Going carless in the Big D

I've decided to hold off on buying a car. Instead, I'm going to do my best to rely on walking, cycling, the DART, etc, in Dallas. I know that it won't be pleasant come summertime, but it'll be worth it to avoid owning a car.

I think that I can pull it off given where I intend to live. I'm applying for the same apartment building that I stayed in during my internship, and it is only a 3-minute walk from the office. On top of that, there is a grocery store, Urban Market, and DART stop less than a mile away.

The decision came after a bad negotiating session for a Ford Fiesta. The salesman wouldn't budge off of MSRP, instead insisting that the best she could do was not charge me for the $400 tint job on the car. I thought this was insane, especially since I had already gathered pricing information on all of the Fiestas in the area and researched typical out-the-door prices that people were getting on the latest model, so I left.

That night I started reconsidering the need for a car. It didn't take long to decide that the benefits of not owning one outweighed the drawbacks.

The next day when the salesman called back to talk about the "aggressive pricing" they were now willing to do, it was too late. I had already started studying the DART routes and looking at the current Bianchi Pistas.

A short stop in Pingyao

Pingyao city wall

I decided to make a short stop in Pingyao, spending less than 2 days in the city, before heading on to Beijing for the last leg of my trip.

Pingyao is renowned for its city walls, which are among the best preserved in the country, and it is also home to a large number of historic buildings, including the first branch of Rishengchang, the country's first bank. The walls may have once protected the city from invaders, but these days they seem to be more effective at keeping your favorite global chains out. You won't find a Starbucks or KFC there, though a small Dicos somehow managed to sneak in. The streets inside the walls are lined with small hole-in-the-wall shops and hotels, all of which are housed in buildings that are a holdover from another time.


South Road looking toward the City Tower

Unlike at the other cities I visited, all of the tourist spots within the walls were bundled together under one ticket, which costs around 150 CNY and is good for a few days. I thought it was a smart move on their part, because otherwise, I would have probably only visited 2 or 3 things, generating less money for the city. But even with the more expensive ticket and the resulting motivation to visit more things, I still found it hard to fill my time in the city because after a while, all of the historic houses started to look the same. Eventually, I resorted to just meandering through the streets and city walls.

Although there were some cool sights scattered throughout the historic buildings, nothing particularly stood out more than just walking around. Walking around the streets, especially at night, allowed me to inject myself into the bustling activity in that area. Walking around on the city walls on the other hand was a much more relaxed experience, detached from everything happening below.

I'm glad that I decided to visit the city, even if it did double my train time between Xi'an and Beijing, but honestly, if someone were trying to trim their China itinerary and Pingyao were on the list, I'd probably offer it up as something that can be skipped.

Xian Top 3

There are 3 things that stand out in my mind about my stay in Xi'an:

1. How great the hostel I stayed in was
2. How massive the Terracotta Army is
3. How cool it was to catch a ride back with some locals into the city

The Hostel

Han Tang Inn entrance

My hostel in Xi'an, Han Tang Inn, was by far the best one that I stayed at during my trip, not so much because of the facilities, which were OK but not the best, but rather because of the atmosphere. The two common areas in the hostel, one in the lobby and one on the roof, were always filled with travelers at night (and the lobby one was pretty active during the day), and they were all very friendly, making it an ideal place to connect with other people.

I spent one night chatting with a group from Switzerland that had been in a nasty car accident during a tour in another city, watched a RomCom with a group of Spanish travelers (Lindsay Lohan's Just My Luck...they picked it), joined up with 2 Belgium travelers for a day of sightseeing, and took party in an Israeli birthday tradition (lifting a girl sitting in a chair up and down 24 times for her birthday).

The Terracotta Army

Terracotta Army Pit 1

I had seen a lot of cool man-made stuff in China up to this point, but the Terracotta Army was the first thing that truly floored me, in large part because of how massive the army is. I thought I knew what to expect, but seeing it in person is something else.

We visited the excavated pits in reverse order, per the Lonely Planet guide's suggestion, and I'm glad that we did because it allowed us to build up to Pit 1, which is the largest and most impressive. When you first enter the pit, which is housed in a large, modern building that resembles an airplane hangar, you are immediately greeted with a big traffic jam of tourists all jostling to get the same killer picture in the front. Fortunately, the crowd thins out as you continue walking along the path on the periphery of the pit. There are several large rows in the pit in which the thousands of exposed statues are all neatly arranged. It takes a while to walk past the last exposed statue, and in the back of the hangar there is a staging area where it looks like they are repairing and cleaning some of the statues. It all seems a bit larger than life.

