Our goal is to find the most interesting and the most “Chinese” parts of China. If you have any suggestions about where we should go or what we should be doing, please let us know. If you have any questions you think we should be addressing while on the road or any questions in general about China that you think should answered by our trip, please let us know in the comments section of this page.
中国各地的食物很特别。例如，在河北的留各庄的话，当然一定要吃一下驴肉火烧了啊。宁波有臭冬瓜，冬天的时候吃非常棒。
突然想到了一个人：徐霞客，400年前，他花了24年的时间游历了大半个中国，
http://furuzen.com/shjwm/cangshu/xuxk.htm
Evan喜欢看古文，可以简单看看他的《徐霞客游记》http://www.tianyabook.com/gudian/xuxiake/
徐霞客旅行路线图：
http://furuzen.com/shjwm/cangshu/xxk2.JPG
或： http://tupian.hudong.com/a1_72_29_01300000033415120848299954381_jpg.html
再提供两个信息：
徐霞客游滇路线考说
http://www.yn263.com/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=880
台湾版的
http://www.open-lit.com/bookindex.php?gbid=185
Hi guys,
You should register your blog for this China travel blog contest, I think you have a great chance, your blog is fantastic.
http://www.travelzen.com.cn
Just keep livin’ the dream, Evan, just keep livin’ the dream.
-Bryan
Happy birthday, Evan. The blog looks great…can’t wait for the book. Be in China soon.
Yangia and its surroundings look pretty surreal:
http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.094083,94.734944&spn=0.19619,0.306931&z=12
Yangjia*
if you head into henan, you should try to go to kaifeng and some of the smaller cities surrounding it. this area is about an hour out of zhengzhou, so a worthy detour.
in brief, it is the ancient capital of the song dynasty, and has many neat little nooks and places to explore by bicycle. there is an old catholic church, many buddhist temples and a few mosques. it is currently probably best known for its enormous night market. oh, and the re-creation of the qing ming scroll in theme park form.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Along_the_River_During_the_Qingming_Festival
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifeng
this fellow has been living there for two years studying chinese:
http://chinadispatches.blogspot.com/
Hi Andy, we are students in Mr. Triggs’ history seminar classes. We’re starting a project about areas of crisis, and we chose to research Tibet. Mr. Triggs thought you might be a good resource for us, and mentioned that you might be near Tibet soon. We’d appreciate any information, stories, or anything else you could give us! Also if you would ever be available for a skype session with our class we would all benefit.
Thanks! Bailey and Grace
Hi, Bailey and Grace. Tibet is an interesting and amazing place, and definitely a complicated crisis issue. If you haven’t already set an area in stone or someone else is looking for a good “crisis” area, China/India relations are also an interesting developing issue. In recent weeks, China and India have traded diplomatic outbursts over an area in Kashmir disputed by India and Pakistan, that China has for the first time come out on the Pakistani side of. The dynamic between India and China, two possible contenders for emerging superpower status, would certainly be an interesting one to explore.
On the Tibet issue, I’m afraid we are still in China’s east and won’t be making our way into Tibet until probably early next summer, if we go at all, so I don’t have a lot of first-hand knowledge to share at the moment. As I’m sure you’ll find out in your research if you don’t know already, China keeps foreigners pretty restricted in Tibet, especially outside of Lhasa. You need a special permit to get into Tibet at all, but it is only good for Lhasa. To get out of there, you need to go with a tour group or pay to rent a 4×4 and hire a guide and a driver. We’ll have to see what the situation is with bikers when we get to the area. However, depending on the political situation, we will be passing through a number of Tibetan areas in Sichuan province. Historically, these areas were part of Tibet, and they are part of the Greater Tibet that China accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking independence for.
I’d be happy to offer whatever personal insight I can to help you out when you have specific questions, and I might be able to point you in the direction of some good sources for research. Given the 12-hour time difference between Eastern Time and here though, it would probably work best if I could respond to written questions by email. A Skype chat might be difficult to set up as we rarely have access to wifi, although I can access email and the internet (slowly) through my phone. You are welcome to contact me at andy@portraitofanlbx.com for that.
Best of luck!
