Final Thoughts

A couple months ago, a stranger angrily called me a "chink" and told me to "go home" with no provocation as he passed me on a busy downtown Vancouver sidewalk. He continued yelling racial slurs at me from across the street as I walked back to my office, all the while restraining myself from retaliation. As shocking and hurtful as his groundless bigotry was, he ironically got his wish, in a sense - I went "home" for the first time. And it changed the perspective of my whitewashed almond-shaped eyes forever.

As you've probably gleaned from this blog's title and premise, I'm pretty westernized as far as Asians go. I was born and bred in B.C; consider English to be my primary (and much enjoyed) language; and won the Mr. Freezie cold-endurance contest of '99. I've even gone so far as to have the audacity to be home-schooled and choose a career that doesn't focus on medicine or numbers. With the exception of the words of a handful of prejudiced individuals throughout my life, I've always considered myself as Canadian as they come.

However, even as a patriotic Canadian, I'm also fully Chinese. I don't really speak the language as well as I used to, nor do I belong to the country, but I am no less proud of my heritage. I was blessed to have grown up with a large extended family in the Vancouver area who instilled in me the values and characteristics of my Chinese culture. As a result, I'm fairly adept with chopsticks, appreciate the closeness of family, and am a mediocre driver at best. It was this trip to China, however, that really opened my eyes. As far as such eyes as mine can open, that is.

Over the past three weeks, I've seen, smelled, tasted, touched, heard, and experienced many new and outrageous things. I've been far out of my comfort zone (which is already pretty large); pushed and stretched to handle the bizarre. And I've loved it all. Yes, the locals thought it was very strange indeed that I was Chinese like them but couldn't understand their dialect. But at the same time, I began to understand a lot about my heritage without the need for words. I now understand why Asians drive the way they do, why they constantly spit (understood but still not appreciated on my end), and the things they value. I have a better understanding for what it means to be Chinese - It's more than tofu, though that is a very important and delicious part of it.

Surprisingly, being in China and meeting people from various countries and cultures also gave me a better understanding of what it means to be Canadian - part of which includes freedom of information and the ability to have a sibling or two. Things that I won't take for granted as easily from now on. Also, Canada has crazy awesome plumbing and bacon in comparison.

So what happens now? I go back into my routine - Work, church, social life, etc. But now I do so with a broadened appreciation of who I am: A Chinese- Canadian.

Bethel - Part 3

Well, tonight is my last night here at Bethel before I head home for Canada tomorrow afternoon. As I mentioned before, saying goodbye to the kids is going to be tough. Not to mention leaving my mom and sisters here for another two months. On the other hand, I'm ready to go home - I've been on the road for almost three weeks and I'm beginning to miss the fresh B.C. air, forks, proper plumbing, and even work. I'll probably change my mind about that last one within a week or two.

Over the past couple days, I've been shooting a few videos for the orphanage's use. Unfortunately, I won't be able to upload them just yet because of the slow and restricted internet here. Another thing I miss about home. Both videos are rather cheesy and sappy, but given the subject, how could they not be? They make even my eyes moisten a little (not an easy thing to do), so hopefully they'll impact the intended target audience when it comes time.

Being here at Bethel has been a real blessing to me. I love my sisters, but I've always wanted a little brother. I've had many dreams in the past where I have a baby brother - but in my dreams, this baby has always had some kind of physical deformity for some odd reason. Like one time, the baby had no arms…but was still able to hug me. Weird, I know; but in a sense, being here is a dream come true. I'm surrounded by the little brothers I never had, fighting over my lap space (and my iPhone), reaching out to be held and played with. And they don't have to be able to see when they call me "Guh guh (big brother), nor do I have to fully grasp the language to understand.

Bethel - Part 2

We've been working at the orphanage for three days now and I'm wiped! I spent the afternoon double-bouncing kids on the trampoline, giving them bike rides on the tandem, and playing ball with them. I really need to learn how to say "Wait one second while I catch my breath." in Mandarin.

Photo by Danika Lee




Photo by Danika Lee



It's been a surreal day. I was cycling on a farm path with one of the kids, Michael, on the back - both of us singing Boulevard of Broken dreams (Green Day is his favourite band) as we rattled along on a tandem bike that I feared was going to fall apart going over the next bump. Not a situation I usually find myself in.

Michael, who, according to him, is 100 years old.




Paul, 11 years-old. He stays with us in our cabin




Farm path/biking trail



The younger kids are awesome too. The little boy who wouldn't let me put him down on the first day has taken to calling me "Guh guh (big brother)." I've been walking him back to his house after dinner and I've got to say, there's nothing quite like it.

