Journal: In Search of Quiet

I've been enjoying the Labour Day holiday this week, mainly just staying within the Development Zone. I don't really want to travel, because every place of interest is bound to be crowded with tourists. This holiday, and also the National Day holiday in October, are both referred to in newspapers as "Golden Week" (huangjin zhou) because of the stimulus they give to local economy. Actually, when I first visited China on a 6 day tour in 2001, I unintentionally booked during the National Day holiday, and some of the Beijing sights were so packed with people that all my brother and I could do was join the current and let ourselves be slowly dragged along with the crowd.

But I did want to get out of the city for a little while. So a few days ago I took a trip to "Two Dragon Mountain Forest Park". I learnt about this place last summer, when I travelled back from Shenyang to Dalian stopping at random train stations. All the people who I spoke to said that the city of Pulandian was utterly boring, which only made me more determined to visit. Upon arriving, a single glance told me that they had been right, so I headed straight for the only site that piqued my fancy—Two Dragon Mountain (henceforth, Erlongshan). But the park was larger than I imagined, and I only had time to ascend to a small temple overlooking the main gate before having to hurry back to the train station.

At the time, I never thought that I would one day return. But after visiting an over-hyped garden of cherry blossom trees near Dalian (called Longwangtang, "Dragon King Pool") and finding it difficult to commune with nature when the nature in question was blanketed with picnicking families, I finally realised that the one selling point of Pulandian's small and neglected park was that hardly anybody would ever go there. I even managed to persuade Tie Cheng to accompany me on an adventure to one of China's least famous scenic spots.

We set off at 8 o'clock, first catching a bus to nearby Jinzhou, and then a train to Pulandian. The train ride was only about 45 minutes, but plenty of time for me to teach Tie Cheng the game of "eye spy", which we played in english first and then in chinese pinyin. In the square in front of Pulandian train station, there was some kind of talent show under way. The banner behind the stage proclaimed the greatness of the May Fourth spirit (the day happened to be the anniversary of 1919 May Fourth Movement), and urged people to carry on the "mission set by history". But the politics seemed to be confined to the banner, while beneath it a row of women were modelling evening dresses.

Rock, Scizzors, Cloth If chinese children don't play "eye spy" on long trips, then how do they pass the time? One game they might play is "paper, scizzors, rock", or one of its variations. Called "rock, scizzors, cloth" in China, some versions of this game far exceed the simple rules that I learnt in Australia. In one version, if your hand beats your partner then you have to pretend to slap them (forehand then backhand), yelling "pa! pa!" If your hand loses, then you have to turn your head from side to side as if receiving the slaps, and say "a! a!" And if your hand is the same as your partner, then you have to pretend to kiss them! The game continues, faster and faster, until somebody makes a mistake. I've seen children playing this. But if you stipulate that the loser has to down a glass of alcohol, then it becomes a drinking game. There's another variation which involves using both hands at once. I don't think I even want to know how that's played!

We had to catch a taxi to Erlongshan. As I had hoped, it was almost deserted. We meandered along the mountain paths, enjoying the sunshine and fresh green spring foliage. Soon we reached "Dragon Mountain Temple". Consisting of a few buildings surrounding a central courtyard, this buddhist temple was much smaller than the one I visited at Gushan, but I liked it more. For one thing, it had actual monks. One monk even instructed us on how to light some incense and kowtow before the buddha, while he struck a gong. Tie Cheng had her fortune told. She had to kneel before Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, and shake a container of bamboo sticks until one fell out. Then the monk looked up the corresponding horoscope in a dog-eared book.

We continued walking until we came to the now-defunct "Forest Hotel", a testimony to the popularity of Erlongshan. Luckily, we had brought a few things to eat, so we found a place to sit and made the best of our light lunch. Afterwards, showing a return to old form, we got lost and walked in a circle. And since Tie Cheng was feeling the lack of her usual afternoon nap, we found a shady place under some trees and laid our heads back (on my backpack) for a rest. It was very peaceful, with a light breeze blowing and no sound except the rustle of leaves.

Feeling much refreshed, we headed to the far end of the park, where we found a small lake overlooked by two concrete dragons. There were more people here, including a bride and groom getting their photo taken in a pedal boat. This seems to be a modern chinese wedding custom: hiring a photographer and driving to various scenic places to take happy snaps. Back in the Development Zone, I sometimes see hapless brides sitting uncomfortably on the rocky beach with their gown draped artistically over the pebbles. Another time I was down by the seaside with a Bulgarian friend, and one couple, this time with a video camera trained on them, asked if they could take a few seconds of film with us two foreigners!

Tie Cheng thought the lake was too small, but I thought it was just as well or it might have attracted tourists. I was certain that there must be some kind of back way out of the park, so we followed a small path, but we soon found ourselves walking through somebody's farm! And the sole of Tie Cheng's shoe came half unstitched. But we carried on walking through the fields and eventually struck a sealed road, and after a short wait we were able to flag down a taxi.

We made our way back home from Pulandian the same way we came, stopping in Jinzhou for dinner at a Korean restaurant.

