Excerpt

LET’S GO TO GUANGZHOU (CANTON)

I was now officially in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). As I was now in a new country, I was required to change my money into the local currency. I also had to catch a train leaving in forty minutes to Canton.

Now the business of changing money in the PRC was totally unlike any other country I had ever visited. The simple explanation for this is that there are two types of currency that the alien traveler has to contend with. (This is even more so if you are independent.) Now you can change your money at a bank or more likely the larger hotels. However when you cash your traveler’s checks, you will receive in return the English Printed Tourist Money which most travelers dubbed “funny money.” You can also ask for the regular Renmin or Normal Money, this is the currency that is used by the One Billion masses. Hopefully it won’t be too confusing to follow. There were however occasions when only one type of currency was acceptable. I wound up keeping an equal amount of both currencies. Equilibrium!

The funny money was the only money you could use at the Friendship Stores, where western products and supposedly better quality merchandise were for sale.

On the other side of the ledger, Remnin currency was used at all Train Stations, local shops and markets. Of course if you’re in a tour group you would never concern yourself with this double standard. I always wondered how many of these tour groups were aware that there were two currencies?

After I changed my dollars for Yuan; roughly Two Yuan for the US Dollar, a most gracious Hong Kong lady took the money I gave and purchased for me a ticket at the local price to Canton. I say local price because all foreign visitors, excepting Hong Kongers, Taiwanese and foreign students studying in China or Taiwan, usually had to pay almost twice as much in Yuan. The way around this was to get a Chinese/Hong Konger to buy the ticket for you. Another way was to speak a little Mandarin and persuade the ticket seller that you were a foreign student. This usually required some sort of student I.D. with Chinese characters indicating where your school or institute was located.

Of course the real reason for all this hassling is the unwritten code that some independent travelers strive to maintain and that is, “the less you spend the better.” Perhaps it’s the desire to live like the natives. Having been on a two year trip to Asia and Australia I had adopted this code to my own discretion. I was a cheapskate! But I had been traveling this way for years. It didn’t matter that now it was China. No, I was on the road again. Of course not actually ala Jack Kerouac style, but why should I pay more if I can get around for less! Of course it involves some unethical means, but we do live in unethical worlds. That’s first, second and third worlds.

The train was crowded, every seat taken. I had a ticket with an assigned car and seat. The ride to Canton was another two hours. For me in China, 95% of the time the trains always were packed. The trains were even more packed than the Indian Rail System. More about the trains from time to time, later on.

Looking out from my window as we headed for Canton, the roads were dusty and unpaved. There were lots of people and lots less vehicular traffic. Looking out I saw green rolling hills, endless rice fields and many rivers. Because Guangdong Province of which Canton is a part of is so close to the economic influences of Hong Kong, special economic zones have been created throughout the Province. In these special economic zones, more capitalism is tolerated by the Beijing government. As a result the province has been transformed by a lot of economic and technological development. This was quite apparent along the Sumchum-Canton route. New construction was obvious. But realistically it was still light years away from the ultra free enterprise model that Hong Kong is. China is still a very poor country.

As we were sitting and chatting away, I had the pleasurable company of two young Norweigan ladies. Down the aisles came an attendant holding a large teapot of hot water. Many of the people on the train carry with them metal cups or glasses. Why? Well, if you want to make tea or soup, hot water sure comes in handy. So when the attendant came by, I substituted an empty can of Coca Cola. What is it the commercial says, “Things go better with coke?”

Eventually I bought a hot water cup in Guilin. So the two Norwegian ladies and myself shared this can of coke with hot water in it. One of the ladies worked for a hospital in Hong Kong and her friend was visiting her. They were only going to travel for a week.

The train pulled into the Guangzhou Central Railway Station on a very hot and humid August afternoon. Like any other busy train station in China there were thousands of people embarking or disembarking. I shuffled through the thick crowds, followed by the Norwegians. I seemed to shuffle for about 10 minutes along the long corridor. Eventually we came into a large open plaza. Immediately I was awestruck. The large station square, thousands of pedestrians and bicycles and a few 1950ish style automobiles and buses. Most of the people on the bicycles were either dressed in green or blue. As it was quite hot and humid, many of the local populace had on very wide brimmed cone shaped straw hats. The square was surrounded by many Western style buildings with Chinese characters, except one which had the large letters SANYO.