We spent a lot of time in tbe pits before finally heading off to the Tomb of Emperor Jingdi.

The hitchhiking

In the van on the way back to Xi'an

We didn't intend to hitch a ride back to Xi'an after wrapping up at Jingdi's tomb, but I'm glad that we were able to. The tomb is north of the city, and getting there is a hassle; you have to take 2 separate buses, and the one at the tomb only comes 3 times throughout the day. Even in the best case scenario, you are looking at 1-hour of travel time to get back to the city.

When we finished viewing the tomb, we walked around for a bit in the surrounding area before making our way back to the bus stop. We were pleasantly surprised to find the bus parked and waiting at the stop, but after asking around a bit, we found out that it would be an hour before it took off. We did the only thing we could do that that point: bought some ice cream, which has to be one of the most widely available snacks in all of China, and sat down.

We were settling in for the wait when one of the people we had asked about the bus came and told us that his group could give us a ride into town. When i say he told us, I actually mean that he told one of the Belgium guys, who spoke some Mandarin (on top of the 4 other languages he was fluent in). We jumped on the opportunity and were soon in a van chatting it up with parliament workers from Yinchuan.

I could tell that they were very excited to have the opportunity to speak with foreigners, even if they could only really communicate with one of us. As the middle man, he was busy the whole trip, translating the conversation both ways. I tried my best to chat with the person next to me, who I found out was the manager, but it was a lost cause. As I listened to the energetic conversation going on in the van, not understanding an iota of it, it really hit me how invaluable it is to be able to speak multiple languages.

Neat solution to a tax problem in China

When I was in Shanghai, I talked to my friend's GF a bit about a tax problem that the Chinese government was having and how they addressed it.

The issue was that a lot of small businesses weren't reporting their taxable income accurately. Since most transactions are carried out with cash, it is easy to avoid producing a paper trail, especially at places like small restaurants, which are everywhere. For example, I've rarely been given a formal receipt in any of the places that I've eaten while here. This was taking tax revenue away from the government.

In order to stop this, the government added a scratch-off-lottery component to receipts, with cash prizes of 50, 100, 500 yuan, etc, a few years ago. They effectively turned receipts into scratch-off lottery tickets. In order to play and win, people had to ask for their receipts at stores, generating a taxable paper trail in the process.

From what she told me, the the whole thing was pretty effective, and everywhere we went, she asked for the receipt to try her luck.

Train ride to Xi'an

I took a train from Hangzhou to Xi'an, and at 22 hours long, it was the first serious train ride I'd ever been on. The experience was extremely memorable, and I came away with an important lesson about traveling by train in China: avoid the top bunk in the hard-sleeper section.

When I bought the ticket in Hangzhou, I didn't pay much attention to the particulars. Instead, I was excited that I had found the ticket office (it took over an hour to do so) and successfully completed the transaction. It was a solid victory in my book. It wasn't until I got on the train that I realized I should have put more effort into specifying what I wanted when booking the train.

In the hard-sleeper section, there are 6 bunks arranged in each "hall" in the train car.


Hard-sleeper train car

The bottom and middle bunks have the most room, whereas the top bunk is like sleeping in a small coffin. You can't sit up in the bunk or really do much more than just lie there. The taller you are, the worse the situation is. Of course, I ended up getting the top bunk, which I have to admit is still better than having to sit through the entire ride (also an option).


Lying down in the top bunk

Since I didn't have much space in my bed, I ended up sitting in one of the folding chairs adjacent the bunks for most of the ride, looking out at the passing landscape. At times I would turn my attention to what the other passengers were doing in the car. I couldn't talk to anyone, so I tried to lose myself in my thoughts and observations.

Initially, there was a lot of energy in the car. People were coming and going (normally staring at me once they realized I was a foreigner), chatting, playing cards, prepping their instant noodles (their was free boiled water for noodles and tea), and getting situated in their bunks. As the hours passed, things quieted down considerably, though the silence was occasionally interrupted by one of the many cart sellers, announcing what they had to sell.

I noticed a few tricks of the trade for riding on the train. First, take out all of the stuff you might want to get at during the ride and put it on your bunk because it may become inaccessible when people put their bags up. There is a hook on the wall next to each bed where you can hang a bag, though it is near impossible to do it in the top bunk. Second, bring your own drinking water and whatever food you intend to eat on the train. They sell food/drinks on the train, but I'm guessing it is more expensive to do so. Finally, wear shoes that you can slip in and out of easily, as you'll want to avoid touching the floor whenever you climb in or out of your bunk.

