Atop its peaks of gold one learns to love
A place so high the gods lean down and calm
The man that lingers in the mist above
Manipulating nature in their palm
A mortal man can only stand in fright
that ne'er again the sun will see his face
For light has now become more blank than night
And one can scarcely see the empty space
Yet moments later all around is clear
As in a dream the world has come to life
where once the scene around was naught but fear
An instant more and mist has bowed to sight
Majestic peaks as far as eye can see
The gold and granite float -- now I am free
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This weekend Nils and I embarked upon an ambitious plan to experience Huangshan (Yellow Mountains) in only two days. This is arguably one of the most beautiful mountains in the world and has been a source of inspiration for many for hundreds of years. The floating rock islands above the clouds in Avatar are most recent, but many historical accounts and works of art, both literary and visual depict scenes from Mt Huangshan. We left our hotel in Shanghai at 5am as we needed to safely catch our six hour coach ride (unknown AC status) at 6.30am to Tankou, the small town at the base of the mountain. Prepared with nourishing nuts and some mystery fruit juice cartons we survived the journey, which included a stop to repair the AC that had *not been working most of the way. The drive from Shanghai was mostly uninteresting for the first two hours as the urbanisation seemed to never end. A constant density of random buildings, roads and elevated railways drove us into monotony and we were wondering if even the five hour drive would ever get us somewhere rural. Eventually however, the buildings did seem to get more sparse, although along the whole five hours we never saw any completely natural views. Hills started popping up and we realised how flat Shanghai and its surroundings really were. I imagine this is due to the fact that Shanghai, and the land on which is stands, was brought there via deposition in the river delta. We reached Tankou less exhausted than we had anticipated and were delighted and caution when the coach stopped to let us out by an 'English speaking tourist restaurant', by the name of Mr. Chen's. It very soon became apparant that we were very much unprepared for our journey up the mountain and, while we had a room for the night and enough high energy density food to keep us alive for two days, we had in no way sought to find out as much as possible about the peaks as we could have. Without Mr. Chen (Simon), we would perhaps not have had the successful two days that we did. After a surprisingly delicious meal with him, he drove us to the bus station that shuttles people from Tankou to the cable car leg of the upward journey. Armed now with a map, some advice on the paths to take and a (very) rough guide to the times we would need, we pushed on. We took the cable car to a point about 30 minutes walk along pretty stable pathsway to our hotel. There are about five hotels up on the mountain, located in two separate little hubs. Ours was quite easy to get to, and although not quite up to price standards, we were mildy impressed. Especially since all supplies (yes all supplies) are carried up the mountain by foot. After a short rest we left our room to see if we could suss out our location before dinner. We could not. A thick mist had settled around us and it was at this point we realised it might already all be over. The signposts all around used anecdotal maps with different waypoints marked on different signs. The lack of continuity sent us haywire and we ended up trying to use instict. Let me tell you this -- there is no instinct in complete fog. The only thing that is certain is that you either either walking uphill or downhill. We did manage to find our way back to the hotel, you'll be pleased to know. We had planned to watch the sunset. We had also planned to watch the sunrise. Neither of these things was possible. We woke up at 4:45 to `establish' whether or not we would see anything. The wind was howling and it seemed like we might not only miss the sunrise, but also everything. Since with faith like a mustard seed, one can move a mountain, I decided surely we would be guaranteed to at least relying on faith to remove the fog from the mountain. (You can get a sense of just how optimistic we were being) Nils had more faith than me for a brief moment when he said, `...or we can just believe that the mountain will be moved from under the fog.' He had almost hit the nail on the head... After an early and unexpectely very Chinese breakfast. We packed up and headed out in the mildly cold, damp, white oblivion of the 7.30 mountain mist. The path became slightly treacherous. I use the word slightly for a reason; it really was quite treacherous, but nothing compared to what was coming. Around every twist and turn our minds were struggling to fill in the snow white blanks with awe-inspiring vistas. An hour in and we had almost lost faith. Alas no, within a period of about 12 seconds and 6 stairs, we descended from the heavens to a little lower than heavens. Low enough to realise it was only just beginning. We had been transported into another world and become much more appreciative of just sight in general. The downward journey was around two hours in total and we reached the lowest point of our descent at about 400 meters above see level. This was at the bottom of the Xihai Grand Canyon. I havn't yet been able to find words to describe these scenes, but let's just say at this point (10.30am) we thought we had seen it all. We were wrong. We were now beginning what we didn't know then would be four hours of walking up steep steps carved into the side of the mountain peaks. The condensation and water seeping out of the rock made the steps slippery and the path on this leg of the journey was not the two meter wide concrete steps of the downward stretch. Now at last we found peace on the mountain as not as many travellers were up for such an adventure. An adventure it was -- clinging on for dear life we could periodically hear thunder and the wind kept changing reminding us how little control we had. Looking back our situation wasn't too dangerous, but we did feel alone on the side of an isolated mountain with no idea how far we were from civilisation. Turning (or even looking) back became increasingly terrifying. This had the benefit of increasing our resolve to only keep going up. I really can't describe how beautiful, but also nerve-wracking this walk was. Later, when we rejoined people on the final few km to the downward cable car, we realised how special it was to be alone. It felt a lot less safe on paths just as dangerous but with chinese tourists crammed together on steps above and below cliffs plummeting out of sight. After 6 hours of walking up steps pretty much continously, we reached the cable car station. I cannot stress enough how unprepared I was for this much walking, and had to rely solely on mind power to make it, as my legs were on the brink of cramping uncontrollably. When we finally sighted that cable car (on the far side of one final vast gorge), it was like reaching an oasis in a desert -- lifeline back to the two dimensional world where you can just get a taxi to wherever.
