Guá-low to Xian

Touring Northern China

The second part of an article on a bicycle trip to southern China and a tour of Shanghai, Beijing, The Great Wall and Xian.

Continued from Gua-low to Guilin

A short night at the our hotel in Hong Kong, an exchange of luggage with the Concierge and then Pat and I catch a flight to Shanghai. Our northern tour will take us to Shanghai, Beijing and Xian then back to Hong Kong-planes and busses and a train, no bikes.

We board a Boeing 767 that is only a few months old. Before we return to Hong Kong, we will also fly the Russian equivalent of a 727, a European built A-300, and a twin- turboprop, high wing plane built in China and flown by the Chinese Navy.

All domestic flights are non-smoking. Safety announcements and seat belt signs are turned on for take-off and sometimes for landings. The flight to Shanghai has a Chinese movie with sub-titles in Chinese characters and English. One of our guides in Hong Kong offered to confirm any reservations for " domestic frights;" they weren't that bad.

It takes most of a day to get between cities in China. Four of the eight days on this tour are spent getting to and wait- ing in airports, flying, getting luggage, assembling our group and getting to the hotel.

This tour is modular. Pat and I and three Germans make the full circle; we are joined by 2 to 12 others at each city. Along the way there is only one other American couple, there is a couple from Mexico, and lots of Australians.

Gua-low to Guilin

In each city, a local guide meets us at the airport, gets us to our hotel, takes us sightseeing and gets us back to the airport.

All of our hotels on the northern tour are excellent. The oldest is less than two years old. One of the managers tells us that they had over 10,000 applications to fill 450 positions- obviously a desirable job.

Shanghai

Shanghai is China's largest city and largest sea port. Its access to the west is reflected in the architecture of its older buildings which all appear to be pre-World War II and its newer buildings which all appear to be post 1980. It has a city- center on the river front which is known as "The Bund."

We use our experience on the bikes to convince our guide to let us walk back to the hotel. This gives us a change to see markets and shops and a bit of city life. In the evening the tour includes a Chines acrobatic show that is classic Chi- nese and fun.

Shanghai is a bustling industrial and trading city with little to recommend it other than missing it would mean missing a part of China.

Beijing

Beijing is a different city. Until recently, buildings had to be lower than the Forbidden City's two or three stories so the city grew by spreading out like Los Angeles. There is no apparent city center-at least we didn't see one. New high rise hotels and office buildings seem to have been casually sprinkled around the city.

Tien an Men square has a few new trees and some new pavement but no signs of the "event" last year. Mao rests peacefully in his crystal coffin; foreigners with a tour guide are allowed to cut into the waiting line so we don't have to wait more than about 20 minutes to file past.

The Forbidden City is an impressive monument to power. Portions have no trees because one of the emperors con- sidered them a risk to his safety. We are also told that a major courtyard has 15 layers of interlinked paving stones to assure that no one will tunnel in. We are told that the empire did not fall because of any failure in the fortification; the army was defeated in the field and the guards at the gates were bribed. The movie, "The Last Emperor" was filmed here and provides an appetizer and introduction.

We have an opportunity to see some maintenance being done and discover why there are very few old buildings in China. Even this magnificent place, except for the walls and courtyards, is made of wood. The wood is covered with plaster and painted so it looks very solid. It takes massive amounts of maintenance to preserve it.

We have seen very old stone walls and pagodas-one built in 1582. The Chinese had stone and knew how to use it to build as well as the Europeans. The Emperors and their minions apparently favored the conspicuous consumption of decorated wooden structures.

The Great Wall is impressive and clearly a place for tourists. From the parking lot we can climb along the wall to the right or left. Right is a long gentle slope with thousands of people. Left is steep with only hundreds of people. Of course we climb the steep side.

The Great Wall is a major tourist stop. Pat and I take pictures of each other on a camel-the kind with two humps. We do it partly for the opportunity to sit on a camel. One Polaroid picture for US$2 each if the camel owner takes the picture, or as many pictures as we want for US$1 if we use our own camera. Our guide assures us that there are no camels in this part of China; they are here for the tourists.

