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aventurasdeunatortuga · 1 year ago

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Tiger Leaping Gorge

Okay I am almost caught up from the last week. Long post ahead but lets face it all my posts are long. Post 3 of 3.

So the last three days were spent doing something that was either very adventuresome or very stupid. Probably mostly stupid. Hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge alone without a guide.

Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the deepest gorges in the world. It is located in Tibet, about 2 hours from Lijiang. It is a very popular destination in China. Irene hiked it when she studied abroad in China back in 2014, so that’s how I found out about it. It’s called Tiger Leaping Gorge because there is a legend about a hunter who was pursuing a tiger in this gorge and at a narrow point in the gorge with rushing river rapids the tiger escaped by leaping across the gorge.

I was initially planning to go with a group. But since its the off season and since there are almost zero foreigners traveling in China right now there weren’t any tours offered other than private tours, which would have cost me nearly $1,000. So I did a lot of research, mainly using articles from 2019 before the border closed, and thought I could manage it on my own. Which was my first stupid or adventurous decision.

The trek itself is about 20 miles total and generally takes between 2-3 days. There are several inns along the way to stop at over the night. I used a map from 2019 to plan my way and it looked doable.

I took a bus from Lijiang, and arrived at the gorge without a hitch. However, despite the family sitting next to me on the bus translating everything the driver was saying with their phones and trying to help me, I got off the bus at the wrong stop. I got off at the tourist viewpoint which is at the most narrow, lowest part of the canyon directly next to the rushing rapids, where the tiger allegedly made its escape. You have to hike down a ways from the road to get down to the river. Not gonna lie it was truly impressive, the river was absolutely ferocious. I’d never seen rapids like that before. But then I realized that the place I was supposed to start the hike was actually 3 miles in the other direction.

So I hiked back up to the road and tried to figure out what to do. There were tourist buses but they were all for tour groups making stops at the viewpoint, I couldn’t really ask them for a ride. So I thought, its 3 miles, I can handle that. That was the next stupid decision.

One of the lessons I learn the hard way over and over again is “no, actually, you can’t walk that”.

So I walked for about an hour. The road was pretty precarious. It was a highway with a cliff on one side and a dropoff into the canyon on the other side. I never felt like I was in danger, but it was certainly a sight to see. At one point I walked by a policeman and I thought he was going to tell me I couldn’t walk there but he just looked the other way. I met a few people selling things along the side of the road and they all laughed and laughed as I walked by, which, understandable.

After about an hour I still had a mile to go. A car pulled over and the guy told me he could give me a ride the rest of the way, I accepted, also not the smartest choice but it worked out fine. This makes the third time I’ve hitchhiked; I did it before in Mexico and Turkey as well.

He brought me to the ticket office of the park, which I had thought was the entrance to the hike. It turns out in a brilliant stroke of stupidity that the place where the car had picked me up was in fact the entrance to the hike and I hadn’t realized it. There was an enormous sign and an arrow literally painted onto the cliff that I hadn’t noticed. I only realized when I asked at the ticket office where the entrance of the hike was.

So I turned around and walked back the exact way I had come for about 45 minutes along the highway. At one point some kids chased after me going “hello! hello!”.

After about 3 hours total, I finally made it to the entrance of the hike. The map said it would take me about 5 hours to hike 12 kilometers. Which in hindsight was laughable. It took closer to 7 hours. At that point it was 1pm and it was going to get dark at 8pm. I started walking and it was gorgeous but man it was difficult. It was all uphill. I saw absolutely no one, local or hiker, for about 3.5 hours. It was all farms and mountains. It was a bit unnerving being the only person there, but at least I was sure I was going the right way. There were red arrows painted on the ground every few feet which was reassuring.

After a while, I was at the point where I had calculated that I had 25,000 steps to take still and was counting all of my steps individually because I was so tired. Then I saw a lady waving at me. She asked if I wanted to ride a horse part of the way, in my obvious exhaustion I agreed but in hindsight I should have been more prepared and asked for more details about what this would entail. It was 100% my fault. I spent about 40 minutes on the horse going up the steepest part of the trail called the 28 Bends, which, self-explanatory name. The trail was very difficult, I felt bad being on the horse while the lady was walking behind me, I had thought she would be on a horse as well. She also insisted on carrying my backpack even though I kept saying I could carry it.

We made it up, and then she informed me that I was halfway there. When we had been negotiating a price earlier I had thought she had said 40 yuan, I had 200 yuan in cash so I had agreed. Everyone in China also uses a digital payment system called Alipay and another called Weixin Pay. I have Alipay because for Weixin Pay I couldn’t figure out how to set it up without a Chinese bank account. So we’re at the top of this mountain and this lady informs me that I had misunderstood and the price was actually 400, not 40 yuan. Which, I mean, considering the difficulty of the trail was a fair price but I hadn’t expected it. I showed her my cash and asked if I could pay her digitally, she said yes. She only had weixin pay though, and alipay and weixin pay don’t work together. So we were stuck. I didnt have any way to pay her. We sat there for probably 45 minutes trying to figure out what to do. It was 100% my fault for not understanding and not being more prepared. I hadn’t come across this issue the whole time I had been in China, everyone I’d met before accepted Alipay and I’d never had anything cost more than 200 yuan cash. I tried everything, even tried setting up a weixin pay account but i couldn’t do it without a chinese bank account. Then she told me the price had increased to 600 yuan. I was like I’m not sure what to do here. I called Irene desperately and somehow miraculously had service and she was miraculously able to send the lady money from 3,000km away. I will be forever grateful for friends like her saving my skin.

The lady then told me to be careful and rode away. It was 5:30pm then somehow, and there was still 2 hours left until the inn I was staying at. I also had had to use the bathroom for about 2 hours at that point and between the precarious horse ride up the steep mountain and the fiasco with the lady, hadn’t had a chance. Also 0/10 would not recommend riding a horse while having to pee. I was literally on the edge of a cliff with not even a path into the bushes, but there was at least not a single person around. I hid behind a tree and did what I had to do way too uncomfortably close to the edge of the cliff, thinking “well its already been a wild day, this may as well happen”.

Then I calculated that there were 13,300 steps left until my hotel. I didnt see a single person that entire time. My brain wasn’t capable of doing anything at that point other than putting one foot in front of the other and counting. Finally, in the pouring rain just before dark I made it 7 hours and 13.5 miles total after starting the hike, to my hotel for the night. I have done more physically difficult things in my life, but never for such an extended amount of time and never completely alone and with such uncertainty. The whole way I was thinking through all the decisions I had made today and regretting every single one of them. The views were spectacular though.

