Xi'an

Ah the fabled city Xi'an.

It's one of those quashed dreams.. again over-romanticised by our own ignorance. I imagined that Xi'an being the starting point of the ancient Silk Road to be a little bit more old and dusty than Beijing, teeming with tea-traders, artisans' workshops and silk weavers. But again it is another thoroughly industrialised and modern city.

The Muslim Quarter (during the day(top) and at night (bottom))

Cycling on the city wall was fun, we had a few races and I beat Usman 4 times. He complained he got a bad bike and we swapped bikes - he still lost.

But thankfully, there are still remnants of the Silk Road that survived the onslaught of China's intensity to be modern, sleek and international. We liked Xi'an. It's very touristy but there are still few places where you can find genuine experiences. Being a capital for 13 dynasties, it boasts grand architectural relics especially from the Ming dynasty and Tang dynasty.

The Big Goose Pagoda is beautiful and exemplifies the clear geometry of Tang dynasty architecture.

In a teahouse, where we got a room with a TV, computer with internet access, and a mahjong set!

Usman sipping a cup of Huang Shan tea (cheapest in the menu) enjoying the good life...

Usman devised a game that we could play with the mahjong set which he lost. Notice the pitiful number of mahjong pieces he had and compare it to mine! Try again Usman.

There is also Muslim Quarter right in the heart of the city centre, which is slightly geared towards tourists (bus loads of them) but manages to preserve its character nevertheless. Food here was great and atmosphere lively. At night it feels like a Marrakech with its al fresco restaurants. Souvenir shops dominate but seem to be a little ignored. As you move away from the main shopping street, the Quarter becomes much more genuine. The community life takes centre stage in the absence of hording tourists. Restaurants here are for the locals so it was a lot cheaper and this is where I found the best baozi (dumplings) yet. Even if you've got nothing to do, the quarter is just a great place to just linger around and meet ultra friendly locals.

Dinner in the Muslim Quarter with Henrik

From Xi'an, we went on to visit the Terracotta Army just outside town to have a look at ourselves "the great artistic achievement and a display of enormous power by the First Emperor" but only to return a bit underwhelmed. I don't really know why. Maybe it's the rampant over-tourism (visit to fake terracotta army-making factories, stops at tea house etc.) or just the huge swarms of people or maybe I feel like the real significance of this whole thing is the historical context. Although these terracotta figures itself are important cultural relic in China, they are just a manifestation of what's really on display - the absolute power of the First Emperor. The tourists' quick lazy photo-ops with statues just pissed me off. Maybe that's why Usman thinks I'm a bit geeky. Don't care, like I always say, GEEKS RULE THE WORLD.

-Ihsan

That joy on Usman's face...

Linxia - a very Muslim town

From Hohhot, we head west to Linxia in Gansu province. It's a bit out of the way as it's not exactly in the rail network but getting there wasn't that difficult. Linxia is not exactly on the tourist trail and there's not much here but we were attracted to Linxia by the lure of it's Muslimness. We all know that there are millions of them scattered around in China and that Islam came to China through the Silk Road. But what of their language, their custom and their culture? Who are these Muslims who have long lived in obscurity from the rest of the Muslim world?

That guy with skullcap was the imam who helped us to get to Linxia.

On the train we were lucky to be placed in the same carriage with a group of Chinese imams who were heading back to their hometown Linxia. They happily greeted us and were pleased to have met Muslims from far-flung places. What's more, Usman's being a European Muslim must've ignited such a curiosity. Both sides tried to engage in conversation but our Chinese was too basic. The imams were a funny and loud (but never over-the-top) bunch and for their advanced age it seemed odd. Hardly the image of a restraint character you would expect from people of their stature. These imams are pretty well-travelled, they speak Arabic fluently (at least that's what we thought) and told us to learn it - we felt slightly inadequate. One imam had lived in both Saudi and Pakistan and are able to speak Urdu. It was pretty surreal to see Usman and a Chinese person spoke Urdu. Another had studied in an imam-training college for Chinese nationals in Malaysia. Apart from counting 1 to 3 in Malay, he couldn't speak it (he said Malaysian place names in Chinese, which was funny. "Kuala Lumpur - Jilompo").

When we arrived in Lanzhou, the imams helped us to get to Linxia. Instead of getting the bus which was cheaper, they decided to take the taxi as this would be easier for us. One even helped us right till we checked in and have put all our bags in our room. He gave us his number in case we needed any help.