After the Wall we stop at the Ming Tombs. There are 13 known tombs in the valley. One is open for tours and they are excavating a second.

On this part of the tour we encounter a mixture of eastern and western style toilets. At the Ming tombs, the Chinese opinion about our toilets is expressed quite clearly by a sign on the door of the only stall with a western toilet: "Use specialy for oldy and weaking."

We fly with the Chinese Navy from Beijing to Xian. We are told that the military routinely flies charters to supplement service by the scheduled airlines. The Naval airfield has a baggage X-ray machine and a waiting room that is not quite up to the standards of the Admirals Club.

Xian

Xian, is the third stop on our tour. It was the capital of the first empire in about 250 B.C. and for 400 years after that. On the way to our hotel, the bus takes us past a mosque. This and the Catholic church in Guilin are the only religious buildings we notice in China other than Buddhist temples.

In 1974, farmers were digging a well near Xian, and, by accident, found the first of almost 6,000 larger-than-life-size terra cotta warriors. Tourism boomed from 3,000 people per year to 300,000 so they are building a new airport. During construction of the road to the airport, they discovered a second army. The new one is only half-life-size, but there may be as many as ten times as many warriors.

The first set of warriors are displayed in the formation in which they were found-an awe inspiring sight. It is cer- tainly worth the trip.

Again, Pat and I use our bicycle experience to talk the guide into letting us off the bus early so we can walk back to the hotel. We walk on top of the wall around the city, down narrow side-streets and through markets and outdoor restaurants with terrific cooking aromas.

China is rich in archeology and historic treasures despite the decay that plagues wooden structures and the wrath of the Cultural Revolution. However, very few of the treasures have been excavated and made available to the public. Until 1911, the Emperors had no interest in exploiting them for tourists. From 1911 to 1949, there was no unified, stable central government in China: a newly founded republic was followed by feuding war lords then the invading Japanese and then civil war.

Since 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established, the Chinese have had to rebuild their country. In the last few years they have had a taste of the money that can be generated from tourists who want to see their treasures, but the country still has only limited tourist industry know-how and financial resources.

From Xian we fly to Guangzhou and then take a 21/2 hour train ride back to Hong Kong. The train provides our last view of rice paddies and the people of China. Night falls and our China adventure is over.

We have one day in Hong Kong for a last round of shopping. We depart for the U.S. at 2:30 on Thursday afternoon. En route we cross the international date line and recover the day we lost. We arrive in Los Angeles at noon on Thursday, 21/2 hours before we left Hong Kong.

Closing Thoughts

A trip to China requires a spirt of adventure and a willingness to do something different. Those who have that spirit are rewarded with a brief insight into an ancient and different culture that is changing rapidly.

The trip offers a wonder filled blend of history and change. The history includes bitter lessons that are part of the living memory about the chaos that can follow the overthrow of the existing order. The change is fueled by the gains that have been made and the promises seen on television and represented by the overseas Chinese who have the money and freedom to travel.

Part of the success of our bicycle trip came from the insights of our guide, Su. In 1988 he bicycled across America with a group of Chinese. On our trip he was able to use that experience to offer insights about America and provide comparisons with China. If China can find the courage to allow young people to see the world for themselves and can use insightful and experienced people like Su wisely, both China and the world will be well served.

We wouldn't have seen the country of China if we hadn't climbed the Great Wall and visited the Forbidden City and the Terra Cotta Warriors. We wouldn't have seen and enjoyed being with the people of China if we hadn't bicycled. Both are China.

Our bicycle tour was arranged through Backroads Bicycle Touring. Call (800) 533-2573 or, in California, (415) 527- 1555 for information about the China tour or a catalog describing it and other tours in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and overseas.

Our northern tour was arranged by our local travel agent using a tour package from Silkways.

Our transpacific travel was on a flight operated jointly by Ameri can Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways. The flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong was non-stop, 7,570 miles and took 15 hours.

We departed Los Angeles on October 14 and returned November 8, 1990.

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This material is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part, in any form, without written permission from the authors is expressly prohibited. Pat & Hal Amens 310/822-1243.
August 26, 1995

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