Photo by Danika Lee




Photo by Danika Lee



Blind Asian driver in training. Is there anything scarier? Photo by Danika Lee



One of the other things we've been working on is a big hand-painted map of the world in the front lobby of the school. It was started a few days before we got here by the three other volunteers here - Matt, Julie, and Mary. I painted most of South-East Asia - the area with the least well-known flags. Probably a good thing because all of my flags accurately reflected my lack of skill. I painted blobs that vaguely resembled various shapes on the flags.

I literally painted a whole country (China) red. Photo by Danika Lee



End of the day



I, my dad, and grandma are staying here until Sunday. I just hope my double-bouncing/cycling legs hold out until then.

Bethel

Today we arrived at an orphanage for blind kids, where we'll be staying for our last week in China. Bethel, as it's called, is located a couple hours outside of Beijing. While we're here we'll be helping out where needed; getting the farm ready for planting, and looking after and getting to know the kids. My dad will also be doing some physic work with some of the kids while I'll be doing some photo/video stuff for the orphanage.

It's a beautiful compound and we're staying in one of the new houses that will eventually house about 10-12 orphans. As a result, there are mini toilets, mini baths, and mini sinks - all in mirror-less bathrooms, of course, as the kids can't really see. The sinks also have the hot/cold signs on backwards, which almost caused me to scald my hand when using one - but I've never been very good with sinks anyway.

The room I'm staying in has a crib and bunk bed. My lower bunk (I'm afraid the neither the crib or top bunk were designed with 180lb occupants in mind) has a floral pillow; a moon, sun, and stars sky blue blanket; and a bed sheet colourfully decorated with various anime characters. I'm not entirely sure why, though, as all of the kids here have some sort of visual impairment.

Speaking of the kids, there are 50 or so staying here at the moment. Today being the start of a two-day holiday in China, they weren't in class when we got here. Rather, most of them were in the orphanage's large playroom, where we spent a couple hours with them this afternoon.

They range in age from near-infants to late teens and up. I held a grim-faced baby girl for a good 20 minutes before I could coax a smile out of her and talked with Sam - the oldest at 21 years old. One of the other kids joked that I have to call him 'big brother.' There was one boy, about three years old ,who quietly stood by himself, hands behind his back, not really caring about anything for most of the time. He has the makings of an excellent old Chinese man, much to our amusement.

There was one little guy though, also about three years old, who seemed to really latch onto me and just about anyone else who would pick him up and hold him. I've only been here less than a day and already my heart is aching for these precious kids. Leaving them in a week is definitely going to be tough.

The Great Wall

After making an obligatory stop at yet another jade factory, we headed up to the Great Wall along with the other two people in our group - an Israeli private detective/scuba diving instructor and his wife. Apparently, Beijing's section of the wall is the best preserved, but it also seems to be the steepest. The main section open to tourists goes straight up the mountain.

It's a long way up





Ascending the Great Wall was similar to climbing the Chief in Squamish in terms of difficulty, only I felt like I was in much better shape this time. It helps that the majority of people climbing with you are older tourists; huffing, puffing, and sweating their way up the stairs with me just breezing steadily past them. When you're climbing the Chief, however, most of your contemporaries seem to be young and ridiculously fit athletes who actually enjoy hiking and are out to be beat some crazy time. So yes, it's kind of cheap, but climbing with those weaker than me gave me a great mental boost. Coming down was even better, as we were fairly flying past others who were literally sliding down on the hands and behind.

Just look at that smug mug



Views from the top





I've got to say that the Wall's up there in terms of awesomeness with Chengdu's pandas (though pandas are awesome and attractive) and Kunming's Stone Forest. Walking up that ancient structure that I've heard so much about was an incredible experience that afforded some amazing views. I could peer over the edge of the Wall and just imagine invaders attacking hundreds of years ago. Considering what a tourist destination it is, I was surprised at how original and natural it was overall.

Rebelliously striding along the Great Wall




I don't think my sister appreciated the Wall as much as I did and will likely remember her popsicle more than anything




I'm glad I got to see this in my lifetime



After that, we went for lunch, drank tea, stopped by the Silk Museum, had another foot massage/lecture at some Olympic facility, then went to snap a few photos outside the Olympic Stadium.

This is called a 'pee-boy.' You pour water on it and it measures the water's temperature by the length of the 'pee' stream




A kite




So much cheesey-lah

Beijing

We left Kunming late this morning and landed in Beijing later this afternoon. After relatively roughing it in hostels so far, we've checked into a 5-star hotel - "When else are we going to get the chance to experience this so cheaply?" was my mom's standpoint. I'm not complaining, though it is quite a bit different than what I'm used to. When we got out of our taxi, the porter actually made me put down my luggage and walk on so he could take care of it. No lugging it all up five flights of stairs this time!

