Clip Joint

(Abby)

Our third Saturday in Hangzhou was dedicated to visiting the old water town, Wuzhen. Now, I thought that this place was going to be a real town where we observe how the inhabitants go about their daily lives. I was proved wrong, however, when we arrived at an amusement park gate. Wuzhen is a town that was built over 1,000 years ago, but was made into a tourist attraction recently. Although it's not what I originally expected, the overall experience there was very fun, especially seeing all of the breathtaking scenery along the rivers and flower fields. There were also many specialty shops, which were pretty much the main attraction of the park. Each one was dedicated to something different and ranged from woodcarving to delicately packaged tea bags. We also witnessed a wedding ceremony (a staged one) that happened on one of the rivers. Many boats manned by people dressed in orange glided down the river while gongs were sounded to attract everyone’s attention. Everyone in the town knew that a newlywed couple was gliding down the river.

Later in the evening, my host sister took me to get my haircut at a salon by her apartment. I had told her before that my Chinese teacher said that hairdressers in China were very good and very cheap thus making me want to give a trip to a salon a try. Mrs. Li also got a very good haircut a week and a half beforehand, thus contributing to my wish to get a trim in China.

When my host sister and I walked into the salon, I was directed to a chair where my hair would be washed. The whole washing process was very thorough and took about fifteen minutes in total. I've noticed that here in China, people don’t tend to wash their hair very often. Genetics definitely has to do with these less frequent washes, but this intense lathering also keep hair clean for days on end. After my hair was washed twice, I was led to one chair where I showed my hairdresser a picture of the layered haircut I wanted. She promptly ushered me to another hairdresser’s chair to hand me off because she wasn't confident that she could cut my hair correctly. I was nervous about getting my haircut in China because Western hair is a different texture than Asian hair, but I figured there must be someone who would be willing to work with me.

The man who cut my hair was very skilled and did a great job with my hair, if I do say so myself. Many other hairdressers hung around to watch as my host sister chatted with them for a bit. At the end of my haircut, my host sister said that my hairdresser was just going to curl my hair “a little bit”. I didn't object as my hairdresser started wrapping my hair in curlers. After about 20 minutes, I was led over to another chair and a plastic tray was placed upon my shoulders for the curlers to be placed in. My hairdresser then went over to my host sister and exchanged a few words with her. I could tell at this time that something was off, so I asked her what the problem was. Turned out this curling process was going to be another $80 in addition to my $8 haircut. I was appalled and embarrassed that I didn't realize that this procedure was going to be much more than the haircut, but at no point did anybody mention the cost or the severity (this “little bit of curling” turned out to be a perm) of it. Not about to drop that much money on my hair, I told my host sister that I had only $8 to my name and would not be getting this scalding done. My hairdresser gave her a hard time about it, which I felt bed about, because he had already put the curlers in but I was not going to give into his pressuring. Right when I was about to take the curlers out myself, he gave up and took them out himself. Although I was embarrassed that I didn't catch onto what he was doing earlier, I did find it funny that my hairdresser thought I would spend my money to get out of the situation he created. I did enjoy my experience getting my haircut though and I’m glad I got it done.

One aspect of Chinese culture that I've realized, especially at Wuzhen, is the abundance of young parents here. I’ll look over at a man or a woman who can’t be over 25 years old and all of a sudden, a five-year-old child will spring up from behind them and toss themselves onto their parent. Our host parents have also been on the younger side as well. I do see the logic in having kids earlier in life because then you have the energy to keep up with them. It also makes sense here because the mothers also tend to stay at home to take care of their child until they hit high school. I’m not saying that all couples here have children while they are in their early twenties, but it’s definitely a higher number than back in the States.
I’m writing this blog post on a Tuesday night exactly one week before we leave Hangzhou for Shanghai. It’s hard to believe that we've been in Hangzhou for three weeks and in China for seven! I will be sad to leave but I’m also looking forward to being home again.

~Zaijian for now!