Tourism: China Style

This week is the Qingming Festival here in China, so I had a bit of time to get out of Chongqing and explore. I headed to Fenghuang in Hunan. It is an old river town that has some minority populations, including the Miao people, the larger ethnicity to which the Hmong belong.

Below are a series of pictures and observations from the trip.

This was a full on Chinese tourist town. But there were still remnants of the old Fenghuang to be found if one looks in the right places. Besides, even if you aren't transported to an older time, there is still plenty of cultural value in just seeing how Chinese people spend their vacations.

Kinda like the Renaissance Festival, only if you replaced the heart and self-awareness with unrepentant commercialism.

They turned this beautiful ethnic minority river hamlet into a pulsating, bombastic get away for domestic tourism. Imagine if Americans turned Indian reservations...I'll stop there. Hypocrisy and judgment: Few things are easier to succumb to as an expat, and high horses are counter-intuitively easy to mount.  “Well my country wouldn't that.” Really? Still though, it's a shame.

Always a fan of the kids who come up shouting, "Hallo! Nice meechoo!" Then laugh and pepper me with questions in Chinese interspersed with, "lao wai" laden phrases. I tend to take the optimist's approach and assume they're being kind.

Fact: Two subject matters drive 99.9% of Internet traffic. Cat pictures are one. I'll never make money off this thing unless I pander to the cat people. A sad but true reality of internet politicking.

Did I get an authentic traditional experience? Not completely. Did I get an authentic modern Chinese experience? Most definitely. 

No smoking message for a friend. You know who ye be. Look what happened to this fellow!

In a land filled with loads of Chinese university students with a smattering of English, being an approachable and friendly foreigner makes things a touch easier. Xiaowu and Li. I tend to be pretty lucky when traveling and manage to stumble across willing travel mates. It's a mutually beneficial relationship: I get to avoid breaking out my atrocious Chinese in restaurants, hotels, and ticket booths, they get to practice their English and ask all the questions they want. These two were especially sweet and helpful.

That should do it. Despite the tone of some of my comments, I had a wonderful time. It was an enlightening experience in more than one way. I'm beat so I hope I didn't leave too much out, and if I did, it's nothing that can't be recalled when it is time to regale you with stories upon my return home.