China's Travel Journal
China, Journals on January 14, 2009 at 5:22 pmI'm a big fan of my scanner so I was flipping through the notebook I wrote in while in China for a little excerpt to scan, but I ended up scanning the whole damn thing.
If you are brave and think you can read my handwriting…
Here it is pdf file. (16mb)
And because I fell down and hit my head, I wrote below by page what the notebook has. I tried to keep the same capitalization and form. It kind of makes it hard to read, but I just did it that way.
Warning: The following is probably only interesting to me. It is not dated and is more a stream of consciousness. I don't really talk in much detail or at length, but to me it makes sense and evokes images and faces and places.
Page 1
BOS > JFK
Delayed 12:45 > 1:30
[diagram of where I sat]
JFK > PEK
1.5 hours sitting in plane in terminal
2.5 hours on plane on runway
"Life vest under you seat"
PEK
lost luggage
only one with baggage tag
guy driving to hotel used
his high beams like horn.
"Don't lie bed smoking"
Page 2
[2 drawings of street signs]
["Do not exceed height limit," and a picture of a giraffe coming out of a car.]
["Do not exceed weight limit," and a picture of an elephant on top of a car.]
Page 3
Tienanmen Sq.
Hired guy for 8 hours 700-800¥ to
drive us around.
HUGE
[Simple diagram of Tienanmen Square.]
Page 4
Forbidden City
A bunch of door ways
Summer Palace
Same as above less flat.
Luggage found
Notebook purchased.
4:00 nap everyone sleeps to 10:30
wake up to get bags
sleep until 5-6
2 1/2 hour drive to great wall
4 hours on wall
People selling water at every [rudimentary image of tower]
Page 5
2 1/2 back
to steve's mom's cousin's
Only had to spend an hour 1/2 there
but had to down the grossest
drink known to me so far
food was ok though
[picture of Chinese plum] watermelon fish rice bacon-ish
[picture of the bacon-ish food] < tough skin
Some other relative showed up and
she spoke english well so me and
steve started to speak spanish
Got back right to sleep
been going to sleep 4-6pm
___
Wake up 5am to go to airport
Page 6
Arrived at like 10ish in Guilin
Steve's Grandparents (father's side) 2
aunts and uncle met us there.
Don't know names
> Steve's other grandparents
game me slippers to wear
Out to eat for lunch
250 yuan to feed 10 people
maybe not 15 courses, but 15 types
of things to eat.
All good.
given fork immediately
only used it once.
[Drawing of the room we were in, from above, with door on left, table in center, window on right.]
Page 7
Back to steve's grandparents (mother)
watched soccer while they did
w/e
learned to play majhong
[2 suits of majhong tiles drawn out, one of the suits counts in Chinese 1 through 9]
Played until dinner
Couldn't finish ton of noodles.
Back to aunt we live with
house is really nice inside
[above and side view of bathroom/shower]
sandals in shower
Page 8
Steve let's everyone believe
this is a diary.
Left alone while steve gets
toe fixed. Watched Transformers,
showered, and ate breakfast/lunch
that they bought for me.
After pagodas walked
on river where 10-12
row boars with 50-60 rowers
were cruising with long chains
of fire crackers
[I attempt to draw boat]
(smaller drum [needed] or bigger people)
thousands watching
Page 9
"Surfer dreams is wet"
Met steve's cousin speaks
english walked around his school
"let's speak english. Why not?"
Have either watched dvds,
played mahjong
or sat around with relatives
this week.
Steve doesn't want to do any
where in rain
Visited some pagodas with
gramps(father) and some guy of
unknown relation
[Diagram of two pagodas from above and a side note pointing out the underwater tunnel between them.]
Page 10
All eating is family
style with all the food
on a lazy susan type
thing.
Eating in your given a bowl
of rice and you that and
some of everything else.
Then they plop things in
your bowl and you eat that
Careful going back for seconds
because they will order it for
you again if you show too much
interest
[a note points to the above paragraph]
Given bags of fruit twice because I ate the ones given to me.
Eating out is same, but
they don't have rice.
Large pieces of bone in
most things.
Page 11
Pig tongue – fine
squid tentacles and the top part
intestine – chewy
duck
[diagram of the plates and utensils you get]
Each meal out is 12 or more
dishes, but even home style
is 3-6 depending on who's
house.
Grand parents have a helper that
shows up to prepare food.
Aunt has a helper living with
them.
Page 12
All chinese drinks taste horrible
need to down it asap. & have
something to remove after taste.
Can/have eaten everything and its
all tasted fine no grimace
if I don't like just won't
go back.
Been drinking coke/spirte at
breakfast.
They plop things on my bowl
and I nod they try to give
it to steve he knows how to
refuse.
They thing I don't eat a lot
maybe the most annoying part.
They are concerned about everything
I don't know what an acceptable
amount to eat is.
Page 13
They decided I like bread
so they buy it for me.
