Last Weekend, Tonghai: Albert, Mongolians and the most beautiful temples I've ever seen!

Last weekend Piers and I went to Tonghai.
We left Eshan on a 9:30 bus and arrived in Tonghai at about 10:15.
There were heaps of hotels near the bus station so we quickly scouted it out and went for a reasonably low priced one (without being the cheapest). It was 60 yuan for one night in a double room, which is pretty good.

The first day we explored Tonghai, we quickly discovered the local market (a larger version of the one in Eshan). Then we went somewhere to get lunch. One the way we found this army store where I nearly accidentally electrocuted myself with a tazer. It was this flashlight that doubled as a tazer, but i couldn't read the chinese so i just assumed it was a flashlight and was fiddleing with the switches while i was holding the tazer end! Anyway after that we found somewhere to eat and had an ok meal. We explored the central area of Tonghai, discovering the beautiful old street and Tonghai No. 1 Middle School. GAP should really send some gappers there because it's a really awsome school, and Tonghai would be a great city to be placed in. Anyway, while we were checking out the old temple traditional building behind the school we met into one of the students, who's english name was 'Ran'. He was fairly confident with his english so we were able to talk for a while and understand each other pretty well. Ran's dad (it was a saturday and so the students had free time to go home and i think his parents were there to pick him up) who was into photography wanted to have a look at my camera, so he is the person taking the pictures for us when i'm in the shot.

At some point we went to a supermarket, where i found a plastic shop manakin's hand just lying on the ground, so i kept it. We contiuned walking around town, Piers bought a suit jacket and I found a really awsome suit - especially awsome because it fit me and it's hard to find clothes that fit me in China - but I hadn't brought quite enough money with me from Eshan to get it and then be sure i would have enough for the rest of the weekend. Especially considering we are going to Kunming next weekend to meet the Gap lady from England, Sally, who is going to be there for some reason, and I'll need money for that and then have enough to eat for the rest of the month haha.

I don't recall anything much we did that afternoon, but in the evening we discovered a bar called '2nd Back Seat'. The owner/bartender spoke suprisingly good english so we were able to talk as it wasn't very busy. The bartender's band also played in the bar. He was (amazingly) a fan of pretty reasonable western music, considering most people in china have really terrible taste in music we were really suprised. He also really liked Radiohead! Bizzare! He didn't understand the english lyrics to any of it though so he'd sing along just making the noises. We listened to his band play and then went to check out another bar we'd spotted earlier. This was much the same, expensive (by Chinese standards) drinks, though it was better lit. Eventually we felt tired and went back to the hotel.

The next day we got up late (hooray!), although after a bad night's sleep on both parts because the beds were pretty typical for china, shockingly uncomfortable (damn!). We decided to go check out temple we'd spotted on a hill while exploring the town. This temple was pretty typical as to the others we'd seen in china. An old lady let us into the top area with a key so we could see the temple and after we'd left a donation she started pointing across the town at pagoda on top of a high mountain, suggesting (we assume) that we check that out. We got the name of the mountain (i don't remember what it was) and we got a motorbike car thing there (i think they're called took tooks). We paid the driver 10 yuan (we got totally ripped off there, should have been 2 apparently). The climb up the mountain was actually really nice and not at all tiring. On the top of the mountain there were 4 or 5 old traditional buildings. Then right on top over looking Tonghai were two pagodas. While taking some pictures an asian man in a bright orange t-shirt said hello, how are you in really perfect english. We were really suprised, it turned out his name was Albert and he ran a cafe/taught english/offered his services as a guide to tonghai and some other nearby towns for forigners! We were VERY luckly to run into him, and we all got on very well. He had with him a lady from somewhere near Newcastle (UK, not NSW) who's name was Jan. Jan was..... um.... well she was just nuts. She talked as though she was complaining all the time and she'd go on about how China was no good now because so much was changing. She also made pretty rude generalisations about China and the Chinese. She had been to China like 7 times, but knew basically no Chinese and complained about the Chinese food! God knows why she came! At one point she actually said 'The problem with all the changes in China is there's nothing to complain about anymore.' Not that it stopped her. A girl from a local school was with us as well. Jan's parting words to her? 'Remember what i told you, no husband, no kids, no worries.' WHAT!? Leave her alone you batty woman.

Anyway Jan aside, we got on really really well with Albert, who was really really nice and is I think the best english second language speaker we've met in China. We went back with them to his cafe, where he immediatly dished out COLD beer - you cannot get chilled beer in china, they don't do it for some reason - in reaction to our suprise he said, 'I am used to Australians' Hahaha, see how awsome he was. Anyway after a really nice lunch (of which jan refused to eat anything but the potato dish) he invited us to come see the Buddest temples with them. On the side of this mountain were some 31 temples! We'd never seen them because they were all hidden by the trees up the side of the mountain. They were easily the most beautiful place I've ever been to in China. It was increadable peaceful (Jan had been there before so she took it very quickly and rushed up to the top) and we just talked with Albert. I doubt I could really describe any of it very well, so just check the pictures for this one.

After this we had dinner at Albert's cafe (Jan decided to go back to her hotel phew). Dinner was also delicious and the cold beer was plentyful. We talked with Albert and then he convinced us that it was definetly worth staying sunday night (we'd already missed Sunday's bus anyway) and going back to the school tomorrow lunchtime, in order to visit the Mongolian village. What? A mongolian village in southern China you ask! Well it turns out 754 years ago, Gengis Khan was moving his army down through China and he decided to sent a scouting party ahead as he was planning to come down to the south of China. However, he changed his mind and went a different way. The scouting part in the mean time settled in an area near modern Tonghai and their decendants are still there and have their own Mongolian traditions still!

We were fairly easily convinced. We also decided that we'd have to bring some of the other gappers with us to have a tour with Albert next time. Anyway we went booked into a new hotel, Albert got us rooms for like 30 yuan a night! We then went with him a bar we'd never noticed on the old street, which was really nice.

OOOH Lunchtime, i'm starving.... I'll do the last day after lunch, I promise!