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Letter 36
Monday 17.05.10
After a beer I lay down a bit in front of the TV and fell asleep at once,
so I had to get on my feet 11.30 p.m. To go to bed properly.
This morning I finished yesterdays letter.
I`m up early, I have to get hold of a ticket for the bus to Chengdu
tomorrow. I`m already there at 7. Mingtian, Chengdu. There are two
departures: 6.00 and 6.50, I choose the late one. I still have cash for
one more night but if the bus is postponed I will need two and here I
can`t withdraw money with an international creditcard.
So I go back, and sit wondering for a while. I feel my "mission" here is
completed. But I havn`t made contact with the Town Hall, there should,
God damn it, be at least ONE who speaks a bit english?
First I write postcards. There`s a China Post Postoffice nearby. I find
a lady there and show her the cards. Yes, she can fix it, and
1-2-3-4-5-6-7 has she done them all, so now they have come THAT far.
Then I walk all the way to the other side. I also need some lunch. I
find a round bread with a little sugar and break it to smaller pieces
and eat most of it. The rest will do for tomorrow morning.
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| This block... | ...was probably waiting to be torn down |
In the town hall I miss the word for anyone or somebody, but it doesn`t
matter, the guard understands what I want, but they`re all gone to eat -
I was there actually at 12.30 too, at that time HE wasn`t there. I could
have stepped in to steal the crown jewels. They won`t be back until 3 pm.!
So I head up north where I havn`t been until now. It`s the more messy
part of town. A stadium is under construction and other building project
are beeing born, but besides just an ugly community of minor houses. I
reach the end of town, there is a sign saying: Maoxian, I do recognize
the characters. There`s nothing of interest here, but I need the time to
pass.
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| Qiang women in their tradditional dress | A street dentist |
I buy two bananas before I return to the guard. He recognizes me and bid me to come in and sit down while he leaves to find someone and I look after his shop. The first woman he brings can not much, but he goes looking again. "Can I help you", says a voice - and he can. He can understand what I`m saying, he can communicate, and he wants to help. Unfortunately a superior gets involved and suddenly the tone is different. We hadn`t got to something specific yet, but he thought I`d be able to find information at the internet.
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| In the townhall - it's me in the mirror... | In the townhall - in the guards room |
But now he`s been told to take care of my safety. That`s real chinese, when
there`s something they don`t like, they grab hold of the excuse, that they have
to take care of ones safety. Why can`t they just say: Piss off, don`t try to
reveal our secrets. This other thing is so ridiculous that it hurts. I have for
more than 3 months been travelling China on my own, and then someone has to take
care of my safety!
It was the same with the english teacher the other day. The moment I would try
IF I might be able to send him a mail, at least here in China, he cared about my
safety. This tells me, that he HAS got all my mails. He just didn`t answer. This
"politeness" that forbids them to say: That`s impossible... Because of..., it
really piss me off.
But I get the young mans email address and he gets mine. As his end with
...@163.com, he has also a msn address. Besides I get the local authorities URL.
It`s in Chinese, but there are luckily chinese in Denmark, who`ll probably help
me.
And then he can take me home and take care of my safety.
He`s a voluntee4r from Shanxi. Taiyuan to be more exact, where I`ve also been.
He says a number, 11.000, for those that still are waiting for a new home, it
seems a little too big held up against the actual number of temporary houses,
but it`s maybe for the whole of Maoxian County.
Shanxi helps Maoxian. Billions of yuan has been transferred and volunteers
recruited. It`s just the taxes from Shanxi to the central government, that`s
been transferred directly in stead of via Beijing. The difference is equal?
Maybe?
He starts giving me an umbrella, for it might be rain? Then he pays for my
shopping in the supermarket and then he walks with me all the way down to the
bridge and all the way back again. He sees me all the way to my room and hope
that I will stay there for the rest of the day, which I will not promise.
But we have a nice time, I think, it`s not his fault.
So now I might have yet another source - even in the local administration!
He lives in one of the blue tents up there north. He`s been here since july last
year og will stay until july this year. Then he`ll go home and if he passes an
eksamn, he will go on with his studies in Beijing.