We walked from our hostel to the border along a dusty road in the Himalayas. Immigration was an impressive site- a large building nestled amongst the hills. We left Nepal and walked over the border, through immigration and out the other side. The difference was marked. Gone were the unsealed roads and the dust; we were welcomed by white concrete parking lots and left hand drive buses. The roads that had given us motion sickness the day before were now smooth sailing. We wound in and out of the hills, getting used to the smooth roads.
We spent 5 days traveling through Tibet, passing over 5340m altitude: battling altitude sickness, using the side of the road as a toilet, and enjoying the scenery while we were at it. A 21 hour train ride took us into mainland China where we were spat out in Xining. There we separated- each team dispersing in the country.
We were free.
Or so we thought.
We made the obligatory trip to the Great Wall before we headed further west. We were greeted by 18 members of the police and the military upon arrival. They took us to the police station and sat us down outside while they checked our passports. They gave us seats, water, and bread (that was somewhat stale- a disappointing trend throughout the places we visited). Then they got us taxis and directed them where to go before sending us on our way.
And that was just the start of it.
It became apparent over the next day that we were being followed. We were very weary- how far did their surveillance go? We didn’t know then- we will never know. We knew our chances for ministry were ruined. We had police officers escorting us everywhere. When we switched hotels, they came with us and even stayed in rooms across the hall. We couldn’t leave the hotel without them coming with us- even if we managed to get away, they would soon join us.
They would constantly question us- What are you doing in China? How long have you been here? When will you leave? The same questions over and over again, slipped into normal conversation (as normal as speaking into a phone to translate can be).
We even had the cleaning ladies in on the act- we would get a visit during our morning get together- no matter the time. We presumed they were checking in on us- they could have even been listening in on us.
One example of them finding us when we had gotten away was on our last night there. We had gone out to eat and no one had followed up. We presumed it was because they knew we wouldn’t go far, it was out last night, after all. Over an hour after we had arrived, I was leaving the restaurant to go get some ice cream and I see one of the officers assigned to us walk right in. He knew, somehow, where we were. After a short time he joined me at the ice cream shop.
“Is Heidi eating hotpot?” He asked me (Heidi was notorious for losing her shadow)
Side note: One day we had gone out in 2 groups of four, each with our escort, while Heidi stayed back. Because of her reputation, once they realised that she wasn’t in either of the groups, all around panic started. They were asking us over and over where she was, even though we didn’t know for sure (we guessed she was sleeping. She was). They even took a video of us to confirm who was gone (we refused to take a picture while we were browsing through the shop). After that, they numbered us: I am Number Seven.
During this time, they would ask questions about things that made us stop. ‘How is your boyfriend?’ they asked the morning after one of the girls talked to a good friend at home, who also happened to be male. They would try to reassure us, in the first few days, that they were our friends and they didn’t want us to worry. We had only voiced our concerns to each other. In our rooms. If we mentioned something about what was happening, our internet would stop working.
The extent to which we felt trapped by the circumstances only became evident when we arrived Kashgar. Even with the hundreds of police stations and officers in the area, we felt free.
Now that we are out of that situation, we appreciate our freedom much more. And we have a taste, be it the smallest taste, of what believers in China go through everyday.
For that I am grateful.
