I’VE SPENT YEARS IN CHINA, BUT I DIDN’T KNOW THERE WAS STUFF LIKE THIS OUT THERE
CHRIS S
COMING FROM TRIPS IN NEPAL & PAKISTAN, EVEN LONG-TIME CLIMBERS CAN BE STUNNED BY HOW REMOVED FROM THE TOURISM BUBBLE TIBET & XINJIANG ARE. MORE THAN ONE EXPEDITION CLIMBER HAS FOUND IT CONFRONTING TO FIND JUST HOW FAR OUTSIDE THEIR CULTURE THEY ARE. IN MOST OF THE PLACES FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS GOES TO, WESTERN CULTURE ISN’T DISTANT – IT’S IRRELEVANT.
AND WE LIKE IT THAT WAY
THE MOUNTAIN AREAS OF TIBET & XINJIANG ARE SOME OF THE LEAST TOURISTED PLACES LEFT ON EARTH; LONELY PLANET, TRIP ADVISOR & GOOGLE MAPS HAVEN’T SHOWN UP HERE YET. TIBET & XINJIANG, BY BEING WITHIN CHINA, HAVE A LARGE CULTURAL BUFFER SEPERATING THEM THAT USUALLY BECOMES APPARENT STEPPING OUT OF ARRIVALS. URUMQI & CHENGDU ARE HUGE MODERN CITIES, BUT UNLIKE SHANGHAI & BEIJING THAT FACE OUT TO THE PACIFIC, THESE CITIES HAVE FOR MILLENIA FACED WEST TO CENTRAL ASIA AND ABSORBED CENTURIES OF INFLUENCE FROM THERE BEFORE WESTERN CULTURE EVER CAME TO TOWN.
FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS HAS NO INTENTION OF BRINGING THE CULTURE OF THE WEST TO THE PLACES WE VISIT. WE DON’T BY-PASS LOCAL BUSINESSES BY BRINGING IN ANYTHING WE DON’T HAVE TO FROM OUTSIDE, WE DON’T PRESENT AS ‘AMBASSADORS’ OF OUR CULTURE WHEN WE ARE ACTUALLY GUESTS OF THEIRS, WE DON’T COMMEND OURSELVES ON SETTING UP A LITTLE BUBBLE OF ARTIFICAL WESTERN COMFORT WHEN SURROUNDED BY CULTURES MORE ADAPTED TO THE LOCATIONS.
THIS DOESN’T MEAN WE GO NATIVE – IT SIMPLY MEANS WE ACCEPT THAT REAL EXPEDITIONS TO PLACES RARELY SEEN BY OUTSIDERS MEANS A LEVEL OF INTERACTION BEYOND NORMAL. FOR SOME PEOPLE THIS IS EXACTLY THE REASON THEY COME ON TRIPS WITH US, KNOWING ‘OFF THE MAP’ WITH FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS MEANS WHAT IT DOES BY ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. BUT FOR SOME CLIMBERS IT CAN ALSO BE A BIT DAUNTING. WE GET THAT – WE WENT THROUGH IT OURSELVES IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THESE PLACES BECOMING ACCESSIBLE, AND FROM THAT WE LEARNED A SERIOUS OF WAYS TO TURN CULTURE SHOCK INTO THE BEST THING ABOUT A TRIP
1) EXPECT TO BE SHOCKED
NO ONE IS ABOVE HAVING THEIR REALITY CONFRONTED AND YOU DON’T GO SOMEWHERE LIKE THE REMOTE VALLEYS OF NORTHERN TIBET EXPECTING THINGS TO BE MUNDANE. THE VERY FACT THAT THESE PLACES EXIST INTO THE PRESENT DAY IS BECAUSE THEY HAVE STRONG CULTURES AT THEIR CORE AND A DISTINCT IDENTITY, THINGS OFTEN GROUNDED IN IDEAS & HISTORIES THAT HAVE LEAD TO VERY DIFFERENT OUTCOMES TO WHAT YOU MAY THINK NORMAL IS BASED ON.
2) DIVE IN
IF OTHERS CAN LIVE THESE WAYS DAY TO DAY AND ENTIRE SOCIETIES LIKE THIS FOR CENTURIES THEN IT SHOWN IT’S DOABLE. THE WEIRD FOODS, THE UNUSUAL IDEAS, THE DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS, THE UNEXPECTED RESULTS – TRYING NEW WAYS OF DOING THINGS CASTS A LIGHT BOTH ON THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE AND YOUR OWN IDEAS OF WHAT’S NORMAL.
3) ENJOY ADAPTING
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BY ADAPTING TO NEW THINGS, ONLY THE SKILLS OF LIFE TO GAIN. THERE’S OFTEN A CHILD-LIKE PLEASURE IN RELEARNING THE SIMPLEST OF THINGS ACCORDING TO THE RULES OF ANOTHER CULTURE. RATHER THAN FEEL IMPOSED BY IT, GO WITH IT AND ADD IT TO YOUR OWN LIFES TAPESTRY.
