Chengyang, Land of the Dong People

Day 6 (28th March 2011)

The next morning, I was on the road by 6:45 a.m. I wanted to explore Zhongsan Road to check out the locations of hostels along this street. There were quite a small number of hostels at the southern end and less further north. I would know where to go the next time I was back in Guilin.

I returned soon. As I was checking out from the hotel, the elderly man arrived. What a dedicated man, providing such good service! He led me across Zhongsan South Road to his booth.

I paid him RMB60 and was issued a receipt accordingly. A lady, introduced to me, would lead me to the Sanjiang-bound bus when it arrived. Then, the lady left. 8:30 a.m. came and went. There was no lady and there was no bus. Finally, she showed up a few minutes late and led me to the bus stop adjacent to the ticketing booth. At 8:45 a.m., the bus arrived. Finally, I would be on my way to Sanjiang. She came aboard the bus and clocked the ticket (or so I thought).

Mid-way through the journey, she said I should get off the bus. I was caught by surprise. Wasn’t this the Sanjiang bound bus? No, we had actually arrived at Qin Tan Bus Station. She led me to the departure gate. The bus would leave at 9:30 a.m. That was fine. Since there was time to kill, I went to the loo just before departure time. On coming back, the conductor asked for the ticket. I gave her the receipt and then suddenly, she passed me a ticket which she was holding in her hand. The fare was RMB37.

I realised that I have once again being scammed, this time by an elderly man in cahoot with other scammers. He made a tidy sum of RMB23 just by being nice and offering half-truth as advice. He probably made some more money by introducing me to the hotel too. How could I again trust another Chinese! Are there any honest Chinese in the tourism trade?

The bus departed as scheduled at 9:30 a.m. There were some surprises in the bus. At least three men sitting on the row in front of me spoke Fuzhou, and they seemed to be travelling independently. On the row behind me on the other side, there was a Fuzhou couple with their kid. I could not believe it. So many Fuzhou were travelling to Sanjiang.

From the husband, I found that he was working in Sanjiang. Were there many Fuzhou working in Sanjiang? It was a city that seemed to be under rapid development, with construction work being carried out on very road and street.

The bus finally arrived at Sanjiang at He Dong Bus Station (for long-distant buses from Guilin, Longsheng, etc.) after 3 hours at 12:30 p.m. I inquired at a ticketing counter and was advised to take a tuk-tuk with a fare of RMB2 to He Xi Bus Station (for local buses to Chengyang, Zhaoxing, etc.) to get the transportation to Chengyang Bridge. On the way, the tuk-tuk driver asked me about my destination and on learning that it was Chengyang, he offered to take me there for RMB40. It was affordable but anyway, I negotiated with him and his final offer was RMB35 for the 40 minute ride. I took it mainly for the experience as this was my first ride in a tuk tuk.

At the entrance gate to the cluster of villages at Chengyang, the tuk tuk driver stopped for me to purchase the entrance ticket. It was RMB60. He drove through the modern bridge and stopped at the first hotel near the Chengyang Bridge, Cheng Yang Bridge National Hostel. It was fully booked and we were told that all other hostels in the villages were fully booked too. He reversed and returned to the modern bridge where there was a hostel, Dong Village Hotel situated beside it (owned by Michael Yang, whose name appeared frequently when you do a search on Chengyang accommodation). The rate was RMB80 and affordable.

Earlier, I was told by some villagers at Chengyang Bridge that there would be a folk performance at 3:30 p.m. The only problem was where. From Chengyang Bridge, I strolled along the foot path which would lead to Ma'an Village in search of the performance. Ma'an  Village lies barely 50 metres from Chengyang Bridge.

Though Chengyang was highly recommended by Western bloggers, I saw modernisation creeping in already, with cement and brick being used in new buildings. Commercialisation has also crept in and I have this unpleasant feeling that the villagers were very much material oriented, at least as far as money was concerned. It was a major disappointment, in so far as Chengyang Bridge and Ma’an Village were concerned.

