If you've ever ridden a Chinese train, you know that the top bunk sucks. They jack up the heat in trains all night and, since no ventilation is provided, the heat rises right to the top of the cabin. And, if you're feeling like being thrifty (as I was), then you also understand that the respite found in a "soft sleeper" costs approximately 150rmb more than the "hard sleeper". Hard sleepers are like open dorm rooms with a hallway connecting all bunks and no doors/cabins. The train car IS the cabin. It also stacks 3 people high in a pseudo-cabin that has a total of six beds. The soft sleeper, on the other hand, is a slightly more cushy, enclosed cabin setup with a door and only 4 people to each cabin. Temperature controls are available, the doors can lock, and you can hang with your friends in relative comfort as you control the lights/heat. Luxury my friends, luxury.
Did I mention that I was on the top bunk of the hard sleeper? Ya. Not fun. Sweaty, unfortable non-fun.
After tossing and turning all night, I thought the morning would go swimmingly. We were arriving at 7am, I had requested an early check-in time, and I had cleverly punched in the Chinese address of our hotel into my ITouch so I didn't need to argue with the cabs about the location of the hotel. So, after waiting in the taxi queue, I handed my ITouch to the first driver and told him in my mediocre Chinese that we wanted to go to the Hengji Hotel. He looked confused and said he didn't know where it was. I was a bit testy, so I pointed to the ITouch and said "Here it is". Then I looked at the screen.
He'd somehow managed to delete the address.
Well, I ended up being able to track down the hotel's number, got them to talk to about 4 cabs, and finally one knew the place and off we went. I was a bit frazzled, but I knew that a shower and a bed awaited me.
The rest of the morning passed by in relative peace and included a nap and some lunch. After waiting for CG to arrive from Beijing, we met up with the crew and a group of us headed out to Harbin's Siberian Tiger Park on the outskirts of town to check out the tigers of the world, up close and personal (from the safety of a bus, of course). ***
Having some sort of good luck hidden somewhere, I ended up getting the seat in the very front of the bus and got the best view in the joint. It was pretty amazing, as these massive beasts were only about eight feet from the window I was plastering my camera against. We were toured through Siberian and African tiger areas as well as an area with some African lions. There were hundreds of cats there on a pretty massive property covered in snow. The contrast of these huge, orange tigers against the white snow was pretty cool.
As we were nearing the end of the tour, the driver told us that we could buy chickens to feed to the tigers (there were also a host of other animals you could pay to "donate" to the tigers, including sheep, goats and even a cow for 2000rmb). I, however, was interested in the simple pleasure of feeding them a chicken. The driver then explained that there were two prices... 50rmb and 100rmb. As he was explaining, we thought he said that the 100rmb chicken was alive and the 50rmb chicken was dead. I didn't want to see them eat a dead chicken, so we asked a bit more for clarification... and we pretty much just said we want a live, flying chicken and I forked over the 100 kuai (the equivalent word to "bucks").
About 10 minutes later, we stopped in an open area, and a fully caged 4x4 jeep started ripping into the compound, and all the tigers perked up. As the jeep neared our bus we noticed that a tiger had hopped RIGHT ON TOP OF THE JEEP! So, as the jeep drives right in front of us, the jeep opens up the door, launches a live, flying chicken into the air, and a mondo Siberian tiger runs, leaps, and snatches the tiger right out of the air. The best part?? I got it all on video! Best 100 kaui I've spent in China yet!
After this addition to the highlight reel of China experiences, we finished the rest of the tour of the Tiger Park and headed back to our hotel so we could figure out our New Years plans so we could ring in 2010. More on NYE, the Ice Festival and my second trip to the Saint Sophia Cathedral sometime soon... I'm in search of food (and I've rambled much too long already), so for now... adieu.
T
***Just a few days ago, a bus driver from the Tiger Park was attacked and killed by one of the tigers in the park. The report said that during a tour, the bus became stuck in the snow and the driver (OBVIOUSLY NOT THE BRIGHTEST GUY) left the tourists on the bus and got OUT OF THE BUS to attempt to dislodge the tire. No, he didn't call for help. No, no one cleared out the tigers from that part of the park. Sure enough, one of the tigers attacked him, dragged him to one of the treed areas, and before the staff (who found out after he was already out of the bus) could scare the tiger off with shouting and firecrackers, the driver had been killed. A sad story, but one that belongs in the Darwin Awards.
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