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Published: October 26th 2009
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Saturday lunch
I tried about 5 of the 10 dishes.....not too shabby This past weekend I visited the area of Tianmuhu, which is about a 3 1/2 hour drive by bus outside of Shanghai. I went with the staff from my school- about 20-30 people went (all of which were Chinese). I was the only English teacher who went, and it was a lot of fun!
There are a good number of the teachers at my school that speak English well, so they did a good job of keeping me in the loop!
We left Saturday morning at 7:00am and arrived in Tianmuhu around 10:30am. We had hit the 3 hour mark, and all of a sudden I felt a little sick (which was weird because I don't usually suffer from motion sickness). I stood up on the bus and made my way to the front (just in case...) The Chinese teacher, Chris who was sitting beside me told the Principal and another teacher at the front that I was feeling sick and suddenly there was a mass confusion of Chinese teachers trying to help by digging through their purses and bags for things to help me. Within seconds I had a plastic bag, a peeled orange (to smell), some Chinese medicine that
Holly
our principal assistant the Principal was rubbing on my temples and some stomache pills.....it ended up being quite comical. I DID feel better within a few minutes and there were no accidents on the bus (thankfully).
From that point forward my new designated spot on the bus was up front- beside the Principal....lol.
Joanne and I ended up having some good chats driving to and from the different locations. Her English is alright enough for me to understand what she is saying (most of the time) but we did need some translation from my Co-teacher,Sophie (who was sitting behind me).
The first stop was to drop off our bags at the hotel. It was pretty nice considering the price I payed for the whole weekend was 340 RMB....which is the equivalent to approx. $70 Canadian (that was for bus, hotel, entrance fees and food!!).
Next we went to the Nanshan Bamboo Ocean, which was basically a huge forrest of Bamboo. We stopped for a quick lunch at a local restaurant which had prepared some Chinese food for the 3 tables of teachers that filled up their dining room. ( I tried about 5 of the 10 dishes they prepared)
At first
glance the forrest looked like trees, but I was informed it was really Bamboo. I don't think I have ever seen bamboo, especially in that quantity. We took a shuttle bus up to the cable cars...and then we took the cable cars up the mountain. This was my first time in a cable car and I was a little nervous! It was great to go up and see the bamboo forrest from above though. Once we got to the top we still had to climb some stairs to get to the very top of the mountain......most of us (myself included) were out of breath by the time we got to the top.
At the bottom of the mountain there was a huge Buddha, and they were lighting some insense around the base.
After the Bamboo forrest we went to the Yushui Hot Springs, which was also in the Tianmuhu area. This was my first time at a hot spring and I didn't really know what to expect. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures because it would have been weird with all the people in their bathing suits. But the building was really nice and fancy. It reminded me
Tour guide
His Chinese name was apparently funny because it sounded like a fruit of a lodge out in Western Canada. When you enter the change area there are lockers for your clothes and in a drawer below are a pair of flip flops to wear around the hot spring. They give you a nice towel and there are women everywhere standing around to help you. They also give you little pink pajama's if you don't want to walk around in your bathing suit.
The hot springs were also very nice. You walk around the outside area and there are many hot springs to choose from (the trick is finding one that is available!). We basically "hot spring hopped" for lack of a better description. There were hot springs with just hot water, some had rose petals in them, one had milk, and the one (which wasn't as hot) had little tiny fish!!!! Here's the best part- the fish eat your dead skin off your body!! So of course I had to try it 😊 It was really strange because you have to stay pretty still and then all of a sudden these little fish start to "kiss" you, which really tickles!
I eventually had to get out because I had had enough, but
The girls!
We are at the Bamboo forest my feet are pretty smooth now! haha No, really...they are.
I also tried a geothermal room that had stone floors. (You put your towel on the floor and lay down). It is believed that this heat is very good for your organs and relieving pain.
After we left the hot springs we went for dinner (Chinese of course). I tried a couple dishes but I wasn't loving the selection....one of the dishes was hedgehog......I tried one bite and then I was done...
The next day we went to Tianmuhu Park which was nice, but when we got there it was foggy. We took a boat cruise, and walked around the park. Some of the teachers did the hang glide down a cord.....but something told me I shouldn't do it there.....just a feeling.
On the way back to Shanghai we stopped for lunch at a famous place for Hairy Crab.....what is hairy crab you might ask....well it is a crab that is kinda hairy! lol
I did pretty well keeping up with the Chinese teachers eating the crab (although I did need some guidance as to how to disect the crab to eat it).
After he
Mom and daughter
This is my classroom ayi, which means nanny, or maid in China. She brought her daughter along for the trip, who is 9. hairy crab was over, we headed back to Shanghai....it was a great weekend.
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Uncle Dan & Auntie Chris
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Enjoying
We are enjoying your blog. Thank you for doing this. We would love to try a hairy crab. Huge plateful. Great that you are getting out to see the country. Hope that the teaching schedule is not too taxing. All the best.