I am in China now. Still haven't found a single foreigner.
So, I arrived in Urumqi almost a week ago. I wanted to write my first impressions, but apparently, I had no time to think about writing as I was working on surviving surrounded by locals who cannot speak English. Even the simplest action takes a lot of effort to pull-off as people are not super good at English here and I suck at Chinese. I now know that I should have learned at least some Chinese hieroglyphs before. Oh well, I now trust in the kindness of the people. And from what I see so far, Chinese people are super kind. At least in the Western part of China where I stay.
It is quite interesting that I am still have not seen any foreigners in China. It's like I am the only dumb Westerner who travels around non-touristic China regions during the winter. But I like that. It lets me feel the culture of China a little more and as far as I am concerned, Chinese culture is amazing - people are kind and the food is delicious.
The only thing that can happen while traveling is the feeling of loneliness. Especially when I travel alone now, which is a completely different experience compared to traveling with a partner. Also, it was easier to travel in Central America, in my eyes. China is just so different and the language barrier is so much bigger. I cannot even start to understand what locals are talking about.
However, I feel super happy. My heart is alive again and pumping strong. Everywhere I go, I smile. Even when I fail, I smile and enjoy the process. I will keep you updated on my journey from now on including all the good and bad moments. I am currently staying near the Labrang monastery and trying to find some monks who would be willing to speak with me and discuss life. I will keep you all updated on my travel from now on. I am still a little busy trying to figure out my schedule while traveling, but writing is one of the priorities!
P.S. Yeah, I don't travel completely alone as I have my panda friend, who is my travel buddy. However, he is not super talkative yet. I believe it might be the language barrier.
I have to say that you are very brave to travel alone in Urumqi, because most of the foreigners live in big cities, such as Shanghai,Beijing. However, if you speak to young people, some of them can speak a little English.
Just the titel made me laugh! Thanks, nice.
Thank you for sharing your travel experiences.
Yeah, that's a problem in reaching out to see and learn from foreign cultures. I also would want to see what's alien to me and to learn something from that strangeness. As language cannot be overcome at once communication by words cannot take place. Another form of communicating must be chosen. What an interesting experience...
I really do wish you the very best and look forward to what you'll write. What I most would like to do is to visit the monks. Do you think it's decent to take some pictures of the monastery?
Good luck to you, health and encounters.
Hug the panda for me.
Ow, I can so relate to this! I traveled/lived alone in China for a while too... It's hard to explain to people why it's not the same as travelling in other countries...
I hope you'll have a lot of good experiences and keep reflecting on the things that are different. And keep us updated! It can be exhausting, but also worth it!
My dream has always been to visit china. literally i have a recurring dream of floating down the Yangtze river. It the only recurring dream i have ever had.
Nice to read that you are back out into the world and feeling alive.
enjoy my man...and maybe down load that app that lets you speak into your phone and it verbally translates it to chinese... or just keep moving about talking smile...that's a good language too!