Breakfast 10-11
Lunch 12-2
Dinner 4-6
need to pace at least
one meal to be able to
eat more at others.
Always finish all the
rice.
Roads in Beijing and
Guilin are lined with
very intricate shrubbery
but never see anyone
maintaining, but they def.
are because I found
1 group in the country
Page 14
unkempt.
[an example of how intricate the shrubbery are]
Page 15
[an example of how the roads are split up]
sidewalk
scooters
shrubs
cars
shrubs
scooter
sidewalk
Page 16
All streets lined with
trees.
In country sides Beijing >
Great Wall all the trees
were planted in large arrays
Like at one time there was
no trees in China and
they just arranged them
as such in last 40-50
years. 2 1/2 hours of driving
all groups of trees like
this 0 randomness
[an example of how the trees are arranged]
Page 17
So when you look down 1 lane
roads or into these arrays
you get that story book.
[image of the "story book" lane lined with trees]
Tons of people in streets
and it's not like Boston
or another city
here you know all these
people live here and are not
visiting with places to go
some sidewalks are lined with
50-60 scooters and it seems
like there's always one with
it's alarm sounding.
Page 18
People on scooters wear
hats like they are all
construction workers and
girls sit side saddle
on the back.
On the buses
elderly & women sit
in front
Men in back.
15 yuan to go across town
in a cab.
Old man uniform
Wife beater
slacks that start
below the nipple but above
belly button and end
just at the shin
with socks and
Page 19
flip flops large belts
and a gnarly chain to
protect wallet.
[a picture of the "old man uniform" and a note to the side saying...]
Steve's takes off his pants whenever he fancies and walks around in boxers.
Met 3 white people on Wall
Seen about a dozen in Guilin
always in groups.
Page 20
Obviously planted trees
rampant even 8 hours away
from Guilin.
Angry during car ride
couldn't trust the scenery
questionable authenticity.
Entire mountain sides done like
this.
Took picture of it but
cannot tell in pic.
Stayed in a 128 yuan a night
place.
Looked at 2 hotels
and looked at multiple
rooms before we decided.
Page 21
All things were like that
Food hotel bathrooms all
things must be checked
thoroughly and compared to
others before purchasing.
Even random fruit sellers
on highway exits.
Steve's mom can't drive
takes turns all wrong making
the ride for the rest
of the car uncomfortable
[diagram of how Steve's mom takes turns like an octagon rather than a circle.]
Page 22
His uncle has never
heard of a 3 point turn
and backs up slowly for
long distances.
Backed up an off ramp back
to the highway.
[picture of sweet rides you see in country]
Vietnam across river
Spent most of the time looking
for people
[Drawing of layout of paths with the location of where we found Steve's family.]
Page 23
Steve's cousin's girlfriend car sick
got medicine, but they applied it
to her lower lip which seemed
like a dumb way to administer
anything but I've seen other people
doing it that way here. Also
got a patch, but was on her
wrist which seemed like another
strange choice.
Don't trust the medicine here, don't
much trust the medicine in
America either though.
Ride back was much nicer
didn't have to look at the
fake trees cause it was dark
Lost tooth brush shampoo and
toothpaste but it felt like
I lost something important.
Page 24
Saw a man in some of
the hottest weather I have
experienced pour 3 bottle of
water into a trash can at
a gas station and then walk
around content with himself
and his empty bottles.
[Stick figure] common walking position
If you're in your 30s you
probably walk around with
your shirt pushed up past
your belly like a little kids
when he pees.
Saw a girl crying only person
I've seen crying. Not that
you see people cry a lot
anyways.
Page 25
The dogs are all the same here or
the same dog is every where
a mix between a fox and a dog
face like a fox, but still dogish.
body like a fox tail like a dog, curled
brown/tan.
When driving there is no left
or right or wrong or right
way to go. Driving on wrong side
of road is normal passing is
normal honking is mandatory
Seen a 2 lane 2 way road
become 4 lane 1 way.
Steve's uncle kept driving in
middle of road in the dark and
taking blind turns in the wrong
lane and passing on turns
which is very scary.
Page 26
Crossing the road is like
frogger you go one lane
at a time and wait on the
lines for your next move.
Pigs feet
Ox tail
Eel
cars
scooters
bikes
people
hierarchy of the road each doesn't acknowledge the existence of those below.
Toll booths are almost always
run by women and theres
sometimes 2 guys just sitting there
chillin.
Thousands of plotted plants.
orange
yellow
red
[overhead of a tollbooth to show how the flowers are arranged]
Page 27
There are people in the middle
of no where doing road work.
Cows and horses and ox wander
the roads by the waterfall.
[Chinese farmer drawing with note...]
Stereotypical people like this exist.
Yunming I think is the name
of the city we are in now.
1 1/2 hour flight much cooler
here because of altitude.
Had same sort of famous
noodles, but eh.
Page 28
They bring you a huge bowl
of broth and dozen plates
of stuff.
[drawing of bowl and plates of stuff]
You dump it all in and then they
bring you noodles so there's
really no point for all the plates.
