Our village welcoming committee
super cool rice patties
going fishing with the villagers
note the satellite dish
village welcoming committee II
our super cute sister
planting rice, Chinese style
next shower: 2 days
Buddha dog meditating on the mountain
thats our sister, mad at us for abandoning her
Cooking school in sichuan
vegetable carving
gotta love Chinese advertising
if you want to know more about the moon bears, check out the website.www.animalsasia.org
Well, I am finally back in Beijing after my 2 week trip in central China. My trip was, as usual, AMAZING! but I am still happy to be back. Unfortunately, that was my last trip in China this year, so apologies if the rest of my posts are on the boring side.
We started off the trip with a 26 hour train ride to Guizhou, a providence in central China. The train ride was not too bad, a good chance to catch up on some much needed sleep and to just rest for a few hours. I met a few interesting people on the train ride. Unlike our last train ride, we were split up a little. Each little bunk area has 2 rows of 3 beds. My 2 friends and I had one row and 3 Chinese people had the other row. For the first hour or so of the trip, my friends and I sat on our bottom bunk and they sat on their bottom bunk and we just started at each other. Then, they figured out we could speak Chinese, so we had a short conversation. It was short mainly because we had trouble understanding their heavy southern accent and they had trouble understanding our botched pronunciation, but they were friendly enough to make the train ride bearable.
I also ran into a little kid who wanted me to teach him American card games. He came over to my bunk area with his dad and asked if someone could teach them American card games. I had nothing else better to do and was ready for a challenge, so I went for it. The kid was probably 5 or so and really cute. I decided I would teach him Go Fish because its the only card game I can remember playing at his age. So, I dove into the task of trying to teach him Go Fish. At first, I struggled a little bit getting my point across, but I got more confident with time and the kid eventually got the hang of the game. He then proceeded to beat me soundly at 5 consecutive hands. Not fair at all. the kid's dad decided to teach me a Chinese card game in return. At first, I didn't understand at all, but eventually I got the hang of it. The game was a mix between poker and war, kind of. Its a little complicated, but the game was fun when I eventually got the hang of it. the only drawback was the little kid was also really good at this game. sometimes, life just isn't fair.
Once we got off the train, we stayed in a hotel overnight in a small city called Kaili and then spent 8 hours the next day on the bus to go to our first village stay of the trip. We only stayed in 2 villages this trip, but I liked them both. During this trip, SYA encouraged us to integrate more into village life. As a result, they planned less for us to do and we had more down time to spend with the villagers. On our first day in the village, I went fishing with a few villagers. They keep fish in the rice patties not in use, to be caught at their convenience. We hiked for about an hour to get to the particular rice patties, then we had to clear off the algae on top of the rice patties. I quickly realized I was not going to get anywhere by perching on the edge of the patty, so I stripped of my shoes and socks and got right in. Me and a few other SYA kids had a great time squelching around in the mud and trying to catch fish. One of the farmers even let us try plowing the patty with an ox. Not exactly as easy as you would think. We ate the fish we caught for lunch. The villagers just went in to the woods and cut some sticks, put the fish on the sticks over the fire and waited. The fish was actually pretty good, but a little difficult to eat.
We spent a total of 2 days and nights in the first village. The people there are very sociable and welcoming, and they love ceremonies and rituals. They had a huge ceremony to welcome us into the village involving pouring the local alcohol down our throats whether or not we wanted it and feeding us the local specialty, spicy fish, as we walked into the village from the bueses. Interesting experience. I think the alcohol was a plot to discourage us from drinking any more of the stuff, and let me tell you, it worked. The alcohol tasted exactly like rubbing alcohol smells. I am not a fan and I spent the rest of my stay in Guizhou avoiding villagers wielding bowls filled with alcohol. Much harder than you would think. they are very insistant.
After 2 days in the first village, we got into a bus and drove 7 hours to our next destination. We stayed in a hotel 1 night then headed to our next and last village. This village is pretty isolated from the rest of the world and the roads are bad, so we hiked in. the hike was very enjoyable because the mountains were absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen more beautiful mountain scenery in my life.
The residents of the second village were more insistant with their liquer, if thats possible. they had 3 or 4 stands situated around the village with old ladies ready to pour alcohol down our throats. Eventually, I developed a good tactic to sneak around them. I just waited until they were occupied with another poor soul and snuck around. worked most of the time. I ended up liking this village much better, mainly because of the stunning scenery. every chance i got, i went hiking and took pictures of the mountains.
The family my friend and I stayed in was really cool. first of all, our little sister was so cute. She particularly enjoyed going through our bags and dumping them all over our beds just because she could and we would let her. She was really adorable and we took to carrying her with us everywhere we went around the village. She had us well trained. Our little brother was also adorable. I think our mom put him in charge of us because he became our own personal guide to the village and was always watching out for us. Did i mention he was 10? really cute. I went our with my host mom one day to plant rice. she had a good time laughing at my poor techinique, but she eventually was satisfied with my rows of crooked rice seedlings. i guess years of practice help.
