Cross-Border Trade
As I mentioned earlier, this is not a formal border crossing; indeed,
on the Chinese side at least I noticed a few soldiers with binoculars,
who I assumed were watching for illegal border-crossing attempts. It
interested me that on the Chinese side, there’s quite a bit of
development: this is clearly a regional draw, with tour groups coming
from Guangzhou, Nanning and elsewhere in the region. There are TONS of
stalls selling useless trinkets, what looks like a rather nice hotel
with views right out over the waterfalls and a decent restaurant, and
so on. Though it wasn’t overrun with tourists the day I was there, it
was certainly a popular attraction.
On the Vietnamese side, there are very few people. In some of the
following shots, you’ll glimpse the small footbridge that allows
people to cross from the mainland over onto the little island in the
middle of the two different sets of cascades — the island is in
Vietnam, and the boats that operate from the Chinese side come right
up to it, but no one is allowed to step out. However, the enterprising
young man here has set up a small operation from which he sells
drinks, cigarettes and various little trinkets to folks on the boats.
I found myself contemplating the meanings of borders and of history a
bit as I wandered the trails around these lovely falls. Any American
of my generation grew up knowing there was this dreadful war with
which so many in my country disagreed — for me and many like-minded
Americans of my generation, Vietnam has been for a long time a symbol
of American foreign policy gone tragically astray. It felt nice,
thirty years after my country stopped trying to defoliate Vietnam and
crush their independence, to give a wee bit back by buying a bottle of
water from this guy. 🙂 And on a broader note, to think about the
fact that thirty years ago, no American would have been welcome
anywhere near this spot — whereas now, I can have nice talks with my
fellow tourists and even a bit of a chat with the young soldier who
encouraged me to take the boat tour…for which I thank him, since it
was indeed interesting.
Paul at the Falls
The shot of me with the waterfalls below and farther away was taken by
the friendly young soldier mentioned earlier. (Couldn’t get a picture
of him since it’s not permitted; indeed I hope in mentioning him here
I’m not breaking some rule…) The one with me and two young friends
was suggested by the taller of the two guys, in the blue athletic
gear: he came up with his camera and asked if he could have a picture
with us both, with the Vietnam side in the background. Then his
brother joined in, and I decided to ask his parents to take a shot of
me as well.
This kicked of a bidding war for shots with Paul: this family was part
of a bus tour from Guangzhou, and just about everyone on board lined
up to get a picture with me. In the background is Vietnam. And while
we’re at it, let’s not forget that during the US war against Vietnam,
China worked with the Vietnamese…but within ten years of the end of
our war, China and Vietnam themselves had engaged in some pretty
serious cross-border wars as well. I’m quite happy that these seem to
have calmed down — it’s nice that in at least some parts of the world
things may be getting more stable and peaceful.
After this you’ll see a few shots from on the boat, or close up to the falls.
(so much world, so little time....) 