A refreshing morning draught of
sugarcane juice. Who cares if it's green?
We
were up and out aiming for the ten o'clock bus to Wuzhou, our next
stop on the trail. Getting to the bus station they told us that the
express bus did not leave until quarter past eleven so we had time
on our hands to spare. Near the bus station is the local "hungry
hill" so we headed to a little corner cafe, much to the delight of
its owners and the curiosity of its customers, and sat down to have
some breakfast. I am still not used to the continual staring and I
think the novelty factor of it is already starting to wear a bit
thin for me. People also seem fascinated by our backpacks. I suppose
we forget how much variety we see in our normal daily existence in
Europe, particularly compared to a country like this which has had,
and still has, outside influences closed off to it.
As
we munched our way through yet more rice, others around us were
eating what from a distance looked like a stomach lining, a long
almost transparent rubbery piece of something. It was only when the
people at the next table had it that we saw it was some sort of thin
and stretchy noodle. It still looked unappetising. Any bits of food
people do not like they simply spit out on the floor, and not just
at pavement cafes. The place we ate in on Shamian Island provides
dinner for its staff at about nine o'clock. Even here, in a
relatively smart looking restaurant, the staff spat bits out onto
the floor.
Back
at the bus station we sat and waited for the bus, keeping and eye on
the time and the gate as we could not understand any of the
announcements. Before long we were on the bus and heading on to
Wuzhou in Guangxi province. The journey itself was pretty
unremarkable with the landscape becoming increasingly agricultural
the further we went.
At
Wuzhou we checked about onward buses to Yangshou for tomorrow. We
are only really stopping here as there is no direct bus through. We
bought tickets for the 8:40 bus, surprised that we needed to be at
the bus station at 7:50, and then headed out to find a hotel. We had
decided to stay at the Dongxin Binguan which from the map in Lonely
Planet looked as if it was a fair walk away from the bus station.
The lady taxi driver looked bemused when we showed her where we
wanted to go and we soon found out why, it was probably only a five
minute walk away. It is a new hotel and we had a very smart looking
room with, unusually for China, a double bed. It cost less that a
twin and I think it was designed for single occupancy. We only had
two complaints. One, it was freezing cold and no matter how high up
we turned the thermostat only cold air kicked out. The other was the
ongoing saga of solid beds. It is nice to have a firm mattress but
this one was rock hard
As
we went up in the lift to our room a young man asked us why we had
come here as it was only a city and there was nothing to see or do.
Little did we know until we arrived there that Wuzhou’s main sight,
the Snake Repository, closed down two years ago. Fortunately a lady
there was quick off the mark coming to tell us so our taxi had not
yet done an about turn. It is not often that Lonely Planet is that
far out of date but we were surprised as our edition is from May
2005.
Instead, we decided to go for an amble through the old part of town.
We walked along Nanhuan Lu, crossing over to go and have a look at a
local market. Here they were selling mainly fruit and vegetables.
Some we recognised – lettuce, onions, carrots, beans, peas – but
others were totally new to us. It was frustrating that we did not
have the language skills to ask and find out what they were. People
here were generally quite happy to have their photo taken. One man
who said “no” got such a ribbing from the others around him that he
finally relented. He was chopping something, I do not know what, but
his knife was moving so fast I had visions of him shaving off his
fingers.
Around
the corner we entered the fish section. The first stall we saw had a
row of fish heads standing up in a row with the mouths still
twitching open and shut – you cannot argue with the freshness of the
produce here. I have no idea what the different types of fish were
but recognised the shrimps and the turtles they had for sale.
Outside there were more people with wares to sell but this time laid
out on the floor. Although the goods were fresh the hygiene standard
of the whole market left a lot to be desired and there was plenty of
room for improvements. We are trying not to be too judgemental about
the difference in standards here compared to home but sometimes it
is hard.
