Henan province trip: Nanjiecun (where communism is alive!)

Day 3 evening & 4: NANJIECUN

Nanjiencun was not so much about seeing things - it was about experiencing a diffeent China and because it was so different from anyhting else I`ve seen in China before - it was WOW!

"Here there is no upstart, and no poor households, the collective is backing the villagers, Nanjie is a big family, people dream of a sense of security"

It brought back my "sweet memories" of almost failing my final University exam answering the question on Socialism & Communism... cause Nanjiecun is the place where socialism seems to be still alive and guests are invited to "view red revolutionary culture and feel the superiority complex of collectivity"!



10.pm. Chairman Mao greeting me on arrival to Nanjiecun... no people on the streets...no sign of shops or any other opened establishments...quiet...mysterious...kinda relaxing...Am I really still in China?!


..and when I notice that Lenin, Stalin, Marx & Engels are also there to welcome me...I feel it`s gonna be one wild "red" experience ;)


I check into an old school hotel (right next to Mao square) ...

....where every floor has a floor attendant (in army green uniform!) and will open the room door for you, so that you never have to bother about having your own room key..and when I decide to go for a late night walk in the rain they run after me offering me an umbrella! Night walk feels kinda spooky... some random strangers on the street... no cars...no nothing! Just me on the empty streets, rain and the silence!


According to the brochure of Nanjiecun there are 848 families and 3100 people living there in 1,78 square km of land. Aside from being able to visit different areas of the village (agricultural area, cultural area, red revolutionary area, Happy Eden house area, etc.) brochure insists that "people can also get the effect of purifying soul, subliming emotion and edifying sentiment."



Dongfang square in the morning:


...add the sound of broadcasting propaganda and you`ll get the whole picture!!!




Lenin... childhood memories...


Stalin



And on this square I had a kinda of a "Big brother" encounter! :))) 4 guys (on the picture) with pens & notebooks were trying to talk to me (interview me)...and as their English was worse than my Chinese we tried to talk in Chinese..


We talked for some time, but let me give you the coolest bits of talk.
First is my typical conversation in China...when I answer to the first question everyone asks here.." Where are you from?"

- Where are you from?
me: Latvia!
- Aaaaaa.. (trying to make a smart face to show they know it...even if if it`s obvious they don`t)
me: Do you know where it is?
-....aaaa.... (trying to invent a smart answer...failing...)
me: it`s in Europe!
- a...a...a.... (maybe they know Europe...maybe they don`t ;)


After some chit-chat about what do I do in China and stuff like that... the fun began:
- How did you know about this place?
me: from a guide book
- Aaaa...
- Do you know Mao?
me: (ok, here we go :)....mmm... yes...I know who he is...that`s the statue of him right here!
- What do you think of Mao?
me: Excuse me...
- Was he a good person or a bad person?
me: (not wanting to offend locals I opted for a "diplomatic" answer) I have never met him in person, so I wouldn`t tell you... Do you think he was a good or bad person?
- O, very good, good good!


They obviously wanted to talk more, but I had plenty to walk around & find my breakfast canteen (as suggested in hotel), so I said good-bye and headed away...they followed me for a while...and then I lost them :) Promising start of the day!



I wondered along perfectly clean & empty streets...public WC every 200 m...found public showers ( I remember those from childhood summers in Jurmala!)



The Gate


And then I found the Canteen in the same building with the tourism information office!
...again childhood memories of typical soviet time canteen...


...with a typical Chinese style breakfast meal :)))

My breakfast...payed total of 4 RMB (0,40 Euors) for these 4 dishes :)
1) toufu "cheburek" (quite good!)
2) dumplings (which, of course, are not really called dumplings, because to Chinese every different kind of dumpling has a different name :) I named these ones "Mao meat balls" as the sound of the name in Chinese was very close to it ;)


3) sweet pies!!! (really delicious)
4) chicken soup (of course...how could I ...after 2 years in China....still hope to get a chicken soup that wouldn`t be sweet at this time of day!!!)


and I stayed away from these pots...;)


The making of : "Mao meat balls"


And again... green uniforms...