Definition of LBX:
“老百姓”这是中国人（汉人）常常挂在嘴边的自称。在战国以前的时代，“百姓”是指有姓之人。“姓”这个字，分开来就是“女”、“生”，什么样的女人生的（或者在一个什么地方生的）儿子，就得了一个相应的姓。相传黄帝的母亲是住在姬水边上的，所以黄帝就姓姬；舜的母亲是住在姚虚的地方，所以舜就姓姚了，那时候，子并不跟着父亲姓，比如黄帝，就给他的后代分别赐了12个不同的姓。所以那时候有姓的就都是王公贵族，“百姓”也就是“百官”。一般的平民，不知道他的老祖宗的妈妈在哪里住的，老祖宗又无权无势，够不上称“百姓”，只能说是“黎民”，或者被称为“庶民”。 到战国时代以后，在贵族和奴隶之间出现了一个既不是贵族（可能祖上是贵族后来没落了）也不是奴隶（可能祖上是奴隶，后来被主子给放生了）的一个阶级，他们的人数慢慢地比贵族和奴隶还多了起来。所以，“百姓”们来，因为他们也有姓，所以“百姓”和“黎民”或“庶民”就变成一回事了，书上就有了“黎民百姓”的词语。 因为“黎”字也有年纪大的意思，国人（在此主要指汉人）看来，是大的占便宜的，（比如做人的“老子”、“老爷”、“老祖宗”，或者“老板”，不都是很占便宜的吗？）所以，百姓们就自称“老百姓”，算是天天在官老爷面前自称小民的一点点补偿。但在白纸黑字的古书中，从来没有在“百姓”前面还加个“老”字的。只是不能写书的“庶民”们不知从哪朝哪代起“老百姓、老百姓”地叫到了今天，“老百姓”也只能在老百姓之间才敢说的。(摘自《万事由来》来源： 宁夏网☆华)。
i hear yangshuo is lovely this time of year!~
什么时候路过上海呢？我可以和你们一起骑几天，from shanghai to huzhou湖州 and to hefei合肥。我很喜欢你们的老百姓记。
Hi Andy, thanks for your response and advice in our project! Bailey and I wanted to know if you experienced any direct tension or comments concerning Tibet while in China. I know there are many protests about freeing Tibet in other areas, so we wanted to know about your personal experience or the opinions of others around you. In other related terms, we were curious about your personal opinion of China’s claim on Tibetan land and if it is legitimate. Alos, do you think that the U.S. has a right to interfere in the situation? I know it’s a complicated issue and you may not have time to elaborate but any insight would be appreciated! Thanks so much!
Grace and Bailey
Two years ago, when I travelled from Kathmandu to Lhasa as part of an obligatory group, there were a quite a few cyclists moving in the opposite direction, from Lhasa to Kathmandu. I’m not sure if it’s still possible, but it’d be a good way to escape the attentions of the CCP.
So happy to encouter you guys on the net by chance.Yangjiang is a place worhty to be travelled around,in which located southeast of Guangdong Province.
到浙江了！不知道来不来宁波？最近的天气确实不适合骑行。祝福你们！
估计我们不会到宁波因为我们尽量避开大城市
I have been living in or “with” China since 1988, and my favourite outside Beijing is definitely Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province. I doesn’t appear you have been there yet, I recommend it – I have met many people as generous as Mr.Fu and as diverse as your LBX’s anywhere, ranging from secretive fakers and self-inflated product designers to laid-back potters (mostly men) and chatty painters (mostly women), not to mention the ubiquitous eager entrepreneurs. The porcelain industry that has, somehow, survived in JDZ since it was first invented there a thousand years ago, would provide a welcome backdrop for your excellent photography, and the vivid descriptions which I shall be recommending to my students at Externado University in Bogotá, Colombia. BC (lecturer, Contemporary China Studies)
向往，却又不敢展开翅膀抛弃一切去飞翔。。。
我是个宁波人，但是我确实想说，宁波的人文气息，真的不行。一般来说，会让你们失望的。
Hainan. Specifically the back roads around Wuzhishan and the fabulous still dirt roads between Bayi and Ledong. Also some real nice stuff in Baisha.
Promise you a free place to stay in Haikou (with hot water and a washing machine)and a free place to stay in Wuzhishan (200 sqm and owned by a local cyclist) and maybe a few other places where people could be convinced….
Marian, that sounds awesome. I really hope we have time to do a circle around Hainan while we are down south!
I think it would be very hard for you to reach the goal “a search for humanity in China”.What I see is a journey floating on a giant map,with observing and concluding as a total outsider.And sometimes the conclusions came from some kind of misunderstandings and prejudice.China now is a huge fast-changing complex with lots of problems,and LBXs’ life may not be that good,so it’s already been difficult to find those things you’re looking for. Plus the people here are so diverse and the culture is diffrent,it will be easier to just complain or find “funny” stuffs.
