Not the Guizhou Vacation I had Envisioned

I had long waited for these April vacations. We had earlier this year decided to visit Guizhou, one of China’s southwest most beautiful province that we had yet to experience. The plan was to get back to Shanghai right after my attendance to Dong Connection in Sanya and then fly to Guiyang, the capital of the province.

I somehow should have known, but it didn’t start with the best odds. My flight back from Sanya was delayed by 2h, then 4h, then 6h. Those who've been to Sanya know how much the air space is controlled by the Military and therefore flights often subject to delay. So by then I knew I would miss my connecting flight in Shanghai so I opted to get my suitcase that I checked in back and then rebook an evening flight directly from Sanya to Guiyang. I landed at 1am in Guiyang and met with my family at the airport (their flight had also been delayed) before heading for downtown.

First stop - Huangguoshu Waterfall

Despite our early setbacks, we set on our vacation plan which we wanted as immerse in nature as possible. Our first stop was about 136 km southwest of Guiyang (1.5h drive) where is the largest waterfall in Asia and the third largest one in the world. There are 18 of them in all and the centrepiece Huangguoshu Waterfall is the largest and most famous one.

This type of beautiful natural landscape is why I bought my DJI drone last year. I want to ensure wherever I do, I can capture the beauty of the place visited. Guizhou overall did not disappoint. I hope the pictures in this article can portray enough the beauty we witnessed.

Second stop - Libo County

Libo may not be as famous as Huangguoshu Waterfall. It is however part of the South China Karst UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2007. Libo was the first world natural heritage site in Guizhou. Did you know that China has the second largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites? The Middle Kingdom is ahead of Spain, France and India, and only second to Italy.

The first two days in Guizhou were fantastic. The air was pure while hiking mountains and forests, the sceneries were gorgeous, and we seemed to have left most of our (sometimes) stressful life back in Shanghai.

Third stop – Xijiang Miao Village - The Largest Miao Village in China

This was likely the place I was the most eagerly waiting for. Xijiang Miao Village, the thousand-household village, is the largest Miao village in China. It is nested in between two mountain flanks with a river going through in the middle. Travelers can see wooden stilted houses, wind and rain bridges and experience colorful Miao’s performance and festivals.

Like most ancient town in China, it has started to get commercial. One cannot deny that most of the village center is now filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. I guess this is also the results of Chairman Xi's common prosperity doctrine and it is helping local population to improve their wealth. Domestic tourism has become a very big revenue generating industry which is helping third and fourth tier destination develop.

It remains nevertheless a beautiful destination. We could observe very closely local arts, traditional dances and eat dishes made by the community. The change of scenery throughout the day was also something I was not expecting.

Things Start Going South

By now you would be remembering the title of this article and wondering what I was talking about. We had followed our plan, visited beautiful sceneries, and experience local Guizhou cuisine and culture. Everything was on track. My wife left us to head towards Chengdu where she was due to attend a company event. My son and I had one last night in Xijiang before on our side traveling to Zunyi (遵义), north of Guiyang, which was supposed to be our last stop before flying back to Shanghai.

That last night, I realized I did not take night drone shots of the village which would be a missed opportunity. I headed to a place nearby our small hotel where I could set up and do it. I'm not a very experienced pilot and there were many people around so I was a bit stressed. I put my backpack on the side of the road and went on to fly my drone. Unfortunately, when I brought my drone back and packed it up, I realized that my backpack was gone. Even more unfortunate, it has both our passports in there as well as my wallets with all my bank cards. I reached out to the police who came relatively quickly to the scene. They took my statement and one of the officers drove me to their big data center, where all the village cctv camera recordings converge to. Unfortunately, we could not see on the camera who took my backpack and I therefore had to return to the hotel empty handed.

Making it back to Shanghai one Step at a Time

After a night where I didn't sleep much, I decided to stay one more day. This was one of this situation where I felt powerless. There were nothing I could do and all I could hope for is that somehow the police would find my bag, but especially our passports. Losing your passport for a foreigner in China will results in a painful process. And I wanted to avoid that considering that I had just renewed my passport in February and completed the process of getting my new residence permit (which is not cheap). By 2pm it was clear no one would come forward and bring back my bag. We therefore headed to the village police station to report our lost passports as I had decided to make it back to Shanghai the following day. There were no point to stay in Guizhou any longer.

