Hello from Beijing

Hey

Desole, je n envoie pas beaucoup de news, et oui les connections sont lentes et puis je suis a fond dans mon voyage...bref aujourd hui pas d excuse...je vais vous raconter un peu...donc je suis en chine ce pays dont on commence a parler mais qu on ne connait si peut.

Et oui je n esperais pas beaucoup de la chine pourtant ce pays et les chinois m impressionnent enormement....Je traverse la chine du Sud au Nord.

La chine est cette unique pays :

- ou l on construit partout et en permanance... la nuit, le dimanche ..24h/24 7/7j...on m avait dit la chine c est un melange de moderne et de tradition moi je n ai vu que le moderne!!! la moitie du beton utilise dans le monde est utilise en chine.

- ou il n est pas impoli de se moucher avec les mains, de peter ou de roter, cela peut etre fait en public sans que personne ne soit deranger

- ou l on coupe 60 000 arbres par jour pour fournir 80 000 000 de baguettes journalieres.

- ou l on peut se promener tout une journee  dans une ville de 4 millions d habitants sans voir un etranger ..mais en etant regarder par des milliers de chinois (voir pris en photo certaine fois).

- ou l on copie tout...les ferreros rochers sont copies et non pas du tout le meme gout, les starbucks coffee sans des fausses enseignes, des faux scooter avfec le meme design Piaggo, j ai meme vu un clochard avec un sac Louis Vuitton.

- ou dans la matinee j ai porte des gants et une echarpe et l apres j ai pris des coups de soleil

- ou l on trouve des toilettes publics sans separation ou tout le monde fait ses bessoins en se regardant dans le blanc de l oeil.

- ou l on mange tout ce qui a 4 pattes sauf les tables, d ailleurs je ne prands jamais le plat le plus cher dans un restaurant , c est mon seul moyen d eviter de manger du chien.

- ou l on peut aller sur internet a 3 heure du mat et trouver  plus de 1000 jeunes connecter dans un cyber cafe immense

On a une mauvaise image de la chine , mais la chine nous rattrape et nous depassera dans tres peu de temps, les blancs mangent leur pains blancs!!

Maintenant je suis a Qingdao, sur la cote, je prends le bateau vendredi pour rejoindre la coree du sud...20 heures de raffiot.

Vous pouvez retrouver mes aventures sur mon blog http://rickchaw.uniterre.com c est en anglais car cela permet de la faire partager au gens que je rencontre.

Cela fait maintenant 5 mois que je voyage, tout les jours ce voyage me reserve de nombreuses surprises et  rencontres, il se peut que cela se prolonge.

Merci pour vos messages, cela me fait chaud au coeur.

Je vous embrasse et je pense bien a vous tous.

Pierrick

I was little bit lazy to write down my news discoveries this last times, i gonna try to sum up the mains events the last 2 weeks. 

I stayed two days in the a youth hostel, close to the west lake in Hangshou, I visited the chinesse tea museum, walked around this wonderful lake. I hiked by night in the suburbs of Hangshou with a russian-polish girl Katarina, we went in that ghost district under construction. Hangshou is a modern city of 6 millions of inhabitants.

I took a fast train to go to Shanghai, city supposed to be international, well for me it s a chinesse city with only chinesse and few foreigners. I met Mrs Panda, a french guy who launched a business, he is making gadget for magicians, he showed me several tricks. I spend 4 days in Shanghai, I visited the bud, the shanghai museum.

As sightseeing, i enjoyed one of the highest scyskrappers of the world. I stay one night at Lara flat, a french girl who hosted me in her nice flat in the french concession district through couchsurfing association. I met back Yarri, a shanghainesse, that I met in Vietnam. He invited me in a retaurant where I had to choose among thoussand of fish in an aquarium which fish  I wished to eat. THe cooker killed in front of us, 10 minutes later we was savoring this fish.

From Shanghai i decided to go directly to Qingdao, a coastal city. The downtowm is composed of german architecture buildings, built during the german occupation. The famous beer Qingsdao is made here. My first job there was to book a ship ticket to Korea.

From Guilin I had a night in the sleeping train to get changsha. I got in changsha at 6 am , it was still at night. A student tried to help me. I took a local bus to get a university, it was supposed to have beds availables for 30 Yuans. Once there, only private room really expensive, i came back in the center. After having the runs (stomackhache) in naning, i ve a cold now. I went to the chemistry, i didnt understand nothing, they gave me something after showing them my throat, i don t know how many pills i ve to take, but i trust in them, i take 2m sounds good number?.