I made it to my room completely out of cash at that point and collapsed on the bed. I made it to dinner at the hotel and then came across the same exact issue I had encountered earlier with money. No one accepted Alipay connected to international credit cards, only alipay connected to Chinese credit cards, weixin pay or cash. After being in China for 3 weeks I had never encountered this problem before, everyone accepted Alipay and I had very very rarely had to use cash, people prefer not to use cash most times. So I couldn’t pay for my meal. Irene saved me again, and ended up doing so three more times over the course of this trek. I have learned yet another lesson the hard way, always bring more than enough cash and have a payment backup plan, especially in rural areas, and I am very grateful to have a friend like her to save me from my own stupidity.

I spent the evening trying to figure out a way to set up weixin pay and found an extremely complex way to do it which involved an hour long phone call with my parents and then at the end of the whole process was informed it would take 3 business days to verify my identity and activate my account, which was useless. I could only laugh at the absurdity of the situation and go to sleep.

The next day I felt more at ease because there were other hikers. Apparently what people do nowadays which is way smarter, is to take a car from the beginning of the trail to the first hotel because there is apparently a back road. They stay at the hotel for the night, send a car with their bags ahead to the end of the trail through the back roads and along the highway, then they walk the second leg of the trail with no bags. This would have been the ideal way to do it, but alas, here I was without money and with my heavy bag already at the top of the mountain. Oh well. Today was only a 10k hike to the end of the trail, and there were other hikers which made it a lot less unnerving.

I even met two foreigners, I hadn’t met any foreigners in quite a while. They were teachers in Shanghai, one from New York and the other from London. They’d been living in China since 2018. They were very surprised I was traveling around and wasn’t living in China, they said China really isn’t set up for people to just travel around. Its very difficult if you don’t have a Chinese bank account or speak Chinese, and theres almost no up to date information out there since the border reopened in January 2023. I was like…yup..tell me about it….

They talked about what it was like to go through covid in Shanghai, which other than Wuhan, was the most heavily impacted place in China. They had the strictest lockdown in the world. They literally could not leave their apartments for any reason for a total of 86 days straight. Some people were even literally sealed inside their apartments. They had to rely on food rations from the government being delivered and they weren’t always consistent. Lockdown was rough for everyone but this was another level.

Anyway, I got to talk to them for a while but then they moved along. Then I met another guy who was hiking alone. He spoke to me enthusiastically in Chinese and didn’t seem to be impeded by the fact that I could not understand anything he was saying. I think what I gathered after a while was that he thought since we were both hiking alone we should take photos of each other. He had me take photos of him and then he took photos of me, insisting that I hold his hiking poles. He did this a few times in increasingly precarious photo locations and then I was like ok this has gone too far. We kept walking for a while, almost an hour, and I was kind of ready for him to stop talking to me. I started walking really really slow to try and get him to go ahead but he kept stopping and waiting for me and telling me to hurry up. I can never tell when people are being friendly or being creepy. I always feel uncomfortable with people talking to me so its hard to trust my gut. There was also the language barrier and cultural differences to consider. I think he thought he was being friendly and looking out for me as women traveling and hiking alone is an oddity, not to mention being a foreigner.

After over an hour I think he finally got the hint so he said ‘bye bye’ and went ahead. I met one more group of hikers along the way, a group of 4 friends who greeted me by going “Hello! Fuck! Hi!” which was pretty funny actually. Lots of people yell hello at me on the street when I go by which I think they find funny because they always laugh afterwards and I never know how to respond. This was a new one though. This group talked to me for a little bit and then went ahead.

The path was extremely precarious at this point, but the views were absolutely breathtaking. It was an incredible hike. Finally, after 6 hours because of how slow I walk, I made it to the hotel at the end of the trail. 2 days, 20+ miles, 12+ hours of hiking, and many stupid decisions later I had made it one way or another. There were many times throughout I thought that I truly couldn’t do this and I should give up, but giving up wasn’t really an option, I had to push myself to keep going, and I eventually one way or another made it.

The only room the hotel had was an 8 bed dorm which I shared with a group of bikers who were thoroughly confused by me but were very polite and respectful. They all went out of the room and talked animatedly amongst themselves for a while after I went in the room and looked things up on a translator. I only understood 哪国人 (foreigner) 一个人 (alone) 为什么(why) and 中文 (Chinese). Then they asked me using the translator if I spoke Chinese, where I was from, and after much furious whispering, ‘how do you communicate with people here’. I just laughed and said “不知道，我用我的手机。” I don’t know. I use my phone. They thought everything about me was quite befuddling.

The next day the bikers checked in on me to make sure I knew how to get to my next stop, which was nice of them. I was able to get a bus directly from the hotel back to Lijiang, it ended up taking the entire day because there was only one bus but it was pretty seamless. I very much enjoyed the scenery of the wilderness but am very glad to be back in town where there are atms and people accept my bank card and I more or less know how to get around.

There were a lot of poor decisions made the last few days, but thanks to the kindness of friends and strangers it all worked out. I would do things differently knowing what I know now, but I am glad I did this in the end. It was an amazing experience.

I’ll be back in Lijiang for the next few days, before heading to my next stop. I’m writing this post now in a beautiful park by a lake in Lijiang while eating spicy noodles. I’ll try to update again before I leave to avoid a backlog again.

#china #travel #solo travel #asia #yunnan #tiger leaping gorge #trekking #travel mishaps

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ziseviolet · 1 year ago

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This is at Tiger Leaping Gorge, a scenic canyon on the Jinsha River, a primary tributary of the upper Yangtze River. It is located 60 kilometres (37 mi) north of Lijiang City, Yunnan in southwestern China.

no swimming sign at 虎跳峡hutiaoxia by 如果我叫桥子

#hutiaoxia #tiger leaping gorge #如果我叫桥子 #douyin #tiktok #video #audio #r

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mothmiso · 5 months ago

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雲南遊 2023 / Yunnan tour (2) (3) (4) by Celesta Kong

Via Flickr:

(1) Valley of Blue Moon (3) Jinsha River (4) Tiger Leaping Gorge

#mountains #rivers #valleys #countryside #mountain view #bridges #china #yunnan province

