We started the morning with more trouble. A singer down with appendicitis, the child of a chaperone ill, and two of our group leaders heading to Beijing to fix the Passport Problem. And yet we persevere, living by our perennial tour motto of "Be the first one to help out and the last one to complain".
The day began with (guess what?) another bus ride, this one 7 hours long. We passed through suburbia for several hours before reaching the Huizhou province. Lush greenery provided a backdrop for row upon row of mountains that faded from green to gray and from clear to hazy. The mountains had a slightly peculiar shape where the top became quite steep and pointed.
Beneath the mountains spread out small clusters of houses alongside the highway, squares surrounding little communal plots. In most of the villages, there were solar water heaters on the roofs, which I found quite interesting. We also passed a field full of solar panels. China may have horrible pollution, but it does seem to be trying. Out here in the country the air is also significantly clearer, both visibly and as reported by my relieved lungs. Along the drive I also noticed that all of the trees are very spindly. For the bamboo ones, it is to be expects, but there were literally no trees that looked old. As David said, "Mao was not a fan of trees." Maybe that had something to do with it? Dotting the hills and mountains surrounding us were fairly elaborate stone graves and crypts built into the hillside, right alongside the stripes of terraced farming.
We stopped for lunch quite late and near our final destination, so we had a chance to try local cuisine (according to one of the Chinese girls on the trip whose father is from this region). There was a lot of seafood, which had been notably absent from our diet here in China. The first two bowls to arrive were a bowl of mousse-like eggs flavored with seaweed with tiny translucent shrimp on top, noticeable only because of their twin black pinprick eyes. The other was a plate full of slightly larger shrimp (about an inch and a half long and pink-colored this time) boasting one long spindly claw. These were meant to be eaten whole. As the meal progressed, a variety of other dishes arrived - a flaky white fish, bok choy, wrinkly green beans, three soups (one with bamboo shoots and meat, one with long spaghetti/ramen-like noodles, one clear with pickled vegetables), dried brown string beans (also delicious), and dry tofu with green peppers.
May I say, tofu in China is so much better than tofu in the United States. But dry tofu in particular is a revelation. It looks like a mushroom and it's a bit chewy but is probably my favorite new food that I have discovered on this trip.
After lunch, we chugged along for another half hour or so to our hotel, which is built alongside a beautiful lake and forest. We had a bit of free time to explore, which some friends and I used to walk toward the town. First we tried to get into the wildlife preserve across the street, but it was $15 (yes, that's the price in USD, not in kuai) and we only had about half an hour. Instead we walked over a bridge, laughing as cars and bikes slowed down next to us or altogether stopped to ogle the blonde girl, ginger boy, and Latin guy. We were most popular with the 4-6 age range, but everyone seemed to get a kick out of seeing us. As expected, the further we get from the major cities, the more incredible we seem. My celebrity continues to grow.
We spent the late afternoon at a local high school, Xiuzhong High School.
We broke up into groups of about 15 and spread out in different classrooms. The kids were cheering in the halls as we arrived and they all sat eagerly as we entered. They clapped after anything anyone said and were all grinning and laughing. We introduced ourselves and they LOVED that some of their pale visitors spoke a bit of Chinese and had Chinese names. We sang a few songs for them and then taught them the chorus to "Eli Yale." Then, we let the kids ask us questions. They wanted to hear us speak Chinese, sing "Bulldog" (they were obsessed after hearing it from of one the Yale-China fellows), and wanted to know how we liked China. Then one brave boy in the front row who had been trying to flirt with me earlier (very impressive - flirting in a different language is hard!) said that they didn't get many blondes here and asked if I had a boyfriend. Thank god I could say yes (love you, honey!). Then, as a last question, one of the spunky girls (my total favorite) challenged one of us to a rock-paper-scissors duel with the loser doing 10 push-ups. Our representative was soundly defeated and the entire class crowded around to count as he did his push-ups. All in all, it was the most fun I have ever had on an outreach trip.
After dinner (more local cuisine), the Yale-China fellows took a group of us into town. A square where there is usually dancing at night was empty, probably because it was a Monday night. There were ping-pong table to one side with an energetic crowd, though, so Alex and I decided to check it out. We figured that since one of us was blonde and the other was black (power couple of attention-grabbing inChina, am I right?), they might even let us play. And they did. We played each other and then took turns playing an old man who we have dubbed The Grand Master. I think he beat me 30-1, but Alex did a bit better. It was more hilarious than humiliating how terribly we fared. We then caught up with the group at a large pagoda with a giant bell inside. From the deck, we admired the fiery hue of the harvest moon.
On our way back to the hotel, two of the Yale-China fellows, Alex (not the aforementioned one) and Gabe asked if any of us wanted to play pool. Three of us (Becca, Jenna, and I) went with them to what I figured would be a bar with a pool table. Nope. It was a room filled with pool tables, and we got the last free one. We settled on girls vs. guys since that also balanced the levels of experience on either team, and so it began. I quickly realized that I have no talent for pool (which I had played maybe once before) and that my only contribution would be a constant stream of trash talk. I was so bad that I even scoped out the other players in the hall and tried to get one to take a guest shot for me. He did not understand what I was saying, even with the help of the fellows, so I was left to fail on my own. Then halfway through the second game I hit one in. And then hit the black ball in at the end of the game. Perhaps I have some hidden reserves of pool talent after all, though I doubt that I will ever go to enough bars to hone my skills. After three games (we won the second one, and kept the third game close), we wandered back to the hotel in the moonlight. What a great night.
Interesting fact about Huizhou:
One of the towns is famous for making compasses used by fortune tellers.
It is a hub of feng shui masters.
Its opera was well-loved by the emperor and was moved to Beijing to become the current Beijing Opera.
All of the most successful pawn shops in the nation were owned by people originally from the region, and they are famous for it throughout China.
80% of the land is mountains. Only about 5% can be farmed.
As a result of the lack of arable land, they started other private industries. A major one was shipping lumber down the river to other major cities (this explains the skinny trees!!!).
This region produces a lot of tea due to the suitable climate. Our guide claims that one of the top three types of tea internationally is produced here.
The region is home to the famous Yellow Mountain, known as the most beautiful mountain in China and as the subject of numerous Chinese paintings.
Spotted: Interesting Western carry-overs on road signs. Restaurants at rest stops are indicated using a crossed fork and knife sign, though you will find neither fork nor knife upon your arrival. Radio stations are indicated as FM.
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