Even before arriving in Linxia we were struck by the sheer number of mosques in the region. We saw almost a hundred mosques just on the way to the town. The two imams that were in the same taxi as us must've thought we were being a bit weird for getting a bit excited every two seconds. As we move closer to the town, the Muslim character began to dominate every part of the landscape. More and more men wear skullcaps ("topi" as Usman call it, normal people call it kopiah) and women with headscarf - some wear a distinct Chinese-style hijab and many with the Malaysian-style tudung.

In one of the many mosques in Linxia. This one in particular is one of the most beautiful I've seen.

Linxia itself feels like a Muslim country, but still remarkably Chinese. The skyline is dominated by mosques, everyone wears a skullcap or hijab, almost everything here is halal but they have deeply assimilated into a Chinese identity. It's bustling place with commerce and summer produce lining up all the streets. It's not exactly Shanghai but not deprived as well. I'm glad Muslims here are doing quite well.




Linxia rarely gets foreign visitors, so it was natural that we got stared at all the time here. Although when we were there, we met a group of Americans, which surprised both us (and them). The Americans thought we were English-speaking Uighurs. Don't blame them, we confused everyone on this trip, our identities aren't easy to figure out. But unsurprisingly, being Muslims most people in Linxia knew Usman is Pakistani and I'm Malaysian. One old guy kept on saying "Malayu! Malayu!" whenever I walk past his antique shop.

-Ihsan

Hohhot

Hohhot is Inner Mongolia's capital city. What we thought would be a far-flung outpost is actually just another modern boomtown in China. You see few Mongols here as well, despite it being a capital city of the Mongol Autonomous Region. It was dusty and busy but we actually found the city pleasant. Halal food was everywhere (the city have a substantial Hui population) and people are extremely helpful around here. We liked the city main square, and were lucky that it was spruced up for the Olympic torch relay that came to the city while we were there. At night it was heaving with people, playing games and singing. The Old Town was my favourite part of the city, boasting a thriving antiques (or fake antiques) market and beautiful old architecture. The prices are rarely overly inflated to foreign tourists as these shops target the local Chinese tourists. It's a good place to buy traditional Chinese swords as it costs barely 15 quid for a very finely crafted one. We wanted to get one but decided not to knowing that it will be a nightmare walking around China with a sword - Usman looks like a Xinjiang separatist and I have an almost useless passport.

On a motor-powered rickshaw.

The city square lits up and becomes a massive playground.

Hohhot's old mosque is a beautiful demonstration of universality of Islam.

The old town has one of the best market we've seen.

The bustling Muslim street in Hohhot makes finding halal food easier than in England.

The new development next to the Old town mimics old architecture but feels a bit boring. Look at Usman's face.

Inner Mongolia and shattered dreams

The name Inner Mongolia conjures up vast beautiful grasslands, nomadic herders, and yaks roaming around along with wild horses. How wrong can we be. Arriving in Hohhot (Huhehaote in Chinese) we were greeted by an industrial boomtown that looks nothing like what we imagined it to be. Checking in to the hotel was painful enough, we were complacent in Beijing with our (Olympic) English-speaking staff who were used to having foreign guests. We thought we knew enough Chinese. It was almost impossible to communicate. The accent was so different here, so we tried to console our own stupidity. They guy who helped us checked in spoke as if Chinese language is so logically easy that it's unacceptable that we couldn't get a word that he was saying. He called someone on the phone, who translated the whole process to Usman (Usman's better at understanding Chinglish than me). When we checked in to our room, the guy he wouldn't leave and kept on saying things. He left after a few minutes muttering the most complex Mandarin on the planet. Only word I got was "xiaojie" which means "girl/young lady". So I told Usman he might've meant prostitutes or something. I couldn't be more wrong - he came back, brought some soap and towels.

The Chinglish translater (told us her name was Mary) later came to the hotel to sell her "grasslands tour". She proper scammed us that ogress of a woman. For a very expensive price, she promised a halal meal for our lunch and a two-day tour for just the two of us. When she came back next morning for the tour, she said there'll be other people who'll join us on the trip. We just said yea fine. Whatever right. It wasn't that big a deal anyway. (we later learned that they were the manager's family members or something). On the van, she spoke ceaselessly. Her Chinglish was not that annoying, it was her invasion of our personal space that annoyed me. It feels like she was right in front of our faces. Usman quickly descended on to a pretentious sleep, so I had to be the polite one nodding for few hours to her fake affinity for Mongol culture.