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teratocrat · 1 year ago

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when Theria, the Bestial Moon, illuminates the night sky, cries go up everywhere, from every animal reminded of its wildness, driven to fevered frenzy. roving packs of wolves and wild dogs follow her wherever she goes, as do her favored children, the golden furred serpents with pelts of tiger's eye whose greatest love is to harry the holdings of humanity. her moonlight, the color of peaches and roses, is accompanied by the overpowering smell of wet fur and sour breath, by great humid fogbanks and by the omnipresent sounds of sniffing that stir the trees and threaten to erupt into hurricanes that carry people away by the dozens or hundreds, to live new lives red in tooth and claw on her surface. sometimes those she abducts are returned to Earth at the edges of clearings stained with her colors, mutated towards the animalistic or warped painlessly along improbable axes. on rare occasion she sets her sights on a single individual, no more than a slivered crescent of her shining in the night to yank the unlucky mortal upwards into her custody through whatever architectural or natural obstacles might lie between him and her, but such singular focus is atypical of the Bestial Moon. her captured moonlet-souls orbit around her, irregular forests of teeth or talons or iron-hard quills that suddenly sprout up from the earth or invert to dizzyingly descend from the sky like stalactites or columns, combs that rake through the world. but the greatest Therian calamity is when she unfolds into the tip of the snout of some infinitely immense monster from outside the universe, with a maw full of tusks and fangs like assembled ranks of ivory soldiers, and she feasts upon worldstuff, drinking lakes, licking salt mines down to bedrock, gnawing off hunks of cities. in this moment she is the anteater, the aardwolf, the pangolin and the bear, gorging herself on the Hundred Thousand Honeys of Humanity. her tidal forces topple walls and watchtowers, stretch shadows into a false sunset, and stir up fallen leaves and debris as living whirlwinds that leap into the darkness with a hunter's singleminded purpose

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axl-ul · 11 days ago

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The Flight of the Western Crane: Chapter Nineteen

(A reupload/repost of my fic/dark retellingof Journey to the West which can be also found on AO3 under the same name)

(General info about this fic/wip/retelling is here)

****

The stars shone brightly. Their watchful gaze glided from stone to stone, from one den to another, even to the sturgeons and minnows that hailed from a great distance to pass the Tiger Leaping Gorge in order to meet the splattering waters of Yangtze. Where their everlasting light couldn’t reach, the wind did its job instead by checking the deep burrows. Under the soil’s thick green hair, rabbits came to run around. Frogs and toads made their way out of the waters and added to the charm with their ribbit - an idyllic scenery perfect for an artist to admire and to immortalise in his craft.

The valley’s lowland, a blessed child of Heaven and Earth’s union, offered peace and rest to anyone except one poor soul.

Wukong twitched and trembled several times that night. His dreams started with the humming of a waterfall which progressed into screams. Amber eyes like his own glared at him from the shadows surrounding him and yet when he followed them, they vanished. Instead of them, hands grabbed onto him like shackles. A person stood behind him and put something on his head. She hissed in his ear and the jungle around transformed into a palace chamber with a chaise. The air was filled with burning poppy seeds. Yawen was sitting atop of him while the chaise pressed into his back. Her slimy fingers crept into his hair. Her pretty face was beyond recognition - unnaturally angular and long with unblinking eyes that carried a horrifying mockery. She flickered her tongue before her lipless mouth drew nearer to peck his forehead. “Only a fool thinks they can escape Death or Fate. Are you a fool, Dasheng?“

He fell into the dark of the night. Momentarily, he came back to his senses to see Márgerdra laying on her back next to him, the sheets around a complete wreck. The sun hadn’t rosen yet. At first glance it seemed she was fully awake and observing the details of the ceiling above like those of a temple’s roof. Listening closer, the Monkey King discovered her lovely voice hummed something. At least so the macaque deducted in the dark. Their fingers, no matter how stiffened, remained inweaved. Not even Wukong’s unusually cold skin made her let go.

Wukong slowly blinked before his vision went blank. He woke up only when the sun’s first rays flew inside the bedchamber. His head must’ve slipped as his pillow sat beside, not to mention the thud still travelling through his skull.

The Lady Wolf Witch, combing her hair with one hand, turned. Remains of the night’s fleeting touch reflected within her gaze.

“Good morning. Hopefully, it’s not painful as well.“

“Morning. Did you…“ Wukong changed his mind at the last second,“You could’ve let go. The brushing’d be twice as fast.“

“It was the only option to calm you down. Just please, don’t yank those fingers.“

He shot a confused look. Following a long strand, he came to understand. When changing his position, Wukong’s right hand had entangled in blonde hair and had been grasping it since.

“Sometimes, there’s more than meets the eye. It’s not just the aesthetics. However, I can’t deny I’m proud of my mane.“

“Mar,“ Wukong’s hand moved from under the yellow veil. It gently directed Márgerdra’s face to meet his. Her expression seemed flat and disinterested. Only when they drew closer, he noticed her subtle delight but also sadness whenever he spoke the name. “Yesterday-“

“Don’t think about it. It wasn’t your fault. You’re safe now.“

The demon took a deep breath - there was almost no trace of her perfume, yet her smell was still lovely; he yearned to pull her into his arms and cradle and soothe her there,“Thank you for everything. For having my back. And that you allowed me to know you better.“

They laid in silence until the matrace beneath heated up again.

Márgerdra helped the monkey demon to adjust on his pillow. Her bloodied fingers left behind fingerprints on the white glaze but the witch quickly wiped them off. The headache came back. Fortunately, those were barely remains of what her restless mind would experience.

“Is your knee fine? Do you really dare to go and participate in the match?“

“And to make myself look like a coward? Blondie, it’s as good as new anyway.“

Arched over Wukong, her empty stare darted between him and the door shut behind her back.

“You truly see me as your friend?“

“Where does this come from? I don’t think I can follow.“

“Does our relationship have any value to you? Yes or no.“

“Of course, it does.“

“I misunderstood at first, then. It’ll be fine. A broken twig means nothing if the trunk with the roots lives further. Why fight something that’s already decided anyway?“ she whispered but continued before he had any chance to ask,“Wukong, promise me one thing. Whatever happens, you’ll follow your Master’s path. You’ll protect the boy just like you defended your tribe and the people around. The whole world. You are one of the Pilgrims. Together, you’ll travel to the Western Paradise and retrieve the scriptures. Even if it means to move on.“

“Mar, what are you-?“

“Promise it. Swear it. One day, you’ll understand.“

Wukong shot up on the bed, grabbing and pulling Márgerdra closer until her palms rested on his cheeks,“What if I want to know now? I’m no hero, if that’s what’s on your mind-“

“There’s too many of those. Just somebody who learnt what’s right. Somebody who doesn’t give up easily. Or forgets about the others. Buddha taught your Master and he taught you. Now it’s time to teach the rest.“ The breeze slithered down the shutters. It crawled above the floor until it hit the two with the freshness from the peak of the mountain while the birds gathered there to fly again, freely, unbound to meet the sun while their shadows nonexistent on the land far underneath.