Not your average newspaper stand



And now WELCOME to HAPPY EDEN!!! (that`s how the residential area is called in the brochure)


Residential area... looked like Socialist theme park..not very real... :)



Not your typical Chinese shop...


Mosque! (now that was a surprise!)


Little communist ZOO - free of charge for everyone to come and see the animals...strangest mini ZOO I`ve ever seen!



And this old man couldn`t just pass by me... he looked at me several times till decided to give it a try...and when he realised I am able to speak some Chinese...he had a plan! After talking there for a moment he invited me to visit his home and after refusing several times...


....there I was following him to drink tea in his apartment and confirm that there are indeed people living in those buildings I saw earlier... :) Actually he was a real cool old man :)...and apparently Muslim! (now I have to investigate the link of Islam and Socialism...)


All the land is used for a good purpose: growing lettuce, leek and other good green stuff!



Now that was one true trip back to past & escaping the real China for one day!!!




And before heading back to Rizhao ....yet again I was in Zhengzhou (for transfer)....and as this was my 3rd time passing through Zhengzhou + I had to stay 1 night there... I thought it also deserved a photo! (hope you get the idea ;)


See ya :)!!!

Discovering Henan province of China: SHAOLIN TEMPLE

DAY 3: SHAOLIN TEMPLE




On the 3rd day of my trip I felt like checking out the monks who like to fight, so I travelled from Luoyang to Shaolin temple: 1,5 h & 100 RMB later (for Shaolin ticket) I was granted an entrance to the world of ancient mystery of Shaolin - the centre of pilgrimage for martial arts enthusiasts and a good place to get quality kung fu training!




Shaolin temple (Shàolín Sì) is a place of many legends and mystery and the birthplace of Kung Fu.
The most famous name associated with Shaolin is Bodhidharma or Dámó, an Indian monk who travelled to China in 5th century to teach Buddhism. After entering Shaolin, he found the monks out of shape from a lifetime spent in study and meditation, so he introduced a work out program which later developed into kung fu.



The monks studied the movements of animals and copied them - crawling snakes, leaping tigers... From childhood, Shaolin monks subjected themselves to a hard training five hours a day, every day. The monks spent as many hours praying and meditating as they did in kung fu training. They adhered to a moral code in which self-defense was the only acceptable reason for fighting and killing one's opponent was to be avoided if possible.



Now let me be honest..having seen quite a large number of different temples around China Shaolin temple didn`t impress me...just another Chinese temple :)....especially considering it`s been rebuilt many times and there`s not much (if anything) left from the original temple...





But then again I didn`t come for the temple...I came for the kung fu monks :)



"Today's resident "monks" at Shaolin are highly skilled fighters, but cannot be considered genuine Shaolin monks, for the spiritual side of their discipline is now virtually absent. There are still genuine Shaolin monks in China, but they keep a low profile and are not to be found at Shaolin."

So no great luck with fighting monks either ;)

All you can hope for is checking out the kung fu show & observing kung fu wannabes training ...which is actually pretty cool! But they are not real monks...



The real ones seem to be hiding somewhere in China, so I`ll keep looking ;)


The coolest thing I experienced in Shaolin was being massaged by a monk (given he wore monk`s robe)! As I wondered around the temple I managed to find a quieter area (that turned out to be dedicated to Shaolin medicine) and couldn`t resist such a tempting offer :) (especially considering that my backpack was almost all the time with me and my shoulders were starting "to complain" :)


Shaolin temple pharmacy :)



And this "shiny friend" was being passionately massaged by locals (and by me as well ;) to make sure all the body parts function well :) (at least that`s what I understood ;)



And then there was Pagoda forest!
228 stone or brick pagodas built from 791 AD to today. The levels on the pagodas must be odd numbers (from 1 to 7) and are based on the achievements of the Buddhist masters they were built for. The pagoda forest in Shaolin is the largest pagoda forest in China.