As
we left the market there was a row of three or four stalls selling
what we thought was tea. It actually turned out to be sugar cane
freshly mashed with some sort of leaves. It produced a very sweet
green coloured liquid, the colour of dirty pond water. It was not an
experience that I think we will repeat but it was interesting to
give it a go.
The
old town on Wuzhou had a very Mediterranean look and feel to some of
its streets. Little statues were dotted along the road and plaques
explained some of the town’s industry and what the buildings were
originally used for. Wuzhou was once an important trade centre and
many different nationalities had a base here. The buildings all had
arcades with small shops on the ground floor. It was a mix of modern
and old with bamboo mates for sale in some and small car repair
shops based in others.
Down
by the river a long paseo style walkway has been built about ten
metres above the ground. I am not sure if it also acts as a flood
defence barrier but it provides great views over the waterway and
across to the other side of the river. A couple of small boats were
out casting their nets. Having seen the colour of the water I am not
sure that I would want to eat any fish they caught. We followed the
river back down at floor level passing different shops that all
seemed to be selling the same things – colourful packets of stuff
with we know not what inside.
We
ambled back through the side streets t our hotel passing a calm and
relaxed bustle of daily life going on around us. Stef, hungry as
ever, tried the wares of a little café. He had a metal tray, like
the ones you see in films and on TV of prisons dishing up food for
their inmates. A big steamer outside yielded a monster portion of
rice and you were then free to choose what you fancied to go on top
of it from about twelve different meat dishes and eight different
vegetable options with the rice, meat and vegetables all segregated
in their own little indentations in the tray. The round hole which I
thought would get some sauce was filled by a bowl of soup that
resembled dirty dishwater. It all went down the hatch and was tasty
and cheap to boot.
Riverside at Wuzhou
Having seen pretty much all there was to see and do in Wuzhou we
made our way back to the hotel, stopping to watch a variation of a
game of Mah Jong along the way. The people playing were happy for us
to take a photo but just before we did they knocked don all the
tiles and mixed them all up. They were seated around a low table on
tiny little chairs that reminded me of the ones you see in the
nursery schools and infant schools they are so low. They are common
place throughout China and are not just for the kids.
Our
experiences in China seem to revolve around making people laugh at
our attempts to speak the language and the meals we have had, often
both occurring at the same time. Having not really seen options for
dinner out and about in town we opted to eat in the hotel restaurant
and were met by the same wide eyed look of surprise that we have had
in other places as we walked in. The waitresses were all jostling
with each other to see which one drew the short straw and had to
come and serve us. One finally came over, apologetically saying that
she did not speak English and handed us a menu in Chinese. Help was
at hand with Lonely Planet and we showed the page with different
dishes, pointed and got a “yes” or a “no”. I am not sure whether it
was true or just a stitch up but they came back saying that one dish
was finished and suggested instead that we had Peking Duck (crispy
aromatic duck as we know it), the one with pancakes, hoi sin sauce,
vegetables and shredded duck.
Like
the gullible fools we are we went for it and proceeded to give the
entire restaurant’s staff their evening’s entertainment. We were
almost the only people in the restaurant so all the staff simple
lined up around our table, at a respectful distance, and stood and
watched us eat. It was strange to feel so many eyes on us as we
battled with the vegetables we had ordered, which were like purple
sprouting broccoli, that you have to munch and slurp up guiding it
with your chopsticks as you go. The real fun though started when the
Peking duck arrived, not helped by us both getting chronic fits of
the giggles too.
We were provided with knives and forks for the exercise which was
probably not a bad idea. The duck had not come pre shredded like it
does in the UK, it was still on the bone and hidden away under a
layer of skin which looked nice and crispy but which for me was far
too chewy and fatty to eat. It was pretty good and I successfully
managed to prepare, roll and eat mine with chopsticks, much to
Stef’s amazement. After a while the managers decided that their
staff had had enough fun at our expense, which coincided with their
own dinner arriving, so we were able to finish our meal without
forty pairs of eyes staring at us.