When we got to the supposedly Mongol camp, we were disappointed to learn that it was not an authentic nomadic settlement. The Mongol yurts are built on concrete bases and there was karaoke. The grasslands were pitiful and there were several of the same disneyfied tourist villages dotting around the area. Mary quickly led us to the horses and in her own sick psychological way pressured us to rent the horses for extortionate prices. We haggled for so long and were almost gonna leave it. We managed to reduce the price but it was still so expensive.

The "herdsman" (a full-time Disney costume-wearing Mongol) brought us to what they claim as "his house" where we had some tea and cookies. He then brought us to a place where they thought the grass is long and was the most scenic - it wasn't. Everything was artificial so we thought the stupidly expensive horse ride was almost pointless. They were going to bring us to a lake which was again "scenic" but we couldn't be arsed so we told him we want to go back to the (concrete) camp.

Coming back, Mary told us we have to pay extra for the mutton that they have prepared for us. From the way she was persuading us, we knew she doesn't know shit about halal meat and that her greedy hungry eyes were trying her luck with scamming us for the third time. We told her not to bother ordering it, we'll just eat the veggies. The mutton came anyway. we refused to touch it. After we had lunch she came back with another mind-boggling attitude, she was persuading us to go back to the city and cut the trip short. She said she'll refund almost half what we paid. We gladly accepted and then left her to wander around the grasslands.

We watched a fake Mongolian wrestling match and horse race which was quite entertaining despite the lukewarm response from the Chinese tourists. Mary then called us to speak to us again. I knew there was something wrong. She said she can't give the money back and we have to stay in the fake yurts as we've paid it. She was leaving us on our own with a mute guide (she didn't seem to speak Chinese or English or Chinglish). So if we still wanted to leave she said we'll only get 10 quid back. We were too exhausted to maul her onto the ground and rip her throat out, so we just agreed to go back to the city and get the measly 10 quid back. She must've been so rich on one day, she couldn't be bothered to be our guide in a stupid Disney-yurt. She must've been imagining the countless things she could do with the money all day. Bitch.


-Ihsan

Beihai Park

We've always wanted to do taichi in a large square somewhere, so one day we decided to wake up early (though we realised our definition of early was pretty late in Chinese terms) and head to Beijing's wonderfully landscaped Beihai Park. When we got there on our bikes, it felt like midday already and no one seemed to be doing taichi but instead we found a group doing some sort of aerobics. It was funny but I decided to give it a go anyway.

-Ihsan

Our journey on Google map

You can see where we travelled so far on the interactive header that I've just painfully added on top of the page. You can move it about and zoom it in or out. Looking at it, it looks like we've travelled for thousands of miles but in fact we're still in the same (more or less) cultural region - Mandarin-speaking Han majority (with slightly different dialects), same Northern cuisine, huge commercial boomtowns and still not the enigmatic China we've been dreaming of...

-Ihsan

Chinese train station

Nothing prepared us for Chinese train stations. They probably epitomise the country best, I think. It's intensely chaotic, packed with what seem like a godzillion of people rushing about, lawless, but when it comes to asking for help, there's always someone in there offering you some respite in the madness.

The flash flood in Beijing Train Station

Buying a ticket was probably one of the most challenging things in China (we haven't ventured far enough you might conclude), could easily take few hours of your day. Queueing is somewhat considered pointless as you can just push your way through to the front of the ticket counter raising no eyebrows whatsoever from neither people who already queued nor the person inside the counter. If you're ignorant and arrogant enough (like I was at first) you'd easily fall prey to anger and disgust at this apparently inconsiderate behaviour. But as we get to know the Chinese people better, it striked us that they're just so accommodating that stuff like that don't actually get to them.

Usman enjoying his first-ever torrential rain experience

On the night we went to get the train tickets in Beijing, it rained heavily and some parts of the road around the station was flooded. The station itself leaked, the staircases turned into waterfalls. Quite a scene. You can't imagine the chaos that ensued, days of being complacent in the earlier few days made me less prepared for this sort of thing so it was natural that I got a bit edgy. Usman was well happy though. He had never seen such excitement and chaos insisting that we have to enjoy this moment. You know how Usman's like when he argues. And to top it all, Nat West called me to get some money off me making this whole thing seem a bit surreal at the time. Those bastards at the bank, why can't they just wait.

