It’s been almost a year since we first spoke with Portrait of an LBX bikers and writers Andy Keller and Evan Villarrubia. We caught up with them this week to talk about their reflections on their trip, which ended on September 13, 2010.

LBX's spectacular campsite in Qinghai province, August 2010 (Photo: Portrait of an LBX)

WildChina Travel: Now that you’ve finished with the trip, how can you define laobaixing? How has your understanding of the term, and the people that define it, expanded, been flipped on its head, morphed, etc.?

Andy Keller: I think laobaixing boils down to a political term, as politics controls so much in China, although it has an economic aspect as well, since politics is so tied to money in China (as with anywhere else). China’s laobaixing make up the vast majority of Chinese people. It’s not just a synonym for “peasant” or “farmer” because it’s not just the people out in the countryside who are laobaixing. Basically, they are the people who have less power in the face of the government.

Evan Villarrubia: All the charm of China has come from individual people, the ones “doing their own thing” in accordance with traditions and their own values — the laobaixing. “New China” has come from outside of the laobaixing.

WCT: Do you still believe that the term laobaixing can define and encompass the people / socioeconomic group that you encountered and interacted with on your trip? Why or why not?

AK: Absolutely. With very few exceptions when we met relatives of friends working in the government or party or big business people, the people we interacted with on the trip were all laobaixing. The number of people without government connections in China is so large that really there’s no way the group of people we interacted with could not almost all be laobaixing.

WCT: What was your greatest surprise on the trip? Your biggest regret?

EV: For me, the biggest surprise was the Tibetan plateau. I had never seen skies like that before, and we never expected how different the people were from anything else we’d encountered. The biggest regret of the trip was not making it to either Hubei or Hunan, two quintessentially Chinese places right in the middle of the country, which our big loop didn’t permit time to visit. This will have to be rectified later.

AK: The biggest surprise for me was discovering just how development and modernity almost always trumped concern for culture, the environment, traditional society, etc. We went into the trip with the impression that with so much good stuff disappearing everyday, people would have to be up in arms about it once we sat down and had honest conversations. By and large though, the people we met were as single-mindedly focused on “development” as the government and were happy to leave tradition, culture and even the natural environment behind for the sake of their concept of modernity.

Despite what you see in the media, most laobaixing are not dowsing themselves in gasoline and lighting themselves on fire on the roofs of their homes as the demolition cranes move in. Most are content to take compensation and move out of their homes, away from the fields, away from their communities and into apartment complexes outside of the city, where the communities and social networks that made traditional China so unique no longer exist.

My biggest regret was definitely the places we didn’t get to see – Hubei, Hunan, Xinjiang, Tibet and pretty much all of Dongbei.

WCT: Which area(s) of China ended up being your favorite? Why?

EV: Yunnan, for natural beauty, colors, extreme cultural variations, food, and tea. You can spend days cruising chilly mountaintop villages above endless rice terraces with the Yi and Hani, and the next day drop into the Dai valleys full of pineapples, coconuts, and wooden stilt homes. As long as you stay off the tourist trail, there’s no end to the surprises.

AK: Ditto.

WCT: What is one piece of advice you would give to travelers who want to experience the ‘real’ side of China?

EV: Stick to the mountains, small roads, and small villages where real culture, real beauty and real people still exist.

Read more of Andy and Evan’s reflections and trip accounts at Portrait of an LBX.

Finding unique clothing that satisfies the needs of WildChina guides in China’s coldest areas, while allowing them to look the part when in remote boutique hotels, is not an easy task. When leading off-the-beaten-path tours to China’s most remote regions, how does a rugged, adventurous guide maintain a clean, professional look? Khunu to the rescue.

Khunu offers a new set of locally-sourced yak wool sweaters in the new Autumn/Winter collection.

We at WildChina are delighted to announce our partnership with Khunu, a premium clothing company focused on producing high-quality adventure wear from Tibetan and Mongolian yak wool. This season, Khunu will be clothing our Shangri-La region guides in Khunu Chimera tops – soft, lightweight and warm garments that are perfect for guiding bespoke trips with sophistication in colder weather. These guides are the perfect adventurers to sport the socially-conscious brand, as Shangri-La is known for its rich cultural diversity and notable population of yaks.

WildChina founder Mei Zhang is impressed by both quality and cultural significance of Khunu garments. “When I first heard about what Khunu was doing,” she says, “I was intrigued by the concept but unsure about what the products would be like. It was something of a surprise to feel how warm and soft their garments are.”  (Yak wool has a luxurious feel that can often be mistaken for cashmere, though it is warmer and notably more durable.) In addition to Khunu’s high level of quality, Mei notes, “the unique link [the garments] have to the regions to which we travel gives them additional relevance” to WildChina’s mission of enabling travelers to experience China differently.

