| I woke up early today so I could see the 2 sights I wanted to see,
had some breakfast, and headed out. I first went to the “Overhanging
Great Wall.” This is a section of the Great Wall that climbs up
a steep bit of hill, and has a watchtower at the top, which makes for
an OK view of the area.  Why do only say OK? Because when you get up there
and take a look, you can see pretty far across the desert, and to some
nearby snow-capped mountains, but what it ALSO lets you see is the number
of pollutant-producing factories which are ALL around Jiayuguan. The smoke
coming out of them makes the sky kind of brown, and therefore much less
nice to look at. Another somewhat disappointing aspect of this place is
that it’s totally obvious that this section of wall has recently
been completely rebuilt. Not restored, but rebuilt. I think that only
some of the steps you walk on are original. On the other hand, what’s
good about this place? The climb to the top is fairly strenuous, which
makes for good exercise, and it’s fun to watch the Chinese men (who
have smoked most of their lives, and never thought of actually getting
any sort of regular exercise) get tired about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up
and decide to have a smoke while they continue, wheezing with each breath.
I saw a statistic in a magazine that said 80-90% of Chinese people honestly
don’t think that smoking does any harm to the body. I really wonder
how long it will be in China before, like in some countries, there are
restaurants and bars that don’t allow smoking. Probably a LONG TIME.
 Anyway, after that I went to the Jiayuguan Great Wall Pass - the main
attraction here, after which the town is named (click
here for today’s pictures, where there are a few more shots
of stuff in Jiayuguan pass). The pass itself was built in the 15th century
(Ming Dynasty). This, too, has been rebuilt/restored, but not quite to
the degree that the Overhanging Great Wall was. I believe that the pass
was much better preserved than the Overhanging Great Wall, and therefore
required less work. The pass is fairly large, as it used to accommodate
all the soldiers necessary to man the pass, doing both guard duty, and
inspection/passage control work for the travelers going through.
Many of the facilities that used to exist there were not rebuilt (such
as a theater for entertaining troops). The walls of the pass and the sections
of the Great Wall near the pass seem to be the original, with maybe some
touch-ups to the very top, where there’s lookout towers and arrow-shooting
stations. They’ve put in an area where you can pay to shoot arrows
from upon the pass down to targets and straw-stuffed, burlap “soldiers”
with helmets.
All in all, I was able to appreciate the historical significance of
the two places, of the extension of the Great Wall to a point this far
west, and of a pass through which all Silk Road travelers of the time
went through. But the sense of history is greatly lessened by the way
these relics are presented. It’s almost as if Disney had attempted
to make an attraction out of the Great Wall, but had sent their worst
designer to do the job. Unfortunately, there are a number of historical
sites around China that have suffered this fate. Not all though. Oh, and
I also realize that I may also be suffering from a feeling of anticlimax
after having such a historical experience yesterday at the Mogao Caves.
Today, instead of taking the bus, I decided to take the train. This decision
was largely influenced by the lady at the hotel desk last night, who said
that the train would be smoother and faster, as railroad tracks make for
a better ride than poorly maintained road. I had to agree with her, especially
after having SUCH a bumpy ride yesterday from Dunhuang. I got to the station
by 3-wheel motorcycle-taxi and, just asked them for a ticket to Zhangye.
The ticket booth lady charged me 28RMB. I though that was a great price
for a faster trip - the bus cost 40-50 RMB. I had forgotten about the
“Hard Seat” factor.
 Trains in China are divided into 4 classes. From most expensive to least,
they are: Soft Sleeper (separate rooms of 4 beds, bunk style- top and
bottom - with assigned beds, and doors that latch closed from the inside),
Hard Sleeper (6 beds per section – top/middle/bottom – with
assigned beds, but no doors and thinner mattress pads, hence the name),
Soft Seat (assigned seats around the size of business class on an airplane
– but trains with Soft Seat cars are kind of rare), and of course,
Hard Seat (first-come-first-sit narrow seats which aren’t exactly
*hard*, but which are much less comfy than Soft Seat). Soft sleepers can
sometimes cost nearly as much as a cheap airplane ticket. When I asked
for a ticket to Zhangye they immediately gave me a Hard Seat ticket, since
it’s only a few hours away, which would mostly eliminate the need
for a bed, and there are no Soft Seat cars on this train. But in the Hard
Seat section, there’s no assigned seating, and its where all the
very poorest people sit. There are guys smoking cigarettes they’ve
rolled in newspaper. They pack themselves on, pushing and shoving to get
seats, dropping garbage and cigarettes pretty much at will - much like
the buses I’ve taken in the past few days. I get stared at here
more than I have this whole trip. And since this train started in Urumqi,
there are absolutely no seats. So I’m sitting in the doorway area,
next to where 2 train cars connect, sitting on my backpack, which is on
the ground with all the ashes, spit, hair, seed husks, and spilled food.
I’m right next to the “smoking section” (which I’m
actually really impressed they have, even though not everyone bothers
to use it), which is directly in between the two train cars, because some
amount of air gets sucked out there, so slightly less smoke flows into
the cars. Actually, though, it’s not completely horrible. The worst
part is the smoke, and I’ve also had to ask a couple of people to
stop staring at me, as they had been staring for over five minutes straight,
but other than that, I can handle it. Especially since it’s only
for a few hours.
I’ve actually had some OK conversations with some of the people.
I don’t mind the people who stare, but will acknowledge me as a
person when I notice. They can do this by either smiling or nodding, or
saying something. It’s the people who treat me like an animal in
a zoo that bother me. Even when I look back at them, they have no reaction
to me that would indicate they realize I am also human and self-aware.
I usually just stare back at these people until they feel weird because
they’re being stared at, causing them to realize that they are also
making me feel weird, and usually they look away. This works about 95%
of the time.
The ticket inspector/monitor is a very nice and thoughtful guy. He even
offered to find me a seat, but I declined, because I know that some of
the people on this train are on it for days and days, and deserve a seat
far more than I do. He told me he’s been working on trains for 20
years, and has met people from all over the world, and watched the trains
develop from conditions far, far worse than they are today. I have to
believe him. His perspective actually gives me hope for China. He’s
a person who recognizes the problems, but doesn’t let them get to
him. He just enforces the rules as they come. He doesn’t try to
hurry progress along; he just makes sure progress is upheld. I respect
that, and there’s much logic in it. China is naturally slow to accept
change. It is hard enough to change the habits of one person, let alone
1.3 billion, but the change comes, and will keep coming.
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