The woman said before he had any chance to reply,“Let’s go. We better hurry up.“

****

The numerous banners wafted in the wind under the cloudless sky. Since the earliest of the morning the sun hadn’t given up on its strength. It already provided so much heat that the local folks waved around with fans as colourful as a peacock’s feathers or used the very fabric of their robes to cool down.

The courtyard needed only the last few touches to be fully prepared. Considering the size and the number of the guests, this strange organised chaos erupted. Tables were breaking under the amount of plates and bowls being brought. Mere fanning wasn’t enough, the servants had to use spells to repel the annoying insects. Despite the initial sulky mood, the servants, officials and nobles whose heads and bodies were covered not only in fine clothes and mesmerising jewellery but in antlers, trunks, fur, feathers and scales and even bones, too, or possessed a human skin of an intriguing texture and colour soon came to enjoy themselves. Even a young handmaiden with a glass-like skin paid no attention to the amazed monk.

“This is a real deal. What do ya reckon, Shifu?“ Bajie, chewing on an apple he’d grabbed from the glass servant passing by, whispered to the man in a light blue robe with a round collar as they passed by a group of female dancers rehearsing their opening number.

“It’s truly fascinating, to say the least, Wuneng,“ Sanzang casted a worried look at Wujing, who ran around asking about the purpose of the pillars and excitedly noted down in his journal the process of building the different stages,“To be fair, I’m quite nervous.“

“Shifu, don’t say you’ve got a stage fright. You’ve spoken in front of many crowds before!“

“But those were either prayers or lectures. Not poetry. And there certainly weren’t demons but humans,“ the young Buddhist halted, his gaze fell to the floor,“Wuneng, I didn’t mean it. It’s just that… I know we’re in great danger. I don’t want anything to happen to anyone.“

“Shifu,“ Bajie hugged him around the shoulders,“we, the yaoguai folk, are scary. Yeah, we for sure have strange customs and can be rougher sometimes. It’s natural for you to be worried. But we’re here, your disciples, fine?“

“You’re right. By the way, speaking of you all, where’s Lie and Wukong? It’s never good when they aren’t around, especially the latter one.“

“Afraid we’d cause trouble again?“ Two heads popped behind the monk. The monkey and the dragon horse were visibly in a great mood, bumping into each other like two little boys. Soon, Ol’ Sha jumped at them and hung on their necks causing them to playfully fight.

Once they calmed down, the monk used to their advantage that the group distanced itself to a far southern corner and continued in a hushed voice,“Disciples, we may not have enough time and trust me, I’d like to say more. But all of you taught me that even the big words can’t sometimes reveal what the mind and most importantly the heart yearns to say. Therefore, I’m grateful and honoured that Bodhisattva Guanyin elected you four to be my bodyguards, my companions, sometimes even teachers.“

The four disciples looked the monk up and down. Only when Sanzang started playing with his sleeves did they break the act. They launched at their master and made sure to squeeze him tightly altogether.

“Shifu, we’re just as glad to have you,“ Lie started.

“To be honest, you were annoying at first. Too strict for us.“

“Also we truly needed some time to adjust to the different schedule,“ Wujing added to Baje.

Lastly, the eldest disciple finished,“But you proved to be brave and kind in your heart. Now, let’s go. The Dragon’s hour approaches and you with Brother Lie shall perform.“

Lie grinned,“You’re saying this like your fight won’t be the cherry on top.“

The disciples briskly ran up to their places, yet the Master and the senior disciple remained.

As the monkey was about to turn to follow his three juniors, the monk tapped on the blue ornaments dancing on the striking golden silk. It made the young man think of the tapestries with the Tang Emperor and, admittedly, with the wide sleeves flowing around, the demon would easily blend in such scenery with his decisive posture. All that Wukong was missing was a crown with a pair of phoenix feathers. And yet, Sanzang could no longer associate such a possession with his beloved disciple, not until the monkey stopped carrying the untraditional calmness in his deep gaze.

“Wukong, I wanted to thank you personally. Yes, I’ve repeated myself that we ought not to be bound to earthly matters as they’re but a fleeting touch, a reflection of the stars on the pond’s surface. But as you once asked about my parents, about my…“ although it was only a buzz of a tiny bee flying past him, Sanzang thought fingers, rough due to the hardships of life but also as tender as only a mother could ever have, caressed his ruffled hair,“As your Shifu, I should be both your teacher and father, guiding you through the teachings to achieve understanding. However, it’s often the opposite - you taught me a lot as well. I’m sorry I judged you harshly.“ Sanzang caught himself at the last moment; his lips dried out while rethinking his words. “Thanks for everything.“

“No problem, Shifu,“ Wukong’s uplifted spirit shone through and through,“you can count on me the same way I count on you. The same goes for my brothers. We won’t ever let anyone hurt you. We’ll get to the Western Paradise and bring the sutras to enlighten everyone.“

“Yeah, exactly,“ the monk rubbed the side of his eye,“Anyway, where’s Her Highness and Lady Wolf Witch?“

“No idea. She said she’d get prepared with the princess. She really thinks they’ll get here before the start,“ the monkey snorted and put his hands on his hips.

“Wukong? Aren’t those two…?“

The Monkey King turned in the direction of the Tripitaka’s pointing finger. In front of the main entrance, two women walked out of the palace’s shadows and ascended the stairs tanning in the sun’s gold. Even from the great distance, the demon and his master recognised the hopping pattern of the smaller woman whose pomegranate skirt flailed around as if it were a cat’s tail. Two pearly hairpins peeped from her tied up hair, mimicking a pair of ears. Her waistcoat added to the impression of a tigress given the turmeric dye and rubies sewed on the shoulders in several rows of stripes. Even the petite woman’s voice ringing with heartfelt cheerfulness made her seem not childish but charmful, especially when her feet firmly landed on the last stair. Mei, at last, straightened her spine and with a subtly stuck out chin stepped out. “Hello there, gentlemen!“ she waved at them.

It took plenty of effort for Sanzang to stop staring. Listening to his instincts, Sanzang turned his head just to scowl at drooling Bajie. He bumped into Wukong, too, whose legs turned stiff and made the demon persist in his place, unknowingly mimicking his master.

Despite the monk’s effort, the disciple couldn’t tear his eyes off of the demoness.

Like any other day, Márgerdra outshined other women easily yet today was somewhat different. Elegance and grace radiated from her. The hidden passion burnt so much it became a perfect contrast to the cool colours of her blue scarf where gold bits shone like tiny tears. Her skirt waved whenever her slim legs in fine mauve slippers moved as if she floated through air. Although of a quite loose cut, the garment still did her curves justice whenever the breeze picked up as a moderate wind and outlined her figure.

