The Original Harmony

Posting for Tim and Kelly --- due to computer issues --- Dad - H

I found a "free" computer; all we have to do is buy something in this shop. That shouldn't be hard though because they have dozens of reasonably priced items that we were thinking of getting.

I think I can say that Vietnam really did feel like the other side of the world. But if I say that, I have to say that China is like another world all together. The cities here are amazing. Nanning, where we were yesterday must have 20 skyscrapers being built right now...including a beautiful looking Marriott. All the other buildings in the city look very new too. I was really astonished with the massive construction that is going on and must have recently gone on.

We are in Guangzhou right now. We have seen much less of the city but I get the impression that it is even larger than Nanning and they are still building lots of new buildings. We are in a very small and very quaint section of town called Shamian Island. It was the first place westerners were allowed to set up trade in the when they started trading with this section of China again. It reminds me of a little section of a big city that is mostly residential (although there are a bunch of hotels here, and high-end shops.)

The hotel we are staying in is about $50 /night and Internet costs $3/30 min. We ended up here by mistake, I guess there is one right down the street with the same name, and from the same company that is $35/night. That WAS where we were going. We have reservations for when we return at an even less expensive place, one of the nicest hostels I have ever seen, for $20 /night.

Part of the reason I say I feel like I'm in another world is that everything here FEELS like home. The cars are pretty much the same, the roads and highways are the same, and from afar, the street fronts seem the same too. But when you get up close to anything you realize its not the same at all. Most of the people look at you funny, and despite the fact that there are more people in china learning English than there are English speakers in America, nobody REALLY seems to KNOW English. Not only that, everything is in Chinese, there are so few signs here in English, that most of the time we are clueless as to where we are and where we should go.

Our arrival in Nanning was quite a shock. We went from Vietnam where most people spoke English, and the signs seemed somewhat familiar, to a place where almost every sign was in Chinese and almost no one spoke English. Like moths to a light, Kelly and I were drawn to the only sign we could find that was in English, the "information" desk. We probably even looked a little like moths, because we couldn't figure out how to line up for the people at the desk. We were moving in and out and all around the desk; there seems to be some understanding amongst the people here where the line starts and ends, but we don't have that understanding. Chances are though, had we even made it to the desk, we probably wouldn't have gotten very far, I don't think the ladies there spoke English. However, we were save by my vote for the nicest man in China, Yu Fu Yi.

He saw that we were confused, and offered help. His English was a little weak, but it was better than he seemed to believe. We told him that we wanted a bus to Guangzhou and talked to the lady at the info desk, which was a ticketing desk too. The next bus (2 hours away) only had 3 seats left but they were very bad seats according to Yu. He recommended that we buy tickets for the 9:30 bus (an hour later) right away so we could get good seats. When we told him that we didn't have any Chinese money he shook his head, offered to buy the tickets for us, and then take us to a bank. Although we didn't like imposing on him, he insisted and then took a cab with us to the nearest bank. The bank was closed but the ATM was open. When Kelly started using the ATM though the last two screens, the most important ones, were all in Chinese. Again Yu saved us by helping her withdraw the correct amount.

We paid him right away for the bus tickets and told him he could keep the change but he refused. When the cab arrived back at the bus station, he paid the cab driver (the same amount the change would have been) and wouldn't let us pay him back. He told us we had 3 hours until the bus came and said we could go shopping if we wanted or have some food. We opted for food since I hadn't eaten that day, and he took us to the only restaurant in the area, KFC.

And this is where Yu got really nice. He offered to buy dinner for both of us. We tried to buy his dinner for his help, but he wouldn't let us. Instead he had us pick a table. We ate dinner together and discussed a little about ourselves, and our plans in China. I got the impression he thought we were in over our heads, but still he was encouraging. I am not sure where he said he worked (maybe the central bank of china) but he is 26 now, and studied English for 12 years. By the end of dinner he was really stressed out, mostly because he was having so much trouble speaking, so we told him it was fine if he left (he seemed a little relieved at this). Before leaving, he told us to stay at the KFC as long as possible and told us where to get the bus.

This was a truly unsolicited act of kindness on his part. We tried again to pay him back but he only said it was his pleasure to help us and enjoyed practicing his English with us.

This is why he gets my vote for nicest man in China. (Without his help we would have been very stuck I think.)

Talk to you later,

Tim

This entry was posted on Monday, February 20, 2006 at 10:24 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.