Prices in the new China
I set off with my daypack today for a 3 night trip to the Wuyuan area which is about 6h (less 20min rest break) bus journey away. The bus journey was uneventful as the roads were either motorway or very good. This is the new China. Sadly the new China comes at a high price … for me these things aren’t cheap but for locals they would be extremely costly:
- This bus ride of about 6h/500km cost nearly CNY200 (about NZD40) which is a lot of money considering the 6h bullet-train ride to Zhengzhou (next on the itinerary) was only CNY200.
- A meal in a local-style fast food joint, eg. beef and rice bowl, noodles would cost about CNY20 (NZD4) … similar to the price in a developed country like Singapore. In Shanghai, cheap ma-and-pa eateries are hard to find in some areas, especially when one’s worms are also jet-lagged and call out for food at unpredictable moments.
- The entrance tickets to each of the Wuyuan villages is CNY60 (NZD12) or CNY180 (NZD36) for about several villages and other sights over 5 days.
Travel technology
Upon arrival at Wuyuan I took a taxi to the village of Little Likeng, about 20 minutes away. This is one of those villages available on a 5-day pass … this is a smartcard ticket where they capture your finger-print at initial use and then it becomes non-transferable for the remainder of its 5-day life. Yes, China is very advanced with its IT, eg:
- Their buses had contactless bus-pass ticketing about 11 years ago and we’re only just starting them in Auckland now.
- At that time I was working at Air New Zealand and I told the departure-control specialists about bar-coded boarding passes for their intercity buses … he laughed. And now it is part of IATA’s business simplification strategies!
Village of Little Likeng
Disappointment set in at Little Likeng when I saw the flyover for the bullet train just inside the check-point. I walked further into the village and it was very pretty with a stream running through it. The old homes were au naturel rather than Disneyesque. The flyover was largely forgotten and invisible once I had been swallowed by the charm of the village … it can be seen from certain angles though.
After a short walk, I had dinner and met Chris and Naomi from the UK. They dropped by at my Bridge (aka Brook) Hotel where we hatched a plan for sightseeing around the region tomorrow. I had worked out the options for doing it by public bus or motorcycle-taxi. It made sense to investigate a private car with three of us … the hotel had not been volunteered these services (an indication of the relatively untouristed environment) … upon enquiry and a bit of waiting they were arrange a really good deal for us (including three young ones from Fuzhou province, making a party of six).
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- Rafts on the river just outside Little Likeng.
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- People seem to be able to sleep in any position; I see people sleeping in the oddest positions on the buses too.
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- Disappointment set in when I saw the pillars for the bullet train flyover just outside Little Likeng.
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- Temple just outside Little Likeng.
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- Prayer flags on tree outside Little Likeng.
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- Prayer flags on tree outside Little Likeng.
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- Prayer flags on Buddha outside Little Likeng.
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- Little Likeng.
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- Little Likeng.
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- This is the centre of Little Likeng at the intersection of the two streams.
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- This is the centre of Little Likeng at the intersection of the two streams
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- Little Likeng.
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- Little Likeng at dusk.
Reflecting on the new China
Having had a long bus ride today, I manage to reflect on my short time in China so far. It has been five years since my last visit and it is a very different place with the fast pace of change.
- Everything just seems to work the way you expect it … no surprises. The ATMs work, the metros work, the train and longhaul bus ticketing works.
- At a high level, service is taken seriously by the management of whatever outfit you’re dealing with … the immigration counters and bus/train ticketing counters have an extra monitor facing the customer to show what information is being displayed or captured (to assist with the purchase options where relevant). Further there is a “rate my service” button by the window if you wish to rate the officer at the end of the transaction. This doesn’t stop some officers from being sultry though.
- The exception to #1 could be social media and the internet. For many years, this country has had fast and cheap internet. With recent events in the Arab world I believe the authorities have clamped down on foreign social media and Google services. Read-access to some sites are unreliable and uploads of text and photos seem to be slow.