One thing I can only command in China is that the police is very helpful and most of the time polite. I know many would comment otherwise due to their experience during Covid, but I think it has now gotten back to normal. We met a young officer who was eager to help us. He was local and had a thick accent which made communication difficult, but like often in China, they get really appreciative when foreigners do their best to communicate in Chinese. He therefore helped us to report the lost however could not give me the paper I needed to then do a new passport at the French consulate in Shanghai. He directed me to a Public Security Bureau (PSB) office in the nearest town called Kaili (凯里).

The following day was where we intended to get back to Shanghai. Armed with our local police station lost passport receipt, we headed towards Kaili, an 45 min car ride away. The beauty of China digital boom is that you can now call a Didi (equivalent to Uber) pretty much anywhere, including in a very remote countryside area. We arrived at the Kaili PSB station and were directed to the relevant office. Once again, speaking Chinese was a requisite but also seen as an effort made to communicate. The officer who helped us got the paper we needed in barely 30 minutes, making step one of our trip much easier that I had imagine.

Step two was to travel back to Guiyang. Anyone who travelled in China knows you need your passport (ID for Chinese people) to board trains. At Kaili South station, we had to go to the counter to buy our tickets. It wasn't easy but we did manage to get on the next train. I will never celebrate enough the wide train network China has build and its ability to create opportunity for local communities. I feel everything in China is just a train ride away. After an uneventful 1.5H trip, we arrived in Guiyang and headed for the airport.

Step three was always supposed to be the trickiest one. Travelling in China is easy when you have your passport but much less when you don't. Upon arriving at the airport, we went to consult the traffic police who said unlikely I could board a plane without my passport and I should wait until I get a new one... Talking about stress spikes... Finally the officer conceded it was actually not his responsibility and directed me to the airport security team which after checking, confirmed I could go through security with only that PSB certificate. We made our way to book our place tickets, checked-in, and after a 20 min check of my certificate at security, we were on our way to the gate. When seated there, I started to calm down and I texted the Xijiang police officer (yes he did add my WeChat) to thank him for his help. He kindly replied he was happy most of my troubles were behind me. We arrived in the early evening in Shanghai after a long day of travel.

A Happy Ending After All

We came back to Shanghai on the Thursday evening and I had booked an appointment for a new passport at the French Consulate for the following Monday morning which was right before the 5-day long Labor's Holiday. I wanted to ensure I started the process as soon as possible as I knew I will fly out to Phnom Penh for our company APAC commercial workshop on June 2nd.

Fortunately, my wife got a call from the Guizhou police on the Sunday saying they had found our passports and my (empty) wallet. They proceeded to send us our documents and within a week we had them all back. The even better news is that normally once you declare your passport lost at the PSB, you have to start doing a new one even if you find the old one. My visa agency called the Kaili PSB office and to our great surprise, they had not processed the loss in their system. I therefore got my passport back and could even continue to use it. When you're in luck...

Conclusion

This trip likely stretched my Chinese ability to level I didn't know I possess. I guess it is in stressful situation that you find out what you are made of, in this case how good was my Chinese. I clearly still have a lot to learn and improve, however I am glad I am taking these weekly lesson with my teacher. I think nowadays your Chinese ability in China defines you. I feel the country post Covid has turned itself a lot more inwards with many have very little interest in the English language.

China remains one of the safest country I know, but that doesn’t mean one should not be careful. I learnt that lesson the hard way as this is the first time in 15 years living out here that something like that happens to me. Nevertheless, I will certainly pay more attention to my belongings going forward, especially when travelling to third or fourth tier cities.

The irony of the story is that I did lose my wallet and clearly the thief took them as the Police returned my wallet empty. I had 3 credit cards in there and none of them were used for fraudulent charges. I obviously had to cancel my cards upon coming back to Shanghai but did not suffer any financial loss. It's interesting how credit cards in China nowadays are becoming obsolete (or people don't really know how to use them anymore). I bet in the West someone would have bought himself a new TV on Amazon by the time I cancelled my cards.

Finally, if I learnt something from the Covid period is that there is no point trying to solve challenges we have no control on, and we should focus on what we can have an impact. In this story, what I could control is how I reacted to the situation, and also how I focused on looking after my son who was in my care. Once passports are lost, then they are lost and it was more important to look at going back to Shanghai where I had much more control over the challenges ahead of me.

I hope this article still made you interested in travelling to Guizhou province. It is really beautiful and I think I'll make it there again to visit the places I had not the opportunity to go to. As I recently wrote, living in China is a story of resilience and always looking at the positive side of things. This story certainly showcase this.

"To Infinity and Beyond!"

Mikael