With a few cautionary hints from Peter, Clark and I were off to explore
Our independent adventure began by walking near campus for a bit. We immediately had to avoid a gypsy cab, and then finally found a metered cab. I pointed on the map to the
Buying tickets was an experience, we had to use some shoving skills of our own on our way up to the window, as there was no line.
The architecture was what I had imagined in my mind as traditional Chinese architecture. I think the most striking part were the bright colors that were used to paint the buildings. We did some real hiking off the path, and climbed up a mountain side that turned out to not be a path. This involved a lot of sweat and dirt!
There were a lot of buildings, but not a lot inside of them. A lot of them were tall and built on the hillside, so they loomed over the park. Chinese people there were utilizing the space as a regular park, like
Two little boys came up and wanted their picture taken with Clark and me. This was the first of many pictures where we felt like celebrities, just for being white and tall.
When we were ready to go, it was tough to get a real metered cab. People kept approaching us and saying ‘meter’ but we couldn’t trust them without seeing the cab. We walked around for awhile until we finally found a cab who would stop for us. The driver took us to the lake area near the Hutong.
As we walked around one of the smaller lakes and saw a lot of fishermen with HUGE poles. It is hard to imagine how they can control them. Fish seemed scarce as we never saw anyone actually catch anything.
Walking to another lake, we found a tea house to have lunch. They had very pricey tea (maybe we got ripped off?) but it was tasty. The menu was on a fan and had to be explained to us. We had a private room, which seems to be common here. We had noodles, dumplings, and sweets that they brought to go with the tea. We got a lot of personal attention and were given a set of characters at the end, which means wealth and prosperity to your family.
The hutong area was fun to walk around and explore.The local shops and alleyways were narrow, and seem to be very run down. It was interesting to get a feel for how people live day to day and to see living conditions.
Peter and Kevin found us at
We met up with Tracy and another friend of hers, Matt (Peter’s fellow teacher), Drew and Nakia. We had more beer and had our first sip of Bai-jiu. This is the famous hard liquor of the Chinese, and for us it was tough to swallow!
Each of us had three shots, with a toast to go with each. The food was tasty, especially the duck, which the restaurant is known for.
At the restroom I encountered my first squatting toilet. Peter had prepared us for this, and I had anticipated much worse. This bathroom was clean at least!
We happened upon people dancing in a square nearby, and we joined right in. It was difficult to know how to dance to the music!
Next we came upon some long boats steered by a gondolier, and we all boarded. There was a lantern and a long table in the middle. Clark and Kevin shared a cigar as we boated around the lake.
The others headed back in a cab, and Peter, Clark and I took the two bikes back to the hostel where they’d been rented from. This meant I had to sit on the back of the bike! This was a cool experience although it was difficult to have no control over the ride.
We took a taxi home, and Sunia was there, newly arrived from the airport. It was a tight fit, but we all slept comfortably in the apartment.
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