Finally, the Day Improves!

Sunday, June 15, 2008--Taiyuan (Continued)

I am so tired of the problems pedestrians have here. It almost makes me wat to leave the country. Now that it is raining, it is especially exaggerated. Bicyclists and motorcycles pay no attention to any lights. They just continue and expect pedestrians to be watching for them from all directions. Cars turn right on a red light without stopping and expect pedestrians to watch for them and stop. It is so frustrating. I have often wished someone made a small hand-carried air horn that I could scare them to death with! I am almost to the point of holding my key in my hand so that it scratches their car if they come too close to me.

I stopped to eat at a place where there is no English--written or spoken. It had started to rain, and I wanted out of it. I decided to stop at the first clean place that I came through on my way back to the hotel. The ladies operating it were nice. When I saw a plate of dumplings being carried to another table, I pointed to them. Then I took out a piece of paper and drew a picture of a pig so they would know I wanted pork dumplings. They were tasty and cheap. While waiting for them, I started writing in my journal. Soon, about 5 people were standing around me watching me write. They laughed when they saw me draw my picture of the pig in my journal.

I was disturbed at 23:45. Someone tried to open my door. Then there was knocking and two women were outside. There seemed to be some confusion about my room. Maybe they had rented it to one of the women only to learn that I was already there. Anyway, they went away after I showed them the ID I had for the room.

Monday, June 16, 2008--Taijuan to Pingyao

It's been a bad day. First, it was still raining this morning. That makes traveling a hassle. But here in China where there is so much construction, it is even worse.

I checked out of the hotel and took a bus across the Yingse River to try to see the Shanxi Museum. It is supposed to be one of the nicest provencial museums in the country. The guidebook had said it closes on the 15th and the 30th of each month, so I had purposely NOT gone there yesterday after arriving.

The main road is underconstruction just on the other side of the river bridge. So instead of going straight and stopping right by the bridge, the bus squeezed in with all the other traffic to go down a side street. It didn't stop for some time. I had to backtrack to get to the river. Then as I followed the directions of my guidebook, I encountered roads under construction. What a sloppy mess. There was soupy mud about 2 cm (1 inch) deep. At the same time, I had to watch for cars or motorcycles going by at a high enough speed to splash the slush onto me. I walked about 3 blocks in that mess. Finally, I could see the museum, and the street beside it was also under construction. And it looked as if no one was there. I continued, though. When I got to the ticket office, there was a sign: Closed on Mondays. The guidebook had said nothing about it being closed on Mondays!! I had to return through all that slop.

I was so disgusted with the bad weather, the messy walkways, etc., that I just didn't want to go back to the hotel and stay another night. Instead, I went to the train station and bought a ticket for Pingyao. However, there were no seats, and the train would not leave for another 2 hours. I decided to go out into the mess again and try for a bus. So I walked across the street with large puddles of standing water (there was standing water everywhere, since there seems to be no drainage system), caught the bus to the bus station. Well, as we approached the bus station, there was street construction again!!!! All traffic was having to do a u-turn after letting people off. The bus let us off into the sloppy road, and I manuevered my way on down the street to the station. I bought a ticket for Pingyao and boarded my bus.

The bus left just 25 minutes later. But it took us 15 minutes to get out of the bus lot due to the traffic mess caused by vehicles dropping off and turning around on a narrow street. Then it took another 45 minutes to get out of town due to heavy traffic. And when we finally reached the highway, it was under construction. We bounced and twisted our way slowly. We drove through high water. It took us 3 hours to make the trip that is normally 1 1/2 hours long!!!! I was so frustrated by then. We passed the house where the Chinese film Raise the Red Lantern was filmed on the way. I would like to see it, but I am not going back out on that highway!

Pingyao is the most complete walled city in all of China. It is really something special. The walls are well preserved, and every building inside is an old Chinese building. For pictures, go here: http://images.google.com/images?hl=ja&q=pingyao&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

The bus let me off near a gate to Pingyao, but I didn't know which one. I had a map of the city, but was I walking from the north, the east, the west, the south? I knew the place I wanted to stay. I just walked until I reached an intersection. Then I asked someone there for the street I wanted. When they motioned that I should go one way and then turn right, I could figure out where I was on the map. I then walked quickly to the guesthouse I had chosen.

I am staying at the Harmony Guesthouse. It is an old building with a courtyard. My room faces the courtyard and has a huge bed and a TV. The owner served me tea when I arrived. Then he showed me the room. It is very nice for the price. And the atmosphere is great. Unfortunately, it is still raining, but I feel so much more comfortable now that I am here. This town has no construction inside the walls, so I can wander with my umbrella even if it is raining. I will stay here at least 2 nights. The owner is checking on information about how to get to the next place I hope to visit.