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1570 days ago
We're back in Yangshou again. We just finished a three-day trip down the Yangtze River and are now in Yangshou in the south. This is our last stop before heading home to Haikou. On the Yangtze we sailed through the 3 gorges which will be covered with water in a few years due to new dam project they have going. The Yangtze is a huge, dark river with fast currents. It's known for flooding. Ever since I've been 17, I've been a stranger in new places. Other than growing up in Ohio, the two places I've lived longest have been eight years in Santa Cruz and eight years in Susanville. Both correspond to raising my children while they were young. Other than that, I've lived in San Francisco, Encinitas, Colorado, Washington, Mexico and now China. China is the strangest. Today I took a long walk in the countryside. After weeks of traveling on trains, buses and boats my lower back was out of sorts so I thought walking would help work the muscles back into place. Yangshou has a ...
1596 days ago
On the road now with Bob & Zeke. For nearly a year I've been in China alone. I learned to follow my own rhythms, learned to listen to my own voice. I believed it would be enough time to break old patterns. Maybe. Yangshou is an amazing place. A fairy-tale land of velvet green mountains, towering karst cliffs, the Li River cutting through. We're traveling slow, unlike my haphazard trip through China during the Spring Holiday where I covered thousands of miles. This time it's a week or more in Yangshou, then onto Yunnan where we'll likely spend the rest of July and part of August. This has been a gathering time, a time to gather thoughts, gather my life together.
1596 days ago
I have called myself and been called many names in my life and each one I've inhabited fully. I was born Leslie Ann Hershberger. A solid German name. A name like thick gravey and dumblings. A name that gets stuck in your mouth coming out. I didn't mind Leslie although I hated it when, as a teenager, friends shortened it to 'Les.' One person from my past still refuses to call me anything but 'Les.' For some people names are like skin, the idea of changing them is impossible. During my years on the road, I tried out many different names. I could be anyone. I knew the people I met would be gone from my life tomorrow so I called myself Sarah, Rebecca, Jessie, whatever name suited my fancy for the moment. Nevertheless, I did finally change my last name and became Leslie Jordan. I changed it for a number of reasons. I'd always wanted to lose 'Hershberger.' I wanted a name that people could spell. I wanted a name that would fit my son as well and Jai Hersberger ...
1621 days ago
Haikou is filled with odd sights. One day on the bus we drove down a street and every shop had a Buddha outside with burning sticks of incense. People were bowing in front of them. We turned the corner and the Buddhas were gone, the bowing people were gone. The shops looked like they always do. Two days ago in the market place a nude man strolled down the aisle. His hair hung in matted dredlocks and he was caked with mud. No one paid him any mind. The market itself help baskets of coiling snakes of all colors. Chickens. Geese. Rabbits. Dried fungus and other plants. No idea what they are. I have a friend who likes to imitate Michael Jackson. And the Hainanese opera deserves comment. Even though I can't understand it, I can pretty much follow the story line. The themes are universal: lust, betrayal, treachery, a little incest and infanticide thrown in. The usual fare. I love music but I have to admit, the Hainanese opera sounds a little like setting cats on ...
1635 days ago
At my age you would think I would be wise enough to avoid the motorcycle taxis, but they’ve become one of my favorite parts about living in Haikou. They’re dangerous, foolish rides and I love them. Whenever I need a cheap thrill I just hop on a motorcycle taxi and go somewhere. Maybe it’s nostalgia for my lost youth, maybe just the feeling of flying, but when I’m not riding my bike, the motorcycle taxis are my favorite way of getting around. People keep telling me to stop riding them and I do try. Today I was headed for the bus stop near Mingju Plaza when under the bridge I saw a group of motorcycles. And I couldn’t resist. “Lantian Lu?” I asked. We negotiated a price. Since I was wearing a skirt, I climbed on side-saddle the way I see the local women ride, and we were off. We zoomed under the bridge, hopped the curb up on to the sidewalk. Today was Chinese Labor Day, a big holiday, and the sidewalks were packed. That didn’t stop the motorcycle taxi ...