Changsha is a really big city, 4 millions of inhabitants, i walked all day long , i haven t seen one foreigner...i think it the only country in the world where it can happen. I visited the home where lived Mao Zedong. I tasted a tea with chrysantem. I ve been also in a restaurant own by a arab family (they are muslims). Actually they look like more to algerians people that to chinesse...but they have been living here in china for severals centuries.  

At the train station, i trusted also a student to buy my train ticket. THe trip was supposed to last the night. INstead of that, the trip lasted 4 hours. I arrived in Nanchang at midnight. I cheched hotel in my guide, i take a taxi to get the cheapy hotel. I woke up the receptionist, he told me that is was full. I was supposed to sleep all night long in the train instead of that i m ealking in a big city, looking for accomodation in the middle of the night (because of the poor english of this chinnesse student)!!! I found a top end category hotel, 16 euros , I bargained i got it for 12 euros...but it was really nice. No english channel on the TV. It s impossible to find international channel in china.  In the travel agency, top end category hotel, tourist information...staf don t speak english.

 Next morning, I applied by internet for an russian invitation in order to get the russina visa in Beijing.

 I ve been 5 days now without meeting the least foreigner!!! Why they are so many tourists in vietnam? Chinesse are so much more friendly and  honest ? I feel great with them.. THat s mysterious!!

 I would like to discover the tradional china so on sunday i took tow buses to go to wuyuan, after i took another bus to go to licken, a small village in the mountains. People are excellents, the village has traditionals houses.

That s a so peaceful place. I pay 2 euros for a room in a homestay, the housewife never stop to speak to me in chinesse!!, i ve my hot water to make my own green tea..great 

In china, you ve to be ready to be a star, people ask to you in the street to take a picture of you with them. Now i m in Hangshou, i m so impress about the number of cranes, site builiding everywhere: Bridges, roads, thoussands of building,...it s unbeelivable. You can see 50 buildings (the same design), under construction in the same time. Even on sunday, at night..thoussands of workers....working, pouring concrete,..

To finish that article i give you a number: 60 000...its the number of trees which are cut every day to supply the daily chopsticks for chinesse.

From Hanoi i took a bus to nanning (south china). I ve got a three months visa (2 entrance) in hanoi chineese consulate.

At the chinnese border, a french couple adviced me to hide my lonely planet guide book. They told me that the chinesse don t want that travelers go in china witrh that, they take you off that book. Because in that book it s readen that taiwain doens t belong to china. My first step in china...Nanning..ouah..a schock....another planet.

My first felling are : many young people, clean , modern, only chinesse character, hugeness of the city, efficiency,.... Nanning has two millions of inhabitants, there are only few foreigners. people don t care about you, just few students give you a discret smile. Nanning is a big city (as big as Lyon or valencia or manchester) but nobody knows that city in europe, there are 30 bigs cities in china (from 2 to 20millions) of inhabitants but most of them are unknow by westeners.

I shared a room we a french man Fabrice, and an israeli boy Ronen because accomadotion is expensive here and nobody can help us because of the language barrier. Fabrice 53 old man is travelling for two years, every day he sends to  france a piece of art  that he find in different place (local objects, amzing waste,...), he calls that ''post art''. A friend of him collects that every day...to make a kind of museum.

In Nanning i met an english speaker, Jack from singapore. he showed us nice local place, He took us to the night market, we tested so many stranges stuff. He helped me to buy a SIM Card

My first goal here, is to learn how to show number. For example, To pay 6 yuans, they don t show you 6 fingers, they make a special gesture (It s looks like t the gesture when you want to imitate a phone, or the famous gesture of the soccer player Ronaldinho). IN the street nobod speak english , if you llof your way, you ve to point the name of the strret in chinesse. So you can count till 20 with one hand. 

Chineese are really friendly... i had lot of bad experiences in vietnam. People give you in most of the case local price...they smile and they arenot as hateful as vietnamese towards the foreigners. From Nanning I travelled with Mickael a canadian boy (He s english teacher in china). In the train to GUilin, we was considered as star, a old lady gave us chocolate, two students  take us till the hotel.

In GUilin, we tested the famous green tea and we climb up two peaks. Mickael taught me that if i want toi avoid to eat dog, i just to never order the most expensive dish.

Two things really shocked me in china for now:

- when you go in a cyber cafe to send an email in the middle of the night, and you find at least 1000 youngs people playing in the same time at the computer games. In Paris a typical Cyber cafe has 10 computer but not 1000.

- At the bank clerk, you have to give your appreciation about the worker after he attends you. You can see the total appreciations that he got previously.