I was in Zhejiang
last week. I went to shanghai at first, stayed only one single day and changed
to Zhejiang for a several days business trip.
I was alone in Shangai this time and went out to have a dinner in a Helal
Muslim restaurant. It was too late when I went out from the room and it seemed
there was no place to eat by the Hotel. I have walked around and found a good place to eat noodle.
Lanzhou Noodle is pretty famous all around the China and you can find small
Lanzhou Noodle restaurants in eveywhere. They are so cheap and not so hygienic too but they pay too
attention to islamic regulations and culture a lot. They dont allow non-islamic
food and beverages in the restaurant. So you can trust them and can
confidentially eat at their places. I entered one of them which I decided that
it was the most hygienic one among others. I ordered a cup of Noodle and
randomly sit on a place in the empty restaurant.
The other
morning, after I have finished my business, I reenter to the restaurant and
ordered chinese dumpling this time. I ate something and left from Shanghai.
Being in Shanghai after a long time made me remember my initial days in the
city as if I came back to my hometown again. Leaving from the city became an
uneasy thing for me later on. I went to
Jiangsu province primarily to visit my old friend Emre who has been working
there for years. After staying two nights with him, I changed to Zhejiang to
look for some lace fabrics samples. Keqiao is a small town in Zhejiang province
and it famous for its textiles sector. You can find almost any kind of fabrics
there. I had been there four years ago but I had stayed only three days at that
time. I tried to remember the places but I couldnt do well. The second day, I
found an arabic restaurant and an uyghur restaurant. There was a small mosque
on the second floor of the uyghur restaurant. I went there to pray at the noon
and have eaten uyghur rice with well-cooked lamb meat. I have walked almost all
around the town and discovered many places for the next time.
When I was in
Zhejaing, an old friend who begun to work for a chemical company to call me for
a small thing. He asked me to visit a factory that they want to make a
cooperation with them and plan to purchase a big amount of a chemical product.
The only thing I would do was to meet with the owner of the company and see the
factory. I would take a short time but it was in another province and I had to go
to by plane.
I bought my
ticket and set off in the evening. I planed to go one day in advance to stay at
a hotel near the factory and visit the company in the morning . I had the
address of the company but it was in English and without having Chinese
address, it is more difficult to find the place. If I had the address in
english, I could find place but there was only the name of the industrial zone,
but the exact Street name and number was not available. I had to find the place
a bit early because I couldnt get contact with someone from the company. I
emailed them and had been waiting for a relpy. But I couldnt get any reply.
That was the reason to make a plan to be in Taiyuan one day in advance. If I couldnt get in contact with them, I
would try to find by myself.
I went to the airport and started to wait
for take off after the procedures. In the airplane, there was a couple sit
beside me. I asked them if they are native of the Taiyuan city. They have
suprised when they saw that I could speak Chinese as the probably only
foreigner in the plane. They are from
Taiyuan and the name of the guy was Li, which a common surname in China, just
likethe surname Kim in Korea. They were
curious about my trip to Taiyuan which is the capital city of Shanxi province,
located on the northern part of China. I said that I would make a visit to a
factory and showed them the english address if they know the place. Thanks God
that Mr. Li knew the place and he said that he live in a place very close to
there. He said he could drop me to a hotel around there and the other day
morning he could come to the hotel to pick me up. He could help me to find the
factory if I couldnt get any contact person.
When we landing in Taiyuan, It was about
eleven of the night. In spite of my plan, I have listened the words of Mr. Li
who was a person I didnt know two hours ago and I jumped on his car from the
airport to a place I have never been before. In the midnight, a foreigner in a
car with three strangers. I should admit
that I have felt a bit fear sometimes to be with them and I coldnt do it even
if I was in Turkey. But an inside voice said that it wouldnt be something bad,
and I should trust them to not make my things more complicated. They were the
native of a city where I was looking for a place, that made me feel easy but
they were also the native of a city that I was a foreigner and alone among
them, and unfortunately that made me feel so uneasy. I had both fear and easy
feelings together at the same time while the car moving along the deserted road
at the midnight.
But they droped me at a hotel near the
place I had to be in the morning and left from there. I lied down on the bed
and turned on the tv to watch news in english but a show attracted my
attention. It was the Chinese version of the american dance show but It seemed
pretty original. With the local and modern dances, It was really a great program.
It was too late but I watched it almost two hours.
In the morning, I tried to contact with
the company but I couldnt. They told the customer that they have a factory in
Taiyuan but they didnt have any in reality. Mr. Li called me in the morning and asked if I
get the address. I said I couldnt get contact with anybody. He said he could
come to the hotel to take me and I accept his offer. He took me to some places
in the city like the old mosque, some historical places and we had lunch
together in a good islamic restaurant. He was very respectful and kind for my belief
and ideas.
There was more than one hour to my flight
when they dropped me to the airport. I was there for a factory visit but I made
a good friend besides to the travel in the city. When I told this story to my friends, they
didnt believe it. But I should admit that I couldnt be so brave in my own
country and I wouldnt get on the car of a stranger at the midnight, not even in
the city I live in. But interestingly, in China or in any place I have been as
a tourist, I always become a more fearless person!