Stay tuned for NANJIECUN (new village of socialism) visit!

Discovering Hénán province of China!

I am happy & proud to announce that I have successfully completed my first solo trip in China!



As my work is mostly on weekends and I have 5 weekdays relatively free, the decision was taken to send me on my first solo-trip in China :) My choice was the neighbouring Hénán province - 8 h by bus to the capital of Hénán - Zhengzhou from where it`s possible to get anywhere else in the province!

- Why Hénán?
- Lonely Planet suggested:
1) not to miss Peony festival in Luoyang (I love peonies!)
2) to seek enlightenment in Longmen caves (why not!)
3) fathom the martial art mysteries at the Shaolin temple (mysteries are definitely my thing)
4) rediscover communism in Nanjiecun (sounds too good to miss ;)

So my plan (5 days, 7 bus rides (total of 26 h), 0 reservations) went like that:
Rizhao - Zhengzhou - Luoyang - Shaolin temple - Zhengzhou - Nanjiecun socialist village - Zhengzhou - Rizhao



DAY 1: 8 h + 2,5 h = Rizhao -> Zhengzhou -> Luoyang
8 h bus trip fro Rizhao to Zhengzhou was quite ok!
I had chosen the book "Peony in Love" for my trip (going to Peony festival in Luoyang it seemed like a perfect choice :)
Of course.. occasionally I heard the sound of spitting & tried not to think where that spit went as there was no option of opening the window... some guys thought they`d "secretly" smoke on the bus...somebody else was getting sick... but I was enjoying my book & beautiful spring landscape!




DAY 2: Luoyang, Longmen caves & Peony festival
Luoyang has been the capital of 13 Chinese dynasties, but not much of that has been preserved till nowadays... Now it`s a modern & green city...felt cosy!

In hunt for breakfast I discovered the Old Town of Luoyang...


..peonies everywhere...


Enjoying morning sun :)


Lijing gate


Old street


And then it was time to get my portion of enlightenment, so I hopped on the public bus for Longmen caves! 1st impression - extremely crowded (and I seemed to be the only foreigner there!)!


The Longmen Caves (or Longmen Grottoes) stretch for 1km along the west bank of the Yi River near Luoyang. The site includes some 1,350 caves and 40 pagodas, which are filled with thousands of Buddhist statues carved out of the hard limestone cliffs.
The carving work began in 492 AD and continued for 500 years. The Longmen Caves were designated a World Heritage Site in 2000 for their spectacular works of Chinese art, especially of the Tang Dynasty.



Quite a breathtaking place!





Don`t know if I got enlightened, but I definitely got suntanned as it was one hot & sunny day ;)



Next it was flower-power time - Peony festival!!!

"The peony of Luoyang is the most beautiful under heaven"... the Chinese saying goes... The peony is the emblem flower of Luoyang and "since the Tang Dynasty no Chinese city has been able to rival Luoyang in growing peonies", so growing peonies and admiring them seems to be a local obsession :) The first Luoyang Peony Festival took place in April of 1983.

I decided to admire peonies in Wangcheng Park that served as the venue for the first Luoyang Peony Festival and is the main venue for the Peony Festivals every year :)

Dream photo of every Chinese :)


...endless shopping possibilities... a must have of every Chinese tourist seemed to be a huge fake peony bouquet!!! :))


Peonies & art...



Time to admire... :)







After admiring for a couple of hours I sat down to to read my book "Peony in Love" and wait for the dark...and as it was getting darker a new side of the park was coming to life... dancing...lighted floats....music....





And when I was overwhelmed by peonies & admiring ;) I headed back to Old town for a quiet stroll and for making new friends - this girl was so keen to be photographed... after I took a photo she was requesting to get her photo right away :)) Sweet :)


...and the food street of Old Luoyang is a definite must for taste buds and admiring aromas ;)


A lot of admiring done ;)...next Shaolin temple!