The Art of (not) Planning

Not everyone is a good planner. Some would call it a skill, others might call it an art. Good organization and planning skills are traits needed by any business or group, no matter the size. Poor fiscal planning could leave your family in debt, or poor military planning could leave you in the quagmire of Iraq with seemingly no way out. Although we would agree on the dire necessity of these skills, I would venture to say that there are some occasions that call for the exact opposite--no plans. Not everyone can plan well, but almost no one can not plan well. (Maybe you should read that again.) If you know me, you know that I value flexibility, spontaneity, and having no idea what I am doing next...

Last weekend Nate, Park, and I set out for the weekend to go to the ancient stone-walled city of Chongwu. We gave ourselves a 75% chance of actually getting where we wanted to go, packed our backpacks, and set off...with absolutely no idea what we were doing or where were sleeping for the next two days. The beauty of not planning, is that you have no schedule or timeline that can get messed up and cause frustration-- the whole trip is the journey itself! After making it to the bustop, we found out that there were no more buses to Chongwu that night (of course.) Instead of accepting defeat and staying in Xiamen, we decided to take a bus back to Quanzhou which was only about 45 minutes from Chongwu. As we were getting on the bus, we met a girl who knew English and wanted to know if she could help us, I guess we looked really confused! She ended up being on the same bus as us, so we talked and hung out with her all the way to Quanzhou. Upon getting to the city, Irene helped us find a shadyish hostel not far from the bus-stop where we could stay for the night. It was actually part of someones house, but they had extra rooms! She seemed confused that we didn't want to stay in a hotel because it was too expensive, but instead chose the hostel that was only $12 for all 3 of us to stay there! Yeah mayne! After that, we met some of her friends for some local Quanzhou cuisine and then ended up a 100 year old traditional Chinese tea house where we drank tea, and taught them how to play the card game "bs." (classic cultural exchange.) We made our way back to the hostel where we sat on the front stoop until about 3 am with the old Chinese guards debating and discussing various elements of Chinese history, as well as government and economics from a Chinese perspective.

The next morning we got some coffee and then caught a $1 bus to the original destination--Chongwu! Most of the people on our bus were men and women from the Chinese ethnic minority "Hui'nan." Most people think of Chinese as one people group who look the same, but this country is actually incredibly diverse. The woman from this group colorful head shaws reminiscent of Islamic head coverings, expect their whole face was shown. We sat at the back of the bus and practiced our Chinese with the guys who sat beside us. To show you what I have been learning, my friend Nate and I talked to our neighbor and we: found out his name, where he was from and where he was going, found out about his family, that he like the NBA, his favorite player was KOBE, and that the best Kung-fu around was definitely in Yunnan province. We reciprocated and told him all about us...ALL IN CHINESE! Obviously, we couldn't move much beyond these basics, but it was exciting!

We finally made it to Chongwu, and it was utterly breathtaking. I have always heard/read about cities completely surrounded by stone walls, but never imagined what one would look like in person. Built 700 years ago in the Ming Dynasty, this city is one of the last 3 intact stone-walled cities in all of China. Although built up around the ancient city, the boundaries are still completely intact and there are many people who live inside. The entire city was made of stone-- the houses, the walls, the temples, the ground. As we walked through the incredibly calm stone fortress, the only sound that interrupted us was the occasional motorcycle taxi passing, or the ancient women walking together carrying fruit or vegetables. The population of the city was noticeably old-- my friends and I reflected on the fact that we never really see this many old people in America. It seems most are shut away from society or secluded in their homes. This was quite the opposite--the city was crawling with the socialite octogenarians who talked, sold, and shopped like they were still in their 40's.

We explored the city and eventually made it to the back wall where we climbed up and then walked alongside it looking both in on the city and off at the coastline. We made it down to the beach where we met a huge group of students from Fujian University. We ended up spending a couple hours with them and joining in their Chinese-style barbecue. They were incredibly nice and hospitable. After we left, we explored the city by night. If it was not for the occasional din of a television set, I would have believed I was back in the Ming dynasty. At 8pm it was almost completely quiet and dark, except for the old men quietly drinking tea and playing Chinese checkers together. Most of the city had a slight red glow coming off the altars from the homes. I honestly felt like I was in a movie. Ok, here is where you are going to think I am crazy. There were no hotels close, and we wanted to sleep INSIDE the stone fortress. Alongside the back wall, there was an old abandoned home that provided some shelter from the intense wind coming off the coast. We set up our newly purchased reeds mats (Park had a hammock) and we enjoyed the down and dirty history of this great city!!

This was probably the best weekend I have had in China so far--not because of what some initerary said, but because of our complete disregard of plans and embrace of adventure. So, dear friends, I would submit to you that while planning is a definite skill, not planning is equally important.