“Are you alright? Don’t tell me you caught something. A flu perhaps? I told you to take the whole blanket for yourself!“ When neither of the men responded, Mei waved again and briskly pressed her palm against the monk’s forehead. Sanzang distanced himself but quickly assured both were as healthy as a fish.

Mei and Sanzang surely chirped like sparrows on a roof as they made their way towards the rest. However their protectors couldn’t follow without a moment of privacy.

Wukong bowed his head. “It really suits you.”

“You don’t look that bad either.“ Márgerdra squinted as she sized up Qitian Dasheng. Suddenly, he felt smaller than ever. It all went away the moment she spoke in a voice that could melt the coldest ice. “Let me fix your collar,“ the small wrinkles retracted as the she-wolf faintly smiled and ran her hand by his neck,“now you look perfect.“

“Careful there, I may outshine you any moment soon.“

“I’d love to see you try. Honestly, however, I can’t complain much.“

He cackled and offered his forearm. The demoness caressed it and let her arm settle there like a swallow,“What a gentleman. Anyway, the servants told us your match got delayed. You and the captain shall fight by the evening. I was thinking I may help you to get prepared. I guess it would be more believable than if I stayed in the crowd. Besides, I’m afraid that Yawen and Golden Wind may strike soon. I highly doubt they’re going to wait for the full moon.“

“What makes you think that?“

“I haven’t heard a word about her this whole morning. I guess I don’t need to remind you twice that she isn’t one of the quiet folks. No way she wouldn't make herself known. Am I allowed to make sure your armour won’t loosen upon the first strike, then?“

“You’d made your way there even if I told you no,“ the disciple whispered back,“Plus, I’m not sure whether I wanna risk anyone getting a black eye or broken ribs like myself in case they stand in your way.“

Márgerdra took the hint, yet acted as if having no clue. “Like who? The captain?“

“Perhaps. Maybe a few soldiers as well.“

“You’re saying it like it’s a bad thing.“

Wukong threw his head back as he laughed at Márgerdra’s pretended innocence.

At first, those were but foolish words echoing within the dead space of his mind. Alas, the Monkey King caught himself too late and replied out loud,“Quite the opposite. It’s that irresistible part of your charm.“

The Wolf Witch halted. Her eyes, so bright till that moment, lost their spark. Her teeth vanished behind her lips that formed a thin line as her nose wrinkled. She untangled their arms and continued forward keeping merely a former proximity. Neither she or the Monkey King uttered anything until they reached their seats.

****

The sun opened its eye to the fullest and blessed the earth beneath with the sacred light. Upon her arrival, Queen Shufen seemed to become the personification of that light. Her face was bright and clearer than the horizon. The phoenix crown’s gold, thousands of pearls, sapphires and rubies, the shining kingfisher feathers emphasised the unearthly look of the Immortality Crane whose blackest eyes were like soft velvet trying to hug the world and give it all the care she held within.

Musicians and dancers amazed the spectators as well. The sword dance left a trace of bliss behind. The colourful robes painted the air whenever they twirled around. Such a vibrant mix reminded of butterflies that visited the courtyard. Even the queen’s elephant was brought to perform with acrobats before standing next to her owner.

Shufen caressed the grey hide. “Look who finally showed up, Xiao Tao. Are you excited, my little girl?“ the queen gave her another apple and pointed to the young erhu player with white streaks in his hair. Immediately, the elephant threw her head back to trumpet.

Lie didn’t mind. Quite the opposite, he smirked upon seeing the majestic creature play with the queen’s crown during his number. Later, she directed her attention to the young captain who sat next to his aunt. It cost Lie a great effort not to burst into laughter when Xiao Tao tucked on the crane’s coat. Despite such a bold move, the captain himself smiled and scratched Xiao Tao on her trunk and let her rest it on his shoulder.

As he changed the upbeat tunes with more melancholic ones for the actors to finally join and introduce the story of a celestial bird meeting a dragon, the crowd calmed down and eagerly dived into the play with their interest. The story was longer than what the Pilgrims expected, yet they found themselves enjoying it. Márgerdra let the princess hide into her chest when the dragon showed up for the first time, scaring Mei with its long whiskers and flaming antlers despite being merely an impressive costume carried by half a dozen of skilled actors. Sha Seng briskly joined and soothed her along with the witch.

The play continued long into the late evening. At last, Ao Lie positioned himself next to the actors and welcomed the young monk. The disciple reassuringly squeezed his teacher’s shoulder. The Tripitaka felt the courage waking up inside although the sun had disappeared behind the bumpy horizon. It flared up even more when he saw all four disciples and even their companions from the Great Tiger Kingdom waving at him. Suddenly, the need to use the scribbles he made under Mei’s supervision left him disappeared. Instead, he turned to face the queen. His voice, at first a flock of cracks yet now a sound as nice to hear as the sandalwood to smell, spoke of high mountains, ravishing lowlands and the souls freed from pain that found happiness in the compassion their hearts treasured altogether. “Because the people are the world’s mirror as well for the ocean is too a myriad of droplets, each as significant as the other so as to nurture each other.“ A small pause and the monk started his last few verses not noticing the silent ruffle behind.

“I better get going,“ Wukong whispered once he noticed Jun standing up from his seat behind his master; he vanished behind a thick curtain that had to hide a stairway to the stage hosting the royal family,“See you soon.“ He nodded to the Wolf Witch, hoping she would eventually come to see him at the arsenal.

****

Márgerdra surely began to think she got lost in the vast space where the sole residents seemed to be the racks with spears, swords and bows. Soon she realised that in her hurry she passed by the corridor she was looking for. It was long yet the supporting pillars made Márgerdra hunch down after she accidently hit her forehead. As she scanned the corridor poorly lit with torches and the stone walls overgrown with mould and moss clumps, the witch doubted a mere human would find their way around the place. The air was heavy and moist, hard to breathe in. Hence her lungs significantly enlarged whenever she took a deep but calm inhale.

She didn’t mind the eerie space nor the noise of water dripping from the ceiling here and there. The arsenal was, after all, located under the courtyard and thus carved into the mountain itself. Yet, she couldn’t lose the feeling of not being alone. Still, she was certain nobody had followed her. Only when she walked to the crossroad did she stop. The main path was narrow and straight, the second one crooked like a worm. The woman was prepared to set out into the tight space ahead when somebody bumped into her.

Both stumbled down with grunts and curses. Márgerdra quickly got on her knees and started brushing off the dirt. Annoyed, she took a good look at whoever it was. Although the person had a hood, it was rather easy to conclude the identity due to the hunched stance and scrawny figure. After shuffling closer and seeing the brown eyes glowing with an amber hew, she was sure. “Wukong, are you crazy?! I’m no wooden dummy to train crazy stunts on!“

The demon drew closer, trapping Márgerdra between his body and the walls. She shivered when his wild look settled down on her - malicious, dangerous and filled with an unmatched curiosity. As if he were recalling something he passionately hated but couldn’t bury.

