| 11 January 2004 | 2004 1 11
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| 11 January 2004 | 2004111
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When I went travelling during the summer holiday, I stopped at a few of the minor train stations, hoping to see the "countryside". More often than not, these dots on the map which the express trains fly past turned out to be bustling cities. I felt as if these was an invisible barrier between me and rural China. But this winter I decided to try again. I chose a destination that wasn't too far away (Dandong, on the border with North Korea), and an arbitrary midpoint (Zhuanjiaolou Dam, because my friend and I were trying to figure out why a dam would have such a name, which literally means "turn corner building"), and one morning I set off with my backpack.
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| Typical minibus for medium-distance travel, except that there are usually more people than seats. |
Backpacking in China, at least in the densely populated eastern provinces, is quite convenient. Appropriate transport and accommodation facilities are already there, because this is actually the way a lot of ordinary chinese travel, although they probably don't identify with the backpacker image as we know it in the west. Few people can afford cars or airplane tickets, but each day millions need to get from A to B. Roads that seem relatively unimportant on the map often have a bus running every hour or two. And the most common type of accommodation is a room or dormitory with beds and a television. Showers (if they exist at all) and toilets are communal. In contrast, if a small town in Australia offered accommodation, it would probably be a motel room with bathroom and cooking facilities.
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| Typical dormitory-style accommodation. The creature on the bed is nothing but my backpack and hat! |
I have broken this travelogue into one page for each place that I visited. Readers can leave specific comments on any page, or leave general comments on this introductory page.
| Hi Todd - thanks for taking us along on such an interesting trek off the beaten one! Though definitely taxing, there's something tantalising about traveling the freezing north. And it's cooled down my sweltering Qld afternoon a treat ;-) |
| Ian A [] 21.01.2004 , 15:44 |
| Welcome to China.I say so Because of reading your words at here(http://www.sinosplice.com/chinese/archives/000224.html). |
| sbilly [] [homepage] 01.02.2004 , 04:31 |
| Welcome to China.I say so Because of reading your words at here(http://www.sinosplice.com/chinese/archives/000224.html). |
| sbilly [] [homepage] 01.02.2004 , 04:33 |
| I love this. This is a great post. The photos and commentary are completely fascinating. It's the best "living in China" post I've read all year. |
| Daniel [] [homepage] 19.02.2004 , 00:38 |
| Thanks Daniel. For more travel journal goodness, I thoroughly recommend Patrick's account of his recent journey. |
| Todd 19.02.2004 , 10:26 |
| Nice to see that you are tasting a lot of real Chinese stuff you were looking forward to one year ago while u r in Perth. Keep on good working and hope u will become a real Chinese as I am. |
| Alex [] 05.03.2004 , 17:26 |
| http://www.powerapple.com/modules.php?name=forum&file=viewtopic&forum=20&topic=1632 |
| DANDONGREN 18.07.2005 , 11:49 |
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