Day Two

Day two in Dandong saw us delving deep into the Korean War from the Chinese perspective. It was incredibly interesting to visit  the Museum to Commemorate US Aggression in Korea. The museum was well put together, had extensive English captions and was a really in depth look at China’s contribution to the Korean war. The photos were really incredible, but it was the captions that really had us thinking. They showed a very different point of view about the war then that which we in Canada are likely to see in a history book.

As a historian, Paul likes to point out bias when he sees it. However, the signs made it very clear that the information in the museum was only open to interpretation by the museum staff and that any differing opinions were not to be expressed. While none of us know enough about the Korean war to check the Chinese museum’s claims about death tolls, etc. it was the loaded language that was really hard to deal with.  Paul took lots of pictures to show future classes of Social Studies Eleven.

Propaganda floated downstream to the UN troops by Chinese and North Korean Soilders

This man was apparently tatooed against his will by UN forces while in the POW camp, funny thing is the tatoos are in Chinese.

After we had wandered around the museum for a number of hours, we headed outside. For the next few minutes we wandered around a field of tanks, anti-aircraft guns, radar installations, mig fighter planes and other military materiel. In fact we climbed in, on and around all of this equipment like children at a jungle gym. So much fun squishing three grown men into a Korean War era tank and yelling “Down with the imperialist pigs!”

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking on the broken bridge that used to connect the Chinese mainland with Korea before the US troops “accidentally” bombed it during a cease fire during the war (along with also accidentally destroying a hospital and airport). When we finally climbed back into the van, it was only for a few minutes, as we soon ran out of gas and were unable to find an open gas station. Eventually, our driver tracked down a jerry can full of fuel and got us to a gas station. Soon enough we were on our way back to our comparatively comfortable beds.

Reflections:

-North Korea has no electricity that we saw. None. You can make your own mind up about what that must show about the state of their economy.

-Korean food is fantastic. Silk worms... doable. Except for the fact that no one in Asia can seem to make a delicious breakfast food here is pretty darn good (when you know what to order).

-The wall is pretty great.

-Chinese clubs are hilarious.

-We know now what it feels like to be an eleven on the freak dial. Being some of the only tourists around was an interesting experience.

DANDONG!

Including driver we somehow managed to squeeze ten people in here for a three plus hour ride.

Dandong. For weeks we have been planning to get away to this border town that links North Korea and China, but there has always been something going on. This week we decided to go for it, and with the help of Ryan (our friend and Chinese Librarian at the boys campus), lots of organizational work by Cameron, and a mass of electronic communication, a group of 9 of us were ready and waiting for a van at four o’clock on Friday. We squished in (barely) and spent the next few hours weaving our way North, avoiding toll booths when we could. It was a fairly uncomfortable trip, but not all that bad considering. The most difficult part of the journey was convincing the driver (who spoke no English) that we actually, really, had to pee. Our ploy to gift him with a coke so that his bladder would also feel the pressure was to no avail.

We checked in to our very basic hotel (and promptly changed rooms because ours had apparently had a recent flood and was still very... damp), and took off to have some delicious hotpot and enjoy some of the local beverage specialties.

hotpot!

The next day we piled nine people into two taxis (the trick is to distract the driver with broken Chinese while four people slide quickly into the back) and headed out to the Easternmost section of the Great Wall. A small section, Tiger Mountain Great Wall (Hushan Changcheng) was built during the Ming dynasty in an attempt to keep out non-Han invaders. It was our first section of the wall, and even though it is apparently less impressive than many other sites, we were pretty stoked to have our wall cherry popped.

This part of the wall sees comparatively few tourists and it was a smoking hot day. In all we couldn’t have asked for a better morning, as we wandered around, poked our heads here and there, and gazed out over the border into North Korea.

Its a great wall....

Trekking the wall with Byron.

Left a little Canucks souvenir on the wall.

My spy pic, taken through a pair of high powered binoculars. Chinese tourists interacting with North Korean guards who just happened to be accompanying farmers in the fields near the border... Honestly not sure what was going on, if these tourists were being welcomed (I was pretty sure I saw cigarettes exchange hands) or being reprimanded for being on the wrong side of the border.

Some steep sections of the wall left the legs a little sore the next day.

Cameron hanging out with an out of place terra cotta warrior.

Paul contemplating the wall.

Do not climb or cross separation obstacles such as barbed wire....

oops.

The border was less than formidable. However, once you make it across the river into North Korea, there are miles of open fields with little to know vegetation and frequent guard towers. You might get in... but then you will probably have to stay for a while... a long while. In a less then comfortable place. We don't recommend it.

In the afternoon we went for a boat ride (and crossed into North Korean waters... so technically we were in North Korea). It was pretty incredible to look from the built up city of Dandong on the Chinese side of the river, to the polar opposite just across the river. From what we have been told, this part of the border is supposed to be the show that the government has put on for outside eyes. It is supposed to show that North Korea is a functioning, prosperous place. If that is the goal....


The Dandong crew, minus Laura Lee. China on the right, DPRK on the left.



North Korean Prosperity

After our boat ride, we wandered around the town, and were gawked at, as we were probably 9 of the 50 white people in the whole city (of over 750,000). People had asked for us to take pictures with them on the wall, but we took it a step further, putting on traditional Korean costumes (neon is apparently extremely traditional) and putting ourselves on overt display for a little while. The pictures with the bride and groom of a wedding were our personal favourites.

