Home » China » Into Shanghai, and then Inland China

Cathy: Its like going into the future.
Rupert (the architect): Its like going into the future where all the buildings are dirty.
Cathy: Except the ones that were built yesterday.
(conversation about Shanghai I was sitting in on)

Gone are the days when Shanghai was a paradise for imperialist adventurers - English grammar book for the Chinese (a phrase around which were based various grammatical exercises)

Into Shanghai, and then Inland China

Rob Lilwall
2007-12-01 14:44:05

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enough to have as a guide for the day the famed Edward Genochio (aka: the guy who had his bike stolen by a Mongolian horse last year - www.2wheels.org.uk ). Edward has been residing in Shanghai for a while, planning his homeward leg later in the year. It is great to exchange news from the road - tactics for dealing with dogs (Ed has a noise emitting zapper, I shout and throw stones), punctures (Ed never has any, I have lots), and Russian thugs (Ed prefers to rip off their wing mirrors and thereupon cause a mutual crash, whilst I prefer the strategy of just handing
over my wallet)!

Two days later, having broken out of the Shanghai urban belt, I am forging a route on my own through the mountains. It is a constant conundrum on this journey to try and decide what route to take and what things I should try to "see?. There are many things which apparently ought to be "seen?. But then (I ponderously ask myself) what does "seeing? mean? As I passed through Suzhou just before Shanghai, I enquired of my host, Alex, what I should see whilst in town. "There is an old Chinese proverb?, Alex replied gravely, ? that if you come to Suzhou and you do not see Tiger Hill: what a pity?. So, of course, the next evening, we bypassed Tiger Hill (what a pity) and experienced the far more cultural experience of seeing Star Wars III in Chinese (we reasoned that Yoda is clearly Chinese anyway - hence his bad grammar and wise demeanour - so it makes sense to watch it in his native tongue). Often, I wrestle over which way I should go... but in end, does it matter? I do not know!

Out here in the countryside I start seeing a different side to China. No more glitzy nightclubs. Rather, I am enveloped by bamboo valleys which are interspersed with pine forests which bottom out into terraced paddy fields. Old men, knee deep in muddy water, yell at their beasts to keep them on their course, whilst young shop keepers yell at me to keep me on mine. Huge yellow dragonfly ...