My Silk Road Tour, September 2024

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. 

Postscript:

Saw Hwa helps to proof-read my writing. She just reminded me to include this: She picked up an English-edition of a publication called "Valiant Imperial Warriors 2200 Years Ago" sold at the Emperor Qin Shi-Huang’s Museum at Xi-An. Millions of copies must have been sold already, yet the publisher is totally oblivious to the un-English English that can be spotted throughout the entire volume. Another aspect of Chinese-ness that has to be corrected?