He dived into the curve of her neck. He sniffed deeply, sharply. The rough fingertips ran up and down her shoulder. He seemed not to realise that Márgerdra could hear his muttering. “You did not change a bit. The same ghostly woman that matched the cool forest all too well. I…scared you back then, didn’t I?“

She thought he already finished, then he snarled again. “How come that he was allowed to lie his head next to yours and be lulled like a newborn while I had to sleep in places where vermin dug into my skin and hair? A stranger bound to me yet should I forget the scriptures? My Shifu? My destiny?“ he growled,“I… He’s such a fool. But what else to expect? That coward could never bid farewell. One must forget to ascend.“ He brushed his lips, colder than that stone around, against her skin, still hugging her tightly despite his trembling hands.

The initial shock remelted into a letdown, then sheer anger from witnessing the gall.

While still in the hug, her hands shot up. Her claws dug into the back, tearing the cloak and shirt first, then mercilessly attacked the flesh.

The macaque hissed. Márgerdra couldn’t afford to hesitate further. Kicking him off of her, she sent herself back to her upright legs. Yet his tail slammed and put her back to her place.

Márgerdra’s vision went black.

Thankfully, she regained her senses, yet found herself to be alone. The only evidence of other presence was the hood she was clutching and an image of the demon before Márgerdra collided with the wall.

****

Finally, she reached her destination. Upon entering, the witch discovered there were four doors in the arsenal, an octagonal room of a moderate size inlaid with wood that was appropriately lit up with lamps. The first door was the one that she’d just used, two on the opposite walls that connected to other armouries and one the right which surely led outside to the courtyard. Looking around, the number of weapons and armour pieces wasn’t inherently great. Yet each impressed the witch with its simple though flawless iron and steel.

Wukong was standing in the centre. He’d already changed his robes for a tunic and much looser trousers. The boots he’d been previously wearing were now thrown under a bench since the monkey found the simple legwraps more suitable for his style.

Tying the last knot on the legwrap, the monkey turned around to greet the much awaited she-wolf who watched him from the entrance,“Blondie! What took you so long? I nearly started thinking you aren't coming. Anyway, could you handle that shoulder pad for me? The one on the right with a dragon head.“

Márgerdra let out a fume. She grabbed the shoulder pad and in less than four long steps stood in front of the Sage. Her movements when securing the straps were rough. By accident, she yanked the monkey’s fur, at which Wukong scowled,“Watch that!“

“I’ve tolerated your pranks too long. You better stop it immediately! You were scaring me! I almost thought you were after my neck again.“

“Blondie, listen, I don’t know what happened on your way here. I got no witnesses to have my back. But I’ve been here the entire time. Are you sure you didn’t meet a servant?“

“Wukong, I swear I know who I saw.“ The Wolf Witch took notice of him when he faced her. His eyebrows furrowed, eyes narrowed until a thin line remained while the demon tilted his head. He wasn’t lying, only equally confused. There was a question they didn’t need to pronounce out loud, but surely understood from each other,“If it weren’t you, then who?“

One of the doors slid open. Two guards followed the captain, whose garbs were similar to that of Wukong. The two opponents only differed in the colours they chose - Wukong stood tall in brown, yellow, red and black while Jun proudly kept to white, azure, purple and green.

Jun politely bowed to both before asking,“Prepared, Huang?“

“Like never before in my life, captain,“ Wukong nodded.

Just as the captain marched out to the courtyard, he changed his mind and turned on his heel. Facing the imp, the captain’s face relaxed as he bowed once more,“Keep this to yourself. But I want to apologise for the childish quarrel. You all were a great help.“

“What made you change your mind, captain?“

“I’ve never seen my aunt this excited or happy. Besides, I got my evidence on your… innocence. I also saw that you truly are a master of your craft. Please, let’s fight like opponents, like two fellows in martial arts, not enemies.“

Wukong bowed his entire upper body, then helped Jun to regain his stance with a broad smirk. “Aye, I guess that could be doable.“

Jun returned the friendliness, but he sheepishly retracted after looking behind the monkey. “I think you may want to talk to Miss Yaling. I’ll wait outside. Don’t take too long.“

Wukong let out a chuckle when the door behind the captain and his retinue shut tight.

“Oh man, have you seen his sour face? Priceless! I bet you secretly growled at him!“

Márgerdra took her time. Uttering nothing, she chose a pole that Wukong had prepared for himself on a rack and closed the distance between them. Shivers conquered her heart and soul but she brought herself to speak at last,“Say only one thing. That you’ll come back in one piece.“

“Blondie, am I not the Great Sage Equal to Heaven? The disciple of the Golden Cicada?“

Márgerdra’s voice trembled, yet not a single tear glistened in her eyes,“Please, promise that you’re coming back. Returning to your Shifu and brothers. Just like always.“

Wukong’s palm encircled the witch’s hand, the one grasping the pole. Uncertain about the idea at first, the demon then let his forehead rest against hers and replied,“I do, Mar.“

The two no longer hesitated. The witch threw herself around his neck and the disciple clutched his powerful arm around her back. Neither let go for a while, unsure whether breaking such a moment would shatter them both became equally fragile like the two old lion statues guarding the courtyard.

Márgerdra’s words marched out with Wukong, giving him hope and reassurance, although he caught a strange tint of alien sternness there,“Good luck, Qitian Dasheng.“

****

The silver threads of the full moon glided down onto the Jade Valley and the agitated guests in the courtyard. The moment they saw the tight knot with a crane hairpin, they all started cheering and welcoming the queen’s nephew. The leather scales on his armour were as white as snow, it made the crane look as if he shone in the evening’s gloom.

Jun stuck out his chest and bowed deeply to his aunt and then to the crowd as the drums picked up on the rhythm.

“Dearest guests!“ Shufen stood up in her seat and proudly began,“Once again I’m thanking you for your wishes. All the presents are lovely, yet two warm my heart the most. The first - the presence of my beloved nephew that never ceases to amaze me with his loyalty and capability. Since the sun has embraced this little boy, I knew he shall achieve great things. He’s been protecting me, this city, our whole kingdom. He’s fought against our enemies and traitors. One of which has impudently shown up right here, in our fortress!“

Simple whispers and speculations from the smug nobles and servants soon turned into an uproar when ten guards dragged chained Golden Wind Viper from the darkness of the palace. The muzzle kept the snake from spitting his venom just like the enchanted iron collar prevented his neck from elongating. Despite the precautions, the guards struggled to walk in a straight line as Golden Wind Viper was putting up a fight. He only stopped twitching when a cangue was put around his neck.

