Before I left for China back in October, my sister made me promise one thing: Don't cause an international incident. I'm going to have to try a lot harder to keep that promise. As with every crazy story that I tell, I begin with the fact that I am home, I am safe, and everything will be okay.
On Sunday late morning, Erich, Dana, Matty and I went for a bike ride, as is a common occurrence on the weekends. Erich gave us two options.
1) Continue exploring the foothills that we normally bike to, and maybe find a new trail.
2) Seek out a new adventure, bike to the coast, and see if we can find the bridge to bike onto Da Xie Island.
Naturally we chose the second option, though I'm sure now we would all like to clarify what kind of new adventure we were seeking.
We stopped for lunch at a hole in the wall, Dana and I just ate bowls of rice and sipped hot water. We asked the lady, "Which direction to the big bridge?" She pointed straight down the road, so we thought we were on the right track. She was also awesome and wouldn't let us pay for lunch. She argued with Erich for awhile, and when I went to get my money, she gave me sassy look like, "Honey, please." I knew I barely ate anything, but I still appreciated the nourishment, the bathroom, and the chance to rest after 3 hours of biking.
On the road again! We reached a small bridge over a river, but not the bridge to Da Xie Island. We ended up on a path that took us up a gigantic hill (almost Alabama hill size). At the top, we were quite exhausted, and no one wanted to go down the other side, that just meant we'd probably have to bike back up to get back home. There was a small trail on the side of the road that led out to what we believed to be a bluff. There farmer was there, quietly working, so we locked up our bikes to a utility pole, and took the trail on the side of his farm out to the bluff. Sure enough, we got an excellent view of the island, and we realized we were too far from the bridge to get there. There was a small hut about 30 yards away with 2 security guards. They waved at us, and I waved back. No reason to suspect that anything was wrong.
Detainment:
When we got back to our bikes, there were several military officers in dress whites there (pause a moment to giggle), who would not let us near our bikes. As we waited, about 10 more military men came running up the road, several of them carrying giant shovels (are you going to clobber me to death?), and one of whom was still putting on his uniform. They unlocked our bikes and escorted us down the hill that we didn't want to go down in the first place. Just around the corner we saw what we had somehow missed all along, a military base. Apparently we had crossed into a military training zone without realizing it. At first we were just put in a classroom and asked to wait, but they must've informed someone higher up on the chain of command because we were then separated out into our own dorm rooms. No phone. No nothing. Just a guard. And waiting.
Our attitude:
It was pretty clear that nothing like this had ever happened at this military base. I'm not sure they've ever seen a foreigner, and it seemed that they didn't know quite what to do with us. We knew it was a misunderstanding, and the whole thing seemed so ridiculous to us, that at the time, we were just very friendly, conversational, and quite frankly laughing a lot. It was hard not to. If you let your mind think too seriously, well, you just can't grasp how grave the situation could be. But still, you would think you would have to pass some signs, maybe clear some walls or at least TRY to get into the base grounds, but alas, we stumbled across an unmarked boundary, and all we could do was be patient and wait to explain our case.
The tea:
The only time any of the guards seemed quite urgent was when it had to do with tea. We were given cups of tea in the first room, and I was not very interested, so I left it when I was brought to my little waiting room. I could hear all the guards yelling "Cha!" (tea), and one guard came frantically running down the hall with my tea cup.
When I did manage to sip some tea, my guard started forcefully speaking to the ones out in the hall, and tea was brought. You start to think, is there something in this tea? They were quite obsessed. And you start to giggle. But really, it was quite considerate of them. I was also brought milk and cookies. That was nice, because at least then I had some reading material on the wrappers ... practice my Chinese while we waited.
My guard:
He was a jumpy guy. He flinched every time I moved. When I reached for my bag to get my jacket he leaped forward. I had to signal to him that I was cold, but he didn't relax until I had taken the jacket out, put it on, and zipped my bag back up. After 2 hours, it was clear that he was not interested in standing there anymore. I offered him a seat, and I offered him some cookies, but he was still very cold towards me.