To celebrate the WildChina-Khunu alliance, as well as a new womens line for the Autumn/Winter Collection, Khunu is offering WildChina supporters a limited time 15% discount on all new Khunu sweaters through November 11, 2010. Customers can use the code “wildchina” during checkout at the Khunu online store.

Visit the Khunu website for more information on their story, products, and adventurous ambassadors.

Our friend and writer/photographer/tour leader Annika Hipple alerted us on Facebook yesterday to an interesting new China travel/environment article on Ethical Traveler, an e-news portal that “[promotes] travel as diplomacy that can make a difference on environmental and human rights issues.”

China's Great Green Wall: a long-term solution for the country's environmental concerns? (Photo: Mark Wasyl / Wired.com)

In the November 2010 issue, Katia Savchuk’s article, “China’s Great Green Wall Tests the Limits of Reforestation” explores one of China’s greatest environmental challenges. Nationwide deforestation, in conjunction with global warming, poor regulations and overgrazing, has ” contributed to the rapid spread of deserts,” thereby “threatening the livelihoods of 400 million people.”

China’s 2,800-mile-long (4,506 kilometers)”Great Green Wall, ” officially termed the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, will provide 400-million hectares’ (988-million acres) worth of artificial forest to 13 northern Chinese provinces in 40 years, to counter such climate change and desertification.

But, will this initiative, started in 1978, be an effective long-term solution to China’s worsening environmental conditions? We wonder the same thing for how this will affect the landscape of Chinese tourism.

Read the arguments for and against this ambitious $6.3-billion undertaking in the article.

Today at WildChina, we received one of the greatest gifts that one can in the travel industry: a beautifully-written, heart-felt, and interesting account by a client of their recent Chinese Treasures journey with WildChina to Beijing, Xi’an, Yunnan province, and Shanghai.

Below is Chuck and Kathie’s story.

“You have to understand, Chuck, economically we are capitalists.  Socially we remain communists.  And, that’s not easy to reconcile.”

We look at our guide as we approach the front gate of our Tibetan hosts for the evening.  It is not the first time we’ve heard sentiments such as this.  During our nearly 10 days in China, multiple WildChina guides have done their best to show us life through indigenous eyes and provide us context to Chinese thinking.  We learned of generational divides – where Mom cannot understand why a 30-something guide prefers to be an entrepreneur rather than wish for the days when Chairman Mao “provided for us and we did not have to worry about anything.”  We heard of collateral fallout from 4-2-1 (4 grandparents, 2 parents and only one child), a result of the one child policy.  We silently chuckled as we listened to concerns about the “younger generation”, this from a 35 year-old, no less.  Being 60+  years ourselves, we wisely kept our mouths shut.

Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an

As we arrive for tonight’s dinner, our focus shifts to the family who will open their home and their hearts to us.  We stand at nearly 11,000 feet in Zhongdian in the Yunnan Provence, surveying the courtyard where in the winter animals are brought from the hills.  There is a small tractor and a barn on the ground floor that in the coldest months helps heat the rooms above.  Our host for the evening, a 14 year-old girl with timid eyes, escorts us to the second floor, where we enter a large room with beautiful lacquered wood corbels and intricate painted details.  A wood-burning cooking area with smoke escaping through the ceiling captures our attention while two bare light bulbs bracket low couches and a table where we will eat.   Standing in the corner is 84 year-old great-grandma.  Her eyes are anything but timid.

After our young host finished showing us additional rooms and a storage area for mounds of yak butter, great-grandma catches Chuck’s eye and she pats a space beside her on a low bench by the fire.  When we sit down she motions with gnarled hands as she speaks to us.  Our guide is in another part of the room.  But it is okay as we smile and great-grandma goes right on talking.

Dinner is accompanied by yak-butter tea and Baijiu [a Chinese rice-based alcohol].  We refuse nothing and enjoy it all.  Chuck shows our young hostess his camera, which immediately breaks down what’s left of her reserve, and she laughs when seeing pictures of friends taken today in the city.   The room has filled with mom, dad, sister and cousins.  Our guide tells them Kathie dances ballet, so a trade is arranged.  They will dance for us if Kathie hoofs her way through a few steps.

And then they dress us.  With rough-skinned hands the women wrap and cinch us while everyone laughs at how we look.  Following more pictures, the women, generations four, three and one (two is not there), perform a line dance that shines with tradition.  Kathie joins them and, along with the youngest, soon matches the footsteps while soft Tibetan words are sung by the elders.  Dad stands to the side with a warm smile as he watches his family with seeming amusement.  Chuck catches the 8 year-old sister, with huge wide-open eyes and lips set in a firm line, as she stares hard at him through the barrel of his camera lens.

