Wudang mountains

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudang_Mountains

From Guilin to Wudang Mountain I could found only a seat night train. It was very crowded. I got a little paranoia. In the car I could see only simple people, but next to me was a English speaker girl, who is buyer for buttons, and on the opposite bank was a  painter, former pupil of the greatest traditional painter in China, and his girlfriend, designer who earned an important contest in Korea. I was trying to figure what is the probability to meet them in such conditions.

The only regret of this trip is that I was invited by the painter to visit his university, which is near Beijing, and to make me a traditional painting, but, when I called him 2 days before, he was busy.

The Chinese spit a lot. There was a man who once at each 2 minutes was clearing his throat and spitting in a plastic cup, he had another one with hot water. He never took the wrong cup.

After 20 hours on this train, I arrived in a small city. It was a strong light and I could guess it’s very hot. I was really tired and I was trying to make me understood for the ticket for Shanghai. A girl spoke a very good English, helped me to get the ticket. Kathy is a student in Wuhan, and was going with her group of friends as well in the mountains. So I joined the students.

I let them negociate for my room, I haven’t appeared thinking that they might charge them more if they see a foreigner. So I got my room without being registered. And here starts the story. It was 16:30. we agreed to get out together, so they will knock my door.

around 18. I fall asleep. Once I heard some laughs, it could be them, but I didn’t hear the knock in the door. So I continued my sleep … until 19:30, when I woke up, I checked the other doors, nobody. And I forgot to get their phone number. And I am starving.

And I didn’t register at the hotel. I read in River Town that the police entered in the hotel room of the author at 4 in the morning to check the papers. So should I go to the reception ?  or just run away. I am too tired to run, and anyway, where. So I asked there about them, if someone left a phone number for me. Or at least I tried, because nobody knew English. I left my phone number and walked to find something to eat.

This was the one single hour when I felt alone. I was tired, nobody spoke English, small province town. But I ate the best meal ever: shrimps with fried corn. When I left the chopsticks, the students called me.

Budha 

 This photo Is at the entrance, you can imagine how it is in full season

 The terrorist behind the bars

 Again jail … I don’t know why a Buddhist temple inspires me this

 The IT guy

 Yeah, I should have use the flash

 Everywhere except this province you can find 1 yuan coins. Here there are only bills, but for two 1 yuan bills, you can get a 1 yuan coin, that you can throw in the drum and call the good spirits.

 Only tourists practice kung-fu on this mountain. It is very touristic. And there are stairs like this everywhere. You climb 10 minutes, there is a toilet.

 

 This guy paid 100euro to by carried to the top of the mountain, a 3 hours walk.

 We visited all the day these temples, and then had dinner, 10 different dishes for all 8 of us. I really felt with my friends, even they were too tired to speak too much English. It was so good just to be with them. Such a beautiful group of friends, all the time laughs, no personal ambitions, no nasty jokes. One bad thing … they tricked me with the dinner. In the begging I said that I’ll pay the drinks ( 3 liters of beer). But when we finished, and I said to ask for the bill, they said they took care. I was absent 3 minutes. So pay attention with the students!

We woke up at 2 in the morning to catch the sunrise on the top. Here is my gang apart

Dragon's back

 

The woman cut last time her hair when she reached 18

 As always the victory sign

Potatoes washing machine

 

All the paths through the terrace hills are with stone stairs

 The best time is to come here in may, when all terraces are colorful

 

Sign language: big house, how many you will live here ? – 4, us and our son with his wife

 

A travel tip: it doesn’t matter what you see during the day, the most important thing where you are during the sunset.

 

The best food I ate in China was here. I spoke with the owner.

This village was unknown until 6 years ago. The farmers used to live only from rice culture. A tourism private company came to them, gave them money to refurbish their houses in order to host. There is a 100 yuan tax to pay at the entrance of the village, which is divided 50%-50% between the villagers and the company. He is pretty satisfied with their deal, now they don’t have so much time for the agriculture, but still they work the fields. Each ten years they need to repair the water channels and the terraces. Unfortunately, especially the young women leave the village. They used to be 1000, and now they are around 800 people

 

I had to pay this woman 8 yuan to take her photo. Please way it’s a good one

Yang Shuo - last day

 

I did another tour by bike in the area.

I am surprised that the burial places are sometimes garbage place.