We also spent 2 days and nights in the last village. The second day we were there, it rained all day so I spent most of my day inside playing cards, talking with my family, playing with my little sister, and holding the kitten we found. Not too bad of a day, if you ask me. could be worse, right?
I am going to miss staying in villages, but I am not going to lie, showers are ceratinly a nice perk to staying in a hotel. the hike out of the village was along a different path and we were treated to mroe amazing views of the mountains. the hike out was a little longer, but enjoyable because of the scenery.
For the rest of the trip, we stayed in cities. The first city we stayed in was Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou. they city is a pretty decent size and known for good night markets. I will remember the city for good bubble tea and cheap t-shirts, but thats just where my priorities are. The weather was really nice and we had a whole day to ourselves, so i spent a lot of time exploring the city. The city, like any Chinese city, is really interesting to wander around because of the variety of people and shops. However, I was happy to leave because the pollution was almost unbearable. Unfortunately, Beijing is the only city in China with significant pollution restrictions so Guiyang was a little unbearable at times.
Our last stop of the trip was Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan providence. To get from Guiyang to Chengdu, we rode a train over night, a mere 12 hours. Not a bad trian ride at all. the best part was its short length.
We spent about 4 days in Chengdu doing many cool things. We spent the first 2 day there attending a cooking school, the most well known one in China. We had a great time learning to cook a few Chinese dishes and carve vegetables into cool shapes. As you can imagine, attending cooking school definately has its perks. First and foremost, it is important to understand that this cooking school is known for its Sichuan specialty, but they still have other classes. My favorite being western desserts. I did not attend this class; rather, i made friends with anyone who did. By the end of our 2 days there, all of the SYA kids knew when the baked goods came out of the oven how to get them into our possession. It wasn't too hard because the students were only too happy to get our opinion of their food. Naturally, that required more than just a taste. shame.
Besides getting to try delicious desserts, we also learned to make some specialty Sichuan dishes. We were taught in Chinese, just to make the learning process more interesting. First, a chef would show us the ingredients and how to make the dish, then we would try to make the dish with the help of students at the school. I wrote down all the recipes, but unfortunately, some of the ingredients will be hard to find in America, but that doesn't mean I am not going to try.
On our second to last day in Chengdu, we visited a moonbear sanctuary. China has a lot of legal (unfortunately) moonbear farms where they are kept in cages and used for their bile, an important ingredient in Chinese medicine. The sanctuary rescues bears and rehibilitates and heals them. If you want more info, check out the website above. We got a tour of the sanctuary and got to meet the woman who started the project. The bears are really cool and look just like really big black bears with a while patch on their stomachs.
I got back into Beijing late last night (friday April 24). I had another really amazing trip, but i am happy to be back in Beijing.
We started off the trip with a 26 hour train ride to Guizhou, a providence in central China. The train ride was not too bad, a good chance to catch up on some much needed sleep and to just rest for a few hours. I met a few interesting people on the train ride. Unlike our last train ride, we were split up a little. Each little bunk area has 2 rows of 3 beds. My 2 friends and I had one row and 3 Chinese people had the other row. For the first hour or so of the trip, my friends and I sat on our bottom bunk and they sat on their bottom bunk and we just started at each other. Then, they figured out we could speak Chinese, so we had a short conversation. It was short mainly because we had trouble understanding their heavy southern accent and they had trouble understanding our botched pronunciation, but they were friendly enough to make the train ride bearable.
I also ran into a little kid who wanted me to teach him American card games. He came over to my bunk area with his dad and asked if someone could teach them American card games. I had nothing else better to do and was ready for a challenge, so I went for it. The kid was probably 5 or so and really cute. I decided I would teach him Go Fish because its the only card game I can remember playing at his age. So, I dove into the task of trying to teach him Go Fish. At first, I struggled a little bit getting my point across, but I got more confident with time and the kid eventually got the hang of the game. He then proceeded to beat me soundly at 5 consecutive hands. Not fair at all. the kid's dad decided to teach me a Chinese card game in return. At first, I didn't understand at all, but eventually I got the hang of it. The game was a mix between poker and war, kind of. Its a little complicated, but the game was fun when I eventually got the hang of it. the only drawback was the little kid was also really good at this game. sometimes, life just isn't fair.
Once we got off the train, we stayed in a hotel overnight in a small city called Kaili and then spent 8 hours the next day on the bus to go to our first village stay of the trip. We only stayed in 2 villages this trip, but I liked them both. During this trip, SYA encouraged us to integrate more into village life. As a result, they planned less for us to do and we had more down time to spend with the villagers. On our first day in the village, I went fishing with a few villagers. They keep fish in the rice patties not in use, to be caught at their convenience. We hiked for about an hour to get to the particular rice patties, then we had to clear off the algae on top of the rice patties. I quickly realized I was not going to get anywhere by perching on the edge of the patty, so I stripped of my shoes and socks and got right in. Me and a few other SYA kids had a great time squelching around in the mud and trying to catch fish. One of the farmers even let us try plowing the patty with an ox. Not exactly as easy as you would think. We ate the fish we caught for lunch. The villagers just went in to the woods and cut some sticks, put the fish on the sticks over the fire and waited. The fish was actually pretty good, but a little difficult to eat.
