Whether its to the local casino, American border outlet mall or multi-country journey, the bus tour is the only way some Chinese people will travel outside of their own land. For some Chinese people, they use the bus tour as a medium to travel within their own land. My parents, wary of the big six, booked us on an eight-day bus tour of Beijing, Hangzhou, Souzhou and Shanghai and some other cities in between. Plane tickets, hotel reservations, site admission, three meals daily and, of course, transportation via an air-conditioned spaceship are covered by one neat price. Always afraid of missing out on a deal, lustful for safety and efficiency and, dare I say it, not enthusiastic about mingling with any actual locals–bus tours are the way to go for middle aged Chinese parents and their children.
It’s hard to form an accurate opinion of a place and its people as a tourist and even harder when you’re part of a tour group. The last time I went on one I was about 12, traveling through the eastern U.S. with my parents. It was my first and only trip to New York City and it left me with no desire to go back. In hindsight, I realized it is bus tours I despise, not the Big Apple. I loathe getting pushed around like cattle, stuck grazing the fields with people I’m not interested in talking to or can’t bridge the language gap with. The situation seems to have gotten worse since my last foray into this beloved Chinese tradition.
Today, on our second day in Beijing, we saw the 13 tombs, the king’s summer palace and the Great Wall of China. In between we were pushed into a jade showroom, walked through a pottery factory on our way to our meal and an herbal medicine retailer. All three of these mammoth buildings were in the middle of nowhere. The parking lots were painted with huge rectangular spaces fit only for tour buses. No locals in their right minds would come here to shop or even stumble upon these places by accident. No, these places are tour bus conspiracy, where comparatively rich tourists are brought for slaughter. They’re rounded up, made to look at cheap wares that when sold, a cut is passed on to the tour company.
Mid-way through the herbal medicine demonstration I got annoyed. Intially I found it funny how ridiculous the salesgirl’s spiel was. She asked the crowd if anyone had aches and oiled, massaged and stuck arthritis herbal bandages on a volunteer. She made sure to point out pressure points and showed the crowd where to properly place the five bandages required for proper usage. Her presentation lasted close to an hour after she whipped through most of the catalogue. Those that didn’t want to listen to the sales pitch hung outside in the lobby and ended up buying some ice cream or souvenirs anyways.
It occurred to me that China is a place where locals just invent anything, or just slap the right marketing on something that already exists, to get out of poverty or make a fortune. Regardless of whether it helps improve anyone’s life or involved any genuine innovation is besides the point. It’s North American shameless capitalist spirit except with ancient Chinese secret stamped all over it. I got annoyed because my parents spent a lot of money and not so we voyage through a walking infomercial.
Then I remembered that it was the Hong Kong travel agency that pimped us out in the first place and this happens to me in Canada and Europe all the time. The Chinese just haven’t learned how to shill subtley yet. As for the search for authenticity, in travel and in general, it’s a questionable one. But if you can find it anywhere, it may as well be here. They make everything else here, don’t they?