River Town ” is written by an English teacher in a small town in center of China.When I sow written “Foundation” on the wall of a school, I stopped there, hoping that I’ll meet someone likewise. The classrooms had the doors opened, so the moment I stepped in the courtyard, I saw agitation of the children.
 

I tried to keep a low profile, to wait for the pause, so I went as far as I could from the school building, but it was impossible. I was Gulliver. I don’t know how it is an orphanage, but the overwhelming reaction made me think about this.

Finally the class ends, I spoke a little with a Math teacher, who forwarded me to the English one. After 2 minutes, she asked me if I want to hold the class. 

I told them a little about my country. And then I answered their questions about my height and age. I remember me being the same, having a lot of questions, but due to the language blockage, the only things I could manage were the stupid questions, so I understand them.

I asked them about their games. After I started to tell them about my volley-ball invention specially designed for in-classroom use, the teacher asked me to work on the manual. For the third year of English, and considering the distance between languages, I found their level very good 

After the class finished, the Math teacher offered me the pupil’s lunch: only beans and rice, but very well cooked, and a lot. I ate it in the courtyard, with the chopsticks, surrounded by the children, who were saying: “Hello, Hello, Hello”. Only two could tell me their names. 

                                                  Dragon’s Bridge

I am about to leave the bridge, when I hear a couple speaking in French. The guy tells me he’s German, and his girlfriend Belgium.

- Belgium ? I live in Brussels

she steps back, but her boyfriend continues:

-         She is from Brussels as well

-         Where from ?

-         Actually outside of Brussels

-         Yes, of course, only Marrocans and Romanians live in the city

-         Now I live in Shanghai for the next 6 months.

My point is that some Belgians are very closed, afraid and they just hide, don’t get too close, because they might run away.

I was just about to say “Bye-Bye”, when the guy says that he wants to jump over the bridge, because it is written in Lonely Planet, that you can do. 

I was riding the bike in Yangshuo region. I had seen the Dragon’s bridge and going back to home, through the rice fields. I got the impression that I took the wrong road, continued a little because, it was so beautiful. From the other side came 3 bicyclists, who told me that after the little mountain there is a highway. So I joined them. 

It is amazing to ride a bike through the rice fields of China and to speak about Bach with a Composer. The construction is simple, you find a theme, 3-4 notes, and then you play with it obeying the grammar rules, it is like the grammar in computer science. In the opening you presents all the themes, after you change a little the theme, you mirror it, put in an upper key, there are standard procedures. Hey, I am a programmer, I know grammar, so I can be myself a Composer!

This photo is taken when, like a “Manelist”, I put Peer Gynt on my phone. Ted was commenting like Karajan the music passages: theme, counter-theme, re-statement of the theme, modification of the theme, the theme using a solo, and so on. 

Heather, Ted’s girlfriend studied Mathematics. Because she had studied a lot the piano, she wants to study composition. She inspired me, to have the following idea.Artists have a big ego. This is opposite with the humility and enjoyment of life of Buddhism, which I feel closer. The Artist must change the world. I found that my place is to discover artists, “to steal” their ideas, and to help them to promote, to find them projects.  

That evening I had dinner with Molly, the English teacher. All her 2 brothers entered an university, when it was really hard, only 5-10% succeeded. Now 50% of high school graduates go to university, so the level dropped. No cousin went to university, because their parents didn’t push them to study, but all her 4 uncles helped her family to pay the taxes for education. In country side people still value more the education than the money.

Her values are:

1. freedom – to have the money to travel
2. happy life: sport, dance
3. friends, family
4. job – no stress, money, balance between time and work

The current generation is spoiled, comparing with her, but not much more than they should.

In school for each field there are 3 notes, for example for math:

• Creative thinking: usage of a theorem in daily life
• Logical reasoning: solve problems
• Knowledge connection: working in a group to solve a problem, and explain the theorem to others

If someone cheats is warned, second time has to take again all the exams on that field, and third time has to take admission again to the school

The same evening I ran to go to the spectacle of Zhang Yimou, the director of the opening of Olympic games. This was recommended by Ted, the composer. If you arrive there, you must see the show.

As I said, I discovered and practiced travel surfing. On the way to the show, I spoke with Xavier, a businessman on cleaning materials from Barcelona, who went to the Canton fair. He told me that I must spend a night at “Dragon’s back’. This is the next post.