China Abbreviated

China so far has been cold.  Between slurps of the cornucopia of delicacies and quick jaunts of sightseeing and huddling under blankets, the realization that China is, in fact, dammed cold in January dawns – it sears into my head like this wet freeze buries deep into my blood and soaks and wrangles and wrings my insides dry until I am inflamed with coldness. 

So, I do what most Chinese do – I hack all the nasty stuff, the phlegm and polluted dust and strange meats I've intaked from the street back into the street.  I get impatient and push and shove and grab to get my way onto the subways and the buses.  (I really want to punch some faces – apparently, personal space and standing in line is still an unfamiliar concept in China.) I toss and turn under the thin coverlets and mash my shoulders into the bed in hopes that I can carve out the wooden mattress to fit my frame better.  I try not to think about the air coming in through the cracks in the walls and the sewage smell wafting from the public latrines among the hutong winding streets. 

And of course, right before dozing off into the fitful dreams that coils about my body like iced serpentines, I smile, because fuckit all, I'm on the road!  (Still haven't gotten used to the fact that this is real life now and that I'm not coming into some office in the morning.)

A few observations:

Beijing is grand in the largest of ways and humble in the smallest of ways.  Like an aging actress who refuses to bow out, the city hovers between desperate modernity and the crass awkward displays of a bumbling sycophant. Gray cobblestones of the Forbidden City compete against the glamor of its new swanky malls. Advertisements for holiday shopping fall on dull stares of street beggars.

Shanghai is glitzed out, blitzed out and decked out – strutting her neoned glows beyond anything Vegas or New York can throw, and yet, underneath the shiny skyscrapers lie old alleyways full of fluttering laundry, rusty bicycles, noodle shops, and refuse.  The alleyways wind themselves about the city's waist like a cheap out-of-date belt on a stylish suit, buckles tattered and impossibly likable in its own way. China may be speeding towards glorious economic liberation, but there are a lot of old habits to be changed.  Compared to Beijing, Shanghai is the pert twentysomething trendsetter wannabe with a little too much makeup.

Hangzhou is gorgeous – even in the slinging iced rain.  I'll definitely come back to West Lake in the spring and visit the pagodas... Warm afternoons must be amazing among the countless of curved bridges spanning calm pools flanked by arching statues of peasants and philosophers and warriors...

Heading to Nanning now, in search of the elusive sun.  Should be a fun 31-hour train ride.

Couple of interesting signage so far:

• "Fishiness is specialty of the house - served with three goodness from the earth"
• "In case of fire, break glass to use fire hydrant"
• "Soft Lounge, Rigidity Lounge"

hahah. dood you are so metro in your descriptions, i love it (but it also makes me raise an eyebrow...puahah :P jk sorta.)

Posted by: jojo | January 06, 2006 at 12:45 PM

hey, how is it? how are you? dunno even what to say, i am so excited to see you writing online.

how did you like the book, if you read it?

Posted by: agaphia | January 06, 2006 at 01:15 PM

Hi Josh...Joanna gave me your blog. I think it's great that you are pursuing your passion, no matter how poor it will make you. I'm thinking about going back to school for writing too. :) Thanks for writing...You've found yourself a new reader.

Posted by: Christine | January 06, 2006 at 03:54 PM

Oh, it's Christine HA, in case you didn't figure it out.

Posted by: Christine | January 06, 2006 at 03:55 PM

hey josh, glad that you found a way to write and share with us so quickly. i got your xmess card on friday and it was so lovely... thank you so so much. i'll be looking out for you on the road. can't wait to hear about your next adventure.

Posted by: roz duffy | January 08, 2006 at 11:19 AM

miss you tons joshua fisher. it's psychologically weird to not have you just a phone call away. but i'll be reading your adventures avidly from the library, doing my own version of cubicle-travelling. Hope you're doing well! Frank says hi.

Posted by: ink | January 08, 2006 at 09:13 PM

Your astute comments makes me bittersweet. Indeed, it's got a few bad habits to break with and many baggage to part with before she can soar in style. And five thousand years of habits and baggage can be hard to break with.

Enjoy the sight of the birth of nation, and tell me about it over tea someday.

Posted by: kdawg | January 08, 2006 at 09:15 PM

Thanks guys (jojo, I'm gonna kick yo ass when I see you again).

Agaphia, I'm reading and re-reading the book! It's splendiferous but I'm afraid my addled brain needs a couple of reads to get underneath the visible..

I do miss NY – and just being able to talk to you guys whenever. But traveling is certainly wringing me dry – so many moments: funny, difficult, exasperating and all in all humbling and amazing.

Posted by: j.fisher | January 09, 2006 at 04:29 AM

Gosh, such vivid memories of China. Love the lack of personal hygiene and personal space. At the same time, looking back on these things is always positive.

Posted by: vinny | January 12, 2006 at 12:25 PM