carpe annum

Nothing can quite prepare you for a forty hour journey on the top bunk of a Chinese train.  At first its interesting to see the size of the train which literally must be nearly a mile long, and that more than half of the train is fitted with ‘hard sleepers’ which are sets of bunks three high and about twenty or twenty-five per train car.  The bunks are not enclosed in any way which was fine as people seemed to behave more civilly than on the street.  In the area at the end of each car is a hot water dispenser which people can use to make tea and add to their cup noodles.  Not knowing quite what to expect, I stocked up on chips, bananas, chestnuts, packaged meat, bread, cheese and water to sustain myself for the trip.  Of course just laying in a bed for hours on end doesn’t burn many calories and not surprisingly I finished less than half of my goodies..but oh well. 

My destination is Kunming, the capital of this Southwestern province bordering Burma, Loas and Vietnam.  The city was the destination of WWII Allied pilots keeping the supply lines from India into China open after Japan gained control of Burma.  The pilots had to fly heavy transport planes over the Himalayas–certainly not the easiest mission given the horrible weather conditions in the thin air above the Himalayas.  I consider my train journey equally magnificent as flying the hump…naysayers be gone!

Anyways, these days, Kunming is another rapidly developing regional hub as is evidenced by the massive highways, rail lines and skyscrapers being built ad nauseum.The greatest thing however definately has to be the re-emergence of the sun and sky, complete with clouds.  The air is fresh and backdropped by lush green mountains.  However, Kunming is merely a transit point for me as I search for some of the last green frontier left in China…onwards to DALI! 

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Alright, so here is my expectation…

1. I type in “Tiananmen Massacre” and “Democracy” into www.google.cn (The Chinese Google site)
2. 30 seconds later, I do not hear the elite, stealth, black-clad secret police belay down the side of the building.
3. I do hear them as they swing into the window shattering glass amidst heavy machine gun fire blasting my computer into a thousand pieces.
4. I am dragged off to a prison and await my fate as an organ donor.

Ok so, that didn’t quite happen, at least not yet, but if you type in such terms on google.cn, only about 500 hits come back, whereas more than half a million come back on google.com. A similar thing happens on yahoo.cn versus yahoo.com. If I search in chinese characters the same thing happens, it looks like almost nothing of any real relevance is shown. The censorship is working, at least in the Chinese language… However, not everything is getting filtered out, especially in English. Just to see if a more formal analysis has been done on search filtering, Reporters Without Borders rated the major search engines based on how well they returned pro-government hits versus unauthorized sites. (Sadly, I cannot access the article’s website becuase I’m sure the site is blacklisted as an independent news organization.) So you guys, check out the article and comment to me what it says!!

Anyways, going to log off before secret police blast through the windows.

More pics… 

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It begins…

The first thing that struck me like a board on the head, and which may seem dumb to say, but there are a TON of people in Beijing. Within hours of arriving, I met up with a classmate, Frances, to show me around a bit and get some grub.
One slightly eerie thing I’ve noticed is the distinct lack of any sort of characteristic sky. Maybe I shouldn’t judge on only two days observation, but there has not been a single shaped could in the air and the skyline is just a hazy bluish gray color. When one is in Tiananmen Square or the Forbidden City where everything is paved with asphalt or stone, everything just seems hot and gray without much to distinguish the foreground from the stale air. With the announcement of the city hosting the 2008 Olympics, I know that officials have tried hard to implement policies to clean up the air and clean up the city in general–which should no doubt be applauded. I hope that eventually their goals can be met! I do have to say how remarkably clean the whole place is though and wondered why until I noticed that every trash can is being scoured by one or two people sifting the recyclables (presumably to sell off) and leaving only true trash in the bin, carrying the rest of their winnings to sell. I’m truly impressed as well how much is recycled, with bins for paper, plastic, etc everywhere. I guess after being in Britain these past few months, I may have forgotten the whole concept of recycling waste.

In any case, so far it has been excellent and the great size of Beijing and its grand (and traffic-clogged) boulevards are certainly giving me a workout. With that being said, I am looking forward to moving on to the next location which will be Yunnan province in the Southwest of China on the border of Southeast Asia.

Lots more pictures coming!

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Wales must be one of the most idyllic, pastoral, green, lush and relaxed places on the planet. Farm fresh Duck (pronounced “Douhk”) eggs, gently weathered slate mountains blanketed by grass clipped neatly by grazing sheep, oh yes, and fighter jets exercising in the clear blue sky.

Seriously though, if Machynlleth and the Dyfi Valley is anything like the rest of Wales, I cannot think of a more ideal place to enjoy the simple life; its got the view, the friendly (though sometimes thick-accented) people, the progressive minded attitude towards good food and good living, and the sense of centeredness that is sometimes lacking in the urban jungle.

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Last week was reading week, which I spent ahem…not reading…

Instead, took a train up to Edinburgh for a bit of Scottish life. It struck me immediately the different pace of life there lead. London seems to be a constant struggle between all her inhabitants; fighting for space on the sidewalk, a spot on the tube, a voice among millions. In contrast, Edinburgh is just a chill place, the city is as old as time and the incredible medieval flavor of the town is really calming. My gracious host, Andrea kindly opened her flat to me and her crazy Greek flatmates were great, despite their typically Mediterranean obnoxiousness. The kitchen was fully stocked with tons of frozen meat and tons of cigarette packs…ah the Greek life…

Anyways, Edinburgh is built on somewhat hilly terrain which is really cool, unlike flat London. Perched above it all is the austere Edinburgh Castle and just to East is Arthur’s Seat, a large geographic outcropping which I was strangely drawn to. I spent at least a day and half just walking all over, up and down it, snapping photos along the way. I managed to bring some clear skies with me, so the views from the top were spectacular…why is it that man is drawn to high places?

Have a look at the photo album

Three cheers for Andrea for putting me up, though she keeps insisting I look like Clive Owen, though I don’t quite see the resemblance…

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