My wife Saw Hwa does not write or read Chinese. But she loves to tour China. We have been to many places in China, but we have yet to cover the Silk Road. She does not quite like to follow tours organised by Malaysian or Singaporean agencies – the tour guides of the former tend to conduct themselves in Cantonese and the latter, in Mandarin; she knows neither. Moreover, they are too good in terms of delivering value for money – tours usually last seven to fourteen days, and they are packed solid with heavy itineraries. But this is dreadful for both of us, most of the spots are jammed packed with local tourists, whose fear of missing out can be very annoying. She decided to sign up with Sydney’s Wendy Wu Tours for this visit. There were 17 of us in the group, four were from the UK, three from New Zealand, 12 from Australia (two of whom were Australian Chinese); we were the only two from Malaysia. Most of us are in our sixties or seventies. Several of them have visited China before.
Although the starting
point is the historic city of Xi-An, which we have been to a few times before,
we still like the city. Things do not stand still in China; you get surprises
in every visit. From Xi-An, we took a HSR to Lan-Zhou, and from Lanzhou we
visited a couple of nearby smaller cities, including the Tibetan city Xia-He,
where the Labrang Monastery is located, Xi-Xia, which is well-known of its
biggest Sleeping Buddha statue, and Jia-Yu Guan, where the western end of the
Great Wall is located. Apparently, President Xi was visiting Lan-Zhou at that
time.
The next stop was Dun-Huang,
which was a must-visit city along the Silk Road. The highlight was of course the
grottoes there. Not too many foreign tourists were visiting at that time; we
were treated like celebrities in a cultural theatre show there.
From Dun-Huang, we took
an HRS to Turpan. From Turpan we went to Korla by coach. The National Highway
was impressive; it traverses awesome mountains and deserts along the way. We celebrated the
mooncake festival in Korla. From Korla we continued to Kuqa and that was where
we first experienced “security” check. We were constantly reminded of the need
to have our passport with us, giving us the impression that security was tight
along the Silk Road. Indeed, the local guide had to file our presence there,
but it is not the type of fearsome procedure that the western press had wanted
us to believe. Indeed, from thereon, each time we entered a small prefecture
city, we had to do the same. But nobody was inconvenienced; as a matter of
fact, some police officers even boarded the coach to welcome our visit.
From Kuqa we went to
Aksu to visit a cave temple, which predates the grottoes in Dunhuang.
We arrived at Kashgar,
the Silk Road’s most western city in China on September 20. We were pretty done
with the Silk Road by then. Before we flew out to Urumqi, we visited the Sunday
market where live cattle were traded in a big way.
Urumqi was essentially a
modern Han Chinese city and the must visit spot is the Heavenly Lake.
From Urumqi, we flew
into Beijing. We did not join some of the tours save for a climb to the Great
Wall again.
Wendy Wu’s local tour leader Gary Guo was superb. My wife and I survived the 28-day journey without any drama!
* * * * *
Although several of our
tourmates have visited China before, I could see that some were still not
convinced that China was far from the Stalinist or totalitarian state they believe
it is still one today. When I asked if one who still held the view since we had
gone into the countryside only to see that people were generally happy and no
poverty or economic or social or religious deprivations were in sight, he said in
a democracy one could “moan” and not get into trouble. Saw Hwa was happy to ask
if he preferred to see people leading a miserable life in many parts of the
“democratic” world, he reluctantly conceded that the Chinese leadership had
indeed done much for its people. Another was more accepting; he agreed that all
the talk about oppression, or suppression, or forced labour, or genocide was a
load of bulls from the western politicians and press.
Yes, Hans, Huis,
Uyghurs, and other Central Asian minorities live harmoniously everywhere. Two
of local tour guides were Uyghur. I asked them privately if they were proud to
be “Chinese” and they responded without hesitancy that they are were. I could
tell the answer was genuine.
Be that as it may,
there is still much China can do to bring their perceptions to a higher plane.
