Catshanghai

Happy holidays everyone.

This is my fifth Christmas in Asia. We spent this one at Nanning and Beihai in Guangxi, South China. We wanted to spend a few days away from people, bustle and rancid air.

Nanning is a green, relaxed city surrounded by mountains whereas Beihai is a rundown seaside resort on the south coast of China. Getting away from Shanghai is just what we needed.

Beihai
We had a good Christmas day in Beihai. The morning boat ride was very odd. I don’t understand the point of taking people on the sea to subject them to a cabaret performance of crude jokes and a freak show involving a dwarf and a lady boy. The view of Beihai from the boat was unremarkable. It looks depressed when the sky is overcast. All you can see are rusty ships and abandoned half finished building projects.

The sun started shining at lunchtime and that gave us a final opportunity to catch a glimpse of Beihai’s fine, white sand. Beihai has a desolate charm. It is meant to get busy in the summer, but it has been a ghost town of empty hotels, half finished building sites, bored pearl sellers, crewless boats and neglected shops. The beach front is clean and unspoiled. Even though the air was cold, the fresh air reminded me that I still have lungs.

We stayed in Beihai for two days. We spent the second night at Gu Li Island Holiday Hotel. It’s a cosy litle boutique hotel that manages to blend luxury and nature with Chinese good taste. We stayed in rustic huts between the beach and a dry cove of moored boats. Lovers looking for a romantic getaway could do a lot worse.

Beihai comes to life when the sun shines. We got a glimpse of it this afternoon at Da Jiang Bu, which is a Miandian minority village. The villagers are an earthy playful bunch who like to paint yellow stripes on their face while breathing fire down their shorts. The best thing about this place is that they get you to join in. What would China look like if the Hans had taken their cues from these folks rather than Confucius? Da Jiang Bu is the best minority village I have been to in China.

By the time we got back to downtown Beihai the temperature had crept up to 20 degrees. We spent our last hour in Zhongshan park, which is a fine green space that is far less crowded than anything Shanghai has to offer.

Nanning
We ended the holiday as we began in Nanning. The distance between Beihai and Nanning is a 2 and a half hour bus ride. Tickets cost 65 RMB each way and you get to see some lush hilly vistas from the road.

I was impressed with Nanning. It looks modern and prosperous, but greener and less busy than Shanghai. We’re staying at Hanting Inn, which offers comfortable, inexpensive rooms throughout China. The only snag was being woken at 8am by a spoorts day at the adjacent primary school.

We’re back in a chilly, but sunny Shanghai anticipating China’s first official new year’s holiday. Apparently, it is a 3 day holiday. This means I need to stay away from Yuyuan and Nanjing Dong Lu. Will it still be impossible to hail a taxi? I need to add a side car to my bike to carry Jenny around.