LANZHOU, China - Exiting the Lanzhou Express after spending 20 hours
in a seat with a good chunk of Beijing's migrant workers, I wanted my
first night of vacation to spent in an actual bed, with two pillows
and a turn down service if possible.
I hadn't walked into the pouring rain and cold north winds of the city
before I felt a spasm of cheapness. I ducked into a small subterranean
market, haggled an umbrella from 35 RMB down to 10, and headed toward
a line of cheap guesthouses opposite the station.
In America, there's motels and hotels. In China it's a little more
complicated, as binguans, luguans and fandians compete to put up the
tourist. I've stayed in many hotels around China, and generally leave
disappointed. With the exception of a couple five-star hotels in
Yunnan Province (thanks Tufts), my nights at Chinese hotels usually
mean smoke-filled rooms, grotty showers and endless night time calls
from prostitutes.
Armed with some Chinese, I'd decided to try and get into a zhoudaisuo,
a cheap guesthouse that are generally off limits to foreigners.
The first place I tried kept its receptionists behind thick glass,
just like at foreign remittance booths. The workers frantically waved
their hands before I could even get in the building. I guess that
place didn't take foreigners.
Just down the street a man stood in front of a street-side guesthouse
sign. He offered to show me a room. We disappeared into a dark and
quite low staircase. The man kept climbing and climbing, eventually
reaching the building's seventh and top floor. My sleepless and hungry
body couldn't consider staying at this place, no matter what the
price.
Then I found the place. The lobby was on the third floor, a small but
cheery place with a card table, a bouquet of fake flowers and a map of
Gansu province on the wall. The rack rates said a special room cost 78
RMB, but they offered it to me for 55. I asked for 50, and they
accepted.
"Thanks for staying here," the receptionist said as opened my room,
and I think he meant it.
I crashed on my full size bed, woke up two hours later and took a hot
shower, and wondered if I'd ever bother with a Chinese hotel again.