Golden Wind Viper no longer snarled. Scorn emitted from his very core when he cast gaze on Shufen. The fact that his spit landed right in front of him instead and splashed him didn’t take away his boldness as he exclaimed,“Your Majesty! How lovely to see you! It felt like ages I dare to say. I bet you must’ve been missing me. Has anyone replaced me as your general?“

In spite of his tone, his effort to gain attention went ignored. Shufen was far more calculated and chose an approach that made Golden Wind Viper turn even greener than what he already was from envy. “Captain of the Royal Guard kept to the promise. After being informed by the eldest of the Huang brothers, he heroically dived into the danger and arrested this scoundrel once and for all. At last, we may rest at peace. For everything that Captain Jun has done, I, Queen Shufen, a woman of my word, proudly announce that from this day on you shall be recognised as my general!“

The crowd applauded while Jun gracefully, yet with easily recognisable pride, bowed to show his gratitude towards the congratulations. Once he spotted the golden-haired woman walking up the stairs and reclaiming her seat, he grinned.

Yet, Márgerdra paid little attention to the man’s parade. She and Mei wondered,“Brother Monkey helped him, jiejie?“

“I’m confused, too, little plum. I don’t remember him mentioning a thing.“ Márgerdra lightly tapped on her chin. Something still made her come back in thoughts to the strange interaction she’d with Wukong. Neither her or the princess had enough space to think, however. The queen’s following statement took their breath away. Sandy and Lie’s jaws dropped as well. Bajie choked on his drink while Wukong almost stumbled back to the armoury.

“Master Huang Shui has helped us significantly with his whole family. Your intelligence, compassion and now the poem you wrote, such gentleness and affection towards everything living can’t be found anywhere else. With you, I realised my happiness. Although your family would like to venture forth towards their further research, I must ask one thing. A simple offer where our lives would seal our fates altogether. Not only do I promise you immortality coming from Golden Cicada’s flesh, Master Shui. Would you like to become my husband, too, and rule this country with me?”

Sanzang’s throat went dry. He felt as if the whole world was watching his every move.

He briskly stood from his seat below the queen’s throne. The Dragon Prince had to grab the monk under his armpit to prevent him from collapsing.

The young man’s lips opened and closed several times without uttering a single noise. He did not dare to guess the consequences if he rejected the proposal, although he didn’t find a single hint of malice. Yet, aware after countless Wukong’s warnings and lectures, the monk didn’t let his eyes be deceived by the first glance this time. What now seems to be a curiosity can easily turn into a vengeance from a broken heart.

The guests started whispering to one another when he gave no reply. Even Xiao Tao stumped her heavy foot as if the animal hoped for the noise to bring the man back to his senses.

Fortunately, it did. Even more, it gave Sanzang a bright idea. Although it didn’t solve the Pilgrim’s problem immediately, he managed to buy some time anyway. “Your Majesty, it was all lovely to meet you as well. Please, don’t doubt my manners due to my long answer. You see, the question came so suddenly. At first, this sounds like a simple question. Yet I am no simple man and I dare not to reveal my decision right away. My beloved brother is about to fight your nephew, Your Majesty. Hence I suggest we let them fight first as the great news could affect their thinking, judgement and so their decisions within the match! Please, let this fight be fair not for their own sake, not ours.“

His dance around the words seemed to have worked as Shufen nodded,“Master Shui, I expected no less from you. Your reasoning provides a sober mind to where my heart sings. Of course, as you wish.“ She deliberately waved her hand at the drummers to resume their rhythm. “General Jun of the Azure Crane Dynasty. Master Huang Wei. May the skill of each decide tonight, not the luck,“ Shufen sternly let out and lifted her palms to face the starry sky.

Meanwhile Jun and Wukong bowed to one another for the last time, effortlessly ignoring Golden Wind Viper’s cackle in the background.

The Azure Crane General unsheathed his sword and rose the ringing steel above his head.

The Monkey King responded by lowering himself till his front calf became parallel with the ground. The tip pointed at the opponent.

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Taglist (let me know if you'd like to be added): @vanessaroades-author @morganmaietto @aohendo @rbbess110 @jgmartin @outpost51

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List of chapters:

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-six

Chapter Twenty-seven

Epilogue

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ko-existing · 1 month ago

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https://www.tumblr.com/dream-world-universe/763973892754767872?source=share

If this wasn't created by artificial intelligence, I'm amazed at the courage of people

Because I would run away from there immediately

It's real, very cool

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chinaknowitall · 1 month ago

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The most popular hiking route in China? - Tiger Leaping Gorge

Sitting in any inn in Tiger Leaping Gorge, you can see backpackers from different countries drinking coffee, with English, Korean, and Japanese coming and going in your ears. The innkeeper switches languages according to the skin color to communicate without discrimination. Such an environment may be very common in coffee shops on the streets of Hong Kong, but it is definitely the first in the…

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adventureswithteddy · 11 months ago

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Teddy went down to the waters edge in the bottom of Tiger Leaping Gorge to feel the cool air as it mixed with the torrent rushing past. A gentle mist beguiled the fury of the churning waters, though he was happy to view it he was even more happy that he was on dry land to do so.

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aventurasdeunatortuga · 1 year ago

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Lijiang Part 2

Alright I think with this post I am pretty much caught up.

After coming back from Tiger Leaping Gorge on Friday I made my way back to Lijiang where I’ve been for the last 3 days. Friday evening was nice and quiet. I stayed in my hotel. Every night all the staff in the hotel have homemade dinner together and invite any guests that want to join them which is really cool, and it happened to me one of the staff’s birthday. I had just finished eating dinner and they went “好的！蛋糕！” ok, cake! And at the door was a cake delivery of two giant cakes. I was so surprised, but given that I can’t understand the majority of what people’s conversations are I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising. We celebrated the staff member’s birthday which was super cute.

On Saturday I had a rest day. In the afternoon I went over to Black Dragon Pool Park, one of the bigger city parks here. I walked around for a while and got noodles and bubble tea from a food stand and sat by the pond while catching up on writing and listening to a busker play. It was very nice.

On Sunday I ventured out of town to the nearby mountain, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Weirdly I was able to take the regular city bus there even though it was like 30 km outside of town. It was very seamless once I found the right bus.

