Cave Party


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November 13th 2009
Published: November 13th 2009
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A few weeks ago Bradford, a teacher here in Guilin for nearly 7 years now, organized what he called The Cave Party. I was a little hesitant about attending, but he assured me that fun would be had by all, so I agreed. On a Saturday night, myself and about 30 other foreigners (and some Chinese) gathered outside of the Shida campus where I teach. We hopped on a bus that took us about 15 minutes outside of town and dropped us off on a deserted corner in the dark. With Bradford as our guide we walked on a dirt path through fields of corn and rice. We found ourselves in a small cluster of homes, weaving in and out of alleyways and backyards. After another 20 minutes of walking we landed at the foot of a karst. We waited for all the people at the back to catch up, and Brad told us the story of the cave.

Hundreds of years ago it was used by monks as a Buddhist temple, but was abandoned - then, when the Japanese invaded China during World War II, all the villagers living around the karst climbed up the make-shift staircase and hid in the cave. There were very few lives lost in Guilin at the hands of the Japanese soldiers because there are so many caves in the mountains that only the locals know how to find...

When the rest of the group made it to the foot of the mountain, we began our ascent. We tramped through tall trees and shoots of bamboo, and finally, a staircase appeared. Don't picture the type of staircase you walk up and down in your home...this was much more natural. Stones had been laid on the ground and partially burried in the dirt, creating a footpath that wound around the mountain occasionally bringing us inches from the edge. When we had hiked about halfway up the mountain, Bradford announced that we had made it, and began passing out and lighting candles. He instructed each of us to take our candles, explore the cave, and then place the candles along the walls of the cave to light it. We followed instructions while he went through the cave to the other side of the mountain. There, he built a bonfire with a few of the guys in our group. After I had finished poking my nose in every nook and crannie of the cave, I wandered over to the bonfire. Everyone began setting up blankets and finding seats wherever possible. They had wired speakers in the cave and someone hooked up their iPod. We listened to all types of music and talked. Most everybody brought drinks, and snacks and we all settled in for a long night. Some people had brought musical instruments, and later they had a bit of a jam session inside the caves. People sang, played guitar, someone played the bongos...it was all very chill. Before I knew it, it was 4:30 in the morning, and half of the party had left. The 15 to 20 that had stayed behind began settling in for a nap. The guys and I found a corner of the cave and lied down. After about two hours of the most restless sleep I have had since arriving in China, the sun began to rise. I sat up and watched the giant red sun appear over the foggy fields, framed between two mountains off in the distance. That was the scene I had imagined when I invisioned "CHINA" when I was growing up. It was truly beautiful.





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13th November 2009

what a cool description, of what I am sure was a delightful, spiritual and more than memorabel experience. Wow, clare. I was almost there with you when reading it. Thank you for sharing your cave experience with me. I love the fact that you are delving into the culture in ways.... today, your wonderful mom came to the DTS and taught charlie's class to make books. she showed them the III book that her group did and one of the students asked which one she did. She showed the page with the pink lace, and blue jeans and spoke about writing about her children who are no longer living with her because they are grown. It made me pause and reflect on your life when you were young, and so innocent, filled with excitement to see how the Easter bunny put the eggs in the front of grandmas and grandpas house. And then, I smiled inside myself, knowing how much you are enjoying your experince in China. On Monday, we are going to make paper. ok... off to bed now. i see that you skyped me. i hope to hook up with you soon. much love your way. annie
10th February 2010

wow this is an awesome description of the cave party!!! i kind of want to use this on CLI's website, is that ok??
26th February 2010

Go for it!
Totally cool with me Robbie...just toss my name out there. Budding journalists love being sourced. :)

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