Day 12: Yingkou Family Cemetery

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Today I awoke feeling sub-par. I am definitely about ready to pack up one more time, jump on a plane and head home. This has been an event-filled trip but its time I return to recognizable food and my own bed.And smoking bans.

This morning we went to visit Liang’s mom’s family cemetery in the country near Yingkou. I have especially loved the drives through China- however rough and unsettling- because it gives me a great opportunity to see many communities, especially those that American eyes rarely, if ever, see. The last bit of the drive to the cemetery was interesting as we turned our cars down an alley that looked more like a footpath than a road. We squeezed our car between buildings and through part of a corn field. At that point we decided to walk the rest of the way. Burning of paper to send “money” to the deceased is not allowed in this area (probably due to risk of fire from all the dry crop fields) so instead we placed flowers, 3 bananas, 3 oranges and 3 apples at each headstone.

Liang has been in dire need of a haircut for some time now and our host was nice enough to take him for one. I rested and tried to write out some postcards during the few hours they were gone. I also watched a really great movie, “Perfect Stranger”, I had never heard of on an English TV channel. Apparently it only gets 3/5 stars but I would recommend it!
In the evening we had another formal dinner- they just kept coming on this trip. I can’t wait to get home and eat a sandwich in my living room in my lounge pants! While our host was ordering the dishes for the meal (everything here is always “family style”), we were served a reddish-purple drink. I turned to Liang to ask if it was made from Goji berries; instead he thought I was asking, in Mandarin, to order dog (gǒu) private parts (Jiba). He said they drew the line there. I did get to enjoy a really tasty dish of battered banana covered in melted sugar, that was much better than any dog dish.
Towards the end of dinner someone mentioned that we were all going to get massages after the meal. I was sure Tina and Liang were just making things up since I can’t understand the dinner conversations. But after dinner our host was on the phone making arrangements for seven massages at 9pm. When we arrived we were greeted by the owner and the boys were taken one way and the girls another. Tina (who served as my translator) and I were brought to a room with two massage tables, pillows, blankets, pajamas and a TV. Interesting, I thought. If I thought I had ever had a full body massage before, I didn’t really know what that meant until now. Our massage started at the top of the head, was followed by a facial treatment, moved to the arms, hands, legs, stomach (yes, stomach) and then the back.

Next, they brought in a tub of water to wash our feet. Feet are considered dirty (no surprise there) and that is why they are the last part of the massage. In fact, when we visited Lady Yang’s hot springs, there was a hot spring specifically for the cooks with divots in the bottom where they would put their feet for others to clean. If their hands ever touched their feet they were killed. Pretty extreme. When everything was said and done it was after 11pm at night. You have to be pretty powerful to have seven simultaneous massages given until 11pm at night.

Tomorrow is our last day in Yingkou, and really our last day in China, since the rest will likely be travel. Shopping and exploring the city by the sea!

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Photos

Cook's Hotspring
The cooks had to keep their feet in the divots away from the hands, lest they be killed!