Chongqing, 2015-01-06 02:50:55 +0800
Day 135 in China
The title says “newer” because I’ve already written a post about my New Year’s Resolution once, though on that occasion I didn’t really choose the title. Back then, my English teacher in high school wanted me to write an essay about why I shouldn’t be late for classes. Now, I want to go back to at least reasonable sleeping habits I had before I came to China. I remember a period in my life when I could easily get up before seven in the morning. In China, ten is rather early, nine way too early and eight the impossible low line. So this time my New Year’s Resolution really is to get up earlier.

I came to Chongqing for the second time. Just like everywhere in China, you can’t really come to the same city twice, because panta rhei. The last time (see: 177. 在中國第48天。重慶, only Chinese) I came alone, and on the first evening I went out for moderate clubbing at Jiaochangkou 較場口 with a random Chinese guy. Back then, there was a really fancy restaurant selling Taiwanese Yangchun Noodles 陽春面. They had comfy red seats and a big TV set showing Chinese fantasy movies (as opposed to usual TV sets in Chinese restaurants that only show current TV programmes, which are usually pretty bad.) There was also a lively club with people going in and out and definitely too many Stars of David on the façade. When I came there today, this time with the Amazingly Likable Taiwanese Friend (ALTF,) three quarters of the pavement were torn out to be replaced. It probably wasn’t really very old, but then again, it China it doesn’t really matter. Here, buildings are built at the expense of countless resources and people’s labor only to be torn down when they are not needed anymore, often after just a few years. The restaurant still existed, but not in the same premises; in the original restaurant was now a fancy, big, Italian-style restaurant, while the place with Yangchun noodles was moved to the side. The waiter said that was because the new restaurant belonged to the owner’s friend (she said 我們老闆的兄弟) and that they still sold the same noodles. I ordered the Yangchun noodles (台灣陽春面) and my companion Little Noodles with Wontons (小面加抄手). The ALTF said the noodles were very good and very authentic.

The interesting thing about Chongqing is that the city was built on countless hills and mountains. Even in the city centre, the district called 渝中區 Yuzhong, skyscrapers are built on steep slopes and tiny pieces of land. But the most impressive of all is their metro, built in steep slopes, right below existing skyscrapers, and in such scenery they even managed to build a transit station. Also, sometimes a pedestrian track happens to go next to an existing building. In such case bridges and elevated paths are build to connect them with the building. You just walk around and find a small bridge. You cross it and find out that you’re on the 12th floor of some block of flats from the 1960s. Sometimes on the 10th floor you find a small grocery store with water, alcohol, cigarettes and instant noodles (方便面). In one such building there was an unused rubbish chute and a lot of rubbish right next to it. In another, there was no light somewhere around 4th floor. The ALTF is afraid of darkness. Luckily, for Christmas I got a small flashlight with a dynamo. It’s just perfect for dispersing darkness.

2015-01-16 12:56:25 +0800
Day 145 in China
The Amazingly Likable Taiwanese Friend is gone. She left for Xi’an on Wednesday evening from Chengdu North railway station. In five days she’ll be going back to Taiwan.

Many other people are also gone, mostly Korean and Thai. Some of them will come back after the winter holidays, some won’t. For most people, their stay in the Overseas Students’ Dormitory was like a longer vacation, where they could meet new friends, earn some illegal money, buy a lot of Chinese cigarettes, drugs and other stuff, and then take it home, be it the US, Vietnam, Thailand or Tajikistan. Those who leave usually leave behind a huge pile of stuff they don’t need anymore (and probably never needed,) mostly clothes, rice cookers, and beddings. Those who stay here longer then take whatever they might find useful from these piles and, over the years, turn into overloaded draught animals, possessing too much stuff to be able to move freely.

But the most painful parting was not with anyone from the dorms, but with the intermediary company for which I taught some English for quite a while. I was probably their worst English tutor ever, and my student had a similar working attitude to mine. I didn’t like them too much right from the moment when they gave me their first student. The working atmosphere, or rather the atmosphere in the office was quite good, or rather too good. They were always smiling when they told me, often in very bad English, that I should do something exactly in their way. Their wage was also below the lowest market price, and it turned out the company took over 40% commission. I first resigned through WeChat and they said it was okay and that they would arrange to find a new tutor for my student. Then my student told them she wanted to terminate the contract. Then I went to the office to get paid one day too early. The three women I always saw smiling widely were now obviously pissed off. They told me I never sent them a formal resignation letter and therefore was not officialy dismissed. Then again, in more than a month I didn’t hold a single class with the student, for which I deserved a penalty, according to the contract. They decided not to punish me in any way, however, and said they didn’t care, because their company had lots of other tutors, most probably less irresponsible.

The funny part: I quit right at the end of term. Everyone they had has either went home already, will go home soon or is not in Chengdu right now. The only people who tend to stick with their company are natives who care about the number of classes in a week than about the wage for a single class. I doubt any single one of them will care about such an unattractive job offer. This is pure evil. But then again, I had to quit or I would be punished for traveling.

Tomorrow I’m going south. For now, I only have a ticket to Guiyang 貴陽, the capital of Guizhou 貴州, the poorest province of PRC. I want to spend around a week in Guizhou, then maybe visit Guilin 桂林, world-famous for its beautiful landscape, then maybe the Hunan 湖南 or Guangdong 廣東 province. I’m going alone, mostly by train. The Spring Festival is next month, and I have to do whatever is possible to avoid staying in China during that time.