I accidentally stumbled across your website, and I just wanted to let you know that it's the most boring, self-serving pile of rubbish I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. After reading this entry alone, I felt like jumping off the nearest bridge. Instead, I have decided to give you some valuable advice. Why don't you put something on your website that actually makes people WANT to go to China? It's a beautiful country with a lot to offer people that appreciate a rich history and a vibrant culture. You have somehow managed to make your travels sound less interesting than a school excursion. Instead of dissecting every escapade down to counting the number of statues in your field of view from a certain angle, why don't you add a few things of interest? Talk about how much fun you had, or how beautiful and interesting a place was, or how much you have learned about the Chinese culture from a particular monument. People aren't interested in whether you caught a taxi or a flying pig to get somewhere, they want to know what kind of an impact the place had on you. Get in touch with your emotions, I'm sure you have some tucked away somewhere. You're in a fantastic country, enjoy it. I lived in China for a number of years, and it sounds like a completely different place to the monochromatic landscape you are painting. Don't just catalogue the details of each venture, make a record of your experiences that you will want to show to your children someday. Don't be old before your time, life is too short.

Davo [] 11.05.2004 , 20:10

But there's photos! Everybody likes photos! (Only two photos, but they're quite big).

Todd 11.05.2004 , 20:57

Strange... I like this blog plenty. Must be something terribly wrong with me :-(

Tuur [homepage] 11.05.2004 , 23:54

well, unlike davo, i didn't accidentally stumble across this web page only to find it a miserable experience -- i'm here because i like these blogs. todd, i really enjoy your insights and perspectives. contrary to davo's opinion, i think they do make china sound interesting and do give the reader a real glimpse into life and culture in china...away from the madding crowds (aka tourists), in particular. i even appreciated the taxi detail -- this before reading davo's comment, too -- which, together with the rest of the paragraph, conjured up a nice image in my mind of your adventure. and i don't think these posts are merely a catalogue of details and devoid of emotion; rather, i find i come away with an idea of what you're honestly thinking and feeling about your subject. anyway, all that to say that i'm enjoying following your adventures in china and think that your tales are well-written and insightful. keep writing, and enjoy china :) -- anita

anita 12.05.2004 , 00:41

I enjoy reading this entry. It sounds very real!

Zhi 12.05.2004 , 04:39

I read your blog because you are in Dalian. You tell things the way you see them, I respect that. Dalian is a city that I'm strongly considering working in. Todd

Todd [] 12.05.2004 , 13:29

Davo it's a blog not the fucking New York Times travel section. I've never been to Dalian but I think this blog tells me a lot about it ... and it has two pictures

mike 14.05.2004 , 20:01

and to throw in 2 cents more, i think this feels a lot more real than the New York Times travel section.

anita 15.05.2004 , 01:15

Stick to your writing style, Todd. It's honest, reflects your calm and rational personality and provides a greater insight into the country, its people and its culture than some hyped up travel feature in a newspaper pandering to the short attention span of the MTV generation could ever do. I personally like your "self-serving pile of rubbish" and I'm grateful for the time and effort that you put into it.

Nice Unkle Kat 16.05.2004 , 12:41

I quite enjoy your stories as well. Keep doing what you are doing. Looks like I am not the only one who agrees that your blog is worth the look and quite informative.

Onlooker 16.05.2004 , 14:04

Thankyou, I'm very touched by everyone's support. I'm glad I'm not writing for a newspaper and have no guidelines to adhere to. My target audience is: whoever enjoys reading what I've written. My advice for Davo is, rather than finding a bridge to jump off, just find another web site to read.

Todd@waze 16.05.2004 , 22:43

Nah, let Davo jump off a bridge if that is what he wants to do. Why hold the boy back. Jump Davo, jump!

Onlooker 17.05.2004 , 11:04

Davo! Davo! Davo! Please get some help! You need it! You're not really a guy are you? Only a mentally challenged frustrated female could possibly comment such as you have. Get a life!

Footyboy 17.05.2004 , 18:30

Davo! Davo! Davo! Please get some help! You need it! You're not really a guy are you? Only a mentally challenged frustrated female could possibly comment such as you have. Get a life!

Footyboy 17.05.2004 , 18:31

Davo! Davo! Davo! Please get some help! You need it! You're not really a guy are you? Only a mentally challenged frustrated female could possibly comment such as you have. Get a life!

Footyboy 17.05.2004 , 18:32

Greetings, collective weirdos. Well, well. I just checked out this site to see if my advice had drawn any comments or responses, and I must say, I'm surprised. For a bunch of people who obviously think very highly of themselves, your attempts to offend me were inept, and that's being generous. Especially "Footyboy", who tried to emphasise a rather limp, and quite frankly, confusing point of view by posting the same message three times. Hmmm. It would be funny if it weren't so tragic. To the other members of this sad little club: I think it's really sweet that a group of social misfits like yourselves can band together in the face of adversity. It sounds like the rest of you freaks don't think your man Todd has the balls to handle a little constructive criticism. One last piece of advice which will, let's face it, probably go unheeded: Don't invite comment from others if you can't take criticism. There is always a remote possibility that someone may have a point of view that differs from your own. Ah well, if you'll excuse me, just being on this site again has sent me off to sleep. Thankfully it's NOT the New York Times travel section, because if it were, I'd be cancelling my subscription. If nothing else Todd, your site is a definite cure for insomnia. Pleasant dreams, everyone... ZZZZZzzzzz....

Davo [] 17.05.2004 , 20:03

Ah Ha! You are a girl! I knew it! Bitchy! You really do need help!

Footyboy 17.05.2004 , 22:22

I do like to see the comment count rising, but I foresee this turning into a flame war. Comments on this entry are hereby closed.

Todd@waze 17.05.2004 , 23:50