Almost

As I am almost leaving China I feel I can almost understand this place. Or at least whenever I see something that makes no sense I’ve learnt to mutter “China” and keep walking, for instance the opening hours of the shops and restaurants that don’t seem to follow any order, or people driving on the wrong side of the street

Almost beautiful

Almost beautiful

I have a theory that a lot of the mess and the shouting that goes around is because the Chinese don’t understand themselves. There are too many tones, too many dialects too much miscommunication even between themselves so understanding me, a foreigner, is almost impossible.

An almost sign to the climbing crag.

An almost sign to the climbing crag.

Almost seems to be the key word for my past week of traveling and climbing in Yangshuo China.

You see, the nature here is almost beautiful but there are always some power lines, abandoned building or dump sites to ruin the view.

The city is almost nice if it weren’t for the air pollution, the massive renovations, and the terrible traffic.

The climbing is almost great, if you didn’t have to endanger your life by biking around to get to the crags that are a little out of the city.

The food is almost delicious but there is always some over-fried ingredient or some chemical after-taste.

People are almost nice except they stare at you and spit on the ground when you smile at them.

coconut wood tortoise cream?

Coconut wood tortoise cream?

Almost chocolate

Almost chocolate

You can buy almost chocolate and order almost coffee from an almost English menu and eat in almost clean dishes that have been wrapped in nylon but should still preferably be washed with some tea. You can almost enjoy yourself but Thailand would be better 🙂

I found only two places in Yangshou that have made it past the Almost faze.

The first is “climbers inn”, run by an amazing women named Lily who started to climb 5 years ago and will do everything she can to help her guests. She even let me leave my climbing gear there when I wasn’t staying at the place.

Climbers Inn!

Climbers Inn!

The second is the DMZ bar and book store. It reminded me of the Uganda bar in Jerusalem, a hangout place for those who don’t have a warm living room. Such a fun and outgoing environment it almost didn’t feel like China. Next stop Hong Kong!

 

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