I
had to find a destination that is not so far from Beijing. I wanted to go to Xi’an
but the travel time is a joke, as well as the domestic flight costs. So, no, Xi’an
would have to wait. I settled for Datong. I have not been to Shanxi, and the
province is just Beijing’s neighbor, so I thought why not give it a shot?
Googling Shanxi, the names of Datong, and Taiyuan came up. I chose Datong because
of the Hanging Monastery and the Yungang Grottoes.
The itinerary was another copy of the Amazing Race, or at least something similar to it. I would be landing at Beijing Capital at around 12:10 AM, if Cebu Pacific’s flight would not be late. Haha, who are we kidding here? The first problem to surface was getting out of the airport. It would be my first time to arrive in Beijing in the middle of the night. No midnight buses? According to some websites, there are, but no one would corroborate the information. Fine then, up to me to prove its veracity. The answer? There were midnight buses when I arrived. Given that Cebu Pacific took off late, we arrived at Beijing at quarter to one. After clearing immigration, there it was, a bus to Gongzhufen waiting for me.
Buy
a ticket at the booth. The rate seems to be uniform for all routes at 16
renminbi. Looking back I saw a bus headed to Beijing Railway Station where I
was really headed to catch the sleeper train to Datong. First problem solved.
Less than an hour after that, I was alighting in front of the train station,
with scalpers of different kinds waiting to harass me. Of course, if you are a
foreigner you could just make them realize that you are before they surrender
and conclude that you are just some idiot that will do them no good. Since I
was eager to practice my Mandarin, they found me quite amusing and patiently
try to scam me for a while, attempting to sell me a 125 yuan ticket for 180
yuan. The end game was still the same; I was the idiot that got away. Or so
they thought. Morons.
One
woman in particular was friendly and transitioned from annoying to helpful
after leading me to the right place where tickets were to be bought and helping
me with my rudimentary Mandarin. It is through her that I knew how to say “sleeper
train”, information that I later verified to be true thanks to the Pelco
application on my phone. She was some sort of scalper for hotel rooms. I do not
know how that works, but after eagerly helping me, she just buggered off and
minded her own business. Our separation was okay though, no hard feelings. She
knew I would not be of any business to her since I was going to Datong that
night. Still, it is cool to know that some people would be willing to help even
if they got nothing in return. Perhaps, it was curiosity. In any case, I found
it rather kind.



So
I eventually got to book an overnight sleeper train to Datong, which left at
around quarter to three in the morning, and arrived the next day at around past
nine, if I remember correctly. The hard berth was okay, although a bit cramped.
I was a good fit for the bunk, which means it might be too small for most
because I am rather petite. Sleeping with your bag with you is the norm, if you
do not trust the other temporary tenants of the train. Who knows! There is a
compartment within the same level of the topmost berth, but it would be rather
easy for someone to just grab your bag and walk away during one of the many
stops. I was just being sure.
I
had two days reserved for Datong, because I did not want to be “haggard”. I
just wanted to be stress-free, but when you are born lacking street smarts,
everything tends to be more complicated. In the end, I just visited the 600
year-old screen on the first day, and spent the remaining hours getting lost
and inhaling all the construction dust that made me quickly reach my pollen
quota for the month. Hooray me. Now tell me that was not stressful! What I do
not like about Datong is how the buses mentioned on Wikitravel seem to be
invisible, in particular Bus #3. They said that it would be where the route of
Bus#4 terminated. And so I followed Bus #4 around the whole day but there was no
Bus #3 in sight. Why do I subject myself to this kind of torture? I guess that
is what happens when you have a lot of free time.
To
make matters worse, the hotel where I ended up seems to be in the middle of
nowhere, and getting from one place to another would always require a taxi
ride, which was not that expensive anyway, but still! The flag down rate of
taxis in Datong is 6 yuan (around 40 pesos) which increases in increments of
1.40. As my average taxi ride was around 13 yuan, I would still consider that
cheap at around 85 pesos, which is just like a taxi ride in Metro Manila. What
I liked most about taxi drivers in Datong, though, was how they were a rather
inquisitive bunch, which was very good for practicing my Mandarin. I even got
to find a taxi driver who practiced his English with me while I practiced my
Mandarin with him. Would it not be nice if all taxi drivers were busy doing
just that instead of trying to scam you?
And
so let us discuss the star of the day: the Nine Dragon wall. Why is it worth
all the trouble? Well, because it is 600 years old. It is said to have been
constructed during the 1300’s. Rumor has it that the senior citizen selling the
admission ticket is just as old, but we cannot find a document that confirms
it. As such, it remains to be a rumor. As Wikitravel would tell you, tourists
spend around five minutes there, after which they rush to their next destination.
It is not that hard to understand why.
The
wall is amazing alright, but it is just that. A wall. You can neither ride it
nor write on it. All you could do is stare at it and take a picture with it as
your background. You can make a difference though. The weird thing is how there
is heavy construction around the place, and yet while you are inside the
premises of that tourist attraction, everything seems so quiet. Yes, this is
the time to relax. Even if you stay for just half an hour that would already be
worth the 10 yuan admission price. There is enough space for you not feel
claustrophobic. There are a few benches, and given that there are no hordes of
tourists coming in, you are guaranteed a good seat.
There
used to be a mini pond in front of the wall, but has since been dried up,
probably because they could not keep up with the cost of maintenance given the
poor tourist attendance. By the way, another reason of visiting this wall is
because it is within the route of one of the tour buses originating from the
train station. I think we are talking about bus number four. There are three
consecutive stops wherein this wall is the one in the middle, preceded and
followed by the Huayan Monastery and Red Flag Square, respectively. I hope I
got the names right. I did not see the monastery anymore because the admission
price seemed a bit steep. Besides, I was going to visit the Hanging Monastery
too, and there was simply no need for a monastery overload. The Red Flag Square
is, well, I did not get to see it. Or perhaps, I did, but did not recognize it.
Every time I would have a taxi or bus drop me off there, all I see is that
Wanda Cinema with a KFC on the ground floor. Wherever that Red Flag Square was,
I no longer attempted to care.
After
an exhausting day inhaling all the dust
particles thanks to all the construction, my sinus was already attempting to
murder me by giving me a bad migraine, and so I decided to call it a day and
just returned to the streets later and asked a taxi driver to help me find
western food, which McDonalds gladly gave me. My first impression of Datong is
that of a city bombed a few weeks prior, and just recovering from the disaster.
What is with all the construction? There seems to be some sort of mad rush for
modernity, but then again this is so China; construction everywhere, an
unmistakable sign of progress, indeed.
0 creature/s gave a damn:
Post a Comment