Why Chinese Police Are Annoying

Ok, so before you read this know that everything is fine. Anyhow:

I came back to my hostel on July 31st and got some very interesting, but sincerely annoying news. The police had showed up at our hostel and had ordered the owners to cease serving accommodation to foreigners (their entire revenue base). To get some perspective here: Meaning Hostel is run by a family; the two children (not so anymore) are the functional owners of the establishment, though the father and mother are sometimes around, along with a very adorable grandmother. Together, they run a clean, western-friendly hostel with extremely cheap prices. I pay less than three dollars a night for a dorm bed there. May and her brother also provide local food, freshly prepared, at prices that challenge even the cheapest restaurant (and the food is better). They take care of their guests as if they had become temporary family members. The father was constantly giving me advice on nutrition and healthy food and drink, the grandmother consistently offering apples, watermelon and crackers (all free of charge). I had a cold and cough while I was there, and they gave me medicine (which I have never used before), and May's brother provided boiled water for us to drink. To sum it all up: I love that place. It's a bit far out of town: maybe 20 minutes by bus, though that's still not out of Xi'an, but this is easily compensated for by numerous restaurants, street stalls and convenience stores that lead to the hostel (not to mention the bus costs around 1 yuan (the equivalent of 15 cents).

So when I heard that without notice, and without good reason (supposedly the hostel was too far from the police station), we were all going to have to leave I was shocked. This was compounded by the fact that that very night, in less than two hours after we heard the news, the police were going to search the hostel to make sure people had left (midnight was the time May said they had told her they would be coming). So, along with the other guests we evacuated the second floor, bringing others up to the dorms (which don't have air-conditioning). Gilad (an Israeli who shared my dorm for several days) and I ended up with a British eclipse-chaser who didn't sleep and was seemingly incapable of relaxing. So, at midnight, the lights went out, and we hid in the upstairs rooms hoping that they wouldn't search them.

So, we waited. And waited. Every noise, voice, or imagined footstep made us think that they had finally arrived. The click and beep of a walkie-talkie, the arrogantly loud barking of people outside, and the screech of the hostel gates closing all kept us thinking. Gilad turned off the fan on the bedside table because it was too loud, and the air become stagnant and hot. In the other section of the dorm the englishman whispered 'what's going on?' every once in a while, though our reply was always the same: 'nothing'. Gilad was in the artillery in Israel, so it's quite easy for him to fall asleep. Not so for the englishman. Eventually he got up and started pacing back and forth between the window and the door, trying to get a better view of the entrance and stairs. I took a peek out the window, but then gave up and tried to sleep. It's 1 in the morning by now. I start to think that nothing is going to happen, but I'm not sure enough to restart the fan. I'm still fully dressed, and I haven't showered, and things are sticky, dirty and not at all conducive to comfort. The night was rough, to say the least. When I finally faded off nothing had happened yet. Upon waking, I guessed that it was 7 or so; Gilad corrected me, it was 10. I guess that's what happens when you barely sleep.

But, nothing had happened. No police, no evacuations or searches, but still we had to leave that day. Some people wanted to leave Xi'an, others were going to another hostel that May had arranged near the train station. I decided that I wanted to climb Hua Shan still, so I joined the crowd going to the other hostel. May and her brother accompained us all, paid for the bus fare, and helped everyone buy tickets to their respective destinations. They took us all the way, got me a discounted bed at the new hostel, and then hugged us goodbye when we parted ways (the father also carrried one of my bags to the bus). I told them that if I ever come back to Xi'an I will stay at the Meaning Hostel, since after the olympics they will be allowed to reopen. I intend to keep my promise.

I am now at Bob's guest house, a hostel 5 minutes walk from the train station, in a dorm that costs me 20 yuan a night. We don't have out own bathroom, nor is there one on the ground floor, and the ones on the second and third don't have western toilets. On the bright side of things: I met a couple of people at the hostel, I young boy and a girl who work there. The boy taught me Mahjongg and another game something like 'connect 5'. I taught them both a simple version of 'Heck' (the name given to the game by Martha, one of my parent's neighbors). We also played some ping pong! I'm about as good as the boy (who is either 10 or 12 years old), and a bit better than the girl (who is older than I by several years). It was good to get some practice, not to mention find out how good I am in China. My plans during my two-night stay at the hostel: climb Hua Shan, and prepare for a 24-hour hard-seat ride to Hohhot, where I will also meet a friend I made at the Meaning Hostel (actually in Baotou, two hours southeast of Hohhot by bus). I wanted a sleeper because it's the only comfortable way to take the train for that long, but apparently I don't have that kind of luck. The train is slow and old, if I'm reading my ticket correctly, and I will be stuck in a similar seat to that I had from Beijing to Shanghai. I may or may not be alive afterward. But we'll see. Less than two weeks to go and the time is going quickly: though I feel like I've become a permanent resident of China. Some things are starting to catch up with me: I have cravings for dairy (often ice-cream), and chinese breakfast is not always a meal I partake in. I'm going to need to get used to forks again though.

P.S. I did indeed send an email to the Canadian Consulate in Beijing trying to find out what I can about the 'fairness' of the hostel being closed. I do this in the hopes that there is a requirement somewhere for warning previous to the forced shutdown of a business like a hostel that deals in reservations on an international basis.