Today we took full advantage of our last buffet breakfast, packed our bags, and hopped in a cab out to the Xi’an airport. The Xi’an airport is about 1 1/2hours outside of Xi’an, and it is huge. The only way to get there is by bus or taxi, and given that the busses only run once an hour we had no choice and took the taxi.
Taking a cab always seems like a good option – particularly in a country where we have been able to ride in a car for an hour and a half and pay the equivalent of $15 USD. So I wasn’t too fazed by the idea of taking a taxi to the airport – despite the distance of the drive. Little did I know that it would be a continuation of my experiences so far in what I like to call “Chinese Driving”.
This is a form of transportation which is typically undertaken by car, but can also be found in public transport and occasionally on bicycle, unicycle or roller-skates. Chinese driving happens on paved surfaces the majority of the time, but can also occur over gravel, water, and I believe lava. The driver (someone who no doubt holds a PHD in Chinese Driving) begins by driving on the right side of the road, at a speed limit that is exactly at or slightly above the posted KMPH limit. As the drive progresses, the driver will undoubtedly encounter people walking in the streets, livestock of some type, slow vehicles, motorcycles and bikes. As these obstacles all could impede the driving process, they are honked at and swung around, and if a turn is to be made as well – simply honk more and cut in front of oncoming traffic and the aforementioned obstacles. If said obstacles happen to be in the middle of the lane, then the solid line in the middle of the highway becomes “not really that solid” and with a deluge of honking – you drive on the wrong side of the road.
This double lane driving may occur for miles – as other folks practicing the Chinese Driving methods also try to pass by obstacles. Ulises and I had the pleasure of viewing first hand the maneuvering skill of our bus driver as we returned from the Terra Cotta Warriors. This is a gentleman so concerned with making sure that we weren’t late for dinner that he drove the bus on the wrong side of the street – head on into traffic – at night – to make sure that we arrived at our destination.
Anyhow – all sarcasm aside, riding in any vehicle in China is super scary – and drivers really don’t pay attention to any of the driving laws. So as we drove out to the airport, I should not have been surprised to see people pushing wheel barrels along the highway, or a stop sign in the middle of an freeway, or a guy driving a motorcycle taxi head on towards on the road. Nor should I have been surprised by the fact that the pavement actually disappeared at points along the highway, leaving large gaping drops that people flew over – leaving their suspension behind. Despite all of the road craziness, our driver was pretty tame in comparison, but I did get a bit nervous as he began to run out of gas, somewhere about 20KM outside of the airport.
Miraculously we made it to the airport, grabbed some quick food, and caught our plane to Guilin. When we arrived our ride – Henry – was waiting for us. We had emailed the hotel in Yangshou asking for transportation, as the bus options did not align with our flight arrival time very well. Henry was a nice guy, a private car hire driver who happens to practice Eastern Medicine on the side. His specialty being joint problems – for which he has an herbal cure that even he hasn’t found all of the ingredients for yet. He was interested to know if we had arthritis in the US, I readily assured him that we do, and with tons of other joint problems to boot…
It started to rain so as Ulises and Henry carried on a broken English conversation, I fell asleep and pretended we were already there. We pulled into Yanshuou in late afternoon, and despite the fact that we had a few hours of sunlight left, it was getting darker. We took a quick walk into town after checking into the hotel. The town is gorgeous, surrounded by the most surreal natural landscape I have seen yet. It is something out of a movie – and the main source of income for the town is tourism - hence the beginning of Bamboo!
The City is located at the crossing of a few rivers – the main river being the Li. The Li river is populated with hundreds of small homes and villages all of which live off of the river – fishing in it, washing in it, irrigating from it, swimming in it, drinking from it, and boating on it. The ability to float past these karst peaks with the silence of a paddle being the only means of propulsion – is an experience that most tourists cannot pass up. We wanted to take a boat tour, but after the hundredth approach by someone on the street selling “bamboo, bamboo” we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel.
Tomorrow biking and hiking.
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