Tangyu (汤峪)

It's freezing in Tangyu

Introduction: A Tsunami of Cold has arrived. Triggered somewhere in the remote icy hells of Siberia, the tidal wave of frigid air ripples across northern and central Asia until it comes crashing against the mountain range barriers that stand in its way. If only we were on the other side of the Qinling wall... instead we lie in its shadow... where it deposits the remnants of its frost--all cold and ice with no snow.

So it's chilly in HuaiYa. But it's freezing in the town of Tangyu (汤峪) just 15 minutes to the south of me.

In HuaiYa when it's cold, our noses run a marathon through ten thousand tissues. In HuaiYa when it's cold, we wear our entire wardrobe. In HuaiYa when it's cold, we snuggle up with boiling water at night. These are the minor adaptations of our daily life in response to the temperature change. In nearby Tangyu, the people do the same things. But it's colder there. It's colder in a way that does not involve temperature. In Tangyu when it's cold, it's colder. When it's cold, the people's lives change drastically. That's because Tangyu is a special place. Tangyu is a one-season tourist town.

Twenty years ago, Tangyu was the same as HuaiYa. It was another very small town where people made their living through a combination of farming and small-time commerce. Then in the late 80s one visionary man from another nearby town realized that Tangyu was something of a diamond in the rough. With a little polishing, Tangyu could become everyone's fortune.

Tangyu lies at the base of TaiBaiShan (太白山)--a mountain with fame for its height, beauty, and significance in the cultural history of China. Wouldn't people from China and perhaps one day even people from all over the world want to come to see TaiBaiShan? And wouldn't they have to go through the town of Tangyu?

This man--unfortunately I forgot his name--had faith in the promise of Tangyu... enough faith that he began to turn the wheels of investment. And soon others followed. Better roads were built. Hotels and restaurants appeared. Tourist goods (and tourist junk) swelled in the streets of Tangyu. Farmers switched from labor-intensive staple agriculture to time-freeing fruit agriculture... from full-time corn and wheat farmers to part-time apples N kiwis, part-time tourist trapper! Like blossoms in the desert, entrepreneurship emerged in Tangyu.

And the investments didn't stop there. The people realized that TaiBai Mountain was just one thing tourists would come to see. Why not give them an excuse to stay longer? So they built other attractions in Tangyu. Have a look:

Here is a temple dedicated to the God of TaiBai. According to lengend TaiBai God has been here for eons and people's respect and interest in him have been in Tangyu for hundreds of years, but how long has this temple been here? Less than twenty years! They built a temple in honor of TaiBai God only after the tourists starting coming! ... give them a place to go ;-)

Also in this picture is Miracle Stone. It's the large and oddly place boulder at the bottom center of the picture. It would seem the rules of gravity should claim this large stone for the creek below, but somehow it manages to stay. A miralce?

This is a temple that the esteemed Laozi once rested at. Another place to visit!

Nine Dragon Stone... there are 9 dragons in this rock. Can you find all 9? Of course you can't, some of them are on the other side.... but how many can you find? This attraction doesn't have an admission price.

And here is the "Great Wall of Tangyu." I'm not kidding, they built a replica of the Great Wall on one of the smaller mountains of Tangyu. So if you can't get enough of the Great Wall, come to Tangyu to get your fix! Or if you haven't the money or time to go to Beijing or any of the other Great Wall sites, you can come to Tangyu, snap a picture here, and tell everyone that you've been there.

In the background, you also see a waterslide as part of the small Tangyu waterpark.... another attraction. You board the slide at the top of the mountain and ride the slide all the way to the bottom. Money in the bank, right!... except I've been told that Chinese people think the slide is "too exciting" and can't stomach the thrill, so this attraction is a dud. Pity!

From the "Great Wall of Tangyu," you can see far and wide, high and low. It doesn't have to be the Great Wall to be a great wall!

"The great wall" rises into the heavens, where the December mist becomes icy shrapnel!

These picture are only a small fraction of what Tangyu offers... my glove-cloaked hands clung to the pits of my overcoat pockets and could only be persuaded to come out if 1) the picture was absolutely essential 2) the air-to-skin exposure time would be brief. A few good pictures for no frostbite; that was the bargain. Anyways, there's more in Tangyu that I can't show for lack of pictures. But take my word for it... in addition, Tangyu has many more temples and pavilions... more parks... It has also developed a hot spring spa industry. Tai Bai Mountain, in addition to being beautiful, is a center of intense geothermal activity that heats a seemingly limitless volume of underground water, which tourists can exploit for the luxury of a hot bath or shower. So Tangyu has all this.

Twenty years ago? There were mountains; there was TaiBai Mountain. And there was a small town. There were visitors, not tourists. There was one hotel. There was one hot spring spa joint. There were restaurants for locals. There was no junk merchandise peddled on the street. There was no fleet of taxis and busses. There were dirt roads. One idea... a little investment... Tangyu was on fire!