-Ihsan

On the phone with Nat West trying to explain that I'm halfway across the fucking globe

Great Wall trip

The best thing about the whole Beijing Shi area is definitely the Great Wall. I wasn't that excited about it before, knowing that I've seen it so many times already on TV and countless pictures of it. So it wasn't going to be a surprise in any way, so I thought.

We went to Wall with a group of Swedes (who had just finished their semester one in Auckland) and had a nice English-speaking guide. In the pamphlet description of the trip, it says "Visit to Great Wall at Simatai and Ming Tombs as well as shopping". Little did we know that "shopping" would actually dominate the whole trip and it's not shopping in the normal sense. We were hoarded up to two jade factories, a pottery workshop and a tea-selling teahouse on the pretext of discovering Chinese culture and art but later discover that they're all massive tourist traps that expect you to buy, buy, and buy. There are few bizzarre things that our guide wanted us to do:

1. Tell everyone we're Americans.
2. Don't tell the second jade factory that we've already been to one just an hour ago.
3. Buy him a jade ball on a stick?!! for him (he gave the money). err.. We dont know why.

The Ming Tombs were an amazing piece of religious/dynastic architecture but we were too drained to even pay attention to our guide.

By the time we got to the Ming Tomb, we're already drained. I tried to summon up the architecture geek in me but everything seem like we've been there, done that. So we could not be arsed to pay attention to what the guide was saying. Only thing I remembered about it was the way he pronounced "Ming Dynasty" strictly pinyin way. And oh yeah after that I tried to haggle for an already dirt-cheap pack of playing cards in a nearby stall and got told off.

Before the gruelling climb....

Don't look at me kneeling down to Usman for help, look at how steep the wall drops.

But the Great Wall was amazing. It vindicated the cheesy-ness of all the other stuff in the trip. We were extraordinarily lucky that the weather was good. The climb was quite challenging, I felt stupid for not realising that climbing the Great Wall amounts to climbing a mountain. I was practically crawling on the Wall's staircase for an hour or so. Usman was laughing. For once in his life, he felt superior. But seriously it was really steep. It's like 45 degrees or something ridiculous like that and looking back you can see yourself dropping down few hundred metres into the deep ravines. But nothing describes the feeling of arriving to the highest point on the Wall, you feel rewarded straight away and yes the view was amazing. I even decided to inflict an astronomical phone bill on myself by calling my mom while we're on top of the mountain.

So overall, it was a good trip. We enjoyed ourselves.

-Ihsan

Find Usman in this picture.

The view was amazing

More Beijing

This post might not make that much sense because I just went through the pictures and posted them here. They're not in any particular order but are highlights of our stay in Beijing:

Getting around Beijing on bikes was great. It's definitely the cycling capital of the world and I don't see any reason why you shouldn't use one here. Parking space for bikes are everywhere (that is if you care, you can park anywhere really) and bicycle lanes are not an afterthought but an integral part of the road system. Oh road system! How can you not love the road system. Basically, apart from traffic lights telling you to stop or move on, the Chinese roads are absolutely lawless. Pedestrians are so crazy and brave here, they never care about speeding vehicles or anything. They expect everyone to stop for them. The rule here as I keep on saying to Usman is not to show a single speck of hesitation - just walk and don't look right or left. Usman said he'll include that pearl of wisdom in my eulogy. Everybody honks at everybody, everybody drives insanely and tries to over take using the opposite lane (and expecting oncoming cars to move away) but no one gets pissed off. NO ONE. If you tryed it in England, you'd get the obligatory "you fucking prick" shouts but here it's not like you've done anything wrong. It's just the way you do it. Crazy drivers like Abdul Rauf and Zaar would've loved it.

Beijing underground metro station

We used the metro every now and again whenever we can't be arsed cycling. This is one of the places where you can't help but to feel the sheer density of the city. Some of the lines have just been completed recently for the Olympics but it's already running on capacity load.

Singing traditional Chinese music, practising opera songs with erhu players and writing caligraphy on pavements - Chinese culture is alive and well.

