I left China two days ago, and arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, yesterday night. After about 45 days it’s a bit strange.

When I first came there after Mongolia, I tried to forget the clichés “China is big, lots of people, they don’t speak french and they’ll eat us all”. This kind of talk isn’t really constructive. So yeah, I didn’t really know what to expect. A dictatorship that forgets free of speech (and facebook), an economical phenomenon that’s going up and up and 5000 years of history, and also landscapes with mountains and pines and bamboos in the foreground. This, I expected.

But I didn’t expect to be so nicely surprised by China. Landscapes, people, life… Even facing poverty, destruction (I passed through the 2008’s earthquake region) or corruption, there’s a hige dynamic feeling to be felt from the Chinese people.

Even tourists were interesting and motivated!

Here in France (or Back there in France), we’ve got all sorts of rethorics concerning the rest of the world. And then, you get to move around, and you see that reality has multiple faces. Some things I saw, some people I discussed with enabled me to have other views and think differently than in France. Reality has many faces. What I say is not an absolute truth, but some thought work in progress. Nothing’s all black or white, and if in France there’s millions of intelligent people, they have hundreds of millions of them in China.

A couple I met in Dali told me that some friends of them asked why they didn’t boycott China, and why they were going there on vacation. Why would you do that? I mean, Boycott China? That’s 1.5 billion people and the economy that grows with them. A couple not travelling there will surely influence the government, riiiight. And living in Paris or any western country without buying “Made in China” is completely illusory. All of our way of life in the Western World is based on cheap labour in poor countries. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, far from it, but it’s illusory to think that a few Prius-owning rightly thinking bohemian bourgeois can turn the Chinese governement’s policies when they decide to go to Bali instead of China this spring.

And yeah, Mao’s times are over, and we tend to forget it. Deng came and gave back to the people the possibility to survive and to do business. And now with Hu, you can forget about the communist economy : everybody’s got something to sell, and it’s the biggest capitalist market in the world. That’s why you get to see McDonald’s and KFC at every street corner in big cities.

And we also forget, in France, that China is not North Korea. And that the Chinese people aren’t idiots. One of their jokes was actually mocking one of the Party’s motto : “Mao is the sun who shines upon the Chinese people”, and adding “but Deng is the moon who gives us light to play Mah-Jong”. Mao was an idealist, but Deng was more important for them, thanks to him they could do business (for the Chinese : Mah-Jong = gambling = business = luck = … = proffit!). Chinese people I met are patriots, they love the country and didn’t get brainwashed, or at least not at a point that robbed them from their critical thinking.

In fact, the biggest recrimination of people of my age was against the Chinese educative system, that didn’t give them the tools to think in constructive ways, and so on. We could say, from a Westerner’s point of view, that it’s the main point and that it’s Evil and Communist, and their system blocks all original thoughts. But in that case, how would they be able to notice these problems? Their system might be considered as brainwashing, but it’s not performing well, so yeah, that’s not so bad, is it?

And Chinese people my age (yes of course, I had discussions with all of them) are shocked when western countries tell the Chinese government how it should behave for any kind of situation. We can understand them : if Lichtenstein gave France lessons about how to handle the Corsican and Basque cases, what would we say? It doesn’t mean I’m okay with the way China handles Tibet or Xinjiang. But the situation is better than a few years ago, and it’ll be better over time, I guess. Changes take time.

And anyway, who I am to “Be okay” with other people’s affairs? Who sleeps with whop, how people are lead… I’m against inequality and suffering. Except from that, well, my convictions like pissing myself in black pants : a warm and cosy feeling for me, but it doens’t concern other people unless they don’t like the smell.

Oh well. Measure in everything. You need some mesure in governments, but also in the way we criticize them. The goal of a government isn’t the freedom, or the happiness or the survival of the people. The goal of a government is to keep the power to itself. And all the means are good to that goal : give the people illusions of freedom (you can buy what you want as long as you buy) or happiness (remember you’re happy whey you buy), or give the people something to eat. And governments tell their people that they are actually the best way of governing. And that everyone that’s advocating another system is dead wrong. And sometimes they make sure these people turn up dead. So yeah, democracy? the best way to govern! Dictatorship? the best there is also! (give the people the benefit of the doubt and allow self-government? well, mmh, NO)

Ok so yeah. China’s nice, beautiful, we eat well and no need to boycott. Because anyway in a few years when they turn Europe into a giant tourist park, we’ll be able to think it wouldn’t have changed anything.

Good-bye China, we’ll meet again. I lived great and incredible things with you.

