A trip to the old city

I will tell a little story, a story of a foreigner who is loving the great Chinese culture; about a person who is feeling home in every niche of China, even the obvious difference in the appearances, with European education and totally different thinking. I love travelling, I love shooting pictures and enjoy discovering new places, I like to meet new people and understand their life path, to understand their philosophy. Because I feel that although every person is very unique, yet everyone in such diversity is so much alike. All of us want to be happy, to be healthy, to have a good income, to enjoy family life and to make our dreams come true. Only our treasured dreams change our path so sharply.

The thing that I want to share is a personal view of the parts of the Chinese life never known by a foreigner who didn't step in the land of China. I will not speak about the familiar things about the Chinese people such as, the hardworking, young looking, respect and love in the family, the huge celebrations, the fireworks, the Chinese food, the tea, the silk, the industry, the bargaining, all these parts of the Chinese culture are known worldwide. I will try to show you the little details that have caught my eye, after one and a half years of studying in China. What really is the feeling to go beyond the limit of understanding a different culture? I like small cities and villages. There the people are not sucked senseless from the demoralization of material possessing dreams of vapor. I like the Chinese history and all the places I visited are connected with my intention to see the real China, without make-up. I have been in few cities like Chengde, Xingcheng, Benxi, Shenyang, Dandong, Lvshun,Wuzhen,Wuxi, Qiandaohu, Shaoxing, Zhouzhuang, Hengdian… and dare to say that every place is unique and it cares the sense of the nature and the people, who are living there. But I cannot tell all of the stories, so I'm choosing the most recent one, just 5 days old.

I have been planning to go to Xingcheng (兴城) for quite some time, but I always had too many things to deal with and always ended up postponing the trip… Until one day I just woke up and said to myself “Now or never”. So I fetched my bag, and headed to the train station. Traffic, such traffic this morning, ah, automobiles moving at tortoise pace. The street was full as usual, in China people are everywhere, even on the road or just busy with their routine tasks; selling, buying, cooking, moving, carrying, offering things… As a foreigner with green eyes and light auburn hair the Chinese people always look at me with a high interest, at the beginning I was not feeling very comfortable but nowadays I’ve grown quite accustomed to such nuances. The children are most impressed, showing their parents that there is a real foreigner (外国人). By the time I reached the ticket office I was quite exhausted and needed some time to relax. However I mustered some energy and glanced at the train schedule only to find that the train was already gone, and there was no other choice for the day.

So I decided hesitantly to commute via bus, although being little more expensive, it’s probably a little bit faster. There was no direct bus, so first stop was Jinzhou (锦州) and then Xingcheng. There were no tickets for the next bus to Jinzhou, so I needed to wait yet another hour. I went to the nearest KFC, to rest before the trip, bought one hot tofu drink (豆浆) and lost myself in thoughts. Similar to Chinese I like to drink tea and tofu drink, they are so healthy and delicious. This always recharges me with a fresh jolt of energy. Finally I got into the bus, found my place and prepared for the journey. There was a nice lady, dressed as a flight attendant, helping the passengers, showing their seats and even offered nausea pills. This was a first-time experience for me. The bus was so nice, so clean, there was air-condition and even a mineral water for everyone, I was pleasantly surprised. Engrossed in the diverse scenery and different facilities in my window, I didn't realize when we arrived at Jinzhou.