Shaoxing

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Sunday was our last day trip of the semester. We got up at 7:00 to take a bus to Shaoxing. Like Qiandao Lake, I was a little reluctant to go, but since this trip was required, I didn’t go through the same struggle. Our van driver was 45 minutes late which upset me because I could have slept that much longer. But Miss Li brought peanut butter sandwiches and oranges for us to eat, so I was appeased. We were going to see the home of the famous writer Lu Xun, but there were so many people there, we changed our plans and went to East Lake first. We walked into the park area, and the first thing we saw was a pond with big round bubbles floating on the water. We got closer and saw that you could go inside one of them and float on the water in a hamster ball. Of course we had to try it. Brittany was the first to go, and it was hilarious! She couldn’t get her balance enough to stand up, let alone run. There were several very amusing falls. A crowd of Chinese gathered to watch and we were all laughing hysterically. Now I don’t mean to brag, but I was able to stand up and run the longest of everyone before I fell. I never would have expected to spend ten minutes trying to run on water in a hamster ball while I was in China, but these study abroad experiences are full of surprises.

After we all had a go, we walked on to the lake. Shaoxing is known for a certain kind of boat that has a black cover and is rowed with the feet, and we got to take a boat ride in these on the water. Historically, this area had been used as a rock quarry since the Han Dynasty for its bluestone. By now the hill has been hollowed out and all that is left are steep cliffs beside the water. The cliffs are beautiful with the different strips of colored stone. There are several grottoes that we sailed into right up to the edge of the cliffs. It was also interesting because a passenger in each boat we passed said “Hello!” Brittany, Guiliani, and Kelsey shared one of the boats and ended up paying 30 kuai each because the rower made it seem like they had to, even though Miss Li already paid for all of us. This is one example of the many times Chinese take advantage of foreigners. Thankfully our boat didn’t have that problem.

Near the boat dock, there was a place to do some archery and rock climbing. Balazs and I climbed the rock walls while the others shot some arrows. I made it most of the way up, but couldn’t get past an overhang before my arms gave out. I felt a lot better after Balazs had to stop at the same spot and come down. I wouldn’t have been able to stand his smug, cocky smile if he had made it to the top. Done with this park, we headed to another park which honored Wang Xizhi, the most famous calligrapher in Chinese history. They say he is still the best calligrapher to have lived, and he lived in the fourth century. This started out as a peaceful park, until a whole lot of other people showed up. There was an area of stone tablets and jars of water and brushes to practice some calligraphy. The Chinese gathered around the foreigners trying to write Chinese characters. We were grabbed right and left by people to take pictures with us as well. We moved on to a little lake with a sand table for some more character writing. We had to rush a little since we still had to see Lu Xun’s home which we had skipped in the morning.

Lu Xun was a major writer of 20th century Chinese literature, and his works were very influential for the Communist Party after 1949. The site was actually part of the whole village where he had lived with his grandparents’ and parents’ houses, the school, and neighbors’ houses. His grandparents had been wealthy, but each following generation became poorer and poorer, and you could see the decline from one house to the next. There was a street there with souvenir shops so we had a little time to buy stuff. It was a little difficult because there were food stands everywhere, which meant that chou dofu was everywhere. Now, the first time I was walking on a street in China and smelled this really horrible smell, I had no idea what it was. I wondered how people could stand this smell because it is one of the worst ones I have ever known. I eventually found out it was chou dofu, or stinky tofu. This is very popular in China, although I can’t understand why, and Shaoxing is the stinky tofu home. The smell was everywhere, and I couldn’t get away from it. I can almost smell it now just thinking about it. Oh wait, there’s a stand just outside that the wind sometimes blows the scent this way. Needless to say I was very happy to finally get on the van and head back to Hangzhou where stinky tofu is only on one of every three corners instead of at every food stand.

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Photos

Baby butt
Chinese are the kings of potty training; kids don't wear diapers. They just have a hole in their pants.

High school students
These are the typical high school uniform