You don't get much in the way of niceties on the train. There is a squatting toilet, shared by at least 2 train cars, that will get progressively dirtier throughout the train ride (bring your own toilet paper), a spout for getting boiled water, and a shared sink area for washing your teeth, face, etc. The beds have clean sheets and a pillow. That's pretty much it.

The train ride itself was uneventful. I wish that I had been able to speak to some of the other travelers, as that would have definitely helped me pass the time, but absent that, I was able to get by with an e-book.

I've since learned how to ask for a specific section (soft- or hard-sleeper) and bunk when buying train tickets. I was in a soft-sleeper from Xi'an to Pingyao, and that was a much nicer ride, and I'll be in a hard-sleeper (bottom bunk) on my train to Beijing tonight.

Hangzhou recap

West Lake in Hangzhou

Hangzhou is a beautiful city (more so than Suzhou in my opinion), largely in part because of West Lake. There are a number of other places to visit in and around the city, and lots of shopping possibilities in the streets east of the lake, but nothing compares to the lake, particularly at dusk.

After arriving at the long-distance bus station in Hangzhou, I hopped in one of the mainy waiting taxis to make my way to the hostel. I'm glad I did because the hostel, which was south of the lake, was quite a distance away from the station. At 62 yuan (about $10 USD), it still stands as the most expensive cab ride I've had in China.

Fortunately, just about everything was in walking distance of the hostel. It wasn't always a short walk, but it was always manageable. Most importantly, there was a train ticket station about 3 minutes away from the hostel, so I was able to make arrangements for the next leg of my trip fairly easily.

It was obvious from the stores in the area that the city was much more accustomed to getting (high-value) tourists than Suzhou. Pretty much every major expensive car company was accounted for, as were the top of the line clothing brands. The shopping area also seemed more developed than the main shopping  road in central Suzhou.

If you aren't looking to drop some serious cash in the area, you can always walk south a bit to get to the historic roads, which are lined with restaurants and souvenir shops and stalls. Walking through those was fun, but it does get repetitive after a while given that most of these places sell similar stuff across different cities. There were a lot more tea shops here though because the area is known for a high-quality green tea.
My favorite sights where West Lake, the Buddhist temples in the area, and a somewhat scary mountain path that runs north of the lake.

West Lake during the day is pretty nice, but I think it really shines in the evening as the sun is falling and the main buildings are lighting up. I imagine that it looks equally splendid in the morning, but I never made it out early enough to verify. There are walkways and parks all along the lake, so it is pretty active throughout the day (mainly with Chinese tourists), meaning you don't have to worry too much about being lost and alone.

There are 2 Buddhist temples in the area: one that you can walk to and one that you need to catch a bus to get to. The one that requires a bus is by far the better of the two; it is larger, has more statues and buildings, and is located at the end of a path that is filled with statues carved into a mountain.

It was my first time going to a Buddhist temple, and needless to say, I was very impressed. The statues in the buildings are amazing, both for their detail and their size (a few much have been 3 stories high). At the temple that is farther away, there is a massive wall (again, probably around 3-4 stories high) that is completely engraved with a story about a set of monks. I had never seen anything like it. Initially I was taking pictures of the statues in the buildings, but I was eventually told by a nice passerbyer that doing so is considered disrespectful, so I contented myself with just taking it all in sans camera.

Finally, although the mountain path suggested in the Lonely Planet guide provide some amazing panoramic views of the lake and city, that wasn't what made the trek so memorable. instead it was the fact that it was the only time I felt concerned for my safety on the trip. The mountain actually has a series of criss-crossing paths, occassionally marked by Mandarin signposts, and the guide's directions were less than stellar.

I found myself checking the guide often, stopping everyone I saw to ask which way to go, and just taking blind leaps of faith in deciding what paths to take. All the while I was thinking to myself that if anything happened to me on the mountain, it was unlikely anyone would find me for a long time. I'm glad that I decided to take the trail though, because ie provided the most memorable experience during my time there: watching a pretty cool flute/yoga performance next to a pagoda at the top of the mountain.

Flute performance at the Sunrise Pagoda

I was wondering around a popular hill in Hangzhou when I came across this guy playing the flute. Afterward, he got into a full lotus seated position and started to loosen up his body (I imagine to meditate).

