Travels to Dandong Part 1

It feels like ages since I last wrote, and I think it has been almost two weeks now, but the days are so packed that I can’t keep track of which day is which and will likely not be able to remember what has passed in the last two weeks. This is probably a strength and a weakness: the ability/tendency to live and forget that we have lived. I’ll start with our trip to Dandong. Dandong is a Chinese city that is just across the river from North Korea. To get there we boarded a crowded overnight sleeper train where we were joined by a group of bus drivers all traveling to Dandong to fetch there Buses. They quickly showed us how to travel in style. Riding on a train in China is like going out for a picnic: food, drinks and loud conversations. In my first encounter with one of the bus drivers (pictured left) I received a welcoming hello followed by ‘wow you speak Chinese’ then immediately followed by a beer. The whole corridor that lined our stacked beds there were family, friends, and even strangers sitting against windows eating a wide range of Chinese snacks and washing it down with beer. The only hiccup in this moving carnival of fun was when the train stopped to let off/take on more passengers. These stops were followed by a groan as doors to the bathroom area were opened and the sitting stench slowly crept into our living area. Bathrooms on trains are a hole in the floor (more or less) and people have very poor aim (understandably especially after drinking), when the train is not moving there is no air flow to carry the smells away. After a night of festivities we arrived in Dondong. I was promised that if I’m ever on Bus 102 in Haerbin the fare will be free. We said goodbye through smiles and waves and took off our tour of Dandong.
We ended up spending only a few hours in Dandong and instead took a bus to the coast of China and North Korea where we hiked a small mountain overlooking the Chinese/Korean border. We were greeted by groups of local men scrabbling up the mountain side. They claimed that this was an everyday occurrence and that at this particular season there were hoards of nuts to be found, picked and consumed. We also ran into a number of small Buddhist temples that seemed to contain a modicum of life and perhaps even religious practice. I always have a hard time understanding the state of religion in China. Does it exist? And if it does are there remnants of the old traditions that were all but destroyed during the cultural revolution? What are the interests of those that have come back to it? Really its tuff analyze too much because what do I really know about Buddhism and Religion in China? Nonetheless it’s hard not to see it all as cultural tourism. During the Olympics China’s 40some ethnic groups were displayed in their ‘traditional’ dress. A celebration of the uniqueness of humankind seems odd coming from communist party that once sought to destroy it all. A good step forward, but was the purpose to play on the imaginations of the viewers? To sell the world a dream about China’s openness to non-Han populations and promote the reproduction of these ‘traditions’ for tourist purposes. When we walked up the mountain near the Chinese Korean border we were met by women handing out prayer strings to tie to the trees, and then teaching those willing how to prey. A beautiful moment, until you realize that they are hostile to those who refuse to participate. Why? Because they expect pay for service. Something is lost in this transaction. It become impersonal. It’s hard to say who’s at fault here, the complicated history and the recent surge of economic thinking and power in China make it impossible to point fingers, and perhaps I’m just being naïve about religious tradition, but it does make one feel a little disheartened.

I'll have to write another post on the rest of the trip, which was very enjoyable.....