My Modern Day 西游记 ("Journey West")

China is a HUGE country. Look at a map of the world and that much is apparent. It’s also huge in terms of population: now having surpassed the 1 billion mark, China is second only to India in the list of the worlds most populated countries. But then take into account population density statistics: the bulk of China’s population is concentrated along the country’s East and South, particularly in the several already bursting at the seams and continually expanding big cities along the Eastern coast. Take Nanjing; although, with a population of roughly 7 million (roughly 3 times the population of my sweet home Chicago, considered a big city by U.S. standards), I’ve heard several Chinese friends say its not typically included in the ranks of China’s 大城市 or “big cities.”

While China’s Eastern edge teems with people, what about the West? The North? There you can find the Xinziang, Xizang (Tibet), and Nei Mungu (Inner Mongolia) “Autonomous Regions,” taking up the bulk of the land we know as China but certainly not home to the bulk of the population. Even with the influx of Han Chinese from further East into these less-populated, less-developed regions, the population density is still a small fraction of the figure found further west. I get the impression that most Chinese think of these areas perhaps as most Americans though of the “Wild West” a century ago. Few people have been, many are attracted, the rough living conditions turn many away, but the impulse to idealize this vast, peripheral, largely undeveloped territory remains. It is the source of numerous songs romanticizing the 草原 and 雪山 (“grasslands” and “snowy mountains”).

Because in Western and Northern China land isn’t lacking but people are sparse, if you want to travel around that part of the country, you have to spend quite a bit of time being transported from one place to another. In the olden days—from the days before the Silk Road up to the 20th century—the main means of transport included foot, horse, and camel. Today, there are trains and planes to take you there and buses, trucks, and SUVs to get around once you arrive. During my recent trip to Inner Mongolia, the better part of 4 out of 9 days of travel were spend sitting on trains (2 days: one ride 30 hours, the other 22+!) or buses (2 8-hour + rides plus many shorter legs of the journey). But the beauty and uniqueness of the places that all of that patient sitting on trains and buses afforded us made it all worthwhile.

(*Note: The title of this post contains 3 Chinese characters, 西游记, (pronounced "Xi You Ji" and can be translated "Journey to the West"), one of the most famous folktales in China and also one of my most favorite. It involves the adventures of the Monkey King and his companions Zhu Bajie (a pig) and a monk as they make an epic pilgrimage West to retrieve some precious Buddhist scriptures. Even though its not really West but actually more central verging on East, Inner Mongolia seems to be encompassed in the Chinese conception of Western China. I guess its kind of like Chicago is considered "Midwest" despite the fact that it falls in the Eastern half of the U.S. In both cases, I think that appellation has to do with historically how the land was settled mixed with a leftover notion of a "Wild West.")

(Note: This nowhere near all-encompassing narrative will be expanded upon at a later date. Sorry for the delay!)