Meeting the locals

Picture with two locals in front of the pagoda in Hangzhou

I tend to meet locals either when I'm lost and trying to get directions or when they come up and ask to take a picture with me. This was the latter (and the 1st time that I asked them to use my camera as well).

It's a lot of fun chatting with the ones that are eager to practice English. I normally take advantage of the opportunity to practice a little Mandarin as well.

Suzhou: My Lost City

Shang Tang Jie at night

I left Suzhou today, and although I might never have the opportunity to visit it again, I'll forever remember it as My Lost City in China. That's because I managed to get spectacularly lost a couple of times during my one full day there.

My main problem getting around was that instead of paying 10-30 yuan ($2-5 USD) for a taxi, I insisted on flexing my public transit muscle and riding the buses. Unfortunately, the buses are not easy to navigate if you don't 1) speak/understand Mandarin or 2) plan out your routes ahead of time. I had neither of these things working in my favor, so deciding when to get off of the bus was a crap shoot that I lost each time.

It took a lot of walking, luck, and comical conversations (they'd say something; I'd look puzzled; then I'd point at my map and say something; then they'd look puzzled, and so on and so on) with locals to find my way back each time. I managed to keep my cool throughout it all and enjoy the different views of the city that wandering aimlessly afforded. I even stumbled onto a nice park along the river north of city center.

Suzhou is renowned for its gardens, and they did not disappoint. The two that  I visited, the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Lingering Garden, were expansive (considering they are near the heart of the  city) and impressive. I spent at at least 2 hours at each one wandering through the many pathways, stopping to relax in the pagodas, and enjoying the scenery.

There were a lot of local tourists also taking in the gardens (~90% or more of the tourists were from China), and for the first time, I was approached by several asking to take pictures with me (a token foreigner). This normally happened in waves. Once one person in a group had successfully approached me for a picture, the others would follow suit. It was a lot of fun.

At night I walked through the two historical streets in the city: Pingjiang Liu and Shang Tang Jie. Both roads are next to canals and bustling with activity at night, mainly in the form of locals walking around, taking pictures, and shopping. Shang Tang Jie is away from the city center, but the taxi ride out to it is totally worth it. The road and surrounding area is illuminated at night with hundreds of red lanterns, and the architecture of the buildings looks like historic China (or at least the Hollywood version of historic China that I've been fed).

Other notable things about Suzhou:

• They love cute dogs in this city. 1 in 5 Suzhouans walks around with one
• It seems to be popular for girls to dress up in traditional, formal attire and do photo shoots on the historic roads
• Since there are canals all over the place, there are also a lot of mosquitos

Train ticket to Xi'an

This ticket is my prize after a hard battle that involved many allies and puzzled looks.

Goodbye Shanghai

Pudong from the Bund

I'm getting ready to leave Shanghai today after spending 2 full days in the city. That was more than enough time to check out the things I wanted to see and hang out with my friend that is on temporary assignment here for AMD. I'll be heading to Suzhou (pronounced more like "Sue Joe") for a day to check out its famous gardens.

Everything has been going great so far. Shanghai is like any other major developed city: lots of stores everywhere, people jaywalk like crazy, great public transportation system (I wish this last one was more common in the US). I've had to buy some items over here, and as promised, everything has been pretty darn cheap. Bottles of water are $0.16 USD; I got some fake Oakleys with a case for $8 USD; etc. The only bummer is that I lost my camera, with one day's pictures, last night when it slipped out of my pocket in a taxi. If I had asked for the receipt at the end of the ride I could have gotten it back, but I didn't. Not a big deal though; I replaced it within the hour.

My hostel, Mingtown Hiker Youth Hostel, is right next to the Bund, a very nice river walk area across from the Pudong area, and East Nanjing "Sexy Massage" Road. It is fairly busy 24/7, with travelers coming and going at all hours. There has been a mix of people passing by; from young college students to families and locals. Most international travelers seem to be from Europe (judging by accents). The hostel has everything I need: WiFi, boiling water, showers, big locker in the room, washing and drying machine. The beds are pretty stiff, but that's a minor issue. I hope that the hostel in Suzhou is as nice.

The highlights of Shanghai include:

• Visiting and going up to the observatory on the 100th floor of the World Financial Center. When I first saw a picture of it in my International Business Strategy class, I thought it was fake. Once I found out it was real, I decided I wanted to visit it
• Walking along the Bund in the morning and seeing lots of people out practicing Taichi and other martial arts
• Getting a 1-hour massage that had me on the verge of yelping in pain several times. I never imagined my back could be cracked so loudly, so many times, in so many ways