Smelled like those chocolates
people buy at xmas the little
soldiers covered in tin
foil that don't taste just
right. Which threw me off.
Had a soup that tasted
like coffee to me with
the consistency of cream corn
that I could not eat.
Page 29
Had noodles the other day
for breakfast that were so hot
I was tearing up.
Used 1 yuan bill to whipe because
public bathrooms usually lack
toilet paper.
I use 
because I think
thats the symbol we use for
yuan, but here it's 
or something like that after
all dollar amounts 
Had about 5 people grab
my luggage and touch on it
before they realized it wasn't
theirs, but I was ready to
chase all of them down.
Page 30
Asked Steve's cousin about
Mao & Tienanmen, but nothing
interesting. He started to tell
me about the creation of
the square rather than the
"incident."
Went to book store to
get history of Mao, but
instead got the Art of
War
"The Three Kingdoms"
Hotel we are in now is much
nicer, normal even. 800 yuan
Was avoiding Steve's grandparents
bathroom because I thought it
would suck, but they have a
sit down toilet which is nice.
Toilet is almost always
Page 31
off the kitchen
Grandparents 3rd floor
Aunt (we live with) 5th floor
Aunt we visit 7th floor
No elevators.
The 128 yuan a night hotel
had an elevator, but was
scary so we took stairs
2nd floor pitch black
couldn't make out anything
3rd grated and dark
4th same but no grate
5th half lit for us
like we were the only ones
there.
Page 32
All hotels no matter how
crappy have a very nice
lobby.
They think I write in
this like narrative style
Then she said, "_____."
Crush and Kill you size
rocks both in road
and off side some still
fresh & dirty from the
fall passed one in the
day time that would be
hard to avoid at night
black rock on black road
3"x2" 3"x3" [I meant feet not inches.]
Half the road being covered by rock is normal.
Page 33
Kun Ming
-Traffic on way to cave.
[attempt to make sense of traffic]
Not sure what this road
is normally but it was 1 lane in one direction 3 in the other.
1 hour ish to go maybe
1/8 mile after that no one on
road.
Tolls here don't have
ton of flowers.
-Cave was ok
Page 34
Lighting was weird would
have liked just white
lights and there's paths
through it. Ton of tiny birds
no bats.
Rock garden hot, really hot.
Touched a stone no tooth aches.
[the stone I touched]
Reminded me of LOTR
Every rock that
looked like nothing had
a story. One looked like
Megatron.
Page 35
3 hours stuck in traffic on way back.
[traffic drawing with notes...]
Guy had enough time to get out of truck and tarp up.
People milling about in traffic.
Stopped like this left lane was a trickle but eventually it was stopped dead too.
Past this right turn was same situation but opposite.
Page 36
Li Jiang
Hotel really nice
(pics)
Went straight to this
mountain that's 5000m tall
would have been nice on
a clear day
-Rented coats
-Oxygen
Changed into pants.
Gondola to top
Slid down the snow
[Diagram of the wooden pathway with note...]
Steve's mom can't hack it.
Page 37
She used O2 at the base of
mountain on gondola and could
not operate at top.
Went to some native american
but chinese place nice view
but boring otherwise
Then went to other town
with just driver picked up
a nativish lady along way
Gorge thing
National park
On the way part was in clouds so you could only see 2 or 3 lines ahead of you.
[picture showing how I meant lines on the road by "2 or 3 lines"]
Page 38
On the way back that
stretch was clear and
really nice.
Weather was nice and the
day we came back to Li Jiang
miserable the 2 days
we were doing stuff.
Left guide lady there.
Went to old Li Jiang
which looks nice, but
it's just all shops.
Got a budda.
All guides are pretty
useless they buy you
tickets and check you
in, but other than that
they just walk around
with you and talk about
Page 39
w/e.
Only useful person is
driver.
[I delve into the system of identification on license plates]
Most cop cars are driven
by plain clothes people
and all cars have same
design not different for different areas.
Page 40
Driver stopped to ask for
directions from army dude
and I'm pretty sure the
guy asked for a cigarette
in exchange because he
gave him one.
Taxis have a 7-8 yuan
minimum and its 2 yuan ish
per km
Bough some traditional
Tibetan knife supposedly
there is no way to pack
it on plane but I'm
trying I packed it
on top of everything
so if they feel obliged
to take it out they don't
have to dig. 300 yuan
Budda was 5 yuan
lady said it was a set but as we
walked away it wasn't
Page 41
Tibetan style living
A lot of really cool
views and places but
camera was in trunk
[Drawing of Tibetan home]
Page 42
[The word supermarket with the 'k' a little screwy]
Intent on reading every
english tee shirt on chinese
people.
Tempted to wave at all
white people.
Me and steve usually
yell white people to each
other when we see them.
Page 43
Those that beg God
to save them are
often saved by those
too busy helping to pray.
End of China June 8-July 8 2008
_________________________