我觉得如果能临时把自己当成中国人一样来思考和行动的话，应该会比较容易发现那些“dignity and humanity in a place that is perhaps most replete of both”。
西方人会比较难理解中国的各种问题，一方面是对历史文化不甚了解，一方面是社会发展水平相差太大，还有一方面是老外们下意识会有点以居高的旁观者姿态来看待中国。
First, thank you to everybody who has contributed suggestions to us on this page. We need all the help we can get, and you have all been very helpful.
马可, thank you too for your perspectives, as they are illustrative of a very common Chinese attitude toward foreigners who attempt to write about your country – namely that as outsiders, we are completely incapable of making any assessment since your country is so different from ours. I’d like to go through your post point by point.
- I think it would be very hard for you to reach the goal “a search for humanity in China”: I think you’re very right about this. We are probably not skilled enough to produce anything meaningful out of this trip, but we’re going to try our hardest anyway.
- What I see is a journey floating on a giant map,with observing and concluding as a total outsider.And sometimes the conclusions came from some kind of misunderstandings and prejudice.: I’m very open to criticism, but can you keep it targeted? Where do you see specific misunderstandings or prejudices? Can you tell me exactly what we’ve said that is a misrepresentation of the truth? Otherwise this is 100% ad hominem (人身攻击), attacking us personally for not possessing the intellectual capacity to observe and comment on a culture in which we’ve lived for 5 years (and have studied for 8 ) rather than any particular facts.
-China now is a huge fast-changing complex with lots of problems,and LBXs’ life may not be that good,so it’s already been difficult to find those things you’re looking for.: Bingo! China is overhauling itself more massively than I would have ever imagined possible before I came here, and yes, the life of locals is to put it lightly, a little 差 (lacking). It is VERY hard to find the things we’re looking for, which is why we see the value in looking for them. If China’s good parts were everywhere for the world to see, there’d be no need for what we’re doing, but since they have been so buried, it’s our goal to try to uncover them.
- 我觉得如果能临时把自己当成中国人一样来思考和行动的话，应该会比较容易发现那些“dignity and humanity in a place that is perhaps most replete of both”。(translation: I believe that if you temporarily think of yourselves as Chinese in your reflections and actions, it will be relatively easy to find that “dignity and humanity in a place that is perhaps most replete of both”): What does that mean? Why do I have to be Chinese to see dignity and/or humanity? I’ve been to several countries that are not “my own” and been able to pick out those characteristics, without having to “become a local.” Will break-neck development, fragmenting families, loss of concern for destroyed culture, and atrocious violations of human rights make more sense to me if I look at the world through Chinese-colored glasses? Again, instead of knee-jerk “all your assessments are necessarily wrong since you’re not from here” reactions, could you please tell me what specifically we’ve said that was wrong so we can have a meaningful discussion?
- 西方人会比较难理解中国的各种问题，一方面是对历史文化不甚了解，一方面是社会发展水平相差太大，还有一方面是老外们下意识会有点以居高的旁观者姿态来看待中国 (translation: It is relatively hard for Westerners to understand China’s various problems. One reason is that they don’t really understand our culture or history. Another is that the gap in development between the two places is too large. Finally, laowai [foreigners] take a stance of superiority in their treatment of China.): Again, you’ve gone attacking all foreigners in one fell swoop. Why do so many Chinese think it’s impossible for us to have come here and learned a great deal about your language, culture, and history? Why do you think China is such a tightly wound mystery that no outsider could ever hope to unravel it? Chinese history and culture didn’t come to the earth on an asteroid from outer space – they came from people, like you and me. We can thus use all those sensibilities that make us human to observe and react to the human condition in our next-door neighbor as well as in a land far away. Once studied, there’s no system that was created by human beings that other human beings are unable to learn — otherwise, how have so many generations of Chinese (also just people) been able to learn that culture from the preceding ones. Of course, if you assume that we laowai are inherently deficient in mental faculties to the Chinese, then it makes sense that you’d sweep anything we have to say under the rug. Could you possibly believe there’s a clairvoyance gene that only Chinese people have been blessed with? Yes, we have to take into account the violence and turbulence of the last 50 years, the scope of which I can’t even begin to imagine. And yes, it’s a difficult task because there are so many underlying story threads below the surface of everything we see, but admitting the difficulty, we’re trying to take a stab at understanding it anyway. I personally know hundreds of immigrants, among whom a great many are Chinese, to the US who have a very solid grasp on our language, culture, and history, and I wouldn’t deign to shoot down their insights on the way our country works just because they’re “outsiders” — especially if they were citing relevant facts! If you see somewhere in our writings that we have, through prejudice or just ignorance, made any sort of error in description or analysis, then please by all means let us know. Otherwise, please put down that nationalistic war horn, try not to summarily dismiss any commentary that comes from somebody who doesn’t look like you, and take it easy.