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So yeah, I got a new digital camera. It’s a Ricoh GR Digital III, and it’s like my Ricoh GR Digital 2’s big brother.

Why did I chose this camera? Because I liked my experience with the GRD II, the image quality and the ease of use. And well, some of the new features in the GRD III were exactly what I was looking for in the II. So it’s way better. So it’s like a christmas gift I did to myself, long before christmas. For the price of one month in SE Asia or one week in Japan…

But I don’t like to think about that in this way… My broken camera will go to France, where it will hopefuly get fixed (thank you, warranty) and I may resell it after that. If you want a nice camera for christmas, a camera that travelled with me to China and saw Moscow Nights, a polish Santa in the Transsiberian, Mongolia and Chinese tourists, you can ask me.

I took my camera on a little walk in the streets of Guangzhou, following people and eyes, crossing paths and electric wires.

And come back, in the end, to discover all the pictures and looking at the differences between this camera and the dead one. Does it have a better light sensor? Mmh. Well.

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Or, Tweets I could have posted but haven’t, because I wasn’t connected at the moment, because there are some things I don’t tell anyone before it’s over, and because sometimes I need more than 140 typographical signs.

Joachim has a broken camera. Life is a bitch. (I mean, I’m in China, I see everyday a new horizon, I meet incredible poeple, I live some pretty unforgettable stuff and I still find a way to complain about a piece of technology that was beaten by entropy)

Joachim is taking the train. 40 hours ’till Chengdu. Let’s hope I can sleep.

Joachim is in a compartiment with two chinese guys who speak english and one who doesn’t. They give me some food and green tea.

Joachim is sick about spicy.

Joachim wasn’t sick! No problem after all.

Joachim thinks the French SNCF has a lot to learn about in-train restaurants.

Joachim wonders why he always misses the stop when he’s in a bus for the first time in a new city.

Joachim is eating a rabbit head. The cheeks are good, but the eyes are too salty. Next stop, the brain.

Joachim won’t eat rabbit brain after all. Nothing to break the bone :(

Joachim also likes duck feet. Not enough meat on it though.

Joachim is making friends.

Joachim should stop being The Frenchman. It’s so cliché.

Joachim is in a bus since 6AM. It’s been almost 10 hours even though they had told him it would take 8 hours max. When do we arrive?

Joachim spent 15 hours in a bus with some chinese workmen who were all wondering why a westerner could want to go in this place in the mountains.

Joachim has magical moutain pony adventures!

Joachim is making friends. Chinese friends who speak a little bit english and the couple wants to put me together with the single chinese girl.

Joachim sleeps in a tent with a temperature under the -0°C at least.

Joachim should have gone peepee before going to bed.

Joachim REALLY should have gone pee.

Joachim COLD CLOD COLD CODL (try to tweet with gloves while peeing by minus 0°C at least (without wetting yourself too))

Joachim comes back from the mountain.

Joachim spent only 10 hours in the bus! Yay!

Joachim is in Chengdu for a short amount of time.

Joachim is making friends, yet again.

Joachim is in the train to Kunming. Hard Sleeper : open compartiment with five chinese guys and a westerner. Of the five chinese, one speaks english. The other offer some tea, food and posters of the chinese army. Yay, a tank.

Joachim thinks that Yunnan isn’t too shabby.

Joachim is in Kunming. Nice weather, pretty girls, clean hostel.

Joachim eats in the street with muslim chinese at a barbecue stand.

Joachim wakes up early and speaks over the internet with his friends from the other side of far away.

Joachim goes apply for a visa extension.

Joachim thinks that chinese visa services could have a working intranet. This feels too much like France :)

Joachim meets again this American girl from Chengdu.

Joachim is making french friends.

Joachim and his french friends are looking for a place to eat (it’s 8PM and everyting’s closed. Come on, man!)

Joachim eats in the street at a barbecue stand with some chinese and some chinese-speaking french people.

Joachim is learning from some chinese people a way to open Tsingtao beer bottles with two chopsticks! Cool trick :)

Joachim is going cl ubbing with 3 frenches. and lots of chinese poeple

Joachim DANCING ON THE PODUIM YEEEEEEH!!!!!!!!

Joachim HPRD YP YJR YPOMRYD

Joachim wakes up way to early

Joachim remembers that there was some beer involved, yesterday night. and chinese dancing

Joachim OUch.

Joachim shows a teashop to this American girl.

Joachim and this American girl go to a parc with old people singing, playing Mah-Jong and drinking tea.

