Lushan: Training for the future

Well, my four day weekend at Lushan (庐山) was an overall success. The scenery was beautiful, the people were nice, and the air was crisp. However, more than anything it was a learning experience for travel in China. Max and I left Nanchang with little more than a train ticket and a guide book, but we have returned with knowledge. We met many wonderful people who went out of their way to help us and make us comfortable. We were also ripped off. It was an experiment in cultural understanding.

The journey began at 6:15 AM on Thursday morning. Max and I had been told that buses would be running from our campus into town. We had both been assured that there would certainly be buses around for us to reach the train station by 7:50 AM. There weren't. There was not a single bus waiting at the bus stop on campus. Thankfully, there was a small minivan waiting. I had heard of these little buses before. They wait at bus stations hoping that buses are full or in our case have yet to arrive. I asked the driver if he could take us to the train station and he was more than happy to oblige. I asked him how much and he told me that it was going to be 30 yuan. Taxis into town normally cost around 30 yuan, so I thought that we had a decent arrangement.

Max, myself, and a Chinese teacher headed into town down the bumpy, dirty roads of outer Nanchang. I asked her when the buses started running and she told me that they didn't start until around 6:45. Our information regarding the early buses was obviously wrong.

When we finally arrived in the city the other teacher who was riding with us asked the driver to pull over so that she could get off. The driver pulled over and the teacher paid him 5 yuan! He told me 30! Being white/naive can be costly in Nanchang. We drove about one more block and begrudgingly paid our overpriced fee.

The train ride was very pleasant and we ended up sitting across from a man from Wuhan (武汉) who worked for IBM. His English was superb, and we chatted about his travels and ours. We were told that a cruise up the Yangzi river (长江 Chang Jiang is the real name of the river) was something that we must do. After a little chatting, Max and I decided to get some coffee from the dinning car. I told the waitress, who looked very surprised and confused, that we would like two lattes. Mind you, each of these lattes cost more than the price of the ticket for the train. Max and I sat down on one of the couches in the dinning car and waited. As we sat, the woman who took our order began wandering around with a confused look on her face. She opened several closets and rummaged around for about ten minutes. This didn't look like a good sign for our coffee. She very hesitantly approached Max and I and said that they had no milk. Not very surprised to hear this, I just asked if she could make us two black coffees. Five minutes later she returned holding a half-full cup of cool, coffee-ground-filled water. Obviously, this woman had absolutely no training. So, lesson number 3 of the day: don't buy coffee on trains in China.

When we arrived in Jiujiang (九江) which is the nearest town to Mt. Lushan, we were berated by a swarm of taxi drivers. But Max and I had decided to see a little of Jiujiang before we headed up to Lushan. Coincidently, there isn't much to see in Jiujiang. After about 10 minutes of trekking we decided that it was time to get to a hotel and start seeing Lushan. I flagged down a taxi and asked him how much for the ride up to Lushan. He responded with a number somewhere in near 150 yuan. I would not be tricked again! Thankfully I had been told earlier by one of the many swarming taxi drivers at the train station that he would bring us to Lushan for 30 yuan. He had also given me his name card. I gave him a call on my cellphone, and within minutes Max and I were being driven to the top of Lushan for a mere 30 yuan. We had done something right for once! Like everyone who I talked with throughout the trip, the driver was very very surprised that I could speak Chinese. He told me that my Jiujiang accent was very good, and that I should use it to get cheaper prices at hotels. When we arrived, he recommended that we stay at the Xindi VIP hotel. I asked to see a room, and I was very surprised with how nice and clean the room was. The price was also very cheap. We soon realized that this was only because the hotel was brand new and still under construction. So, Max and I asked to be shown to a different hotel. This hotel was a bit cheaper, but the room was horrible. We decided on the Xindi and headed back to check in an drop off our stuff. The subsequent 7 AM wake-ups to the sounds of hammers and band saws made the deal a little less sweet.

The next two days were spent exploring Lushan. The first day we traveled on foot to see "Heavenly Bridge," "Lion's Mouth Cliff," "Immortal's Cavern," and a few other similarly named scenic areas. The scenery was pretty amazing, but the most impressive spot was a platform which once served as a meeting place between General Marshall and Chiang Kaishek. It had been converted into a tea patio. Max and I decided that this was an opportunity that we couldn't afford to miss and sat down for a tea break.

The next day was spent seeing some equally impressive scenic spots, which ended in a trip to "Three-Step Waterfall." This would be rip-off number eight or so of the journey. Max and I both forked out 80 yuan for a tram ride to the base of the falls, which ended up lasting four minutes and did not come anywhere near the waterfall (even though the ticket showed the tram passing directly in front). When we got of the tram we began walking down stairs, where we encountered something that I would classify as absurd. People had paid to be carried up the stairs of the waterfall by two men who carried a wicker chair on their backs. This may sound absurd, but the fact that this stairwell literally took us an hour and a half to walk back up once we reached the base of the fall brings this feat to a whole new level of absurdity. Our entertainment at this spectacle was abruptly ended when we found ourselves at a ticket kiosk. We needed to pay an additional 1 yuan to continue down to see the falls. After trudging down the endless stairwell for another 30 minutes or so we reached another ticket kiosk. Here we were required to pay another 50 yuan. Needless to say, Max and I were enraged at this point. If I could've lit Lushan ablaze at this point, I would have. The Chinese are smart people though. After trudging down stairs for 30 minutes it seemed ridiculous to turn around without seeing the falls. China had duped us once again.

The following morning, was the beginning of our last day on the mountain. We made a point to make it over to the Lushan Museum, which also happens to be the former summer villa of Mao Zedong. The museum was fairly useless as far as information goes. There were a few exhibits that had English inscriptions, but everything else was in Chinese. Apart from vases and furniture that used to belong to Mao, the museum also housed a geological section about Lushan. The highlight of the experience was seeing "Mao's Bathroom." You never really think about the bathrooms of the great people of history, but I suppose their existence is inevitable. Max and I also bought a pair of Mao mugs, so that we can drink our coffee out of proper mugs instead of the steel mugs that we had purchased a few weeks earlier. Drinking out of my Mao mug, gives me the sensation of being a real Chinese citizen. It also doesn't taste like steel, which is nice too.

Our trip ended fairly uneventfully with a hot train ride back to Nanchang. When we got back to the city we decided to head over to the western bar street to grab some pizza and buy a few more DVDs. Unsurprisingly, the pizza restaurant was sub par and expensive. Next time we'll have to head over to Pizza Hut and get some good ol' greasy pizza.

Determined to end the trip on a positive note, Max and I wondered into one of the western bars, which was very nice inside. They also offered European beer and alcohol that isn't derived from rice. God how I hate Baijiu (白酒 Parmesan cheese flavor). We also managed to meet a few westerners from Germany, Russia, Canada, America (San Diego), Finland, and England. We also met the owner of the bar, who was a very enthusiastic and welcoming local. We exchanged numbers and he asked us to join their bar soccer team. All in all it was a fun experience, though most of the westerners were fairly cold towards both Max and I.

All in all a very interesting weekend. I can't wait to get out and do some more traveling. Until then, it's time to buckle down and teach some English. Hopefully something exciting will happen and I will update again soon.