Truly, in twenty years, the lives of Tangyu people have changed considerably. It's worth noting that fortune has trickled to nearly everywhere in China in the last 30 years. Rising standards of living are the trend. But in Tangyu, the trend has been a little accelerated. One of my colleagues is a Tangyu native--born, raised, and still residing. He told me about how in 1996 he dreamed about one day owning a video machine of his own to play movies. In 1999 he bought his first DVD player (come to think of it, our family didn't even have a DVD player in 1999!). So he set a new objective--"I want my own personal computer." In 2006 he bought his own computer. Think of all the other standard of living changes that must have accompanied these benchmarks?!

Tangyu's East Street boom

But this is not a Disney story with an ending of perpetual bliss and happiness. For about 10 years, the growth was exponential and phenomenal. And then came the problems.

1) The first problem... environmental degradation in Tangyu. Environmental degradation is the yin to economic growth's yang. It happens every time, but somehow humans never expect it. When you build hotels, billboards, signs posts, and water slides on mountains, expect landslides! In twenty years, there have been a few... some large and costly. Here is a picture of a small, unthreatening one.

2) The second problem is a more serious one. The COLD. That is Tangyu's chief problem. People come to Tangyu to see TaiBai Mountain... in the summer.... because only in the summer when the June sun melts metal is it warm enough to survive at TaiBai's peak wearing your down feather jacket and thermal underwear...I guess it's that cold up there. And summer is a natural time to travel anyways. They have built a skiing park and advertise the spas as a perfect winter counterpart to TaiBai's summer fun, but the response has been minimal. In the summer, Tangyu is hopping mad with Chinese tourists. From October to April.. a silence colder than ice.

empty cable cars hang like dead spiders

Not a problem, right? Just wait for the summer, right? Well, I guess. But there's so much locked capital... and locked for so long. In addition, there are difficult decisions to make. Stay opened to compete for the small trickle of straggling tourists or close? People are employed to stay at the ticket window of TaiBai Park, for example, because someone has to be there in the event that someone does come. But no one ever does. When we climbed the great wall of Tangyu, there was a man sitting on that mountain side waiting for us... how long between his last customer? And restaurants--they all refuse to close--and so they all compete for the few visitors. When I walk the streets of Tangyu, a wave of women stretching all the way down the street rush outdoors beckoning me in to eat their noodles... desperate to sell something. This doesn't happen in HuaiYa. And they endure the desolation in the bitter cold... the bitter cold that chases their customers away also tries to chase them indoors.... the cold bites twice in Tangyu.

More seriously, the cold snap is transcending the season and barking into summer. Climate change of a different kind. You see, in the last few years, for some reason there have been fewer and fewer tourists coming to Tangyu even during the peak season of summer. No one is sure why. This worrisome trend began before the current global economic "crisis" and so is unlikely related, but almost certainly won't be assisted by it. One devastating policy--China's decision to cut the May "Golden Week" holiday short--can be blamed for a significant loss of numbers. But not everything. Why is this happening?

I don't know. But I can predict the outcome. The growth will slow and times will be hard. The pendulum of change may swing in the other direction. And for some it may be devastating. The man who just built a restaurant? The farmer who just cut down his apple trees?

In this picture, you can a ghostly complex of buildings in the center. The finest hotel in Tangyu... half financed by a wealthy operation from Guangdong. There are billboards all over town advertising it... from the pictures, it is incredibly beautiful and luxurious... and the billboards all advertise its grand opening in 2007. Well, it's 2009 and here it is. A skeleton of a building that was going to be. The financers ran out of capital, and ran out of a reason to find capital to finish it... so it is empty, unfinished, and sad. Even sadder is the impact on the investors, especially the small-scale investors.

The course of economic growth can be treacherous at times. Tangyu may be experiencing some of this. With TaiBai, their standards of living have risen as high as the mountain. But landslides have also brought pieces of their mountain raining down on them. And now forces known and unknown will stall the overall growth and may even cause economic disaster to certain individuals. Life is a cycle of give-n-take that will keep spinning. The same ingenuity and entrepreneurship that created this boom can revive it. I place heavy confidence in that.

the ice will thaw

End note and side story: I first went to Tangyu alone in November. I thought the place was boring and not worth returning. When I returned just recently, I did so in the company of a fellow teacher. He took me around and showed me things that I saw but had not seen.. told me things that I would have never known. Tangyu has become one of the most fascinating places I have yet seen. Thus coupled with the experience in Chengdu the week before, I have stumbled on a LIFE LESSON: being a good host makes all the difference in the world. I've learned this lesson from China where everyone seems to have mastered the art of being a good host. I aim to apply the lesson and return the favors when I return to the US.