Exploring rural China

We’re about three weeks into our trek through China and we’re finally starting to relax down here in the mountains of southwest China, a stone’s throw from Tibet. We never planned to cover so much ground so quickly but northeast China encapsulated everything that is dreadful about China. We were perpetually pushed south by throat burning pollution, drought induced dust storms, nonstop construction (and demolition), dangerous driving with no seatbelts, and overwhelming piles of trash and pools of sewage. We have finally found warmer climes and untainted nature 1,700 miles from where we started in Beijing.

The first stop since our last update was in Xi’an, China (pronounced “Shee-ahn”). I’m reading Colin Thubron’s book, “Shadow of the Silk Road,” which is a fascinating documentary of a modern day trek along the original Silk Road that connected Xi’an, China with Istanbul, Turkey. After centuries of trade and indirect contact with the west, Thubron describes the vibrant Muslim community that still exists in Xi’an today.

When I passed through Xi’an a few weeks ago I saw Chinese Buddhists and Chinese Muslims conduct business and live side by side as they have for hundreds of years. I also enjoyed a unique Xi’an cuisine of kebabs, dried persimmons, and dumplings. I tried one of everything.

We then headed further south to Yunnan Province and I am writing this note from inside Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the deepest gorges in the world. The furious and crystal clear Jinsha River carves its way through an incredibly narrow pass between two mountain ranges that soar 12,795 feet above the riverbed.

tiger leaping gorge

The base of the gorge is choked with lush greenery, a few thousand feet up it changes to brown grass with mountain streams, and further above the mountain peaks are dusted with snow. The gorge teems with life as rural farmers carve out a living in the steep, seemingly impossible steppes of the mountains. Rice terraces cling to cliffs and quaint villages are precariously perched on mountain ledges. A single road that passes through the length of the gorge is littered with fallen boulders that almost block the road entirely in places. If the high altitude doesn’t take your breath away, the spectacular scenery will.

view from our guesthouse

During our precarious hike through the gorge, we stayed in a Chinese guesthouse run by several cute women who casually sang traditional Chinese songs as they served bland food on a balcony that overlooked the gorge. When you have real estate like that it doesn’t matter what the food tastes like.

This gorge is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. But sadly, a recurring theme in China is that all good things come to an end, and the preliminary construction has started for 12 dams that will forever change the landscape.

In our travels we have also encountered many of China’s burgeoning middle class, a group of some 150 million people out of 1.3 billion Chinese. Here, the typical middle class person has enough discretionary income to buy a small car, a modest apartment, and travel a bit on an average annual income of US$18,000. China’s economic development over the past ten years has been compared to America’s last 50. While the money is here, the social development is still far behind. From my curbside observation, the Chinese who shop in department stores and drive Honda Accords also scream into their cell phone, argue and push their way through crowds, toss bags of trash out of car windows, and spit on the floor in restaurants. I even saw a well-dressed woman help her baby daughter squat in front of a McDonald’s to defecate on the sidewalk. It’s a startling reminder that money doesn’t ensure responsible behavior and it’s a recurring theme throughout China.

Yet, despite the challenges that China faces, Ben and I have experienced the wonderful warmth and kindness of the Chinese people. A woman of limited means paid for our bus fare out of blind generosity just the other day.

Exploring rural China

Kunming, China