Paranoid

Photo: Tongde stretches out along a canyon of loess cliffs along the Baqu River.

Tongde is in a gorgeous valley! A long, east-west trending, deeply-dissected, gorge that resembles a smaller version of the Grand Canyon-but with more grass on the less-than-verticle slopes. There are many verticle slopes thanks to the loess near the top. There are caves in the loess. We checked one out. I'm sure the caves are old. The town looks relatively new and is comprised of two main roads running parallel to each other with, like much of China, lots of frantic construction. Beyond the construction and noise are high cliffs north and south. Our hotel, the Tongde Binguan, faces the north-facing southern ones. Last night Sander proposed that we climb it where we saw a man and yaks standing precariously on a narrow switchbacking path. I suggested that I walk with Sander's video camera and film him for a change. He agreed.


Photo: A view looking south from our hotel window.

Late this morning, we walked out of our hotel, crossed the busy main street, turned left, then right down an alley. As I started filming Sander, we descended toward the river. There were wading yaks and a Tibetan woman yelling and throwing stones at the yaks from the north bank in an effort to herd them upstream. Sander paused on the bridge nearby where prayer flags covered the railings and fluttered in the breeze. It was a soothing breeze on this sunny, hot day. I zoomed in on Sander, the yaks, then the Tibetan woman. After pulling away I spun around to catch a glimpse of the village near the bridge at the edge of the town, the cliffs in all directions, the huge horizontal stand of prayer flags up the path at the top of the gorge, and, finally, on Sander as he started the climb. The climb was so steep that for every four steps Sander climbed up he slid back down one or two. He slid a lot. But I slid more. We stopped and discussed how we were going to tackle this before Sander said he wanted to see if he could make the climb up the path he chose. Suddenly, a voice, called to me from behind. I ignored him at first, not sure if it was me he was talking to, and continued to try to follow Sander but with noticeable difficulty. I heard more shouts. Before long, I could not ignore them any longer. I recognized the blue uniform. The police. We walked toward each other.


Photo: The path we took seen from a distance.

He told me that he was the police. I told him I know. (Someone must've seen us and called the police.)

He wanted to know what we were doing. I explained.

I asked if he spoke English. He said he didn't.

He wanted to know where we were staying. I told him.

He wanted to know where we came from and where we were going, that is, what our plans were. I told him.

Then he wanted to know what we were filming. I told him that I was filming my son climb up the mountain.

It was the filming that concerned him. Maybe something on the rim?

He wanted to know other things but my Chinese is very limited and I didn't understand everything that he was asking. I told him so. He didn't believe me. He said that I was understanding what he wanted and that I spoke just fine. (Okay, maybe I knew a little more than I let on but I still missed way too much and guessed at the rest. I do a lot of guessing when I speak Chinese.) We argued about that for a while, but, the end, which I did know, it was camera and film he wanted.

I asked if I could take his picture.

He flinched.

He asked if he could confiscate Sander's camera.

I told him that I loved China and the people (implying that and wouldn't intentionally do anything to harm anyone), that I even taught English to a college for the People's Liberation Army.

But he assured me that he would return it tonight. But tonight could mean a long time waiting. I didn't want to wait if I didn't have to. I pinned him down for a time. Eight o'clock pm. He told me that at 8:00 pm he would bring Sander's camera to our room.

I asked if we could climb the hill.

He said we could. We shook hands. He walked away.

Sander and I continued up the wall of the gorge. It was steep. We slid backwards a lot. Tiny stones rolled under our feet. The goats are good at this but even the yaks take their time. The yaks really take their time. We met yaks along the way. Later we met goats. The goats are fast.

Near the top Sander and I stood among a horizontal stand of prayer flags. The flags, the gorge, the town, altogether they were breathtaking! Too bad we couldn't film this! Even worse, too bad I couldn't film Sander make the climb. Yet the climb wasn't over. We still hadn't climbed onto the plateau at the top of the gorge (we were planning to climb up all the way and walk along the rim then hike down via another route). We continued up.

But just as we approached the top we were met by a large, angry, chained dog barking hysterically at us. A woman peaked from over a wall to a home we previously hadn't noticed. She wasn't doing anything to calm the dog. The dog, watching us, wouldn't stop. It looked vicious. We picked up some rocks, turned around, and carefully descended...looking behind us periodically. We slid a lot. One does not want to slide at the wrong spot on a path like this. We didn't slide at any wrong spot but there weren't many right ones either. I thought about the camera and film.

I hope they don't keep Sander's footage and I certainly hope they return the camera.

He should be at our room by 8:00.

If he shows up on time and alone it should be good.

If he shows up later than 8:00 with others it might be trouble.

Back on the main street Sander and I sat in front of a store eating ice cream. It was a perfect time for ice cream and conversation. We decided to walk to the internet cafe.

The cafe was practically filled with Tibetans, most playing computer games and some shouting at each other. Sander and I got online. He read and responded to some emails and is now watching Colbert. A man came in and was watching me from the other side of the room. Five minutes later, as I continued to write this, he stood behind me. He just stood and watched. After a few minutes I said hello. He responded and walked away.


Photo: Among the first Chinese characters that Sander learned were WANG BA (internet cafe). In no time Sander was picking out these characters all over many of the communities in which we stayed (August, 2010).

I just feel we've been watched a lot today.

Maybe I'm paranoid.

Brad