Chengyang Bridge itself was occupied by villagers selling handicrafts and souvenir. The river flowing beneath it was not very clean, with rubbish clearly seen here and there. The waterwheels, which could be an attraction themselves have been abandoned, neglected and were decaying. The Dong villagers performing their dances, singing and playing music at 3:30 p.m. did not seem enthusiastic and the performance lack-lustre. During the drinking ceremony, donation was solicited. At Ma’an Village Square where the performance was conducted, the old women sellers would come back to you over and over again to sell their wares, even after you have bought them. I overheard one Chinese visitor saying to the old peddlers that she had bought some items already and asking them why would she needed to buy so many.

If you think you could walk on the main road to another village after paying the RMB60 entrance fee a day earlier, you would be disappointed. There are youngsters right on the main road side of the modern bridge who would stop you from doing so, saying that the entrance fee was for the earlier day. The official in uniform there would not stop them. This was pure greed. Shameful, really!.

It was not worth a night’s stay and you should just save the cost of accommodation for somewhere else. I have enough of this over-rated place.

Instead of staying until check-out time of 12:00 noon the next day, I had decided to leave early the next morning for Sanjiang for my onward trip to Zhaoxing.

Great-great Grand Mama of All Banyan Trees

Day 5 (27th March 2011)

I was out on the street before 8 a.m. to explore Binjiang Road again, to the part which I did not go earlier. There was a long sheltered stretch at the end of the road, probably planned for the tourism industry. With the Lijiang right beside it, Binjiang Road is a good place to look for accommodation for vacationers who appreciate the scenery of the Lijiang.

After the Binjiang Road exploration, it was off to Banyan Tree. The route to the Banyan Tree Park is 100% on paved road. Most of the attractions of Yangshuo lie along this route, such as Ancient Totem Path (whatever that was), Assembly Dragon Cave, Butterfly Spring (cave?), Gongnong Bridge, Big Banyan Tree, Moon Hill, etc. It was an easy ride.

There were so many vacationers on bicycles, including those led by tour guides. It was just one long road with no turns so getting lost was almost impossible. The view along the route was very scenic, and when I was there, the flowers from the Yew Chai (whatever its English name is of this leafy vegetable) was blooming.

The entrance fee to Banyan Tree Park was RMB20. However, on reaching there, I was approached by a tout who said she could get it for RMB15. I doubted her, thinking that she would be selling me used ticket. In order to convince me, she bought the ticket with her own money first under my wary eyes, and I paid her after I had gone through the entrance. How did she make her money?

As at all the other tourist attractions along this route, the area was crowded with young Chinese tourists. There was a long line of coaches parked outside the road, obviously bringing in the tourists in packaged tours. They were more interested in taking photographs of themselves than the poor Banyan Tree, which seemed to be ignored by the majority of the Chinese tourists.

That afternoon, I would be going to Guilin for a night before departing the next morning for my next destination to Sanjiang, enroute to Chengyang Bridge. The fare for the public bus from Yangshuo to Guilin was RMB15, with no ticket issued.

The Yangshuo-Guilin bus terminated at a bus terminal right across the road in front of the Guilin Train Station/ bus terminal where I departed from on the first day.  A hotel tout tried to sell me a room for RMB88 at a hotel there, but my intention was to stay close to the bus station where the Sanjiang bus would be based (which I leant later was called Qin Tan Bus Station). She said that Qin Tan Bus Station was far away and the bus ticket to get there was RMB7. She assured me that the Sanjiang bound bus would be passing through this area also and there was no need to stay near Qin Tan Bus Station. However, I ignored her, fearing another scam again.

After walking around a while at the Guilin Train Station/ bus terminal, I noticed ticketing booths selling bus tickets under the trees. At one of the booths, an elderly man manning the booth said he was selling tickets to Sanjiang, pointing to the bus schedule displayed at the front of the booth. He was friendly and helpful. He also said that the Sanjiang bound bus would pass through the area. I could buy the ticket from him the next morning. The bus would be departing at 8:30 a.m. and I should be at his booth by 8:00 a.m. to get the ticket.

Since that was the case, I decided to stay at a hotel nearby. He even offered to find the accommodation I needed, initially to a low-priced hostel at RMB40/ night but seeing it so dirty, I asked him to recommend another hotel. The second hotel was nearby and was also across the road from Guilin Train Station/ bus terminal too.

At this hotel, I asked for a room in the price range of RMB80. The receptionist replied that a room was available and after checking the room and returning to the reception, the price was RMB90. Umm! I sensed something amiss! Anyway, I agreed.