As generally tends to happen on the tail end of long trips I’ve been pretty tired the last few days so I wasn’t really up to pushing myself to leave really early in the morning to go visit the mountain or spend the whole day doing things. But as a result when I got there it was very crowded and due to how big the crowds were I couldn’t see much before closing time, which, honestly I’m fine with.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain’s peak has significant elevation, I’m not sure what the elevation actually was or what it was at the base of the mountain but people were extremely prepared for it. I’d never seen this before, but everyone had small individual canned oxygen tanks they just took some breaths from every now and again to avoid altitude sickness. It was pretty cool and helped a lot with the altitude. Definitely could’ve used that for the 13,000+ ft elevation in Peru.

I had arrived too late in the day to visit the peak of the mountain, but I had some lunch at the base and saw a cultural performance which was pretty cool. They had over 100 performers from a variety of different ethnic groups in Yunnan and Tibet and they performed traditional dances. The stage was really cool set up against the mountains and the performance even had horses at one point.

I don’t know if this is a cultural thing or just this particular crowd of tourists thing or a me being cranky and sick of people thing but I got pretty annoyed at the people in the audience. People were just shoving and pushing left and right with very little regard for or awareness of personal space, talking loudly on the phone all throughout, and just getting up in the middle and walking around in front of the stage. So between all that it was kind of hard to see everything but it was still pretty cool. I’ve noticed a lot of shoving and pushing and lack of personal space especially while waiting in lines here and I feel like its just normal here and I just need to get used to it.

Anyway after that I got on a bus to go visit a really cool lake at the base of the mountain called Blue Moon Bay. The water was so turquoise and clear it was very otherworldly. There were also these natural pools that reminded me a lot of the travertines in Pamukkale, Turkey. There were literally dozens of people taking their wedding photos and there were a lot of other people so it was pretty crowded but it was still cool to see.

The sun was really really bright up by the mountain due to the elevation. Here in China people are very very conscientious about sun protection, but instead of using sunscreen they use UV protectant clothing. Usually this involves a long jacket that zips up to cover your nose and mouth, arm coverings, gloves, a large brimmed hat, sunglasses and an umbrella. Some people even have full face masks (forehead to chin) with eye holes. This is rooted in colorism unfortunately as having paper white skin is seen as highly regarded here, people go to great lengths to avoid any amount of sun exposure and use skin whitening creams in addition to this.

Since I’d gotten sunburned at least 3 times already this trip I finally caved and got a UV jacket to go to the mountain and it actually worked really well. The only part of me that got burned was my nose and chin because I didn’t zip it up all the way. When I went to buy it it was a weird interaction at the shop. It was supposed to be about 80 yuan, the old man at the shop I guess recognized me or something? I’d been in the shop a couple of times already and talked a little bit to him before. He only charged me 50 yuan for the jacket and a bottle of water, but then after I paid him digitally he got all worked up and started waving his hands all over the place. Then he took 40 yuan from the register and put it in my hand and shooed me away, so he essentially gave me the jacket for free. I was so confused and hope I didn’t misunderstand what was happening but I think he was just being really nice.

So anyway, shout out to that old man for helping me avoid getting burned yet again.

Anyway, sorry for the tangent, the sun was super super bright and intense at the mountain so it was a weird combination of being cold and hot at the same time. I started making my way back to town which involved a truly enormous claustrophobic line to get on the bus back down the mountain and then another to get back to town.

Back in town I wandered around the ancient town one more time and bought some dried tea to take home. It was a huge production involving everyone in the shop and a little kid running to get his mom who spoke English. The lady in the shop ended up giving me a rose cake for free which was nice. Yunnan specializes in a lot of foods one of which is flower cakes, little warm cakes with a flower infused filling.

I walked around the snack market which had a lot of interesting local foods. I tried a “milk fan” which is essentially fried milk on a stick. They take the milk and separate it out through a very complex process until it is semi-solid and then fry it. It was very interesting, it tasted like yoghurt or cheese but was chewy and crunchy.

Back at my hotel the owner had made homemade mushroom soup for dinner, which Yunnan also specializes in. It was very yummy. I was also very surprised because there was a French person staying at my hotel and the owner of the hotel asked me to go translate what he wanted to say to the French person and I was able to translate a whole interaction. My Chinese is so so so basic I was very surprised I was able to sort of do that.

At dinner we were able to actually hold somewhat of a conversation this time which was nice. I really do want to get to know and talk to people here but the language barrier has been so intense its been hard to have anything more than very basic communications.

One thing that I am starting to admire about China is how fiercely independent and for lack of a better word, self-sufficient, it is. I feel like a lot of the rest of the world has been impacted a lot by globalization and homogenization. You can go almost anywhere in the world and hear the same popular music playing, see the same exact brands of shops, and see the same 5 chain restaurants and use the same apps and speak English and be understood. But that is absolutely not the case in China. There are a few global brands like KFC and Starbucks that have managed to establish themselves here but it is rare. Other than that, China does absolutely everything on its own terms and you really can’t get around just relying on English. China does just about everything without relying on outside influences and in many cases are way ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the world. China forces you to make a genuine effort to engage in their culture rather than adapting itself to suit foreigners, which I think is kind of cool and I haven’t seen that really anywhere else I’ve traveled.

There is of course a flip side to that. A big part of the reason China has their own version of everything is partially to avoid undue influence from the west and partly because the Chinese government has a very specific narrative it wants to push and so anything alternative to that is simply not allowed. There is no access to a lot of information online, media is heavily censored, and it is very very difficult for foreigners to get a visa to enter China. This results in a lot of people truly just not being aware of some alternative perspectives and ways of thinking and its hard for intercultural exchange to happen. Not saying it doesn’t happen, there are lots of students and teachers who go abroad or come from abroad and plenty of intergenerational immigrant families. But I can definitely see how one could go their whole life here without being exposed to a lot of people who are different from them and then you get situations of discrimination, racism, and even ethnic cleansing like what is happening in Xinjiang and no one talks about it or is aware of it. Protesting is illegal here.

Not saying the US is any better, we have a lot of problems as well and certainly don’t have clean hands either. There is a lot of censorship and discrimination and racism in the US as well. I don’t know where I’m going with this other than there is a lot of rhetoric in both the US and China that tends to demonize the other country and it sounds naïve but when you get down to it and are able to have an actual conversation with someone and have that person to person cultural exchange, we have a lot in common. The US and China both have a lot of very serious issues but its also not fair to conflate people with their governments, especially when they as individuals can do very little to impact what their government does. I guess it just reiterates for me how important education and cultural exchange are.

Anyway I don’t know where I was going with any of that word vomit, but I am currently en route to my final stop in China (but not of this trip): Xi’an. Will try to update before I leave in about 3 days.

#lijiang #yunnan #china #travel #solo travel #asia #blue moon bay #jade dragon snow mountain #black dragon pool park

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