After dinner, it had been 3 and a half hours. He finally dropped an f bomb and sat down. I started up some conversation with him, and through our broken Chinglish I managed to gather some information. He is 20 years old, and joined the military two years ago. He loves watching the NBA, and he has a little brother. He thought Matty was super cool for having a beard. I wanted to say that was just Matty being lazy, but I couldn't remember the word. He said to me, "mei you" meaning, I don't have one." I replied, "wo ye mei you", meaning I also don't have one. He looked at me really funny, and then realized I was trying to tell a joke in Mandarin and he just cracked up. Once I broke the ice with him, the other guards came in to talk too. They all asked the same question, "Why are you here?!" They just couldn't comprehend the idea of biking for exercise. They were shocked we had biked from Beilun (why do you think I'm dressed in spandex/tennis shoes, and I'm super smelly from sweating?) and they just didn't get how we had meandered onto their base. It was hard to tell them, but there was no fence, there was no sign, there was no nothing, so we just didn't know the military base was there. All of us just wanted to go to bed and be done with the day. And we waited.
Dinner:
Who chose this restaurant? Seriously.
We were individually brought to the dining hall and sat down at separate tables. Dana and I were the first ones, and we were initially told not to talk. At each table there were 5 different dishes of meat and vegetables + a rice bowl. Holy cow, I can barely finish one dish by myself. And one of my dishes was a whole fish. The whole thing, just staring back at me. Once the boys had been brought in, we started to trade dishes, especially since Dana is a vegetarian. At first the guards were like our waiters, they didn't want us to get up, so they ferried the meat dishes away from Dana, and the meatless dishes to her table. They got tired of that real quick, and eventually just let us do it ourselves. It was hilarious, because we were trying all this REALLY good Chinese food, and just passing the dishes around sayin, "Ooo, this one is spicy! You would like this" Or, "This one is very simple, just some potatoes and meat, do you want to try?" Towards the end, a guard came in and asked if anyone would like tea or coffee. My hand shot up so fast. Coffee please! We were treated very well, and very graciously. And at least if we had to spend the night, coffee would be a guarantee in the morning :)
Interview:
After dinner, the interpreter had arrived as well as the officials to take the report about the security breach. We were each individually interviewed for an hour. The final report was translated to us, and we signed off on it. I was the last to be interviewed, and the interviewers were very understanding. He told me he realized that we felt truly sorry, that it was a big mistake, but he impressed upon me the importance of not doing it again. I honestly responded, unless there is a sign or a clearly marked border, this could definitely happen again. Obviously I know the base is there now, and I have no intentions of going near the area again, but really, is that what all Chinese bases are like? You just have to "know" with your mental GPS where they are? I guess we shouldn't bike in the mountains anymore.
Freedom:
The military had gotten in touch with our school, who claimed responsibility for us and we were released to Lisa's 'custody', for lack of a better word. After spending 7 hours at the base, we were allowed to walk together down to see Lisa who was waiting for us with the school bus. This being the first time we were allowed to talk to each other, I found out just how differently we were treated. I was required to sit down, though Dana paced her room and stood at the door looking down the hallway. She even offered to teach her guard yoga. Erich, Dana and Matty all had their phones and they were allowed to text, but not call. Erich requested a piece of paper and drew a very talented sketch of his guard. I guess he was kinda like mine in the first few hours and just didn't move, staring straight ahead with a scowl on his face. I saw the sketch passed between the guards outside my window, and they thought it was quite comical. Dana was also given paper, and she spent two of the hours writing report card narratives for the Early Years. They confiscated the paper as we left :( It was just very, very interesting. We all had quite different experiences. Except for the "Cha". Every time any of us took a sip, the tea guard was bustling up and down the hall, constantly refilling our cups.
The ending is, I'm not getting deported. I'm not in prison. Though it was clear that it was a misunderstanding and a total mistake, we're pretty sure that the Chinese government will be monitoring our communication and activities for awhile now. So if that is the case, here's a big shout out to any Chinese officials reading my blog post. I am truly sorry for crossing into your military training zone. All I can say is, I promise to keep my bike on the road, if you promise to more clearly mark the boundaries of your training areas. Thanks.