Joachim takes the night train with this American girl. Hard Sleeper and old ladies. Calm night.

Joachim watches the rising sun while arriving to the old town of Dali.

Joachim Flower Tea.

Joachim thinks Dali’s a tad too much touristy.

Joachim goes on the mountain with this American girl.

Joachim is making friends at the top of the Mountain.

Joachim loves the Mountain.

Joachim (now that’s a really cute girl)

Joachim meets somebody from Vesoul. Who could have thought? Surely not @365in70500 !

Joachim looks at the rising sun wit a taoist Chinese-Americain and the daughter of a preacherman.

Joachim Oh, hey, it’s back. Last time was’nt nice, and this time is worst. #orcoulditbebetter?

Joachim goes down the mountain the quick way. He climbed it on foot yesterday though. Oh well.

Joachim is in Lijiang with this American girl. Omg. It’s cute but touristy. Why is it always like that?

Joachim and this American girl make friends with three ozzies and this other American girl. And, in this story, a Dangerous Dutch Biker.

Joachim is loosing his way in the town full of chinese tourists with three ozzies, these two American girls and a fleeing dutchman.

Joachim ALL THESE CHINESE PEOPLE AAUGH

Joachim comes back to the Hostel. Better when it’s calmer, and Mama’s there to wish us a good night.

Joachim spends the morning in THE CUTEST tea house with Ozzie #1, 2 and 3, and this other American girl.

Joachim goes to eat at another Mama’s with this other American girl, and Ozzie #3, 2 and 1.

Joachim goes on a bike ride with this other American girl.

Joachim buys some chinese souvenirs.

Joachim goes to The Most Admirable Doctor Ho (as seen in Bruce Chatwin’s books, the National Geographic Magazine and some other less-well known publications) and gets a prescription for his allergies. Or against it.

Joachim drinks some milk tea with this other American girl and talks about things.

Joachim goes back on a bike in the night, with this other American girl, betweens all the paintngs of the moonlight. And is feeling lyrical.

Joachim might be risking an OD on mountain herbal tea. What is two grams?

Joachim listens to this American girl and Dutch Biker Dangerous talking while writing tweets.

Joachim might take the morning train to Shangri-La to get a revelation, and might also leave a note on this American girl’s bag.

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If you followed my recent tweets, you might know that my digital camera’s dead. And that explains why I haven’t posted a lot these days. I don’t have lots to show you, so I spread it…

The place where it died? Huang Shan. The Yellow Mountain. It’s the mountain that’s in the heart of every chinese person. The legend says that the Yellow Emperor got elevated to heaven from this Mountains.

And they also say that after seeing the Huang Shan, you don’t need to go see another mountain.

This ain’t no normal mountain. I was told the story of this tourist who climbed it, saw the sun rise, and died. Maybe the Yellow Emperor’s spirit claimed him. And maybe the same happened to my camera. These are some of the last pictures it took before ascending to Heaven.

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I went to the Great Wall of China the other day, and it was thrilling. The wall is like a bit worm unrolled on the montains.

I went there a saturday, and I walked the 10 kilometers between Jinshanling and Simatai with some people from CouchSurfing. It was cool, and different from the habitual hostel fauna…

And it wasn’t raining. A nice day to be outside.

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I left Beijing one week ago. I could make a post without text and just say “adios friends, I’ve left Shanghai now, you can have only the pictures” but well, I don’t know. I didn’t make lots of pictures in Beijing.

I only made pictures in the parks. I was greatly impressed by the surprises of the Chinese garden arts. The vsit of the Forbidden City was indeed crowned by the Imperial Garden, a small forest between red walls, small but spacious, with terraces, stones and nature. Trees erected like statues and birds singing. It was beautiful, resting, refreshing, spacious, intimate, and I only took one picture (and it wasn’t very good).

The parks I saw manage to keep some mystery, some secrets and a little bit of poetry, even with lots and lots of visitors. You could, like me, cross the way of a calligrapher of the instant. He writes on the ground, with water. And a few minutes after he left, his writings leave too. After that, you could cross a bridge over untroubled water, a small pagoda whose wood has been darkened by the passing of time, stairway to the hill and french tourists.

But, well, it’s always a private discovery…

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Here are the first photos of Beijing, because I’m on my 31st day of trip my trip.

This is the week of the 60th birthday of the People’s Republic of China. As a result, the Beijingers aren’t in Beijing, and the people from all China are in Beijing, and they take photographs of themeselves to prove it.

And I was there to take their photographs.

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