On the way back to the hotel, our guide is moved to comment that something unusual happened here tonight.  We are not the first to be brought to this home, but before, our hosts did not dress the guests and great-grandma remained strictly in the background.   There is a message here: what you give can determine what you will receive.

WildChina presents opportunities.  They put you in position to experience something special but if you want it, you have to put a bit of yourself out there; you must be the one to build a platform that supports everybody to open themselves.

Consider this from the host’s perspective.  By sharing a bit of yourself, you become something more than a tourist there to be fed and watch the Native Show.  You interact with them “as people” and that raises the level of how meaningful this is for everyone.

Whether it is a Tibetan night of extending hands of friendship – or listening to a proud father in a Beijing hutong home tell you about his successful martial arts instructor son living in Houston – or two weeks’ worth of cultural immersion with warm and eager guides – if you want to maximize the value of what you paid just to get here, you must go beyond simply seeing what is around you.  You must jump in.  And, as you say goodbye you too can hear, “I’m very western.  We can hug.”

Chuck & Kathie Neuenschwander

Although many Chinese travelers will be leaving the country next week for this year’s October Holiday, a national week of celebration for China’s National Day (October 1st), there will still be plenty of locals who prefer in-bound travel for the break.

Back to the Bund: consider in-city entertainment for this October Holiday.

For those tourists – or expat residents – not willing to brave the crowds during this Golden Week, it may be the best time to do in-city exploration.

If you live in Beijing or Shanghai, and haven’t had time to step out of your office or school to truly experience your home-away-from-home, take this week to explore. For October visitors to China, skip the stress of holiday travel and spend a few extra days in these diverse metropolitan areas before venturing to other areas of the country.

Beyond the historic sites (see them if you haven’t), we’ve compiled a short list of suggestions from the web for the holiday:

Beijing

• For all its new glitzy nightlife, Beijing doesn’t get enough credit for good, old-fashioned fun. Jessica Marsden suggests you try retro roller-skating in Xizhimen – for only 5 RMB. (from To China… And Beyond!)
• If you want to relive the days of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, head to the Olympic Green, where monitors will keep crowds in check as you explore the Green’s cutting-edge architecture. (from Global Times)

Shanghai

• Split Works Marketing Director and Shanghai resident Abby Lavin has co-compiled a comprehensive Shanghai to-do list for the holiday, complete with a cornucopia of sights, sounds, and activities. (from CNNGo)
• Not previously enticed by the Expo? Reconsider, since new ticket deals are now being offered, boasting more visit time and cheaper prices. (from Shanghaiist)

Still want to be outside of a metropolitan marvel during your October break? Sara Naumann, author of About.com’s China Travel Guide, tells you when to travel and how to book to avoid the worst of October Holiday season.

On the ‘Roof of the World,’ the sky is the limit when it comes to exploration. Given Tibet’s diverse cultural, historical and religious marvels, it is no wonder that travelers from all over the world flock to this intriguing plateau.

High-altitude autumn landscapes in Lhasa, the region’s capital, provide the perfect backdrop for all-age discovery. After a decade of visiting the area, we have a few favorite sites in the area.

Of particular note are Ganden Monastery and Sera Monastery, two of Tibet’s ‘great three’ university monasteries. After touring the different academic centers within these ancient centers of study, don’t forget to visit Sera’s printing center to create your own prayer flag.

If you’re looking to get out of Lhasa to witness religious life, head to Pabonka Hermitage – now part of Sera Monastery and located northwest of the city.

Feeling a bit lightheaded from the altitude, or simply curious about local remedies? We suggest that you visit a Tibetan Traditional Medicine hospital to hear healing secrets directly from a local Tibetan doctor.

Finally, on your way out of town en route to Shigatse, carve out time to learn how to make incense with a local family.

Is China becoming a ‘Fast Food Nation’?

Just two decades ago, most people in China ate relatively low-fat meals and regularly rode their bicycles to get around. Obesity was extremely rare.

Fast forward to today: more and more people eat greasy street food or fast food such as KFC and McDonald’s and fewer have the time or energy to get some exercise. The result: China now has 19 million clinically obese citizens, with that number growing by 30 to 50 percent each year, according to a recent PBS report (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/06/reporters-notebook-obesity-rising-in-china.html).

Photo: Xinhua / Sadat

A group of food-conscious individuals is hoping to promote the idea of healthier eating habits this weekend in Beijing, with Slow Food Saturday at The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu.

