Time well spent in Wuhan

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 in: News, Travel

During my time here, Ben has taken really good care of me, making sure I have an escort most of the time. I’m not used to being in a country where I don’t speak the language, so my usual boldness is hampered by a sizeable language barrier and unfamiliarity with the area. But there’s only one way to overcome those barriers, and that’s to face them.

As usual, the first step is always the hardest for me to take, so my outings would be delayed until early afternoon, causing trepidation over whether to go out at all, but what’s the point of visiting a new city if you’re going to be cooped up in a hotel room all day, I asked myself as I shuffled out the door and stepped out onto the street. On a bad day, Wuhan’s air is a pea soup of smog and debri, surrounding everything with an ever-thickening haze, making it difficult to see more than a few hundred yards ahead of you. Walking through the city streets gives a mixed sense of novelty and repetition; the unique western buildings and facades were interspersed with broken-down apartments, the ground levels gaping open to expose storefronts and small family restaurants selling local dishes. Children playing in the street, dogs wandering around, men standing or squatting in groups either talking or smoking or playing Chinese chess, and usually doing all three simultaneously. Lots of clearing of throats, followed by the sound of spit hitting the pavement. I watch where I step, as if it makes any difference. The sidewalk is uneven, bulging in some areas and collapsing in others, telltale signs of hasty construction. I watch where I step, because it does make a difference. Most people catch sight of me and watch cautiously, quietly. I pretend not to notice. When I do meet eyes with someone, they pretend not to notice, and after I pass them, I’ll sometimes hear a probing “hello?” No one says hello, they ask it. Whenever I catch it, I turn around and give them a toothy “hello!” of my own, to show them how to do it next time.

Ben had lent me his bike-rental card for the city’s free bike stations. It takes a local ID and two weeks to apply for the card, so when I went to the station and presented it to the lady, she couldn’t stifle her laugh; a white guy isn’t a very likely customer, it seems. I biked along the river on the lime green cruiser; it would have been a nice ride if I could adjust the seat set far too low for me. I slacklined and yo-yoed in the park by the river, occupying myself in a way that’s fun and cheap; both draw a lot of attention from passers-by, and although I’m more than happy to share and teach, I don’t like showing off very much and sometimes I feel a little too much pressure to perform. I think the issue is that when I do these things, it’s because I just want to have fun and push myself to get better at them, I’m nowhere near performance level, so I don’t feel comfortable being a seen as a performer. When I mentioned the slackline to Ben and his friends, I invited them to come try it out in the park, and they interpreted as “I’m going to put on a demonstration for you.” Even Ben’s brother and his wife and kid came from a neighboring city to see my “performance.” We had dinner with them the night before after hanging out with Mr. Zhong and his son by the river.

Gotta roll with the punches, I think I put on a good show for them, and I got them all to jump on and try it as well.

---