Week 10
Wuzhen
As a reward to the students and
to celebrate the end of exams, the International College of Zhejiang University
organized a trip to Wuzhen for all of the international students. The reserved
at least 8 charter buses to take us there. I know this because I was on bus
number 8, though I suspect there were more. We had to be on the bus, ready to
go at 6:50 in the morning. Unfortunately, that morning, my alarm didn’t go off
(probably because I didn’t turn it on the night before…). Maryann knocked on my
door at 6:45 and woke me up. Thankfully I had taken a shower the night before
and was able to scramble to get myself ready quickly. The bus ride to Wuzhen
was mostly uneventful since everyone was sleeping.
It was
raining that day and rainy days are never fun. I probably would have enjoyed
the trip more if the weather were better. That goes without saying though. When
we arrived everyone piled off the bus and the teachers just pointed at the
entrance to the traditional village we were visiting. I felt like we were a
herd of 500 international cows being corralled toward a holding pen. Once we
all got inside everyone split up and wandered around the narrow winding streets
at their own pace. Traditional Wuzhen is a canal town. Within the town were
various themed mini-museums you could visit. One was a traditional Chinese bed
museum. I’m not a museum person, so it didn’t really thrill me. I would rather
do something than walk around and look at things. I need to be engaged in my
activities for me to really appreciate them.
Shaoxing
Li Laoshi too us on an excursion
to Shaoxing the next day and it was a much better trip. Lars, Jamie, and
Maryann opted not to go since they had visited Shaoxing the previous weekend
with their Modern Chinese Literature class. Lily and Nicole are also in the
literature class, but they still went with the rest of us. Lily didn’t go on
the other trip because she was sick that day and Nicole didn’t mind traveling
to Shaoxing again.That morning, Li Laoshi rented a van to chauffer us around
for the day. This was much better than taking the long distance bus, in my
opinion. On the way we talked about the things we were going to see that day.
Shaoxing is the hometown of a
famous Chinese writer: Lu Xun. He wrote a lot of short stories during the New
Culture Movement and most of his stories contain social commentary criticizing
traditional Chinese society. His most famous story is “Madman’s Diary.” This
story is structured like a diary and is narrated by a man who, the readers are
lead to believe, has gone insane. The narrator has delusions of persecution,
convinced that the people in his village want to kill and eat him. It’s been a
tradition in this village to eat people, and even though they know it’s morally
wrong they continue to do it because of the tradition. I highly recommend
reading it.
The first place we visited was Lu
Xun’s home, which has been turned into a tourist location. The site was a
collection of homes that Lu Xun’s family owned throughout generations. All the
houses were next to each other. The homes were structured like most traditional
Chinese homes. There are sections of the house that have different rooms (all
with individual and different purposes) and each section is separated by a
small courtyard. Instead of spreading out width-wise, the homes have depth.
They go back from the entrance. Every doorway has an elevated threshold that
rises about a foot off the ground. When entering a room, it’s important to step
over this threshold and not on top of it. Doing so would be a sign of
disrespect. Just like today’s societies, the larger the homes, the wealthier
the family living in it.
Directly opposite from the houses
were typically tourist shops selling food and souvenirs. It was in this place
that I was introduced to the scent of Chao Doufu aka “Stinky Tofu.” It’s a
special kind of tofu that, when cooked, gives off a distinctive unpleasant
odor. Seriously, it smells bad. I can’t bring myself to eat it because of the
smell. I’ve been told that it actually tastes really good. I guess, since I’m
not eating it, there will be more for those who enjoy it.
The second place we traveled to
was East Lake. West Lake is in Hangzhou and it’s one of the most popular
locations to visit in the city. East Lake, though smaller, was still beautiful
and fun to visit. The first thing we saw when we got there were these giant
inflatable balls, big enough to fit a person inside. It was an attraction that
allowed you to get inside the balls and float around on the lake. We all got
really excited when we saw this and immediately wanted to play in them. I was
the last one to get into my ball, which was tethered to a dock so I didn’t
float away aimlessly. It was really surreal – like being inside a bubble or a
balloon. The only sounds I could hear were the ones I made myself. I couldn’t
understand what anyone was saying to me from the outside of my ball. I
immediately fell down the second my ball got in the water. It was impossible
for me to keep my balance. Everyone else had figured out how to stand and run
in their balls and were busy crashing into each other. I tried and tried again
but it was no use. I felt like a toddler learning to walk for the first time –
constantly falling down with a ‘plop’, sitting confused for a moment before
stubbornly standing up and trying again. Eventually I gave up and enjoyed the
sensation of laying on the cool water. That was a dangerous decision because,
after a while, my paranoia began to kick in. What if the ball got a hole and water started to leek in? How would I
get out? Would they be able to reel me in before I drowned? What if I
suffocated while I was inside? Just as I was beginning to have these
thoughts my time was up and I was pulled back to the dock. I’m glad I got to
experience this because I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. I’ve scared myself
too much.
We rented boats (a little larger
than canoes) to ride around the lake. Interestingly, the drivers of the boats
use one foot to row the boat. They have a second oar they use to steer. It’s a
part of culture that is going out of style, so all of the drivers were old men
in their late 60s early 70s. The boats were small so only 2 – 3 people (plus
the driver) could ride at a time. All of the drivers were interested in seeing
us (foreigners) and were very eager to say “Hello” to us when they saw us. They
were all very nice and friendly people.
The last place we went to that
day was a Calligraphy Garden. This place was made to honor one of the most
prominent calligraphers in China’s history. It is said that his calligraphy
(essentially his handwriting) was so beautiful, even today professionals cannot
match his skill. The park is not only set up for people to observe and
appreciate his calligraphy, but they can also practice their own writing as
well. There are multiple venues where people can practice. First there is a
sand pit where people can write characters in the sand. There are also slabs of
stone that people can write on with water. The stones are special because they
allow the water to evaporate quickly. A person could essentially practice
writing their calligraphy for hours with these stones. Li Laoshi tried to teach
me some techniques, much like you would teach a child to write. She took my
hand and guided it as I held the brush. Calligraphy is difficult because not
only do you have to remember the stroke order of the characters (which is VERY
important) but you also have to remember how much pressure to apply to the
brush in different parts of the character. Too much and the line will be too
fat, too little and it will be too skinny – both are signs of ugly characters.
A good piece of calligraphy is a well balanced character in size, proportion,
and line prominence.
Needless to say we were all
really tired when the day was over so most of us slept in the van on the way
back to Hanzhou.
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