Lee-haa, Guilin! Train: Guanzhou ->Guilin

Today is Fri the 13 th!

Caught the train by the skin of my teeth. Guanghzhou -> Guilin I go. Soft sleeper it is and I have the whole cabin to myself! Yummy privacy. After a day like this one, I need it. A few moments to reflect upon the past couple days.

Arrived in Guangzhou by train [from Hong Kong - 2 hrs] on the night of the Asian Games opening. I hated it at first, because of the taxi/hotel delays and roadblocks. Then, I got why it was put into my illusion like that - there are helpful English-speaking uber-friendly volunteers all over the place. So, they showed me the way everywhere. Including to the train - which, thanks to them, I caught by the tail. Silver lining indeed!

A few snapshot observations on Chinese culture:

A peculiar combination of thoughtful, exquisite beauty and careless inefficiency. Mass friendliness and welcoming spirit and an element of chaos/uncoordination taken to the absurd. Linen embroidered napkins and 600 thread sheets on the train...but no TP. Tall ceilings in rooms, but no mattresses in a 4* hotels - just box springs [an equivalent of sleeping on the floor]. Ancient temples amidst the bustling pop markets....Getting to the hotel took 3 hours last night, but, boy, did everyone [including 6 policemen] try to help!

Noticing insidious traces of bureaucracy - paperwork is king. For everything. Even while returning the room key or getting the key deposit back. Another curious phenomenon - queues everywhere. Big ones. For everything. I had the longest wait for a taxi in my life [1 hour] yesterday. Then the taxi driver could not find the hotel address. It got so ridiculous, that at a certain point, I just rolled up laughing, and the 6 police guys trying to help busted up with me. It was inefficiency raised to a level of mastery. Everyone's trying to help and noone knows what's going on.

My Cantonese vocab is up to 3 words - hello, thank you, good bye. Coming on 4 - "milk tea."
I've adapted to the transportation system. I even began to recognize some kanji - like the one for "Exit" [looks like 2 E's put on the side and stacked on top of each other].

Still no sight of the fresh veggies in sight. The only veggies I've been able to meet with thus far were the cooked kind. I wonder if this is just a test for my vegetarian resolution. If so, it's being strengthened - oh, green salad, come to me! I'm considering writing a love sonet to radish and tomatoes....ok, maybe, a cucumber or two ;O)

I'm gently easing into the journey rhythm. The big cities were a bit much for my weary spirit. The culmination was standing in LiWan Plaza amidst the enormous market and 5 radial streets filled with people, crystal shops and jewelry. It was all buzzing, sparkling, chirping.....The city life incarnate before me. I am longing for slower-paced nature exploration. Guilin sounds like a great base for that. I'm arriving in the morning - great timing. I'm relaxing into the speed of the local "river" - no need to make anything happen. Just show up and it ensues....whatever "it" is. A perfect, whole and complete experience.

Reflecting upon just how much my brain has committed to and expects efficiency and seamless flow, which, in China, is simply not the nature of things. Re-adjusting my expectations. I'm getting better at this - it's much more fun that way than fighting what is [the nature of suffering by defn]. I thought, I came with no expectations. Yet, there is a trunk-full, apparently. All along the lines of having my life automated and streamlined. Which, as I can see, has a shadow side. It distances me from the actual life. Yes, on the bright side, I got to do the things I love 99% of the time in the U.S., yet, it is here with the scents and the noise and the seeming inefficiency that I find parts of my inner being light up that would have never come out to play in the efficient cocoon of my streamlined american life.