Eric's Beijing Diary

Michael and his parents kindly brought me to Guiyang (a two hour drive) this morning. We met Xia Fei, who took us out to the future site of Faith Hope Love College, which is near a little town about 50 Kilometers south of Guiyang.

After that, Michael and his parents returned to his home town, and Xia Fei helped me find the youth hostel. I was a little apprehensive, because I could tell from the China youth hostel website that the one youth hostel in Guiyang was actually in a hotel. I always cringe when I see that. Sometimes third-rate hotels pay the fee to list on the youth hostel web site, because they need all the customers they can get, but when you get there, it is quite obvious that they don't have the slightest idea what a youth hostel is supposed to be like. I took one look at the place and told Xia Fei I wasn't going to stay there. My book said there were some beds in the Post Office hotel, so I told Xia Fei I was going to hike over there. I had stupidly forgotten my phone charger at Michael's place, so Xia Fei offered to pick up a generic one for me. I had offered to go with him, but when he said he could do it for me, I didn't argue, because I knew he would probably get one for a much better price if I was not there. I told him to go ahead; I could find the Post Office hotel by myself. I strapped on my backpack and started hiking toward the location on my map. I had gone a couple blocks and had decided it might be a good idea to find a taxi, when Xia Fei came running up behind me, all out of breath. I had assumed that he had gone to find a charger, but in fact, he had been worried about leaving the poor foreigner to fend for himself, and had desperately tried to find a place for me. He told me he found a place. I was not enthusiastic about staying at a dumpy small hotel--youth hostels are actually a better deal. But Guiyang doesn't actually have a real youth hostel, and I felt sorry for Xia Fei for going to all that trouble for me, so I went with him. Turned out to be a small family run hotel. Tiny rooms. Really tiny. Jut enough room for a bed and shower. Flat panel TV hanging on the wall. But it was very clean. Sixty kuai a night. I said, "I'll take it." That little act of kindness saved me a lot of trouble.