Also, since Beijing is north of the Yangtze River, they're allowed to have central heating - which means no relying on electric blankets as your sole source of warmth during the night anymore! Since Chengdu and Kunming are both south of the Yangtze, neither cities are allowed central heating. This is fine during the summer I'm sure, but in the early spring it's still pretty cold. But yes, our hotel room even has a thermostat! Or so I thought. After playing with the temperature control unit for about two hours to reduce the sweltering heat in the room, I realized that it's only meant as a heater and not for air conditioning in general. I've since turned the danged thing off completely and opened the window. Windows are much simpler to understand.

Everything is quite expensive here so far (in this hotel at least) - breakfast cost literally 10 times as much as it did in the hostel, and you don't even get bacon with this meal! Instant failure in my books. It'll be nice to relax in this fancy hotel for a bit, but perhaps it's a little too fancy for the likes of me. I prefer five skewers of roasted lamb from a street vendor for 10 RMB.

Banana Boy Steps out on his own

Today I made a relatively big leap in terms of speaking with the local people. Up until now, my mom has been doing about 90% of the communication and translation during our time here as my Mandarin skills are non-existent. As I've mentioned before, being Chinese and not able to speak the language adds an extra layer of difficulty that the average caucasian traveller wouldn't encounter. It's as if people here don't believe me when I say "I don't speak Mandarin." They look confused for a second but then just try again, whereupon I sigh and childishly look for my mom.

A couple of days ago, we had some lamb meat on skewers (three for 10 RMB - about $1.50 Cdn) that I quite enjoyed. Seeing as they were sold just underneath our hostel, I decided I would later return and order by myself. I spent the next few days formulating the scenario in my head: I would walk up to the vendor, point at the lamb skewers and say "Saam guh ('Three of those')." Then when I received my order, I'd say "Shyi shyi" gratefully and walk away. Maybe even throw in a little bow if I was feeling particularly Oriental at that time.

However, yesterday, something happened that appealed to my inner-most Asian: I found a better deal elsewhere. This new location also had lamb skewers, but cheaper at five skewers for 10 RMB - not just three like the original cart. Also, it was even closer to our hostel than the other location.

Well this afternoon I found myself feeling peckish with some time to kill, so I decided to go grab some lamb skewers. But I had a dilemma: I knew how to order three of something, but I didn't know how to say 'five' in Mandarin. I could either go with what I knew and practiced, or I could go for more food for the same price. Cheapness won out in the end, and I headed down to the second vendor.

Unfortunately, they only had three lamb skewers and two skewers of some other random meat on hand. But the deal was five for 10 RMB and I intended to get my money's worth, lamb meat or not - so through a mixture of gestures and mumbled Chinglish, I paid my 10 RMB and waited for my order to be cooked. I was little disappointed that I wasn't able to use the few Mandarin words I knew, but happy that I still got my order through.

However, while my food was still being prepared, the cook turned around and asked me "Là huò bù là?" - NOW he was talking my lingo, and I somehow understood and confidently replied "Là." He then nodded and began generously applying chili to my meat. Hot sauce; it flavours your food, betters your health, and bridges the language gap.

$1.50 for all that? We're definitely not at the Richmond Night Market anymore



Flush from the heat of my spicy victory, I ordered another couple skewers of something that looked like either squid or mushrooms. It turned out to be mushrooms (or some sort of fungus at least) and it was equally as spicy and delicious:



We're leaving Kunming and flying out to Beijing today, so until then, 'Zai Jien!'

Goodbye Kunming!

The Stone Forest

Yesterday I came to understand the life of a sheep. All day long we were packed into various vehicles, herded about through strange buildings, fed without choice, driven through the countryside, and led through treacherous stone valleys. All the while I, at least, had no idea what was going on or being said. I just followed along with the rest of the group as we made our way to Kunming's famous Stone Forest.

The inside of a large 'bread car'




Getting breakfast before getting on our tour bus




Morning commute



We got on a tour bus with about 30 other Chinese people and drove off into the morning traffic rush. Our tour guide spent the next couple hours talking incessantly (in Mandarin, of course) into the bus' PA system. Something about ways to avoid insulting the native minority groups we would come across. The only other thing I gleaned from her speech was to not fall asleep as we drove up the mountain, as sleeping during the altitude change can make your head implode or something. Supposedly, her talking was supposed to keep us all awake, but it did the opposite for me as I couldn't understand what she was saying. So I just clapped when everyone else clapped and laughed when everyone else laughed.

We made two stops before lunch - one at a giant jade emporium and another at an even bigger silver store. Thank God for Street Fighter on my iPhone during those times. Finally, we stopped at a 'Chinese Restaurant' for lunch where I was seated at a table full of strangers. I joined in the rapid inhalation of the food that was already there, feeling more and more like dumb livestock with each bite.

Perhaps the most unnecessary sign in all of China



After lunch, we finally arrived at the Stone Forest: a beautiful rocky landscape shaped by the dissolving of bedrock over time. We were divided into groups and directed onto carts that hurtled us through the giant tourist trap, pausing for a few minutes at various viewpoints to get out and take some photos.

