Spring Has Sprung

After what seems like months of chasing summer around the world, I think we've finally caught up to spring here in Xi'an. We've sent back a box of some winter gear back home and our packs are a bit lighter, and another reason to feel more spritely. In the last few weeks, we've covered a huge portion of the Northwest and so I don't think we've got many more back to back marthon bus rides to look forward to (See Simon's post about traveling on buses and trains). And to boot, my spirits have definitely perked up at the realization that for the roughly the same price as hostel beds in South America, we can actually get private hotel rooms with its own bathroom, TV (though we don't understand any of it except for the NBA games that are broadcasted here. My poor Yao Ming!) and western (ie, non squat toilet). It speaks loads to our outlook on China, where we thought we would have to rough it the same or as more as we have before. Prices maybe going up in May, a big tourist season, as well as when we hit the big cities and some seedier rooms. But for now I must say we've been living really cush except for those crazy 20+ hour buses we've been taking.

Biscuit Roulette

I must say that in the land of some darn delicious high carb food, this country produces the ASSIEST biscuits I've ever tasted. There were times when we've opened up a package of crackers, taken one bite and went out to find a beggar on the street. I don't know if we're doing them any favors. But you honestly have no idea what you're gonna get, even if there is a description in English. For instance, on one package it was advertised as wheat bran biscuit with strawberry filling boasting real fruit. So judging from that information and the picture on package I'm thinking it's like of like a flattened whole wheat strawberry newton right? Clearly I've been living in California too long. It was some kind of deep fried saltine sandwich with a kreme filling like in an oreo, but with a fragrant artifical strawberry twist. But true to their word, there was a tiny silver dried strawberry on top. Yuck.

I guess we should learn how to read chinese so we will not choose the chemical flavored biscuit and know the difference between the differences in the label color. From my research (ie trial and a whole lot of error), in general blue seems the most benign, (the most you can ask for in a cracker here). Red is some flavor to the extreme and green is a wild card, it could be tame it could be horrific. What's even more appalling is that this crap is often individually wrapped, placed in a plastic tray and then sealed in a plastic bag. Why go through all that trouble to protect inedible food? It's beyond me. Simon has prohibited me from purchasing anything other than these chinese knock off of British disgestive biscuits we've found tolerable.

Me Talk Pretty Take Two

So as I tried to use French to get by in Spanish speaking countries, I've been trying to use my crappy Toisanese (a dialect of Cantonese) and crappier Cantonese to try to get by and it's a lot less successful than french and spanish (I'd say one of ten words are the same). I'm better off using English. Simon is really into pantomiming everything, partly b/c the locals get such a kick out of it. Women just burst into a fit of giggles. I myself cling to the lonely planet phrase section at the back of our guide. What was interesting was that I understood people in Xinjiang province, a province that is in the remote northwest of the province, (as far away as possible from the southwestern cantonese speaking provinces), than I understand people in provinces in the middle of the country. We did come across one cantonese speaker in the Holy Temple in Lhasa. But sadly my vocabulary doesn't extend to buddist concepts. In terms of reading, I guess I can read thousands of characaters, since I figured out how to read numbers, but other than numbers, I can recognize the character for noodles. The most important character to know if you ask me.

But speaking of language, it really cuts both ways. Some of the English "translations" (and that's a pretty strong word for what it is) is impressive here. On one menu, no joke, was "Chicken and Blue and Green Bamboo Explosion." I suppose it could be some kind of sophisticated name for a dish, like Chili's "Awesome Blossom."

Simon the Brazillian Nepali Uigher

You know that Michael Jackson video Black and White where people are morphing into different ethinicities. That's pretty much Simon traveling around the world. It's amazing is how Simon can pass as so many different ethinicities. A few people in South America thought he was Brazillian, a few Nepali guides on our trek thought he was Nepali, and Uighers thought he might have been kin. (Simon doing his best Muslim Uigher impression at the right). This is all until he opens he mouth and they realize he can't speak any portuguese, nepali or uigher. And so when they think he's Asian, they insist he's Korean.

But what's nice is that Simon and I defintely don't attract as much attention as tourists than we have anywhere else, for obvious reasons. In general, most people take one look at us and start talking in Chinese. And when Simon motions that he doesn't understand, they turn to me and repeat it again in Mandarin, cause clearly I'm not Korean.

American Trash Dreaming

Simon and I definitely feel more at home than we have in any other country we've been to, despite the significant language barriers here. We're in more familar territory than the extremely western tourist oriented Thamel District in Kathmandu, where pizza and burritos are on the menu of every restaurant. When we walk into a grocery store, we always end up saying "Oh I remember these..." And obviously most of the food is stuff we've seen at one point or another, but perhaps in an even more delicious incarnation than we've had in the states.

At the same time, as much as I hate to admit it, we're definitely hankering for a little bit of home. At one point, I was reading a book where they main characters were eating some nachos at a Hard Rock Cafe. I turned to Simon and said, "You know, before this trip, I would have never deigned to eat nachos at a Hard Rock. But if we came across a Hard Rock now..." And Simon nodded guiltly in agreement. I'm also slowly reading the Christmas issue of the New Yorker and it's got a lot of Christmas ads in there and it makes me really nostagic as well. Is it me, or did Banana Repubilc have a particularily compelling ad campaign this year?

Our Planned Route

We've also come up with a basic route for China. We'll spend the next month in central, southern and southwestern China, making it to Hong Kong before 5/24 when our visa's expire. Renew our visa there and then head up towards Bejing and Shanghai for the remainder of our time. We're thinking about trying to play in this ultimate frisbee tournament http://www.shanghai-ultimate.com/tourney/ in Shanghai. (Team Rice Bowl get your cleats ready!). But at the same time, the regmine of pork dumplings, ramen and overnight bus rides hasn't put me in the best shape and we might be better off missing the event (and eating some shanghainese soup dumplings instead). Clearly that's probably a better idea.