Camilo José Cela, a Spanish novelist, once wrote in his monumental work "Mazurca para dos muertos" that people all over the world would eventually be eaten by the Chinese. When I read the novel (translated in Japanese) first time more than two decades ago I found the expression funny, ironic and even poetic, yet perceiving some reality of the Chinese culture.
In September 1996 I traveled southern part of China, entering from Hong Kong(香港) and visiting Guangzhou(広州), Guilin(桂林), Yangshuo(陽朔), Hangzhou(杭州), Suzhou(蘇州), Shanghai(上海). This was my first trip to mainland China; HK was not yet China. I stayed a few days in HK to apply for a visa to mainland China. Then I took a train to Guangzhou via Shenzhen(深圳). I went around the busy city of Guangzhou for two days and enjoyed Cantonese cuisine. I then took a long-distance overnight bus to Guilin. A guy next to my sleeping sheet was in a military uniform and probably was in his early 20's.
The stay at Yangshuo was fantastic. The rural town was astonishingly westernized; there were bars, movie theaters and cafes that you would never expect to have in other cities in China at that time. I enjoyed river rafting on a swim tube/donut with other backpackers and a local young lady, a university student from Nanning(南寧) who worked part-time there to learn English. After the river rafting I rushed to go back to Guilin so as to take a train which departed that night. Somehow I managed to catch the train where I met a young American traveler who was pursuing PhD in Chinese politics and was surprisingly fluent in Chinese. I waked up early next morning. Landscapes from the train was amazing. Full of rice fields everywhere. I felt I time-tripped to ancient China or Japan. The train arrived in Hangzhou around noon. There I happened to meet a Japanese backpacker and went around the town together. He was also a university student from Nagoya and used to play baseball, so did I. We got along well. He told me about his trip to Urumqi(烏魯木齊) and other places.
Next day I moved to Suzhou by bus and from there I took a train to Shanghai. I stayed one night in Shanghai and left China next day.
My first impression of China was that the people were energetic and productive. The people are mainly concerned with their own profits and their families'. A western and democratic way of living may not be suitable for their culture. The current dictatorship by the Chinese Communist Party reflects the fact that powerful governance is necessary to sustain such diverse and energetic people in one single nation. Now China or CCP seems to expand globally more than ever in history but one of the main driving forces of CCP is the fear of losing its domestic authority in a form of revolution. Not being democratic, CCP would and could do anything to keep the current regime. I hope things settle peacefully.
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| near Guilin in 1996 |
I stayed in the city of Guilin for a day and joined in an excursion trip to a suburban scenic spot together with local families. Although I learned Chinese for one semester apparently I could not make my Chinese (Mandarin) understood at all. So I had to communicate by writing Chinese characters (Kanji) in many occasions. If I remember correctly, I guess, I managed to book a train ticket from Guilin to Hangzhou which departed several days later. I then moved to Yangshuo where a lot of backpackers gathered at that time.
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| near Yangshuo in 1996 |
The stay at Yangshuo was fantastic. The rural town was astonishingly westernized; there were bars, movie theaters and cafes that you would never expect to have in other cities in China at that time. I enjoyed river rafting on a swim tube/donut with other backpackers and a local young lady, a university student from Nanning(南寧) who worked part-time there to learn English. After the river rafting I rushed to go back to Guilin so as to take a train which departed that night. Somehow I managed to catch the train where I met a young American traveler who was pursuing PhD in Chinese politics and was surprisingly fluent in Chinese. I waked up early next morning. Landscapes from the train was amazing. Full of rice fields everywhere. I felt I time-tripped to ancient China or Japan. The train arrived in Hangzhou around noon. There I happened to meet a Japanese backpacker and went around the town together. He was also a university student from Nagoya and used to play baseball, so did I. We got along well. He told me about his trip to Urumqi(烏魯木齊) and other places.
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| Lakeside of West Lake in Hangzhou |
Next day I moved to Suzhou by bus and from there I took a train to Shanghai. I stayed one night in Shanghai and left China next day.
My first impression of China was that the people were energetic and productive. The people are mainly concerned with their own profits and their families'. A western and democratic way of living may not be suitable for their culture. The current dictatorship by the Chinese Communist Party reflects the fact that powerful governance is necessary to sustain such diverse and energetic people in one single nation. Now China or CCP seems to expand globally more than ever in history but one of the main driving forces of CCP is the fear of losing its domestic authority in a form of revolution. Not being democratic, CCP would and could do anything to keep the current regime. I hope things settle peacefully.
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