A Tourist in Wuhan

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Final day of teaching today. This program always ends with a "Hootenanny", a sort of talent show for all the students. They seem to love it, but I always hate it. Two hours of performances with an audience of 200+ in a room meant for about 125. The good news is that this is a clear marker for the end of classes and the beginning of vacation. The bad news is that I have to go through the process of saying my "goodbyes" to all my students. They can make it a never-ending process, so I've learned to just leave quietly after a few "see you laters". I generally start this program saying it will be my last, but it's the students and the chance to reconnect with some of them that makes me come back for more.

This afternoon was finally a chance to see parts of Wuhan I hadn't seen. Tan Hua Lin is a subway ride from campus and, until 2012, was fairly rundown. It is one of the older districts of the city and, like similar districts in Beijing, has been refurbished with a pedestrian street filled with one coffee house after another, some shopping and the residences on streets on either side of the shopping street still much as they were. It was probably close to 90 degrees and 70% humidity today, so only crazy American tourists and a few Chinese were visiting.

Also paid a visit to Hankou, the older center of Wuhan. I'd been there before, but didn't have a chance to stray too far from the shopping district. This time, my TA and I ventured out of that area into the remaining older areas. I'm guessing these areas will soon be torn down and replaced with high rises. A few may remain, but will be cleaned up into areas like Tan Hua Lin.

The weather has been relatively mild most of my time here, but is now more than earning itself its nickname "the oven of China". Soon, you won't need a hot pot, you'll just need to hang the meat and vegetables out the window. I'll be getting out just in time.

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