The Journey (Part 2)

Day 4 (continued)

So, after lots of waiting we finally boarded the train for Tibet. We were told the trip was going to last about 28 hours in all. In other words, we were ready to embark on a marathon journey on the highest elevated train in the world. The train to Lhasa, the largest city in Tibet and religious capital, was actually the nicest I encountered in my travels around China. Perhaps it was the simple fact that it was constructed in the past few years, thus everything was clean and new. The train actually had power outlets, which made everyone happy, as they could watch all of their bootleg movies and catch up on blog entries (I needed to do this pretty desperately). Another amazing thing about this train was the BATHROOMS. They were relatively clean compared to other trains where you would not dare enter. However everything inside the train was overshadowed by what was outside. The landscape was from another world, probably most reminiscent of the moon. I will probably see nothing that compares with the sheer beauty I experienced on that train. At points along the way the land became as flat as desert plains with paper mache mountains towering over us in the distance. At other times along the journey the landscape morphed into a lunar surface. Craters filled the landscape outside our train windows. Some of my friends told me that later on the train ride they saw the highest freshwater lake in the world. From the pictures they took of it, it was an incredible sight. Through the night our train covered the greatest incline in elevation, so everyone’s body naturally adjusted to the elevation. 

Day 5

The next night we made it into Lhasa, at around 9:30pm (China only has one time zone even though it covers about the entire width of Europe). As we got onto our buses to get to the hotel, our tour guide put a white cloth around our necks, which is a symbol of welcoming and good luck in Tibetan culture. 

Day 6

We all woke up early to go to the Potala Palace, the Dali Lama’s Winter Palace (when he was still allowed to freely live in Tibet). The Palace is elevated on the side of large hill overlooking all of Lhasa. It really is an incredible sight…check out my pictures of it in the links section where I link to all of my pictures. It is amazing that this Palace has stood for centuries and looks the way it does today. The Potala Palace was used as a governmental and religious center and continues to be used this way today. It is especially a place for Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims to visit. Some travel hundreds of miles, cowtowing by foot to get here. When we approached the Palace hundreds of pilgrams were cowtowing around it and spinning a wheel filed with religious scripture. Inside the Palace we saw the many rooms where past Dali Lama’s have used to pray and lots of Buddhas that were used for different purposes. We also were able to see the sarcophaguses of past Buddhas, which were covered in gold and money. The people of Tibet donated a lot of money for the burials of the past Buddhas. After the visit, I went with a few people to a traditional Tibetan restaurant. At the restaurant we had some delicious Yak Butter Tea along with other traditional fare such as food that had some sort of Yak product in it. Let me just tell you Tibetan food does not mix well with the Western taste. I did hear that the Yak burgers were tasty though. After lunch I walked around the bazaar surrounding the most important temple for Tibetan Buddhists. Everything and anything you can imagine was selling in this bazaar. Most of stuff for sale at the hundreds of stalls spread out over a wide area mostly around this temple and consisted of traditional Tibetan crafts and Buddhist souvenirs for the most part. Bargaining here was difficult since no one really spoke Chinese (Mandarin) or English. Somehow I was able to get across what I wanted in Chinese although most people had no idea what I was saying. Haha. Well after the bazaar experience a few friends and I decided to go into the temple although it had a steep 100-150 kuai fee. It turned out that I was really glad I decided to go! Inside were some of the most sacred relics of Tibetan Buddhism and we witnessed a ceremony that none of us will soon forget. We later discovered (with a little help from our tour guide) that the ceremony we saw was one in which people would pay to repaint and change the clothes of the Buddhas for the purpose of raising money. A procession of monks chanted prayers during the ceremony and we just looked on in awe. Later we went to roof of the temple and were able to see all of Lhasa, including the Potala Palace in the distance. At night we had a group dinner at a traditional Tibetan restaurant and watched traditional performances, including one that featured a yak composed of 2-3 people that proceeded to devour most of the people in the restaurant. Oh that meal involved a contest at our table of who could drink the most Yak Butter Tea. Yes, it was that bad. That night was a lot of wondering around the area, which turned into a ghost town excluding some kids playing soccer in the streets and pickup billiards games emerging from closed shop fronts. There were pool tables everywhere! And small pool halls that didn’t exist during the day suddenly emerged all around us. That night we stopped by a bar to try Tibetan beer (which turned out to be ridiculously strong since we were so high in elevation and our bodies weren’t yet adjusted) and I found a small CD shop to buy a few Tibetan records. The one I bought featured a man on the cover holding a guitar over his shoulder in front of the Potola Palace. Incredible.

Day 7

On the final morning in Lhasa I bargained for some last minute gifts and the grabbed lunch at a restaurant where one of the Dali Lamas famously stopped at to have a drink and met his lover at (which was a big controversy at the time as a Dali Lama is not supposed to do this sort of thing).  In the afternoon we were off to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, known for its spicy food. But before we arrived we had to fly there. In the airport in Lhasa, some passengers were ready to board when suddenly they announced the flight was cancelled for some reason. I really thought a brawl was going to break out. Angry passengers were screaming at the airlines personnel and a huge crowd formed around them (This always happens when some sort of altercation takes place in China. Everyone forms a circle around the situation and start to take pictures/video and stare.). On the plane, we had a couple sitting near us that must have had a lot of phlegm in their throats because they were spitting on the floor of the plane. I thought it was hilarious while everyone else was disgusted by it. It was amazing to me that Chinese people will really spit anywhere. I had thought that this was limited to land environments but I was proved wrong yet again. I should have known by now that if you need to do your business, you do it no matter where you are. Hahaha. Well, we finally did make it to Chengdu and had a great dinner that featured about 20 different kinds of jiaozi (dumplings). It was one of the best dinners I had during my time in China. Then it was out on the town to a street called Jieli Jie. Oh by the way, close to our hotel was a giant statue of Mao that must have been fifty feet tall. Anyway, Jieli Jie was pretty neat because it was made to look like it was from the 3 Kingdoms period but actually was really new. That night we met a Chinese kid who was in a freestyle rap competition and was obsessed with American rap music. I told him that if he ever came to the US I would DJ for him and make him famous. I think he believed me. 

Day 8: Pandas and more Pandas

Today we took a trip to the Panda Research Center. What did we see? You guessed it, lots and lots of pandas. I learned that there are red pandas that are much smaller than the pandas we think of and look really similar to raccoons. After seeing the pandas we went to a shrine in honor of three famous brothers in the Three Kingdoms period. The grounds were well kept and nicely restored. Later on we went to a different part of town to find a teahouse. At the teahouse we rented out a room with a TV (I have no clue why we did this) and watched The Monkey King, a famous Chinese TV show that is about the famous Monkey King legend. As with most Chinese TV shows the plot was absurd, as were the shots and camera effects. Luckily our professors found the show to be funny as well. Then we wondered outside (at night now) and came upon a stage with performers of all ages. One featured a few girls on roller skates doing tricks all while balancing on a small round platform. We then went out to dinner with Xiao Laoshi and had one of the best meals yet. I forget what we had that night but we talked about that meal for a long time afterwards. That dinner featured the famous “Talking Behind the Fuwuyuanrs Back Conversation” that was recorded by Xiao Laoshi. Even later that night, I witnessed a Chinese man play a basketball shootaround game for over 5 minutes and score over 500 points, while my best was around 100. I have to this day not seen a human being shoot a basketball as quick and accurately as that man on this day in Chengdu, China. 

***Part 3, the final and last part of the journey around China is on the way.