The spirit of Omoiyari
We decided to visit Datong caves near Beijing after a suggestion from a friend. My colleague Xiu Ping was very gracious in booking our air tickets and the hotel at Datong. We arrived at Datong Yugong airport around 10 am. Datong is a small airport with only two or three flights daily from Beijing and Shanghai. We collected our bags and exited the airport, and our challenges started here. We realised soon that no one speaks English and we do not know mandarin. My daughter learnt some mandarin which was not enough for a decent conversation. A few passengers arrived on our flight left quickly with the taxis outside. There was only one taxi, and we had difficulty communicating our destination. We realised that we were at his mercy as there was no other taxi, and we used sign language.
We reached the hotel after an hour, and the taxi driver was not happy with the cash I gave him. His body language showed that he was upset, and he wanted more. A young woman came out of the hotel and intervened and settled the payment. As I read from her badge, her name was Chu Hua, and she was the hotel’s assistant manager. She led us into the hotel and helped us with our check-in. She spoke a little English, and she led us to our rooms. We told her that we were vegetarians, and she quickly ordered the Chef to cook rice and some vegetables for our lunch.
We showered and got ready. My wife made tea using the hot water kettle in the room. We ate a few snacks, and we got along with the tea.
Chu Hua returned after thirty minutes with a folder and a pen. She made a list of places we needed to visit in the three days and distributed them so that we were not tired and at the same time enjoyed our visit. We were overwhelmed with her gesture to offer her car with a driver to take us around. We had to pay for the fuel and the driver’s daily allowance.
After lunch, we visited the wooden Pagoda and the hanging temple. After return, we were surprised to see a gift hamper with some local sweets and fruits in our room. Chu Hua had left a message with the kitchen that we get rice and some vegetable curry for dinner.
We visited Yugong Grottoes the following day. The driver waited for us at 9 am in the lobby. It was terrific to see fifty caves with several statues of Buddha. These statues stood fifty times the size of the figures at Ajantha caves. Buddha never visited China, and I learnt that the students who visited India saw him and carved these massive statues.
We met Chu Hua the following morning, and it was our last day. We were away throughout the day visiting other tourist locations near Datong and returned in the evening. She confirmed our flights and accommodation in Shanghai in our absence. On our return from the day-long visit, we learnt that she transferred one day’s advance from her account to the hotel in Shanghai to secure our accommodation. As I did not have enough cash, she took me to the nearest ATM. I returned her money, and we thanked her for her support during our stay in an unknown land.
We reached Datong airport, overwhelmed with her generosity and kindness for our flight to Shanghai. Chu Hua lives in my heart as a benchmark for the ‘spirit of Omiyari’ in all my travels.
(Omoiyari is a Japanese custom that means caring, considerate and compassionate towards others’ needs.)
