A Developing Tourist Industry

I have a few more stories I’d like to share about my recent trip to Southern China.  First, I was very surprised that the major tourist areas in Yunnan are still very raw.  For example, we went to a small touristy,mountain town called Dali, and we’re initially very impressed by how clean and beautiful the city is.  Our tour guide showed us an area called Foreigner Street that is filled with Western restaurants and bars.  This is supposed to be the most tourist-friendly area in a major tourist town.  We decided to relax on the patios of one of the Western Cafes. 

After we ordered our food, an old man sat right next to our table.  Actually, his back was facing us and he was leaning on our table.  A woman came over and took his shoes off before placing his feet in a bucket of water.  We were a bit surprised that this was all going on about a foot from our table.  After a few minutes passed, the woman starts giving the man a pedicure and his feet were brought even closer to us.  She even begins cutting his toenails, and some actually land on our table. 

No matter how loud we were laughing, nails continued to fly.  We decided to switch tables as soon as our food arrived.  Later on, we realized that everyone involved in the pedicure was deaf and could not hear us complaining.  Nonetheless, I would never have expected an outdoor pedicure service to be located next door to an outdoor restaurant.  

We had many similar experiences as our trip progressed.  However, the final city we went to was markedly different than the other two.  Originally a small mountain town inhabited by Tibetans and Naxis, Lijiang has become one of the most commercialized towns in all of China.  The traditional homes of the Naxi people have been rented out by Han Chinese so that they can sell merchandise to tourists.  As a result, the town is one of the least authentic in all of China.  Traditional culture is only used to attract tourists to restaurants and bars while the entire town is centered around tourism. 

Despite the relatively developed tourist industry, Lijiang still has ways to go in catering to Western tourists.  Take us for example.  One night we decided to eat dinner in the tourist area at one of the restaurants/bars.  Jenna wanted to order ice cream and I wasn’t yet sure what to order.  The waitress told us that it was too cold outside to serve ice cream.  I then asked the waitress what came in the vegetable sandwich.  She was not sure and went to ask her manager.  The waitress came back explaining to me that sandwich means there are two pieces of bread with vegetables in the middle.  We decided to eat elsewhere.

The next restaurant was even more shocking.  First, the menu was translated so badly that I had to look at the Chinese to have any idea what the food was.  The following are some examples: Regetables Hamburg (Veggie Burger), Assipa (Pizza), The Waffle Adds Ham (Waffle with ham).  We ordered a salad, veggie burger, and tomato-cream soup.  The salad was simply diced tomatoes and carrots drenched in mayonnaise.  I  told the waitress I was highly  allergic to mayonnaise, but she insisted that it was yogurt.  She came out and showed me the carton.  Our tomato-cream soup came out right after.  Surprisingly, the tomato-cream soup was simply tomato-soup with whip cream all over it.  We now had two dishes that we didn’t plan on touching.  Finally, my veggie-burger came out.  At first, I thought that they had forgotten the burger.  They had just given me a bun with lettuce.  After I asked, I realized that the lettuce was the veggie burger.  We finally ate at another restaurant where we ordered an Israeli salad. 

Lijiang has on average 600,000 foreign tourists each year.  Why wouldn’t a restaurant hire one young foreigner to translate its menu?  I think one reason is that the restaurants have enough Chinese tourists, and don’t want to waste money trying to attract the small percentage of foreign tourists.  Ironically, Lijiang was not at all authentic in preserving its traditional culture, however, it was a very authentic look at the Han Chinese.

Daoist Temples and Chinese Call Girls

The Yunnan Province is in China’s Southwest region.  It borders Tibet, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Laos.  Because of the mountainous terrain it has a very distinct feel to it.  People are much friendlier and the entire area is quite laid back.  Also, about a third of the Yunnan population is made up of ethnic minorities.  This means that many places have their own dialects and costumes.  However, there were plenty of moments that reminded us we were still very much in China.

The biggest reminder? Loads and loads of Chinese tourists. 

Sometimes, Chinese tourists can be just as exciting as the tourist site itself.  They take an extraordinary amount of pictures and usually travel in huge packs.  These large groups almost always have bright matching hats and a tour guide carrying a yellow flag.  What really makes these tourists special though is how they react to white foreigners.  We were bombarded three or four times by large tourist groups wanting to take pictures of us.  Because of China’s economic development, every Chinese tourist has his own camera.   This means that we posed while every tourist took his own picture.  Moreover, the tourists wanted pictures of us with each of their friends.  Then they wanted one of us to wear a cowboy hat or to pose in a different area.  When I asked them why they wanted so many pictures of us, they said it was to show their grandchildren.  

Overall, it was nice to see how much pride these people had for their country and how friendly they were. 

Expectedly, someone from each group felt obliged to make the experience political by bringing up President Bush or Yao Ming.  One tourist bought us beers while his friend talked to me for half an hour about why I should support Yao Ming.   Its interesting how basketball has become such an international sport.  Many people I have met know about the Mavericks but have never heard of Texas. 

 Speaking of globalization, I felt it first hand in Yunnan.  As soon as we arrived to the capital city of Kunming, we passed by a Wal-Mart.  Our tour guide told us there are 4 or 5 in the city.  As soon as we arrived in smaller Dali, we also passed by a huge Wal Mart.  It surprises me that a Wal Mart can open up in a town centered around subsistence agriculture.  It makes me wonder how different the town will be in 10 years. 

Onto the trip.  Kunming was beautiful and had very pleasant weather.  It was by far the cleanest city I have been to in China.  We also had one especially memorable night in Kunming. 

We decided to visit a Daoist temple not too far from our hotel, but the temple was already closed.  Since it was after dark, we sneaked into the temple and hoped no one would mind.  The first level of the temple was all gift shops.  The entire temple seemed empty with one exception.  A young man was practicing nunchucks with Chinese Pop music blaring in the background.  Not something you see everyday. 

We ignored the nunchucks and kept going into the temple.  After a few minutes of sneaking around, a man asked me what I was doing in the temple so late.  Not wanting to be thrown out or sent to the nunchucks guy, I told him I was eager to learn more about Daoism.   He invited us to sit and drink tea while discussing Daoist philosophy.  I told him that I was Jewish and wanted to understand the differences between Daoism and Buddhism.  He called out a few monks who came outside and lead the discussion.  We talked for about an hour while I occasionally translated for my friend Jenna.  Before we left, they had me sign a book and gave me a Daoist bible and necklace.  Jenna was surprised at how encouraging everyone had been with my Chinese.  No matter how little I said, every person would complement me and say I had great Chinese.  Jenna made me realize how important the encouragement is, and how it keeps you motivated to learn more. 

After the temple we went to a Bai Nationality restaurant for dinner.  Still excited from the temple, I decided to order some Chinese Maotai liquor.  As soon as I ordered it, the entire staff started laughing and couldn’t wait for me to drink it.  I now know why.  This liquor tastes something like paint-thinner and Lysol bathroom cleaner mixed together.  Few Chinese even drink it, so it was very surprising for them to see a naive foreigner take a shot. 

To keep the night interesting, a young girl called our hotel room asking for me by name around 12:30.  At first I thought it was our tour guide, but tour guides don’t give special massages in the middle of the night.

I’ll post more tomorrow about the second part of our trip.