HUADU GLOWS WITH LIFE

The more time I spent in China, the more I felt that something amazing is occurring there, like the massive awakening of a people long hindered from revealing their true potential, and I felt privileged to be along for the ride (if only temporarily). The street market in Huadu is quite an experience. Think noisy carnival in the midst of a vast construction project; a contemporary urban garage sale packed with people until the late hours. The sounds of bargaining and hawking and techno music fill the hot, damp evening air as we stroll down the avenue, passing vendors displaying everything from lingerie to cell phones. One guy offered to cut my hair, which I declined, but I did break down and purchase a watch, which the seller assured me was made with “real metal.” A bargain at 20 Yuan, it stopped working 2 weeks later, lasting about 13 days longer than I expected. The animal market was truly a shocking ordeal. The smell of flesh and blood permeates the dank air, as merchants pedal snakes, turtles, chickens, fish, ducks, and much more. Butchers chop and weigh meat of the very freshest variety, and we draw more than a few stares from locals as I try to hide my revulsion. I wonder how many foreigners they encounter wandering through these halls of death. My guess is not many. We were looking for boiled scorpion, but couldn’t find any.

We used Huadu as our transportation hub, catching buses to other places of interest from a station in front of the New Century (a ritzy modern hotel), and other buses or vans back to the campus afterwards. We enjoyed a wonderful Korean meal one afternoon (aside from the Kim chi, which I will never like no matter how open-minded I try to be).

During my last evening in China, I was looking for some souvenirs of what I perceived as Chinese culture, such as a scroll featuring calligraphy and Chinese artwork. Locating such commodities in a place like Huadu is no easy task. Everyone is selling new technology and practical things, and there is next to no interest in cultural artwork or historical artifacts. However, after much searching, we found several excellent wall hangings with hanzi characters in a secluded bookstore on the third floor of an unassuming shop. Also, I wanted a Yao Ming basketball jersey, but mistakenly inquired of Albert if he knew where I could buy a Mao jersey. After much laughter at visions of Mao Zedong playing for the Houston Rockets, I assured him that if a Mao jersey existed, I wanted that too. I wish I could have captured more of this place and stolen it home with me.

CHINA RESHAPED MY WORLD

What an exciting, progressive, impressive, overwhelming, and authentic place is China. I am already drawn to return to this dichotomy of light and darkness, aspiration and despair, hope and desperation. My favorite parts of China are its levels of discomfort, of unfamiliarity, of enlightenment, and of danger. I wonder how many tourists visit this country and don’t ever really see it. Take this small piece of advice…when you travel, don’t bring your expectations with you. Enter with open eyes and a clean slate. The place will carve itself onto your psyche in a genuine and powerful way if you allow it. Pay no mind to reviews on Trip Advisor, which are full of luxury seekers. Be a truth seeker. If all you want is dependable room service, excellent cuisine, beautiful views, the highest level of comfort and the greatest amount of stars for your restaurants and hotels, then do the world a favor and seek these things closer to home.

There is no way to describe China without contradicting yourself. It is a nation of contradictions. Any traveler who experiences this cannot help but view it with equal levels of awe and disgust, and to describe it with both fondness and aversion. Be assured, if you have feelings within you, China will bring them out.

Tomorrow I leave for Greece, the Greek Islands, Turkey, and Israel. I wish you all the best until I return with more stories. Thank you for sharing the adventure with me.