We got back to Shanghai around 11.00pm. During this six hour journey sleep came easily. In my dreams I was free to leap off the rollercoaster ride back through the mountains my mind was manufacturing. The bus was a cable car winding through the mountains and I, now liberated from the laws of physics, fearlessly reran the weekend's adventure. This weekend was Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Poets' Day. The festival commemorates a person called Qu Yuan. This is quite a big deal in China, and by my calculations has been going on a lot longer than Christmas. (Qu died in 238 BC) Basically, Qu was the wisest scholar in the courts of the King of Chu and he got on the nerves of the other officials. They ganged up on Qu and falsely accused him of conspiracy which led to his exile. It was at this stage that his poetry flowed, as he expressed his anger and sorrow ad the injustive served to him. In the end he committed suicide in the Miluo River. Where do the Dragon Boats come in I hear you ask? Well, because the people loved Qu and thought him honourable, they headed out onto the water to try and find and save him. They failed. The tradition also includes the throwing of little parcels of cooked rice in the river, which was initially performed as a sacrifice to prevent the fish from feeding on poor Qu's body. Well that's the cultural history out of the way...(I had to justify the use of this title some way.) On Saturday we went on an outing with Nils' parents to the nearby ancient water vilalge of Zhujiajiang. The crowds (due primarily to the long weekend) were phenomenal and we only made very slow progress through the small alleys packed with people. We only had a few hours before our taxi was to take us back to Shanghai but we managed to see all that we had planned to, including the City Gods' Temple and the Buddhist Temple. You shoud be able to find some pictures in the Gallery. The atmosphere within the walls of these temples was a lot more peaceful than the hustle and bustle of the street outside and the strong incense burning everywhere really does transport you. Although we didn't feel the need, people tie beautiful red ribbons to the trees in the temple for good luck. We did unwittingly have our fortunes read however. And when I say read, I do only mean read. The findings were in no way communicated to us subsequently due to the extremely high language barrier. So on the plus side, I guess no time paradoxes will result from us knowing too much. Yesterday Nils and I planned our upcoming excursions and we are both very excited. Before then we have a week of thunder and lightning here in Shanghai. Speaking of which, one of the highlights of my weekend (not really but almost) was buying my first umbrella. After having a week of mostly grey skies and unrelenting rain, I figured if I'm going to make it through possible three more weeks of the same thing, I'm going to need to be happy in the rain. I bought a bright rainbow umbrella that turns the whole world bright and happy again. It's impossible to not be happy when under this umbrella. It was also Father's Day this weekend of course, (Sorry I wasn't there Dad) and of course CocaCola wouldn't miss an opportunity like that... In the spirit of Poets' Day, I'll also publish here one I wrote while enjoying a very stange moment of time dilation with a cup of *apparantly* harmless undoped jasmine tea. Nils and I were in a rather nice hotel lobby, so we've convinced ourselves now it really was just that relaxing, but we literally couldn't move.
I’ve only been here a very short while but so far, colour has not really stood for me in the daytime at all. It may be the smog, or it may be just that the patterns and shape of everything here is so diverse. Everywhere you look you see it. You will definitely get a feel of it through my photography. I’m not quite sure if it’s China or just me going crazy. Anyway, I’ve found that taking black and white photos really gives a great impression because it forces you guys to see the patterns and textures really strongly and not get distracted by the colours of things. At night though, it’s the lights that stand out. This evening the sky emptied itself onto Shanghai — this is the rainy season. The street was an inch deep with water in places and even with an umbrella I got drenched to the skin. A friend rightly said, ‘you just have to give up and it feels good to give up.’ The rain as well as cleaning the air (slightly) plays with the light beautifully. I hope I’ve captured a little bit of what I saw in these photos. ...Those ellipses indicate time that has passed while I have still been writing. It has been 48 hours and the rain has not stopped for a single moment. It's getting to me already. I am looking forward to Friday when it's supposed to stop for a few days. I'm told the rainy season lasts around four weeks, and I arrived right at the beginning, and I hope to outlast it. ...It's now Thursday evening here and the rain has finally stopped. Apparantly we're going to have a dry weekend which is great because its a long weekend for the Dragan Boat Festival. The rain was starting to get to me. Get to me mentally. I was drenched since Monday. It was a dark grey sky with continuous rain for more than 96 hours.
