Travel Turtle

I’m really excited about the Olympics. I’m not going to get into the politics of China because there’s enough of that on the internet.

When I went to China last year, I visited some sites that I never knew existed. Many people I know don’t know much about China’s history unless they have a true passion for Chinese culture. As much as I love Shanghai (and could talk about it all day long) I’m going to talk about some of these other places in a short series, starting with this one… Part I.

Part I: Datong, founded 200 BC

As opposed to Beijing and Shanghai, Datong’s very large population does not include many foreigners. We really stood out. When I was researching the trip to China, I read in several guide books that the people in China will say “Hello” (pronounced Hallo, and really quickly spoken) to foreigners. It’s been defined as a derogatory term, similar to calling a Chinese person a “chink”. Others say it’s just because that’s the only foreign phrase they know. Walking around the streets of Datong and hearing a never-ending call of “Hello”, “Hello”, “Hello”, “Hello”… I can’t imagine that it’s not derogatory. Almost every person we walked passed would say “Hello” and they would say it repeatedly. Sometimes we’d laugh at the absurdity, sometimes they’d laugh at us laughing. It was surreal.

My time in Datong started with some blue skies, but the skies quickly dissipated to one of the most polluted atmospheres I’d ever seen. Datong is a coal-mining city. Our first night there, we opened the windows and could see way across the city. The next day, we could barely see the hotel’s parking lot, 5 floors (or so) down! This is not fog, it’s pollution. I wish I would’ve known that this is what we were going to wake-up to. I would have taken a before picture.

How can something like this inspire creativity?

For me, it’s a reminder of how lucky I am to have relatively clean air. Arts and crafts are a reaction to things around you, and sometimes the opposite reaction to those things. When I look at the picture above, I want to take a shower and make things that are clean and colorful. Don’t you? The above is someone’s reality, but it’s not mine. I like to travel because it gives me a greater appreciation for what I have. Even when I travel to a place that could be a paradise, I learn to appreciate the paradises in my own life. That’s why travel inspires me to create. I always felt funny saying that because my work has more of an indirect relation to travel. I don’t usually paint images of the places I travel. Instead, it gives me this feeling. Living life to the fullest, doing things I love, and sharing it with people around me. If I had an option to either travel forever, or craft forever, I’d definitely travel. No doubt. But, I don’t have that option and creating something makes me feel like part of this world in the very similar way.

My next post in this series will be a more positive outlook of China. We’ll look at the two tourist sites closest to Datong… more pictures, less pollution.