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Destination 3 - Yingtan (sort of), Shangqing Ancient Village and Dragon & Tiger Mountain
Guixi, China
Ní hăo,
Arriving in Yingtan we discovered that our hotel was actually in a small village about an hour's drive outside of the city - not convenient for the train station, but actually part of the Longhu Mountain National Park, which we were planning on visiting the next day anyway. The village was only just over 2km long, and we walked most of its streets that night - we were actually looking for a bank, as both of us were running low on money - and it was really nice to see some old style, normal housing.
We didn't find a bank, so we hopped on the bus back to Yingtan were we refilled our purses. And our stomachs. Whilst wandering we came across a Chinese pizza shop!! Sitting in the café the owner came and asked us if he could take photos of us. We nodded and smiled, and in return he gave us a chocolate tea drink thing on the house (this one was much nicer than the ones we bought in Yihuang). The pizza was amazing - learning from our pizza hut experience, we only bought the one pizza between us, instead of one each :P
When we headed back to the bus station, we were dismayed to find that the bus we had caught back to Yingtan had been the last bus of the night, so we had to fork out 150CNY for a taxi. Ah well, live and learn!
The next day we found it really easy to get our tickets (ISIC discounts!) for Longhushan (which translates to Dragon and Tiger Mountain 龙虎山) as the village we were staying in was actually part of the bus tour. We took the bus to the raft stop, as this was the one thing we both really really wanted to do. We waited about half an hour for the bus, as there were loads of people visiting the mountain (it was the day after National Day, and a holiday). When we finally got to the bamboo rafts, it was a mad scramble down the slope and whoever was fastest got onto the rafts first. 8 people sat on a raft and you had to wear these bright orange life jackets - which wouldn't have done much as they were so thin and didn't actually do up so it would have been easy for them to slip off. On the other hand, the river was only about 2ft deep for most of the way. We were on the raft for just under an hour, and two Chinese men used long bamboo poles with spikes attached to the ends to push us along the river (I'm pretty sure we were going against the current). The guy at the front of the raft was giving a talk about the area as we progressed, but of course Lucie and I didn't understand any of it as it was all in Chinese. We did try and communicate with the family sat behind us, again with not much luck, but they were really lovely and bought us these pyramidal shaped parcels of rice stuff which were wrapped in leaves and had a nut of some sort in the middle. I quite liked it, but I don't think Lucie was too keen!
The scenery around us was just stunning, and the peace on the river was really enjoyable. When we were dropped off at the beach on the river, we worked our way towards Fairy Lady Rock, which was a recommended stop. We came across a large grassy area (where we found a Chinese vendor selling chips, popcorn and candy floss!!) that was teeming with tourists (all Chinese - even the touristy places in China are rarely visited by anyone other than the Chinese themselves). From this grassy area we watched a 'Cormorant Fishing Show' - 6 men on traditional narrow bamboo rafts with cormorants out on the river. We then saw the "Coffin Lifting Folk Show" - which was 2 men abseiling down the cliff face opposite us on the other side of the river, doing tricks and spins as they descended, and then hoisting an old fashioned coffin with one of the men standing on it. He climbed up the rope (with no safety wires) and did tricks, and spins on the rope as the coffin was hoisted. It was quite good but not really what we were expecting. We took a boat across the river from the grassy area to the cliff. As we crossed we could see these old fashioned coffins resting in the holes in the cliff face caused by erosion, it was kind of cool and a bit creepy at the same time!
On the other side of the river we had to go behind the cliff to find Fairy Lady Rock, which was an erosion in the cliff that, well, basically, as the information board put it, looked like "a female's private parts and bum." So yeah. Again, not what we were expecting. We followed the path round and came across a Buddha temple. We were handed incense sticks and invited inside. We lit the incense sticks, and placed them in the display at the foot of the giant Buddha statue. We then bowed 3 times with our hands clasped as a gong was struck. I really liked this part of the day, it was interesting and fascinating to be allowed to do this.
Having been out for almost 5 hours, we crossed the river and headed back to Shangqing on the bus. That evening, we wandered the old fashioned streets of Shangqing, and we both bought a cooli hat (being proper tourists and all, we couldn't leave without one!). That night we had dinner from some street vendors and then just relaxed in our room. As the next day was our return to Yihuang.
(Note on Yihuang: It gets dark incredibly early here. The sun starts to set around 5pm, and by 6.30pm it is completely black outside. As schools are open till 9.30pm, so are the shops etc, but after 10.30pm everything is closed and after 11pm there is not a person outside. It's odd, but rather peaceful. I have found myself sat at the window between midnight and 1am, just looking out and enjoying the quiet and the peace of this area).
Overall, Lucie and I both had a really good week, but were looking forward to returning to Yihuang and our own beds. We can't wait for our next holidays, which are in January and February (the Spring Holiday for Chinese New Year) as we are planning on meeting up with the volunteers from the north of China. Until then, teaching it is!
We have been back at work for 2 days, and this afternoon I was informed I had the rest of the week off due to Senior 1 having exams, which meant a 5 day weekend! Lucie has Thursday and Friday off because of Senior 2 exams. We are planning on using this weekend to visit the pagoda tower on the hill outside of Yihuang, explore some more of Yihuang itself, and plan as many lessons as possible, leaving us with our future weekends free.
Got to go find something to eat now :P
Until next time,
Zàijiàn x
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