travels

Yesterday I got my nails done for a buck fifty in Shanghai, and I chose a fancy glittery color to match the town’s vibrancy. I thought it was my first time in a big city, the way I admired Shanghai’s shapely skyline. We were on the west side of the Huangpu River which divides the sprawling metropolis and we were staring at a curved string of modern architectural development. The focal point was undoubtedly the Oriental Pearl Tower, a modern product of ancient influence that convinced me I was still across the world in a city with BC history. On our side of the river was a strip of European-style buildings that if not for peripheral vision, you’d think you were along France’s Seine river. Then, of course, sprinkled on both sides of the river were ultra-modern buildings that reminded me I was in one of the world’s most advanced and technological metropolitans. The blend of cross-features made the city exude such uniqueness. Where as some cities seem so replicated that I could easily confuse one with the other, Shanghai’s unmistakeable and eclectic horizon is what I admired most. Today, our second day in Shanghai, was equally as eclectic, energy-full

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China’s Terracotta Warriors, like a ton of other things (including myself), claim to be the world’s 8th wonder. Now after visiting the warriors in Xi’an, a middle province of China, I give them the OK to bump me in line for the honor. The simple storyline behind them is fascinating, and so satisfying that I found myself having unusually little inquisition for below the surface, pun intended, details. So it goes during a very recent 1974, a few peasant farmers, with no further agenda than to drill a simple well, punctured one of the world’s ever most famous archeological discoveries. They hit an underground collection of life-size warrior statues, existing in great numbers above 7,000 and remaining far absent from anyone’s knowledge for an unbelievable 2,000 years. The soldiers’ creation was instructed by China’s self-declared first emperor, who began his reign at the short age of 13. In his accomplishments, Qin Shi Huang centralized long divided regions and states of China under one unified and standardized government, and his establishments served as a model for subsequent dynasties. He instituted substantial public projects, though he enslaved hundreds of thousands of his people in a cruel and tyrannical way to complete them.

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I thought our uphill days were over in Nepal, but so our thighs continued the beating starting earlier this morning. Our bus from Xi’an left at 7 am and parked below Hua Shan mountain at 9. From there you can take a gondola to the mountain’s center or just walk up yourself. We chose to walk because heck we’d just hiked 10 days straight, we were hiking kings and queens. Plus it saved us 10 bucks, so that hands down made a backpacker’s day. Three things about today, aside from the panoramic pleasure, were notably incredible. First, the ascent was steep, if never-ending, and called for thrifty footwork. There were steps under feet to make the way more accessible, but there were still some incline angles that looked only a touch under 90 degrees. Second, the “gaggles of geriatrics” (an alliteration by Greg) were surprising in their strong count on these imposingly vertical stairways. We young bucks, Greg and I, were trucking alongside wooden-caned grand folk who were forging the shared road with some crazy grace. Surely there is some secret recipe in Chinese tea that red bull or even cocaine would kill for. I’ll preface the third incredible thing

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In Chongqing, we have no idea where we are ever going. We ask directions a thousand times along the way to somewhere and then each person gives us an entirely new route to get there. We’ve accepted we might never get to any of the to-do sights here and have just kept walking all over nowhere. Today on this estranged path, we ran into a street market pet shop. There were dogs and turtles and cats for sale. Birds and pigeons too, and the pigeons we later found out are used for gambling. There is a whole betting world around these marked pigeons who “race” to a human-determined finish line. Lord knows how a bird can find its way around this town and we can’t even get to the first street corner. All the other animals were so adorable at the street market pet store, just as cute as the ones back West, go figure. We saw a few of them being inspected for purchase and then one kitten actually being bought. The new owner walked away with the tiny white kitty in a pink plastic bag, like what the gas station would put your cheap wine and gum in.

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