First…
Yes, the Chinese
economy is indeed slowing down. The malls are pretty empty, so are restaurants
which boast huge dining rooms and tables. We know what has contributed to this
situation. The sanctions by the west have caused China’s supply side to scale
back, hence resulting in higher unemployment especially amongst its youth, and
the policy clamp down on real estates has caused many Chinese to hold back
spending on bigger ticket items. But you do not see any sign of desperation.
We all know the four components of GDP are consumption,
investment, government spending, and exports. China is not lacking in the last
two. Thanks to western sanctions, investment does suffer. However, it is the consumption
component that is troubling the Chinese government now. (The exception is perhaps
in the cars you see on Chinese roads – they are generally pretty new; not the
old jalopies we often see in developing countries.)
But let the westerners continue with their cacophemism (a
new word which I have just learned from my friend Tan Jin Hwee – a hard term pinned
on something good to make it look bad). Xi and his team know what is good for
the country. And the Chinese have the resilience to go through hardship and
turn things around.
Although Chinese cities generally are well planned – broad
tree-lined and well lighted boulevards and generous parks and lakes, – even the
modern buildings can be described as “nice from far, but far from nice” in
terms of upkeep. Their glass facades are crying hard to be cleaned. Most of the
shop fronts and apartment blocks are also in dire need of a new coat of paint,
not to mention broken tiles in pavements and ugly patches on sidewalks. China
should introduce an urban redevelopment authority like what Singapore does. People
need to be “forced” to spend to keep their living spaces look clean and orderly.
This will certainly add tremendously to “useful” consumption in GDP at this
time of need! (Chinese are not poor; they certainly can well afford it.)
However, I should not generalise too much. The Hui precincts,
especially their apartment blocks, are remarkably cleaner; even their mosques
have traditional Chinese “temple-like features, like those in Xi-An. (I would
have thought Uyghurs by the virtue of their religion would have a higher
standard of personal hygiene, but this trip tells me that it is a wrong
assumption, maybe the nomadic instinct is still present in their culture.)
Public toilets, despite frequent efforts by cleaners, are generally smelly even though some laybys
boost state-of-the-art features – electronic panels to tell visitors which is occupied,
and which is empty. It is simply a result of poor habits.
These are some of my observations about the hotels provided
by Wendy Wu Tours: they are generally adequate; some even have robotic features
which did appear a little outlandish to me. But fittings and fixtures found in
them, except the two operated by Mercure, still look sloppy in terms of upkeep
and maintenance. And the corridors do not smell fresh. I suppose smoking in the
room is still hugely tolerated, although no-smoking signs are there for all to
see.
Now that China is
opening to the world to allow them to see the true situations in Xinjiang, they
need to “inform”. Chinese hotels only offer CCTV channels. Few know how to tune
in, let alone enjoy their coverages, since instruction is only in Chinese. They
should start to cater to western visitors with objective programmes and
narratives about China. So are the road signages, since they are only in
Chinese and Uyghurs only.
China’s HSRs are an
eye-opener to westerns. The stations are awe-inspiring, and their locomotives
are sleek. The trains are punctual and the ride smooth. Nonetheless, they look
a little tired, though. Many need a good bath. Many users have still not been
conditioned to exercise civic-conscious; littering is still evident, even
though they have cleaners to do the job. The service’s hawkers seem not very
interested in promoting F&B sales, except the ladies who were assigned to sell
locally made cosmetics.
Smoking and spitting in
public places are still noticeable, and this largely irks westerners. This, I
often advocate, is something they need to learn from LKY. Throughout my trips
to China, I have always taken pain to convert unthoughtful Chinese to be more
civic-conscious and this trip is no exception. I believe I have made at least
ten Chinese better citizens by whispering these lines into their ears: 老兄，有外国旅客. 文明旅游，不好随地吐痰 , or 老兄，有外国旅客, 不好在此吸烟 (Dear Friend,
there are foreign visitors, let’s do not spit or smoke in this public place.)
We flew out with great optimism for China. My earlier book - China's Arduous Journey to Earn Its Place, From Mr Q to President Xi Jinping - has not been written in vain after all.