JambaLyle: "Open Close, Near Far"

开封, Kaifeng, is a city just outside of Zhengzhou. It is a smaller more traditional town that is famous for its night markets, snacks, and expositions of traditional Chinese culture. Having met up with some fellow AYC-ers the week before, we decided to travel to Kaifeng this past weekend. Theoretically it was a simple affair to get there. Trains leave several times every day and make the trip in less than an hour. Buses are a slower alternative but a bit cheaper. I was all for the trains, but as a foreigner you need your passport to buy a ticket and most of us had turned ours in to get our residency permits (we'll get them back in 15-30 days). So busses it was, expected travel time 2-3hrs.

I left my school at 2:30pm. We did not arrive in Kaifeng until 9:30pm. In the seven hours between: our group got lost in Zhengzhou, found the rubble that used to be a bus station, stumbled into a Chinese drivers ed course, took a very sketchy rickshaw ride, bought over priced food, walked around,then went back and drank beer, finally got a bus, made new friends, got off the bus, drank more beer, ate dinner at the now winding down night market, and collapsed at our hostel. We also somehow managed to thoroughly enjoy ourselves (the beer helped).

The following morning we were greeted by some less than ideal weather and a friend of mine from work, Michelle. Kaifeng is Michelle's home town, and she was nice enough to serve as our guide for the morning and afternoon. She brought us to a muslim neighborhood, where we enjoyed some scrumptious lamb stew for lunch. We then took to our feet and tried to take in the sights. Michelle offered bits of history and insight along the way. Kaifeng, it turns out, means "Open Close." This was an appropriate name, I decided, as it described the paradox of its being so near and taking so long to get to.

Abandoning the idea of paying 100 RMB to enter one of Kaifeng's famous parks which may or may not be putting on the shows that made them famous due to the bad weather, we retreated to a tea house/ cafe and warmed our bones for a bit. Here another friend from my school, Jessica, met us (She is also from Kaifeng) and arranged for a private van to take us back to Zhengzhou. No travel troubles this time...till we hit the worst traffic jam I have not only seen, but pretty much ever heard of. If it wasn't for our drivers disregard of anything resembling a traffic law we could still be at that intersection mashed between buses, cars, e-bikes, bicycles, and pedestrians.

It was our first attempt at traveling in China and it was certainly a learning experience. The takeaway points: attitude is key, beer is very important, take trains.