4) ASK QUESTIONS
DON’T JUST GRIND TO A HALT OF UNKNOWING – THE THINGS YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND, ASK. THERE’S ALWAYS A LOGIC TO HOW PEOPLE LIVE, OFTEN ADDING UP IN WAYS YOUR OWN LOGIC FAILS AT, AND SEEING INTO THAT IS ALMOST ALWAYS EYE OPENING. DON’T OVERLOOK EVEN THE MOST BASIC OF OF THINGS YOU TAKE FOR GRANTED BACK HOME – PLACES LIKE XINJIANG & TIBET CAN HAVE REASONINGS ABOUT THEM THAT ARE FAR BEYOND WHAT YOU COULD EVER GUESS AT.
5) TAKE TIME TO ABSORB
MOST PEOPLE CAN’T INSTANTLY STEP INTO A NEW CULTURAL PARADIGM WITHOUT A FEW GLITCHES, YOU NEED TIME TO REFLECT & COMPARE TO PUT THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE. NOT EVERY MOMENT NEEDS TO BE FACE-TO-FACE WITH NEW PLACES SO TAKE TIME TO SIT BACK AT A DISTANCE AND FEEL YOUR EXPERIENCE CHANGING AS YOU ADJUST. REFLECT ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BEWILDERMENT OF GETTING OFF THE PLANE AND THE NUMBER OF THINGS YOU HAVE ADJUSTED TO. THINK WHERE YOU COULD BE LEARNING MORE.
6) STEP INTO IT
AS HEISENBERG SAID “THERE ARE NO OBSERVERS”. THE LESS OF A BUBBLE THERE IS, THE MORE YOU INVOLVED IN A SITUATION, TO THE POINT SOMETIMES THINGS HAPPEN BECAUSE YOU ARE PRESENT. DON’T JUST TRY TO EXPERIENCE THINGS AS AN OBSERVER, STEP FORWARD EVEN A LITTLE AND INTERACT; MAKE EYE CONTACT, JOIN IN, COMMUNICATE, SHOW YOU LIKE SOMETHING.
7) PRESENT YOURSELF
PRESENTING YOURSELF AS A CONFUSED GORETEX CLAD TOURIST WITH TOURIST DEMANDS AND STANDARD EXPECTATIONS WILL ONLY GET YOU A STANDARD TOURIST REACTION. TIP; THE BEST OF A SOCIETY IS USUALLY NOT IN IT’S TOURIST INDUSTRY. THINK ABOUT HOW YOUR CLOTHING, YOUR ACTIONS, YOUR CHOICES & YOUR COMMUNICATIONS ARE SHAPING THE WAY THINGS HAPPEN TO YOU. EVER WONDER WHY SOME PEOPLE HAVE AMAZING THINGS ‘JUST HAPPEN TO THEM’ WHILST OTHERS DON’T EVEN CONNECT OUTSIDE THEIR OWN TERMS?
8) CONSIDER THE MOTIVATIONS
EVERYONE, INDIVIDUALLY & COLLECTIVELY, HAS THINGS THAT MOTIVATE THEM AND GLIMPSING WHAT THEY ARE SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE DIRECTION TO ANY GIVEN SITUATION. WHAT DRIVES THIS EXPERIENCE? INTERACTING WITH PEOPLE OVER MONEY, PRIDE, FOOD, CURIOSITY, RESPONSIBILITY ETC ALL BRING DIFFERENT RESULTS. NOT EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR REASONS AS STRAIGHTFORWARD AS YOU MAY ASSUME.
9) BE BRAVE
THE OPPOSITE OF COMFORT IS BRAVERY. THIS DOESN’T MEAN BRAVADO OR STUNTS OR STUPID RISKS, IT MEANS AWAY FROM COMFORTABLE LIVING THERE ARE A THOUSAND THINGS A DAY WHERE YOU CAN EITHER RISE TO IT OR LET IT PASS COMFORTABLY. YOUR CHARACTER IS THE RESULT. WEIGH UP THE RISKS AND IF THE SHOW ITSELF WILL GO ON, STEP UP; THE WEIRD LOOKING MARKET, THE GOATS HEAD PLATTER, THE STRANGE RITUAL, DUNKING IN THE COLD RIVER. THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT YOU WILL TALK ABOUT BACK HOME.
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FEEDING THE RAT EXPEDITIONS IS BUILT GROUND UP ON THE PRINCIPLES OF IRREGULAR TRAVEL. LIKE THE WILDERNESS WE VISIT, THESE PLACES NEVER HAVE HAD THE PREDICTABLE IMPACTS OF OUTSIDE EXPLOITATION SO OUR JOB IS TO SUSTAIN THAT. TIBET & XINJIANG ARE VERY DIFFERENT TO THE OFTEN VISITED AREAS OF NEPAL & PAKISTAN THAT HAVE BEEN SHAPED BY WESTERN TOURISM FOR DECADES NOW; WHILST THE TRAIL OUT FROM LUKLA WAS BEING PAVED BY NGO’S AND THE KIDS WERE LEARNING ENGLISH TO WORK IN HOTELS, THE TOWNS OUT INTO THE MOUNTAINS OF WESTERN CHINA WERE EVOLVING DIFFERENTLY, AND STILL ARE.