danger!

SIMON LOOKING EXCESSIVELY CHINESE:


so right now we're blogging in guilin in China. this is the first place we've been to in "the motherland" and believe me when I tell you that HK spoiled the hell out of us. fast, english-friendly mass transit system? reliable sources of potable water? free wifi everywhere you go? pretty much all service personnel speaks english?

not so in mainland china. we arrived in guilin super-late and the first thing we realized is that cynthia sprained her ankle.

UNAUSPICIOUS.

then all the memories of china come flooding back: mosquitos, yelling, aggressive salesmanship, complete lack of observance for traditional rules of the road (ie- pedestrian gets right of way, etc).

according to our fromer's book (ugh), we stay at a bug-infested hotel that is so run-down and grim it makes me and Simon think we're staying in a mining town. We decide that it's one day and that's it for this place!!! The area is so deserted we think we're in the boonies. For example, we go to the "China Agricultural Bank" and the ATM eats my card. Cynthia then proceeds to UNPLUG THE ATM FROM THE WALL and the machine reboots and spits out my ATM card, before going to the standard PC startup screen. Next we realize that it's 10 pm and nothing's open, so we go to the local store (exceedingly bare. you know those bodegas in NY that look like they're fronts b/c they sell like 3 things? the convenience stores here make them look like Pathmark on inventory day) main items for sale include but are not limited to: mosquito spray, mosquito incense, panty hose, snoopy paraphernalia, jay chou potato chips, ramen. We eat ramen for dinner like college students. This is a spartan lifestyle!

so long story short: we hate guilin the first night here and pretty much expect to get killed the next day. However, the next day is actually quite amazing and turns us 180 degrees around on the whole thing.

"there were monsters in guilin, and truly we were they" - us the next day
"dzui gao de dzun dzong" ["maximum respect"]