The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu, one of our preferred hotels in Beijing and a winner of our Best of China Awards 2010, has been a local pioneer in championing Slow Food for its clients and local community residents. As a sustainable tourism enterprise that offers dining, lodging, and meeting solutions in unique settings just an hour from downtown Beijing, the boutique hotel has redeployed existing buildings to new uses, created local jobs, supported other local businesses, grown their own vegetables and fruits while procuring other foods locally and made almost everything fresh and homemade on their premises.

This Saturday, September 4, in conjunction with the Slow Food Beijing Convivium, The Schoolhouse will put on a day of food, cooking, biking and more in the neighboring Great Wall International Cultural Villages of Mutianyu, Beigou, Xinying, and Tianxianyu to celebrate cooking, sustainable practices, and local communities. For a full schedule and activities, visit their website (http://www.slowfoodsaturday.org).

At its recent biannual Board meeting, The Board of Directors of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) unanimously agreed to implement a new structure of TIES Board, with the new Advisory Board consisting of ecotourism experts and industry leaders, and the Governance Board, which focuses on administrative and managerial tasks related to the governance of the organization.

Within this new structure, the former Board of Directors voted in eleven new members to the Advisory Board: Deirdre Campbell (Owner, The Tartan Group), Richard Edwards (Director, Planeterra Foundation and Co-Chair, Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference), Shadia Garrison (Consultant, Writer, Project Manager), Palitha Gurusinghe (President, Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation), Ariane Janér (Co-Founder, EcoBrasil), Kimberly Lisagor (Journalist, Author), Rick MacLeod Farley (Principal Consultant, MacLeod Farley & Associates), Paul Radchenko (Tourism Development Planner, Government of Alberta, Canada), Albert Teo Chin Kion (Managing Director, Borneo Eco Tours), Annie Vanderwyk (Indigenous Business, Education & Research Partner, Youth Connections, and Principal Cultural Consultant, Wild Earth Expeditions), Mei Zhang (Founder, WildChina). Full list of current Advisory Board members and their bios can be found on the TIES Advisory Board page.

WildChina recently interviewed Ayako Ezaki, TIES’ Director of Communications, on Mei’s new board position, Advisory Board projects, and what the board hopes to accomplish in the future.

WildChina Travel: Why did TIES feel that Mei was a good choice for the Advisory Board?
Ayako Ezaki: One of the areas where TIES would like to become more actively engaged is ecotourism and sustainable tourism in the Asia Pacific region. We have a number of Association, Business, NGO as well as individual members based in the region, and over the years various initiatives have been taking place (for example, the Asia Pacific Ecotourism Network [APES]). With new Advisory Board members who are actively involved in ecotourism networks in the region, we feel that we will have increased opportunities in the coming years for membership, education and communication outreach, events and partnership building.

In addition, we are particularly pleased to work with Mei due to her strong business background and industry expertise. As Mei has been actively engaged in ecotourism, adventure travel and sustainable tourism arenas for a number of years. Many on TIES team, including Dr. Kelly Bricker, TIES chair, have had the opportunity to learn about her various achievements directly and indirectly.

WCT: What kind of work do you plan to do with the board?
AE: We are seeking to set up sub-committees within the Advisory Board that may address general and ongoing needs (e.g. public awareness, partnership) or work on specific tasks related to certain projects or assignments. One of the first tasks, therefore, is to identify key areas that will become sub-committee focus areas, such as Asia Pacific (regional activities and partnership initiatives to reach out to existing organizations in the Asia Pacific region, such as the Asia Pacific Ecotourism Society, and to collaborate with potential new members) and Voluntourism (exploring opportunities to disseminate information and resources about voluntourism and to encourage greater traveler and industry engagement).

We also hope to work with Advisory Board members to implement several new projects, focusing on key topics and issues such as: ecotourism and indigenous communities, sustainable community development, and ecotourism and wildlife conservation.

Many of TIES Advisory Board members have played roles on the program/speaker committee for the annual Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC), and we hope to work with new Advisory Board members who are able to volunteer their time for the upcoming ESTC.

WCT: What does the board hope to accomplish in the next few years?
AE: The main goals of TIES Advisory Board are to support TIES mission and strengthen TIES initiatives by better representing our members’ needs and more effectively addressing current and emerging issues within the tourism industry. With a diverse group of global experts, we believe that TIES Advisory Board will be able to assist in positive development of the organization in terms of educational resources, community projects, and grassroots networking.

With new initiatives such as carbon offset options for clients, WildChina proud to join TIES in creating the future of sustainable tourism in China and beyond. See what Mei has to say about tourism in China, her role on the TIES Advisory Board, and questions she wants to answer about sustainable travel.

Read the entire TIES press release on new TIES Advisory Board members.