Racing through the Stone Forest







The Stone Forest, as much of a tourist destination as it is, is very beautiful and breathtaking. There were also groups of the local native minority about, selling gifts, playing music, and dancing. They seemed to only know one song and one dance, however. I don't blame them though, as their instruments seemed to be limited to a whistle and a drum with three strings.

Play that song again. And again. And one more time. And again.




Captain Morgan visits the Stone Forest




No trumpeting at the Stone Forest?







After a couple hours of being paraded through the Stone Forest by a flag-wielding tour guide, we were herded back onto the bus and driven back into the city. Once there, we disembarked and were coerced into a large room with comfy chairs. Employees began filling buckets at our feet with hot water and a suspicious looking powder. Looking around, I saw everyone removing their footwear and soaking their feet in the water, so I followed along. Next, an old man in a white coat entered the room and began a lengthy lecture (I can only surmise that he was warning us of the evils of athletes foot). Finally, a horde of uniformed attendants descended upon our group with towels and began massaging our feet while simultaneously trying to sell us various medicines. Very sneaky of them.

There's a catch somewhere



Finally, after about an hour of trying to flag down a taxi, we made our way back to the hostel and had some delicious noodles and tofu. And saw one of the most dangerous/odd/awesome things yet:



What a confusing day. I'm going to go play some more ping pong.

Kunming

We've been in Kunming for two days now and I've been playing a lot of ping pong. I really am discovering my inner yellow in this country it seems. The hostel we're staying at this time is called "The Hump," named after the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains, which the famous Flying Tigers air force flew over, using Kunming as a base. It's also where my grandpa worked as a mechanic for the Tigers when he was my age. Also, their Wal-Mart-like department store carries a variety of nunchaku (right next to the ping pong balls, of course), which is pretty rad:



Kunming itself is quite beautiful - a little more colourful and charismatic than Chengdu so far. It smells a lot worse, however, as a warm breeze usually carries a generous waft of sewer air with it. There also seems to be more families with children here, as opposed to Chengdu, where we saw mostly young adults dominating the streets.

There are a lot of little me's running around here



One of the blind masseuses in Kunming



Asian photographers, past and present



Some of you have already seen this, but now I've been able to finally post my timelapse of Kunming as seen from the roof garden of our hostel in better quality on Vimeo:

Kunming Timelapse from Jordan Lee on Vimeo.

20 hours on a Train

We rolled into the parking lot across from the massive Chengdu Railway Station yesterday afternoon. Once the van was unloaded, we surveyed the 300 or so metres of vehicle and pedestrian traffic that we'd have to traverse to reach the station. It felt like we were the survivors of a zombie apocalypse about to make a break through the undead horde.

With a deep breath and a firm grip on our luggage, we dove into the masses, never stopping, always fighting and pushing to reach our destination. Once we made it inside, things didn't get much better. After making it through security (which included getting almost inappropriately felt up by one of the female guards), we made our way up to the densely packed waiting area and soon boarded our train.





As soon as I stepped onto the train, my senses were assailed by the hot smoky air. Luckily, I got used to it pretty quick and claimed my bottom hard-bunk. One of the first things I noticed was a metal dish right next to my head on the side table. It soon became apparent that it was intended for the convenient expectoration of the five other occupants of my compartment. I just hoped the ones on the very top bunks had good aim.

Literally spitting distance from my pillow



Having a bottom bunk has its pros and cons - you have the easiest bunk access and the most storage space, but it also means that strangers who have middle or top bunks are constantly sitting on the foot of your bed when not sleeping. The first visitor to my mattress was one of the heaviest (by Chinese standards, at least) guys I've seen so far on this trip. His appearance and mannerisms reminded me of Po, the kung fu panda. I hoped that his significant weight wouldn't be spending the night in the flimsy bunk above mine. Luckily, his bunk ended up being on the other side of my compartment - right above my sister's.

Our heavyset friend



The ride itself was pretty nice. The passing scenery was straight out of a Jet Li movie with misty rolling hills, ancient-looking villages, and mountain waterfalls. Most abundant, however, were fields upon fields of yellow-flowered plants. "So much yellow," my sister remarked. "Well, this IS China," I replied dryly.

Never ending yellow in China. And the fields, too



Getting to sleep was no problem - Drifting off to dreamland on a train monotonously chugging through Asia while surrounded by hundreds of Chinese people? Sounds like my commute home through Vancouver on the Canada Line every day. The only difference is that if I sleep through my stop on this train, I'll end up lost in the middle of China and not just at some mall on Number Three Road.

Ok, maybe even that is pretty similar.

Noodle time




A little bit of cabin fever




Breakfast




Taxi driver



Kunming