A bridge stood between two shores, two countries.
Lugging our backpacks along, Jon and i crossed the border into Hekou, the first China pitstop. It was quiet. We trudged around town, getting our directions and settling into a hotel. The bus station was nearby, and we decided to book tickets to Jianshui. A local recommended it as a must-go travel location.
For lunch, we settled at one of the Sichuan roadside stalls that thronged our district. Some mama-sans chatted with us till they realised we were too young, ha. They seem quite common in town. And finally we could afford desserts! The supermarkets had atrociously low prices that we went on ice-cream sprees almost every day in China.
Evening closed slowly on the friendly, peaceful town. Jon went back to rest for his flu, while i explored on alone. People dancing in the park. Pool competitions in caged arenas. Loose shingles every five steps you took. Cheesy communist slogans like "Wishing Peace and Prosperity Everywhere" and "Let's build an utopia together" that forced my eyes away. More mama-sans introducing their coteries of girls. The whole place just screamed, 'I'm just a boring border town, whaddya expect?'
The next morning, diarrhoea.
And it continued the entire time in China, mostly because the streetside fare was too cheap and good to pass up on.
But the mountain journey to Jianshui was slightly reinvigorating. Our bus brought us up through white billowing clouds into the mountainous terrain of Yunnan. We passed indigenous natives hiking up the mountains, a marketplace full of bustling activity, a toppled-over truck. Midway was Bingjian, a tiny, shabby town that probably served as the hub of the farming community. Vast expanses of grain, wheat and maize fields swarmed the landscape. Nothing in nature, sadly, ever belongs to nature.
We passed by the large industrial town of Meng Zi, then entered Jianshui.
The town had a rustic atmosphere to it. Extensive conservation of ancient Chinese streets and buildings has made it an authentic tourist spot. But the modern shopfronts and people really turned off any resemblance to TVB guzhuang dramas. We were probably not as excited to see the centuries old City Gate or some such archaic stuff.
It was mostly food galore for us. 'Trying out anything and everything we saw along the way' became our way of life in China. Our stomachs were carefully utilised to their maximum capacity.
Still, we had to take a look at the attractions. We prayed at the Wen Miao, the second largest Confucius temple, a large complex of exhibits and statues. It's the perfect place for literary idiots. We roamed the colossal grounds of Zhu Jia Hua Yuan, equipped with 204 rooms, 42 courtyards, a lake, cinema and helipad. Our guide educated us about the ancient traditions and customs, and the rise and fall of the Zhu family.
We caught a bus to the Swallow Cave, or Yan Zi Dong, one of the world's great natural caves. The mating season was in full swing, and we stared at tens of thousands of swallows flitter in and out of the cave. We witnessed one of China's disappearing great arts, the gathering of bird's nest by rock climbing experts without equipment. But most of the cavern interiors was some kitschy rock stuff.
The coldness of the altitude and the rainy season slowly seeped into our skins as we advanced towards Kunming. We caught a bus to Qu Jiang, docking at Tonghai, then transferred to Yuxi, a modern town of archaeological significance. Nearby, dinosaur and primordial fossils had been excavated in the hills. Our first destination, the Yuxi city museum.
The prehistoric exhibit, doubtless, took our breath away. There were real fossils of plants, shelled sea creatures, and dinosaurs. I liked the reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, as well as the detail put into the information boards. Then there were other exhibits on the porcelain and bronze ages, the primitive man, and other less interesting topics.
The rain still poured on. We hopped into a shopping mall and its Walmart to while the time away. After the skies cleared, we took a walk in the park, then explored the shopping district near our hotel. Things start to look like back in Singapore. Developed cities are really all the same, homogenised crap. That's why only developing areas are interesting. We are all losing our culture, at least on the appearance.
I think - somewhere along the way, we might have forgotten what we were looking for.
Still we have to move on. Next stop, Kunming.
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