Bus Station Chaos (Photo: M. Griffiths)
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 1, Beijing here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 2, The Great Wall here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 3, The Forbidden City here.
My
Crazy China Trip
Day
4, Xi’an
This
morning I got up bright and early to catch a bus to Xi’an, city of the Terracotta
Warriors!
I got the bus station and it was
crazy. There were people everywhere. Apparently it was a public holiday and
lots of people were travelling. There
were queues inside and outside and I had no idea where to go. Even the guys with the loud hailers looked
confused.
A young woman came up and asked me if I needed
help. I said yes. I wanted to go to Xi’an. Me too, she said, come this way. She
took me to an information counter I think and spoke to the lady there in
Chinese. Then she said, ‘The lady will get the ticket, it needs 300 yuan. We
take express bus’. ‘Ok’ I said. I gave her the money and she took some money
from her purse too. The lady behind the counter gave us two tickets and the
woman said ‘Come with me.’ It was amazing how we managed to avoid the queues. I’m
not usually that lucky. Lots of people around us started shouting and waving. I
just smiled and waved back. I felt like a celebrity. We went into a waiting room and then soon we were
on the bus.
On the bus I chatted to the woman.
She was very nice. She seemed to like me too. She stroked the hairs on my arm
and “I very like.” It was long trip even on the express bus. I bought a big
bowl of instant noodles from the attendant on the bus. It was yummy, just like
the ones at home. After that I needed to go to the toilet but it was blocked
and very smelly. Luckily they stopped at some places along the way. The toilets
weren’t great but I had my packets of tissues so was ok.
The view from the bus wasn’t very good. They
government has planted lots of trees in rows beside the roads. It is supposed to
be good for the environment. I reckon all it did was spoil the view.
I talked with the woman all the way
and she stroked my arm. When we got to Xi’an it was late and I asked her if she
wanted to have dinner together. She said yes. I checked in to my hotel and then
we had a nice dinner. Then she said let’s go to a bar so we went and had some
drinks. We talked and talked. It was great. I started getting that feeling in
my chest. Like indigestion or maybe love.
I hadn’t felt like that since I was sixteen in Maths class staring at
the beautiful blonde girl in the row in front of me. She never stared back
though.
The more drinks we had the more she leaned
against me and stroked my arm. ‘I very like.’ she said.
I started to get sleepy and said I should go
to bed. I had a big day planned for tomorrow. She said ‘Me come too.’ I said ‘Are
you sure?’ She said ‘Yes’ and stroked my arm, ‘I very like.’ I thought maybe I
would get to use those condoms after all. I hoped the packet had good
instructions.
We walked slowly back to the hotel. I almost had
to carry her to stop her falling down. The lady in the hotel gave me a funny
look but I didn’t care, I was in love. We went up to my room and she lay down
on the bed. I went to have a quick shower since I was a bit smelly from the traveling.
When I finished she was asleep on the bed and making little snuffling sounds. I
tried to wake her up gently but she was dead to the world. I lay down and went
to sleep as well.
When I woke up in the morning she
was gone. She left a note on the hotel note paper. “I very like.” I’m not sure exactly
what she liked. It’s hard to know with girls women.
Day
5, The Terracotta Warriors
The lady in the hotel booked me a tour to the
Terracotta Warriors. There were lots of other foreigners on the bus. I told
them about some of my adventures and thought it as very funny. In fact whenever
they looked at me they laughed.
The terracotta warriors were
amazing. Rows and rows of them. It was everything I imagined. You’re not
supposed to take photos but the locals were so I did too.
The terracotta warriors were made by the Emperor
Qin Shihuang to protect him in the afterlife. He unified China 2000 years ago. There
was a river of mercury flowing through the tomb too apparently. That would have
been cool to see. The buried army didn‘t protect him though. Some people got in
and stole lots of his treasure. The river of mercury was gone too. Maybe some
dentists stole that. Qin Shihuang wasn’t a very nice bloke so maybe it was
karma.
I wondered what Mao would say about all
that? I consulted my little red book and found this bit: Power comes from the
barrel of a gun. Maybe the emperor should have given the Terracotta Warriors
guns instead of spears. I’m not sure how useful terracotta guns would be though.
Maybe Mao wasn’t right about everything.
I didn’t want to leave but after about an
hour and half the bus driver said we had to go. On the way back to the bus I
saw some great souveniers, little terracotta warriors. I thought they would
look great on my book shelf next to my Star Wars figurines and Frodo the
Hobbit. The metal ones were expensive so I started haggling over some grey
pottery ones. They were kind of dusty so I tried to beat the price down. The
bus driver tooted just as we agreed on 20 yuan. I gave the lady a 100 yuan note
and started to walk to the bus, while she followed me looking in her bag for
change. The bus started moving so I ran and hopped on. The lady ran behind
waving the change but couldn’t catch up. Oh well, I still think I got a
bargain.
I played with the little warriors all the way
back in the bus. The dust just seemed to keep coming. I’ll give them a good
clean when I get home.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 2, The Great Wall here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 3, The Forbidden City here.
Read My Crazy China Trip - Day 6, Xi'an Lost and Found here.
Tell me what you think. Constructive comments welcome.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
********
There are plenty more stories on this site:
Beijing Private Eyes - Drama, Romance, Karaoke, Kidnap! A foreign teacher in Beijing meets an attractive stranger and offers to help, then things get complicated. (A long story in 8 parts)
Tell him he's dreaming - An engineer has an environmental epiphany but things don't work out as planned.
Trial by Fire - When a woman in Tibet self-immolates two witnesses face a dangerous dilemma. (4 parts)
Arrested Development - A development consultant in China finds life getting out of control. [Rated R]
Love at First Flight - A foreign teacher arrives in China and falls in love with a local, but the path of true love is anything but smooth. (5 parts)
Entries in the post-industrial / peak oil short story competition:
NEWS - My story 'Promised Land' has been selected for the forthcoming anthology "After Oil 2: The Years of Crisis". You can read the other entries here.
A previous set of stories was published in 2012 in a book entitled After Oil: SF Visions of a Post-Petroleum World, available from Amazon (Amazon) or in Australia from Fishpond (Fishpond).
Stories set in China:
Winds of Change – In 2022 a migrant worker struggles to realise his dreams and fulfil his family obligations.
Outside In – It's 2050, the country and economy have changed. A recycler studies for an exam to improve his prospects, and an indentured servant plans her escape.
Seeds of Time – (Sequel to Outside In). In 2055 rural China prospers again after a period of dramatic changes, then things are complicated by a strange visitor and a hidden object.
Stories set in Australia: A North Queensland Trilogy
Robots on Mars – 2025. A space-mad city boy adjusts to life in the country and tries to solve a mystery. (Note: no actual robots or Martians involved)
Promised Land – (Sequel to Robots on Mars). It’s 2050 and development threatens the rural district. Is it what they really need and if not, how can they stop it?
Heart of Glass - (Sequel to Promised Land). The year is 2099, high school graduates prepare to step into adulthood and the community prepares to celebrate the turn of a new century.
Tell me what you think. Constructive comments welcome.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
Tell me what you think. Constructive comments welcome.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment