Ruined for Life: Phoenix Edition

I keep forgetting how much hassle there is to travel in China. It’s doable, even if you’ve got little Chinese proficiency, but it always takes patience and lots of it.

Yesterday was no different as a friend and I headed off to Zoucheng. I wanted to see Mencius‘ hometown, but I also thought it was 90 minutes away and that we could be back by say 5 or 5:30pm.

Our first hitch was that as we neared the bus stop I realized I’d forgotten my passport, which we now need to buy a train ticket. So I had to go back to fetch that. The lines for train tickets are long and slow. You’d hope they’d either hire more clerks or get some machines to diminish the lines. Not yet.

I couldn’t find the train schedule for this town so we didn’t know what to expect in terms of times. Turns out the next train was 11:13 am so we had about an hour and a half to kill, which we did by getting Tiramisu McFlurries, probably the best thing on the McDonald’s menu ever.

Our train was a not an express. In fact, I think there’s only one that’s slower. There’s plenty of local color squashed into each car.  Luckily, we thought to bring some food along. I think this will be my habit for daytrips since ordering food is often tough when I go far afield, especially into the country.

We arrived in Zoucheng,  a dusty, dilapidated town. It’s a humble town that progress seems to have bypassed.

It was easy to get a cab and get to Mencius’ school and temple. Mencius is considered the second Great Sage of China, right behind his idol Confucius.  He’s been compared to Plato and David Hume. His mother is held up as the paragon of motherhood because the legend is that she moved three times to ensure that her son grew up in the right place, the neighborhood with the best influences. She’s the original Tiger Mom, I suppose.

The grounds were quiet and uncrowded. A 30rmb ticket gets you into the temple and the mansion around the corner, which they’re restoring.

The town’s museum is a 10 minute walk from the mansion and has some decent artifacts on the first floor. No photos allowed so I can’t show you what I saw. I will say it was a decent museum.

I had to let go of my dream to return by 5:30. The only train back that made sense left at 4:30pm and was slower than our first train. We didn’t get reserved seats so much of the time we were standing.

Related articles

• Mencius’ Hometown, Zoucheng (nofixedplans5.wordpress.com)
• Philosophical Challenge Post (tobiasmastgrave.wordpress.com)
• The Greatest and Strongest Moral Force (watsup09.wordpress.com)
• With Railway Ministry Ticket App Still Missing, Train Ticket Apps Flourish in China (techinasia.com)
• When Confucius criticizes Zhu Xi and more stories… (warpweftandway.com)
• Benxi and Back again – Shenyang, China (travelpod.com)