Despite rampant Westernisation, I'm pleased that we can still see Chinese culture in the public squares and parks. In the Temple of Heaven Park, people come not just to visit the grand architecture but Beijingers particularly come here to chillax (Usman's word). People were singing, playing traditional musical instruments, traditional games and were doing some exercise. Old people seem happy in China. They well cared for, they have many friends and so many things to do - morning taichi in the square, afternoon Chinese Opera singing with "erhu" players, and more recently Olympic torch relay-watching.

Temple of Heaven

Our hostel in Beijing

The hostel that we stayed in was pretty good. The staff were friendly and spoke some English which is a relief. We feel stupid for thinking (maybe expecting as well) that people would speak some English here. We have a Beginner's Chinese book with us but never really got around to learn much from it. I learnt 3 chapters of the 21. Usman learnt 2. So yeah you can imagine how we've been struggling ever since we left Beijing. A simple thing like telling the taxi-driver-man (my new word) where to go is a daunting task in itself. Thankfully we've got a phrasebook with all the Chinese characters in it.

-Ihsan

Beijing Zoo - pleasant park but the animals seem to be inhumanely kept.

Giant Panda - Usman's latest obsession

Beijing

We arrived in Beijing in the middle of the night and the airport was half-empty and the toilets were ultra-clean. Getting to city centre was hell enough but we managed to get to our hostel. Beijing is massive and too familiar for me. A bit like Kuala Lumpur, concrete city with make-believe local culture. Our first breakfast was a McDonald's wasabi flavoured fish fillet burger. Usman liked it. I thought it tasted weird.

First meal in China - WASABI FILLET-O-FISH! Disgraceful.

Finding halal food in Beijing was easy enough. We were surprised how easy it was actually. Usman said "it's easier than England". Muslim establishments are everywhere and they are usually marked with some sort of Arabic signs. They usually serve noodles but some have Beijing specialty like Peking Duck (which was amazing). In fact as we discovered later, halal food is virtually everywhere in China.

Usman trying out his Hotpot.

Lamasery.

Chinese people are incredibly friendly. Sometimes when we asked for directions, we were often led to the place even if it took them 15 minutes (or more!). One time when we were looking for a new hostel in Beijing, this guy came to us and offered his help without hesitation. He called the hotel, told them the details and after that walked us to the hotel. It probably took about 40 minutes of his time but he was so pleased that he could help us. And that was not the last that we receive of this sort of kindness.

In front of the Tiananmen Gate

That said, sometimes we do get pissed off (can't help it sometimes). Despite their generosity, Chinese people have absolutely no concept of personal space or privacy. Usman get stared at so much, he's beginning to feel uncomfortable. Sometimes he get stared at at a very close range it's ridiculous.

Cow Street Mosque

We've left Beijing ages ago, so I don't know what to write about. So hopefully the pictures will do all the talking. I'll add more photos, I'm off to Friday prayers.

-Ihsan

New site! (pictures later!)

Finally a new blog.

The previous site was stupid and stingy with uploads so I've been hunting for a new site as we have too many pictures and vidoes to show and we're not even halfway yet in our journey. I wanted to start a blog on this site from the beginning but it never worked except here in Xi'an. I never thought Chinese internet censorship would be so effective! I dont know why it works here in this hostel but oh well don't care.

I can't start putting the pictures yet though, I've been hogging this computer in the (free) internet cafe for far too long I feel like everyone's breathing down my neck hinting me to piss off. Usman and I will continue to update this site depending on whether Big Brother allows it and whenever we have the time. I have a feeling I will be the one doing this but I'd like to remain optimistic with Usman.

Just a quick update before I start flooding the site with photos n videos: We left Beijing after spending a week there and then moved on to Inner Mongolia's capital city to pursue Usman's romantic dreams of living a nomadic life in epic grasslands (will tell you how that went horribly wrong). After that we went further inland to the Gansu province visiting a very Muslim town (and autonomous Muslim prefecture) called Linxia where we saw Muslim community not just alive and well but seeming to flourish with the continous building of new mosques. Leaving the town we head for Gansu's depressing capital city Lanzhou where we hoped to extend my visa (we were told to go to Xi'an). And now we're in Xi'an, a fabled city of the ancient Silk Road.

So keep on checking the site! I can't add the pictures yet, people are crowding this place and sneering as they munch and drink. Will do it as soon as possible! Hope you guys will keep on coming and see how we're doing.

-Ihsan