Chronicles of a Discoverer...: Field Report: Day One in China

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OK, I haven't been able to really blog about my trip till now... Frankly, I really have a lot to blog about, including things that happened after the trip. But then, didn't really have the time to sit down to get all these online till now, so here goes...

From Singapore to KL, from KL to Kunming and from Kunming to Lijiang... That about sums up the traveling we did on the first day :)

Many Firsts
Am now lying on my stomach on this heated bed in Lijiang in this cool cool weather. Yesterday was really a tiring day filled with traveling. But I was kept excited most of the time; excited with the possibilities I was going to meet in the next few days. This trip has also many firsts for me:

First time going on missions trip
First time going to China (well, been to Hong Kong, but that is not counted) :)
First time taking Malaysia Airlines and Air China
First time stopping over at KL International Airport (now I can understand why KLIA has surpassed Singapore in ranking for World's Best Airport, it does look better than our Changi Airport)
First time spending Good Friday away from home
First time going on a backpacking trip
First time going away for long period of time...

Getting Acculturated

OK, that's all I can think about for now. But coming here, I have come to realize how blessed we Christians are in Singapore; we are able to worship God openly. Not exactly so here in China and we have to be very careful how we speak and the terms we use. Think it's mainly to protect the long-termers who have been working hard in China so we would not want to say the wrong things and jeopardise all the good works. Upon reaching China on the first day, which also happens to be Good Friday, we had our own "Good Friday" service in my room here in this backpackers' lodge. Since it is an important day and we could not be with our church, we decided to have our own "service". Hehehe, it was a unique experience taking the holy communion with cheese crackers and big glasses of ribena (after all, that's all we can find for the time being). In fact, the cheese crackers were so thick, I had problems breaking it :)

But being in Lijiang has shown me the other side of humanity; the simple and friendly side. Life here is pretty simple and you can even see children playing skipping by the roadside using a rope tied in between 2 trees or playing badminton using their books. The people here are also really friendly. This is really in sharp contrast to our kind of lifestyle in Singapore or even in the city in Kunming. Here, besides being awed by the beauty and simplicity of life here, I also marvelled at the beauty of Old Town where we stayed.

The wonderful scenery here in Lijiang (with 玉龙雪山in the background) formed a perfect backdrop to rows and rows of house with ancient chinese design roofs. And when I fnally reached Lijiang Old Town, I was again taken aback by its alluring beauty. It was evening by this time and the whole town was lit up; a marvelous scene. Frankly, once I see Lijiang Old Town, Clarke Quay really seems like peanuts. And to top it up, the people here are really friendly too. Several times, we were approached by people for business e.g. accommodations, transport, food etc. But one thing that pleasantly surprised me is that, despite competition, they did so, always with a smile and would ask in a polite and genuine way, sometimes even spending time to chat with us even when we said no.

Where we put up for the first night...金江客栈

My Room: Simple but Good...

Toilet Culture Shock

There is really only one thing I can do without here in China and that is its toilets. Just before heading for Lijiang, I visited the toilet in Kunming airport and you can see the floor wet with urine. The whole place was bustling with activity and in the background, you can even hear someone "bombing" away ferociously. And the stench, ow! This, in the international airport! One more thing in China, which really took a bit of getting used to, is that you are not allowed to throw toilet paper into the toilet bowls. Think maybe they don't want to choke the toilet bowls. Oh, paisay, don't have any photos of the toilets... don't wanna spoil appetite and also, you wouldn't expect me to bring my camera into a toilet and start snapping away right; people might think I am some sex maniac :)

Loving the Lifestyle

Morning view outside of my 客栈。。。

Oh, I am really starting to like this kind of lifestyle; not needing to worry about deadlines and being able to just wake up and enjoy the beauty of a new day. Take now for instance, here I am in my room, lying on my heated bed and writing my journal. It is cold outside and you can hear people chit chatting outside. Now, I can understand why some people like going away for backpacking trips for long periods of time. Indeed, I had come to China with the aims of being exposed to mission work, to really get away from a hectic life and slow down, to find some directions and purpose, all these while spending some time with God and showing love and grace to others through "helps". Although I have yet to begin with the "helps", I have really slowed down a lot and gotten quite a bit of rest. OK, will be leading devotion later but I have yet to prepare :)

God Sending Angels
I really want to thank God for blessing the trip thus far. I can really see His hands at work throughout the trip:

Smooth Journey - Blessing us with a smooth journey thus far, including getting cheap airfare to Lijiang at the last minute, saving some S$200
Excess Baggage - For this trip, we were each carrying about 8-10kg of book donations kindly donated by family and friends to bless the students in the village school. We managed to check luggage into the plane in Changi Airport despite two extra pieces and excess baggage of about 30kg. Somehow, the guy checking us in didn't switch on the scale. We kept wondering why and keep talking about it but still he did not switch it on. So we didn't know we had excess baggage until we reached Kunming Airport and had to pay for the excess baggage as we checked in our luggage for Lijiang.
Lugging our Luggage - We also didn't have to carry our luggage until we arrived at Lijiang Old Town in the evening and even then, God sent two backpacker friends who were already in China for some 4 months now, to help us with our luggage. Boy, are they strong... although these two new friends are female, they used to work as outdoor activities instructors and their own backpacks are so much more heavier... so you must have imagined what a relief it has been for the only guy in the group :) Thank God for them otherwise, we will not know how we are going to carry all our luggage to the inn, over all the cobbled streets of Lijiang Old Town.
Accommodations - Through the two friends, we got to know of this wonderful lodge where we are putting up now... I really feels like it is homestay and the lady landlord is ever so friendly. Even when we returned late, she still came out to greet us.
Angels - I also thank God for sending angels to come along as I prepared for the trip and also throughout the trip. Besides the two new backpacker friends, I also thank God for wonderful friends and colleagues who helped me with my trip preparations. I thank God for the many colleagues who agreed to be my prayer warriors and who also sent me sms to encouraged me on. I also thank God for colleagues who blessed me with things for the trip including indigestion pills and one even helped me do shopping for things such as sunblock, indigestion pills etc. I was also deeply touched when four of my friends woke up early on Good Friday morning at 3am to give me a lift to the airport and sent me off.
Peace of Mind - Despite not having enough time to sleep prior to setting off and I was still struggling to pack up till 1am the same morning I was to set off, I still felt peace. Even up till a few hours before I set off, I was stressed with things that I have to attend to. For example, at 10pm the previous night, I suddenly received news that a training I was planning, which was to take place just days after I return from the trip, clashed with an important event in my organization. So how? I am leaving in a few hours and do not have the time to look into a change of dates and also liaise with the participants and the trainer. And considering that the training was to take place just a few days after I return, it didn't give me time to be able to attend to it after I return. I thank God for a good boss who told me not to worry about it and agreed to help with the coordination in my absence. Thinking back, a lot things happened just before I set off for the mission trip. Not only was there this clash, up till the last few hours, I was also struggling with doing a bit of coordination with the cell for the Good Friday service the next day... you can imagine how stressed I felt. And also, work seemed to increased tremendously in the last week of work. For my other two trip members, one fell very sick and for another, she was challenged with concern for her parents; one recently fell ill and was admitted into hospital while the other parent was scheduled for surgery during her trip. Maybe some will call it spiritual warfare as one takes a step in doing God's will.