No comment could truly encapsulate this moment.

We then walked up to the main train station, where we relaxed under the imposing edifice of a giant Mao Zedong statue. It is immense, and made us pause to think about what a tremendous impact one person, and the cult of personality that was attached to him, has had on the development of the China we see today.

A pretty good summation of the last few decades of Chinese history in one picture.

The rest of the evening was spent at a Korean BBQ and the most seizure inducing, eye destroying club we have ever seen (the dance floor moved to the beat of the music... honestly). Being white, and a rarity in those parts, we were invited on stage (lured away from leaving by the promise of free libations) where we were quizzed in Chinese by the DJ who was in his mid forties. While we tried our best at the beginning to answer him in Chinese, the most poignant answer to any of his questions was Byron’s.... “LOOOOOOOOUNGO!” After Byron had answered his questions the same way a number of times, the DJ took it up himself, and by the end of the night in between songs you would hear a long, loud, “LOOOOOOOUNGO” from the dance floor!

We finished the night eating silk worms at a street stall. Yes, insect larvae bbq’ed and spiced. Ahhhh.... China.

That is delicious bbqed pupae.

We ate them all. Mmm.

Big Announcement

Well, decision made.

After much deliberation, we have decided to sign on for one more year in China.

Kristen did not receive a letter of acceptance from the programs she hoped to get into (and right now she doesn’t really want to talk about it). Neither of us have any really great job prospects at home. Instead, we have decided to stick with a sure thing, save a tonne of cash, go traveling, and enjoy the adventure that is every day in China.

Paul will be working as a department head at the Junior High next year, and Kristen will be one of only a few returning esl teachers at the girls campus. We will have a few weeks this summer to party with all our friends and family so get the barbeques ready for August.

And if you have ever had a hankering to see East Asia (or even Southeast Asia for that matter) get your passports out of storage... You have a place to stay and a couple of guides!

 Now, to cheer you up:

Summit Series

This last weekend, Paul had the opportunity to travel on his first ever hockey road trip. The Dalian “Ice Dragons” were heading north to play hockey at an arena in Shenyang and he was invited to tag along. Although he didn’t have any gear, except a composite stick and some hockey tape, he jumped at the opportunity!

The “Ice Dragons” is a team made up of teachers from the school, and is a rag tag group with mixed skill level. About thirty members showed up to board the bus we had rented and we took off shortly after school on Friday. For many of the members, this was an opportunity to have a few adult beverages, relax with their friends and get away for a weekend. For Paul (and Cameron) it was an opportunity to play some international hockey!

Shenyang (pronounced Shen-young) is the capital of Liaoning province (where Dalian is located) and is about a four to five hour drive north. It is the former capital of Manchuria and was one of the most important imperial cities in the 15 and 1600’s, even housing the imperial palace of emperor Hurachi and his son Huang Taji during much of the 1600’s. More importantly, it has one of the only ice-arenas for thousands of kilometres in any direction and a team of about thirty Chinese nationals and North American ex-pats who play hockey three times a week.

We got into Shenyang around 10:00 at night and proceeded to play 3 hours of intra-squad hockey. At this point I had been able to scrounge an extra pair of skates, a pair of shin pads, and some gloves. The skates were so dull they had a convex bevel and only a partial inside edge (no outside edge at all... especially on the right skate) but as long as I didn’t try to turn, or stop, or start to quickly, things worked out just fine! I had to switch helmets with someone every shift, and falling on my hips or elbows while trying to work the puck off someone was less then fun, but I scored to really dirty garbage goals, got a few assists and generally had a huge grin on my face because I was playing hockey underneath a huge communist Chinese flag.

Wearing the CH and a motley assortment of equipment while playing hockey in an arena with holes in the boards, no change rooms and communist flags flying around the rink... priceless.

Epitome of why this weekend was so awesome.

We made it to the hotel and into bed by about 2:00 and after some McDonalds from a nearby restaurant that was open, we passed out, expecting to be up in time to leave by 11:00 the next day. Unfortunately at 10 after ten, we were woken by the trip organizer walking down the hall saying “We are leaving in 15 minutes, everyone get on the bus~!” No breakfast for us!

We split the team into A and B squads in order to play the Shenyang team (I was on the B squad for most of the weekend as the top line center... but I got called up for the last few games as injuries, old age and hangovers took their toll). The Shenyang team did the same thing with their roster, and we played another nine hours of hockey over the next few days. It was a blast and the level of competition was great, with some really skilled players (and some not so skilled) on both sides of the ice.

It was a blast to watch the really skilled Chinese players, as their style was so different from Canadian hockey. Pass, pass, stick handle, pass, pass, pass, stick handle shot goal. Basically they would set up really nice plays that would either work (goal) or not (turnover). A lot of East-West passing, skating back towards their own end, fancy stickwork and two on one rushes. Not a lot of grinding it out along the boards, crashing the net, screened shots, etc.

I managed to make my presence felt offensively with a goal and some great board work and net pressure, but Cameron really had himself a game, the last time we played the A team for the weekend. He pulled off the natural hat trick and had a beauty assist on my goal which definitely had him smiling on the way home. In all it was a fantastic weekend.

Play International hockey- One for the bucket list!

B squads after game one

Cameron (in black on the right) on the forecheck.

Hockey- transcends language and culture.