoy being wafted
across continents at slightly less than the speed of sound in huge
metal tubes; it is a very practical solution to the problem of long
distance travel. Once I have actually reached the desired destination
though, my preference is very much for the more sedate and gentle
means of moving one's body from place to place.
The world is an
increasingly fast-paced place in which to live. Our means of
communication go on forever getting faster and faster and it is very
easy, and all too common, to become convinced of the necessity for
rushing everywhere. Part of the role of a flaneur is to show that
there is another way and that many of the best things in life are a
whole lot more fun when they are taken slowly. Such an attitude
though, does take a little attention, it takes a little patience, but
the rewards far outweigh the costs.
Back in the coffee shop,
the young man who served me my Americano is just performing what must
be his daily rites. Their is a small shrine next to where I am
sitting and two more at front and back of the shop. I am the only
customer in here at present and I have to admit that it is quite
lovely to see the sincerity with which he carries out his devotions.
This is not the first time I have seen this and, I have to admit,
each time I come across it I find it really rather touching.
There is much cynicism
about Thailand and the Thais at the moment, which is not overly
surprising given the political problems and the degree of corruption
here, but there is also at times something very charming and really
rather beautiful about the culture and the people here. I think that
is just one of the reasons, despite my fears of the ongoing unrest
and political turmoil, that has me coming back to this land on a
regular basis. In my experience, there is nowhere else quite like it.
Finally, together with a friend I was taking the time to ponder an appropriate theme song for the blog and an ancient number from Guy Lombardo came to mind. A good candidate...