The Big Mac Meal Test -- First Impressions. Note. The straw cutout in the drinks lid is hexagonal rather than square. This is a very interesting thing. The meat looks paler on first glance, the bun as a whole is very squishy, and the gherkin tasted a lot saltier than normal. But the overall taste of the Big Mac is exactly the same. I mean its pretty much the exact same as the UK. All but the price. The Big Mac meal costs wrote this while I was eating the Big Mac and its seriously boring stuff. I was expecting something to happen and nothing did. The reason why I was expecting something? Let me describe to you the Breakfast Muffin… So I’ve been trying to have a Western style breakfast so far as two Chinese meals a day for eight weeks is definitely not going to result in me missing out on anything. Three days ago I discovered the breakfast muffin. At first glance, this too looks like one’s standard maccydees sausage and egg mcmuffin. But alas no. Where there once was just a plain (bland) sausage and egg flavour, now there was a new chinese spiced sausage flavour in the mix. You might be thinking it is strange to have such a flavour for breakfast, and I would probably have thought so too upon being told of this. But no. This is the perfect sausage and agg muffin. This comes with a coffee too for the grand sum of 20RMB which is 2 pounds. One gets by. Having reread this food journalism, I think its not my strong suit. It’s been a pretty incredible three days here in Shanghai, and I’ve already seen more than I could possibly describe in a post of a reasonable length. To be honest, I was expecting to sleep for two days, but by Saturday morning I was right as rain. I have been very fortunate I think to have no major hiccups so far. The weather has been varied; when I arrived on Friday, it was one of the hottest days that week and with the sun beaming down it was a good 35 in the shade. Saturday was slightly more cloudy, but Nils and I were still going from supermarket to supermarket like animals needing waterholes. We drove to downtown Shanghai on Saturday morning with a car from the university campus where NIls is staying. Zhou, our new friend was very kind to show us a whistlestop tour of the city. Upon reaching the Bund, which is the colonial style riverbank region, the view of Pudong was breathtaking. I don’t think I’m going to get used to it either. As Nils quite rightly put it, it’s simply a stage with the wealth of China on display for the world to see. The river that separates it from the Bund only serves to frame the scene and gives a vantage point that can’t be found in other cities. The smog is as bad as they say. Fresh air does not exist here, and one can only wonder how much more beautiful the view of Pudong would be were they set against deep blue skies and not shrouded in grey. At night though, it all changes. What was a somewhat washed out scene comes to life with a vibrant wash of colour. The skyscrapers all have animated LEDs and huge screens which together transform the skyline. I have not managed to convey how wonderful this is in a photo yet. I will keep trying... The metro system. Oh my. Aside from the fact that it is busy, it is a system that makes the Underground feel ancient. There is no feeling of being underground in these stations due the abundant use of white tiling, bright lights and no tube-like, tunnel shaped areas. The equivalent of 40p will get you a single fare anywhere, while led screens insde the tunnels are in sync with the train to show animated ads though the windows of the train as it speeds on. Yes. It does feel like we should already have that too. Alongside the glitz, there is poverty. We went down a traditional Shanghai ‘lane’ which is like a small alley with almost dirt floor style rooms on either side where whole families live. This is how the whole city used to be apparantly. The lanes are hidden behind normal looking shops and while they do have electricity and running water, it reminded me of scenes from rural Africa. On Sunday we took a train to Suzhou, another city about 30 minutes from Shanghai. It’s about half the size of Shanghai by population, but that’s still 12 million. So yeah. In Suzhou we visited the museum there as well as the Administrator’s Garden, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Gardens are a thing here. They are composed of winding paths that weave in and out different ‘scenes’. The goal of the design is to surprise and the path design to guide through these separate areas. Patterns are everywhere. I can’t stop seeing them and as a result I’m going to make an album of patterns and textures I see all around me.
I'm not going to write all about my last week in London because I want this blog to be all about the exciting future. I can't however keep myself from posting these great photos of Anshu, Iacopo and myself saying goodbye to the street that has been our home now for two years. I am about to embark on what could turn out to be the greatest adventure of my life as I head to China for eight weeks. Based predominately in Shanghai, I also plan to visit friends in Beijing and the Yellow Mountains at Huangshan. The rest is just to going to have to flow.
My main motivation for writing this blog is to provide a place to show what I hope will be beautiful and insightful photographs of a culture and a land that is entirely unknown to me at present. I'll also occasionally share my perspective and the impact this experience has on me. I am writing this as I spend my last few days in England preparing for the voyage into the unknown that is to come. It has been sad saying goodbye to my friends in London and although every summer we all separate for about three months this time it feels different. I imagine that when I'm back London will be a whole new place and, with so many of us finishing university, so will Imperial. I've always been terrible at doing things regularly but I'm going to try my best to post as often as possible. But no promises. So, without further ado, let the adventure begin... |
JoHo.In The JoHo Files you'll find (hopefully) a collection of photos and prose that attempt to convey my personal perspective and interpretation of the world around me. I aim to attempt this with a wide variety of written and visual content, some original and some that I simply find inspirational. I'd love to share with you a bit of what I have been so lucky to be able to experience, and hope that you'll enjoy the journey with me... Archives
August 2016
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