小魏(Evan),遊者或不迷,但是會有不知道的情況發生,如果更早10幾年像這樣的旅遊可能限制更多或更不可能,所以宜黃的(警察叔叔)讓你更了解LBX,他們也是LBX的一部份,尤其在民風保守的小地方突然出現3個老外騎著腳踏車到處照相,是不是要竊取國家機密?中國曾經比現在的北韓管治更嚴,像是對於人民的居住遷徙自由(很多歷史原因),比以前已經開放許多了,只希望中國成為大國之後對自由,民主更開放更有信心一些.
換個角度看你們的旅遊,你們是在旅行.考查.記録.以及磨練你們的意志力,這對你們將來有很大影響的,不管你們將來要做甚麼.
到福建,建議你們去土樓(在永定縣與南靖縣),當地居民為客家人與閩南人,是
因為戰亂從北方黃河流域逃難而來的漢人(中原人),土樓的建築很特殊,有歷史意義與漢族的文化精神,或許可以找到另外一種portrait of an LBX.
我英文程度不好,勉強看懂你的美式英文.如果你在比較深奧的英文部分可以加上中文註解會更好
Bonjour Aléxis nous te souhaitons un joyeux anniversaire.
Bises. Yvon.
小魏:潮州.汕頭.合稱潮汕.屬閩南語系,民風與廈門等類似,也是南洋華僑之鄉,
香港富豪李嘉誠是潮州人,潮州飲食很有特色喝的茶叫功夫茶與台灣老人茶類似.
我哥去過印象不錯.
突然想起来在这留言了，回来看了看。
Well,after reading my last comment,i believe at that time i was too
rash or impetuous.And i’m sorry for that.
After i check out your photos on picasa again,i think i still insist on some of my point.
for example,this one
http://picasaweb.google.com/portraitofanlbx/Anhui#5400460142484503730
每个雕像都会有个故事，或许就在那个地方发生的，所以就有雕像。为什么非得立在城市里呢？I can’t see anything funny.
and this
http://picasaweb.google.com/portraitofanlbx/Henan#5396815043120900066
In rural China,most people are not well educated,and some even have never gone to school.在农村地区能找到会画画的就不错了，墙上的宣传画和标语不能期望有多精美。标语的口气也不可能讲的很书面化，因为当地人不一定接受。但是这些画只要能起到作用就可以。
其次是内容，很多老外不理解计划生育，第一反应就是：“Human rights!It against human rights!”That’s true,but not fair.Have you ever thought about if there was no 计划生育，what the population of China would be?How to feed such a large population?How to solve a more serious environment problem?Would there be enough clean water?One thing is for sure,the world will complain that China emits too much CO2.事实上这几年政府正在放开计划生育政策，比如男女双方都是独生子女就可以生两个孩子。计划生育 was proposed by 马寅初 at first，who had received a PHD in economics and philosophy from Columbia University in 1914.
Anyway,I do really admire your journey.Wish you good luck!
马可, thanks for your support in the last comment, and I’m glad you rethought some of your other comments. Otherwise, I admit that the population of China is a problem that needs to be addressed. What kills me though is that the huge population of today is a direct result of party protocol from years ago, and now to fix the problem, they have swung the lever back to the extreme in the other direction, causing millions of people to kill their babies every year. I just don’t understand how anybody can take a thing they say seriously anymore. That, and their messages are not educational – they’re straight propaganda. I laugh a lot on this site, but that’s only to keep sanity.
Shanxi is fantastic – so much cultural heritage to explore and abundant in LBX. Breathtaking site. Thank you.
I imagine you will go to Guizhou?
I just want to say the quality of the writing, photography, and site are incredible. This is quite inspiring. Well done.
Jasmin, we’re definitely hoping to make it to Guizhou. It’s currently in our schedule, but we will have to see if we can keep up a good pace for all these mountains in Yunnan!
Jamie, thanks for the kind words! Tell your friends