We spent a total of 2 days and nights in the first village. The people there are very sociable and welcoming, and they love ceremonies and rituals. They had a huge ceremony to welcome us into the village involving pouring the local alcohol down our throats whether or not we wanted it and feeding us the local specialty, spicy fish, as we walked into the village from the bueses. Interesting experience. I think the alcohol was a plot to discourage us from drinking any more of the stuff, and let me tell you, it worked. The alcohol tasted exactly like rubbing alcohol smells. I am not a fan and I spent the rest of my stay in Guizhou avoiding villagers wielding bowls filled with alcohol. Much harder than you would think. they are very insistant.
After 2 days in the first village, we got into a bus and drove 7 hours to our next destination. We stayed in a hotel 1 night then headed to our next and last village. This village is pretty isolated from the rest of the world and the roads are bad, so we hiked in. the hike was very enjoyable because the mountains were absolutely gorgeous. I have never seen more beautiful mountain scenery in my life.
The residents of the second village were more insistant with their liquer, if thats possible. they had 3 or 4 stands situated around the village with old ladies ready to pour alcohol down our throats. Eventually, I developed a good tactic to sneak around them. I just waited until they were occupied with another poor soul and snuck around. worked most of the time. I ended up liking this village much better, mainly because of the stunning scenery. every chance i got, i went hiking and took pictures of the mountains.
The family my friend and I stayed in was really cool. first of all, our little sister was so cute. She particularly enjoyed going through our bags and dumping them all over our beds just because she could and we would let her. She was really adorable and we took to carrying her with us everywhere we went around the village. She had us well trained. Our little brother was also adorable. I think our mom put him in charge of us because he became our own personal guide to the village and was always watching out for us. Did i mention he was 10? really cute. I went our with my host mom one day to plant rice. she had a good time laughing at my poor techinique, but she eventually was satisfied with my rows of crooked rice seedlings. i guess years of practice help.
We also spent 2 days and nights in the last village. The second day we were there, it rained all day so I spent most of my day inside playing cards, talking with my family, playing with my little sister, and holding the kitten we found. Not too bad of a day, if you ask me. could be worse, right?
I am going to miss staying in villages, but I am not going to lie, showers are ceratinly a nice perk to staying in a hotel. the hike out of the village was along a different path and we were treated to mroe amazing views of the mountains. the hike out was a little longer, but enjoyable because of the scenery.
For the rest of the trip, we stayed in cities. The first city we stayed in was Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou. they city is a pretty decent size and known for good night markets. I will remember the city for good bubble tea and cheap t-shirts, but thats just where my priorities are. The weather was really nice and we had a whole day to ourselves, so i spent a lot of time exploring the city. The city, like any Chinese city, is really interesting to wander around because of the variety of people and shops. However, I was happy to leave because the pollution was almost unbearable. Unfortunately, Beijing is the only city in China with significant pollution restrictions so Guiyang was a little unbearable at times.
Our last stop of the trip was Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan providence. To get from Guiyang to Chengdu, we rode a train over night, a mere 12 hours. Not a bad trian ride at all. the best part was its short length.
We spent about 4 days in Chengdu doing many cool things. We spent the first 2 day there attending a cooking school, the most well known one in China. We had a great time learning to cook a few Chinese dishes and carve vegetables into cool shapes. As you can imagine, attending cooking school definately has its perks. First and foremost, it is important to understand that this cooking school is known for its Sichuan specialty, but they still have other classes. My favorite being western desserts. I did not attend this class; rather, i made friends with anyone who did. By the end of our 2 days there, all of the SYA kids knew when the baked goods came out of the oven how to get them into our possession. It wasn't too hard because the students were only too happy to get our opinion of their food. Naturally, that required more than just a taste. shame.
Besides getting to try delicious desserts, we also learned to make some specialty Sichuan dishes. We were taught in Chinese, just to make the learning process more interesting. First, a chef would show us the ingredients and how to make the dish, then we would try to make the dish with the help of students at the school. I wrote down all the recipes, but unfortunately, some of the ingredients will be hard to find in America, but that doesn't mean I am not going to try.
On our second to last day in Chengdu, we visited a moonbear sanctuary. China has a lot of legal (unfortunately) moonbear farms where they are kept in cages and used for their bile, an important ingredient in Chinese medicine. The sanctuary rescues bears and rehibilitates and heals them. If you want more info, check out the website above. We got a tour of the sanctuary and got to meet the woman who started the project. The bears are really cool and look just like really big black bears with a while patch on their stomachs.
I got back into Beijing late last night (friday April 24). I had another really amazing trip, but i am happy to be back in Beijing.
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