Oh, Sweet Sea Level

For once, I am actually finding time to do this!

At the moment I'm in Chengdu, China, waiting to catch an overnight train that will eventually end me up in Lijiang. This morning I went to see the Giant Pandas at their cozy little research base nearby, and was amazed at how much efforts people put into taking care of animals when they want too. What is it about the panda that humans love so much, enough to devote huge amounts of money and effort to saving it? And much of this conservation effort is sponsered by the Chinese government, the same people that have been slowly trying to erradicate Tibetan culture just up from here in the mountains. It's weird, there is more sympathy for the pandas than for the Tibetans. The Tibetans just got the shitty luck of inhabiting what happens to be a very valuable and very strategic place on the Asian continent. And they just aren't as cute and cuddly as the pandas either.

And while I'm on the subject of drastic contrasts here in China....just yesterday I woke up in Lhasa, where I had spent 5 days rubbing shoulders with devote Buddhist pilgrims in monasterys that smelled of incense and yak butter, and by evening time I find myself in a bar in Chengdu watching a sweaty man wearing a poor imitation of an Elvis costume gyrating on stage surrounded by scantily clad women. Wow. China.

Visiting Tibet was an eye opening experience. I realized that I had a LOT of misconceptions about the place and the people, and once again, my opinions have been changed after learning so much more. I still have a lot of sympathy for what has happened to Tibetans, but my image of them has been altered a lot. Not in a positive or negative way, I just have a much more complete understanding.

I'm in China for about another week, which I will spend in the Yunnan province trying to escape the cities and the smog (it is disgustingly polluted in almost every place I've been). Then I'll head to Vietnam around November 5th to meet up with my friend Raj. I've enjoyed traveling alone for the most part, but it will be nice to have a default partner in crime (and shopping).

My train awaits....