Yangshuo

NYU gave us a week-long holiday the week of National Day, Oct 1, the day in 1949 when Mao officially founded the People's Republic in China through a ceremony in Tiananmen Square. Most people in China have holiday during the Golden Week of Oct 1 - Oct 7, but we were able to miss the crowds and expensive tickets by travelling earlier. 30 students went to Yangshuo, a scenic destination for Chinese tourists in the southern province of Guangxi.

Yangshuo was gorgeous. These hills were the background for the entire trip, you can't even call them hills because they were quite steep and seemed to have plopped down from the sky without any need for a slope connecting to the rest of the land.

Our first adventure was to take a mud bath and sit in the hot springs of a cave located in one of these hills. The experience was far from authentic, the mud bath was a 20 sq foot vat of 3-foot deep "mud" and the hot springs seemed like they could be artificially heated. Nonetheless, the experience was noteworthy for the bus trip to the cave. Our bus was one of the most run-down vehicles I've ever ridden in. The bus stalled several times in the road, the suspension seemed defunct, and the windows rattled as we drove over the dirt paths. Everyone walked off smarting from the bumps but relieved to have made it safely to the cave.

The next day we rode on bamboo rafts for at least an hour down one of the rivers in Yangshuo. The raft ride was incredibly relaxing. The experience reminded me of Venice's gondolas, with Chinese characteristics (though the price of Venice's gondolas dissuaded me from trying one). In this picture, the stall in the foreground is a lady selling refrigerated drinks and snacks to passersby. The drivers stopped at nearly all the stalls since they got a cut of the profits.

Slight falls had been created in the river where locals took pictures and tried to sell them to you. The locals had set up computers, photo printers, and all kinds of electrical equipment in the middle of the river on bamboo stalls. I didn't buy any pictures, but I was certainly impressed by the efficiency of the operation.

After the bamboo raft ride and lunch, we went hiking. This picture doesn't do justice to the magnificent view of a village and nearby hills that we had. Steps had been cut into the hill so it wasn't a real hike as much as it was real-life Stairmaster. This made it easier going up, but the steps were slippery so it made it harder going down. Quite a few people tumbled, and I came pretty close, but I managed to claw onto my friends and trees to keep my balance.

After the hike, we took a 12-mile bike ride through the fields of Yangshuo back to the hotel. Living in NYC, London, and Shanghai, I'd forgotten the beauty of biking.

That night, we went to a light show on the lake. It was colorful and spectacular, but unfortunately, none of us could follow the plot in Chinese. An interesting note here is the amount of people in the production. Literally hundreds of performers acted as peasants in the production, not to mention the back-stage lighting and costume crews. Everyone knows that labor is cheap in China, but the show brought to light (pun intended) the "Throw people at the problem" mentality instead of the "Throw machines and technology at the problem" mentality of America. Broadway shows can have large casts too, but they rely on a few performers' voices and acting to bring the show to life. The light show seemed to rely on the immensity of the cast.

The next day, we went to a food market in case we wanted to buy any food for our afternoon cooking class. I should've expected the horrible treatment of the animals, but it still shocked me. Thinking about the way the merchant tore a chicken out of the cage by the neck and slammed it down to kill it still makes me cringe. Apparently, there was a dog section that I thankfully didn't see where dogs were hanging by their hind legs and being skinned. Granted Americans don't eat as much dog meat, but I'm sure much of the same brutality occurs in our country, in marginally better conditions for the animals. Anyway, let's move on

Our cooking class was a lot of fun. We used a wok and large quantities of oil (the Chinese instructor kept telling us we weren't using enough oil) to make ourselves lunch. I made steamed stuffed vegetables (not shown), lotus roots with cashews, stir-fried green beans, and beer-fried tofu, shown from left to right. We added several vegetables with the lotus roots and the tofu to liven up the dishes. It was one of the most satisfying meals I've had in China.

Afterwards, we went rock climbing on an actual hill. I had never rock-climbed outdoors before. More so than indoor rock-climbing, the experience really tested your forearms. The instructor told us we should rely on our legs to push off and shouldn't be using our upper bodies. Maybe that's why I couldn't make it to the top

The next day, we visited an elementary school. The Chinese students were extremely nervous when talking to us, mainly because they spoke little English and we spoke little Chinese. However, they did easily recognize New York and Lady Gaga. With the help of the teachers, we tried to teach them some US geography, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes. Usually a couple brave students would start the conversation with you, a group would assemble out of curiosity, and a picture would be taken. When a picture was taken, the Chinese students had a field day crowding around and putting up their peace signs.

The experience was probably more useful for us than for the students. The school was located in a rural village outside Yangshuo, but it was the cleanest building that we passed in the town. Tuition and boarding was provided by the state so students only paid for food. They often came from 5 - 10 miles away from the school so they lived there during the week and went home on weekends. Most classes, even in third grade, were learning English though I don't think I saw any computers. The whole experience revealed the value of education both for the state who paid for the school and for the families who would send their children there during the week.

All halt, water buffalo crossing. After the school, we went to the home of our tour guide's parents to have lunch. On our way there, a herd of water buffalo were coming in the other direction on our path. We had to duck down on the side of the road to avoid being hit. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the herd as it moved past us.

Rural China from the home of our tour guide's parents

The last day, we went to rice terraces a couple hours outside of Yangshuo. The terraces are harvested right after the National Day Golden Week so we came at the perfect time to see their yellow ripeness. The entire hillside and the surrounding hillsides had the same pattern of terraces cut into them. There was a stone path to walk around the terraces which provided great views of the surrounding landscapes.

The Yao minority that lives by the rice terraces. Yao women never cut their hair during their lives since long hair symbolizes longevity. They carry their hair in an intricate bun and are not allowed to expose it until they get married. The interaction with them reminded me of the Savage Reservation from A Brave New World. Though the Yao and other minorities retain aspects of their culture and their language, the superficial aspects are accentuated for tourists like me while they are increasingly forced by economics to assimilate into Han Chinese lifestyles.

China recognizes 55 ethnic minorities, though there are hundreds of other ones. Minorities collectively account for less than 10% of China's populations. Official education and policy says that these minorities have been a part of China for hundreds of years, but there is much uncertainty about their actual involvement in the Chinese state, the level of central government involvement in their lives vs. self-government, their assimilation in the future, etc. Unlike America's minorities, a significant portion of older minorities cannot even read or speak Mandarin Chinese well, they have effectively retained their own languages.

Overall, Yangshuo was an excellent trip, much more activity-centered than history-centered. It is a bit out of the way for foreign tourists, but many Chinese tourists visit, which added authenticity to some aspects of the trip. For example, the city shut down power for 12 hours one day. Our hotel's generator kept lights and hot water running, but they had to shut off A/C and TV, which I doubt would ever happen in Shanghai or Beijing. I'm glad NYU organized this trip out of the city with all its local activities, I certainly couldn't have planned it on my own