Saturday, March 15, 2014. Today, the Barnyard Bunch (our official name now), ventured into one of the most dangerous, (safe) and harsh (beautiful) of places in all of China. We would be dropped off an hour and a half away from civilization, (Hangzhou) and we would have to survive for half a day in a foreign area. Can we survive in this unforgiving, (very nice) wasteland (extremely green area)? This is…MAN VS. CHINA!
The guys spent the drive over to Wuzhen, the “Venice of China,” sleeping in the van and getting some much-needed rest. Once we got to the town, the tour guide went to buy the tickets. Outside the main gate, there was a fountain with a hole in the middle. People would try to throw coins into the hole, so that’s what we tried to do. After several yuan each and attracting a mob of people who also started throwing change, we entered the town a little disheartened (we failed to get any money in the hole).
Once we entered, an open area of water surrounded by willow trees greeted the group. The blue sky illuminated the water and though the water wasn’t so clear, it provided an interesting contrast. After crossing the bridge, we officially entered Wuzhen. There was one main street, which was basically an alley, which held all the tourist shops and food stands. Flowing right along the street was a river sandwiched by another road. The Barnyard Bunch went exploring for an hour down the streets. I got some deep-fried turnip cakes that tasted like delicious, greasy hash browns. I also split a pork spring roll with Mrs. Lockrow, which tasted like deep-fried pork, probably because that’s what it was. It was great and all, but I was most excited by the fact that I ordered it all in Chinese. I think my Chinese has improved during this trip, but I’m still not at a level where I can carry a legitimate conversation with a stranger.
Anyway, after some exploring, we all met with the tour guide at a local restaurant. They served us lamb, which is supposedly a local specialty. The meat was so tender that it just melted in your mouth. Lunch went well; we chatted with the tour guide and William (the English teacher that accompanied us) for a while, but then the chicken came. The chicken was good, but the ridiculously spicy peppers will give me flashbacks for years to come. All of us except Caitlin tried one, but I may have had the worst experience. What I alone discovered is that the spiciness doesn’t come from the red part of the pepper, but from the seeds in a little pouch of death on top of the pepper. So when I took my first bite, I bit right into the seeds thinking, “how hot can this be?” At first it was fine, but then I had a comedy moment where in the middle of the sentence it hit me and I just moaned “aaaahh!” My mouth was melting and so much water welled up in my eyes, I lost a contact lens. I looked over at Max, and he was uncomfortable, but in good shape. Mrs. Lockrow had spit her pepper out. Dareus had swallowed his so his throat was on fire. William was eating them like they were popcorn because I’m pretty sure he’s fire proof. I spent the rest of lunch drinking tea and frantically eating rice to get the oil out of my mouth. It was one of my more shameful moments on the trip, but nevertheless a good experience.
After lunch we explored a little more before driving back. The drive back was almost as hot as the pepper. Max and I took turns lying on the floor while talking with Dareus, Mrs. Lockrow, and Caitlin about random topics. We got back to the school at around 4:30 where we all went our separate ways.
I went back home with my host family and we played badminton until the late hours of the night. My host brother, David, is actually on a professional team for Zhejiang province at 16 years old, so I got to see some intense badminton playing that I would never see at Dover-Sherborn. I practiced with my host dad, who is only a little worse than David. The amount of skill I’ve gained in Badminton on this trip is unreal. One thing I have noticed is that Badminton is much more popular in China than it is in the US. People in America might play a pickup game of baseball or soccer to pass the time, but in China, Badminton is the game of choice. We got back to the apartment at around 11, and after I showered, I spent the rest of the night on QQ, (Chinese Facebook). I fell asleep that night like a housecat on horse tranquilizers.
The Barnyard Bunch managed to escape unscathed, but can we survive for the next week at Hanggao? Or maybe even Beijing? Make sure you tune in next time for MAN VS. CHINA.
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