Nanning - Oct 30, 2005 - Nanning, Guangxi, China

Hi again,

Wow!!! What a huge culture shock it was from Hanoi to Nanning! Jen and I have both been to China before and knew a little what to expect from Northern China and the east and southern coasts, but I don't think either of us was ready for the dramatic change from Hanoi to Nanning. From tiny streets full of people and cars, most of whom spoke English; to huge chinese roads with mass transits systems and not one word of English anywhere. From total disorganization and chaos("I'm sorry I don't know what, receipt is") to complete organization and all papers and forms stamped, processed, and restamped in triplicate. From warm tropical Southeast Asia, to cold late fall China all in one overnight train ride.

We spent two days and one night in Nanning. We walked around for two full days in a city of 2 to 3 million people and did not see one other non-Chinese person the entire time. Not at the malls or in the outdoor markets, not in the train station, not even at the hotels we went in. Now Korea is a fairly homogenous society with very few tourists, but I've never recieved puzzled stares and looks of "what the hell are you doing here" anything like what we got in Nanning. There really wasn't much to do in this city either. The lonely planet listed a couple museums and a few other 'tourist' activities, but we really didn't do much other than shop a little and wait for our train to Hong Kong (via Guangzhou). I would compare Nanning to a city like Minneapolis or Milwaukee, really what in the world would a tourist do in one of those places other than wait for a train or plane to somewhere else? Don't get me wrong there was nothing bad about Nanning, there just wasn't a whole lot to do there other than meet our collective fix for Pizza Hut and KFC. Next stop is Hong Kong - we'll write more from the "autonomous free-economic zone".

- Johnny