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Ever since we arrived in Jiujiang, people have been asking if we've visited Lushan yet and recommending that we do because, whilst Jiujiang itself is pretty insignificant in the scheme of things, Lushan, which is only about an hour away, is known throughout most of China. It has historically been a summer resort for China's rich and powerful and also played host to lots of famous poets, writers and philosophers and featured in several legends. We've been meaning to visit it for absolutely ages but our plans have always fallen through. This weekend, though, we finally made it.
Nicole's parents, who were visiting for a few days, had arranged the whole outing with a guide and driver so on Saturday morning we strolled straight out of the house and into a waiting car, and we were off. We'd been warned that snow was forecast, so had duly layered up as much as physically possible (I had a thermal vest, a vest, a long-sleeved top, a fleece, and my coat. Layer-ception.), which looked phenomenally unnecessary when compared with our guide Tracy, who was wearing heeled boots, pink skinny jeans and a trendy coat. Lucky we had though, because when we finally got out of the car after over an hour twisting our way up the mountain, it was absolutely bloody freezing. Everywhere was hidden with a skin of snow, all of the trees were weighted down with crusts of frost and it was still snowing. We trudged off down the road to mosey around one of the many garden/park areas on Lushan, which had been suitably Narnia-fied by the snow and was very pretty. Top highlight for me (although Tracy seemed to enjoy it too) was a statue with a big snot icicle hanging from his nose. After stopping to have our photos taken with a group of tourists by the gate of the park, we retreated back up the road to the car to be ferried to our next destination.
At this point I was starting to suspect that our trip was not going to be the hike I'd expected. And it wasn't. We strolled about another snowy park, this one in the centre of Guling town (apparently named after the English word "cool", not sure if this is true or not?) then went for tours around several of the summer villas that have been used by famous past leaders of China. Most of these were recent, Communist-era politicians and Tracy told us very genuinely about how wonderful and noble some of them had been - particularly Zhou Enlai, whom she described as her idol. Mao had also once visited these villas, so naturally they had to be plastered in photos of him at nearby scenic spots and information boards about him. On being shown a bathroom in one villa we were even asked to guess which of the three toilets Mao had used. It was a little bit like a weird concept-art take on Goldilocks and the Three Bears, because there were three toilets all in a line: a little one that I'm pretty sure was actually a bidet, a massive squatty potty and then a big green Western-style toilet. (Mao's was the squatty potty, for those of you who are interested, because that was the sort Chinese peasants usually used. The bidet was for the lady of the house, the third for her husband.) We looked around several villas and the town museum, where there was plenty of quality Chinglish to be enjoyed, but the the snow was falling more heavily now and the driver was getting visibly more worried about the snow. We were all quite cold too (I could barely concentrate I was so busy jumping about trying to stamp some feeling back into my feet) and I think ready to head back - just in time too, because the falling snow continued to thicken on our way back down the mountain and we found out that, had we left any later, the roads would have been too dangerous and we would've been forced to spend the night in Guling.
It's only since we've returned from Lushan that we've realised quite how lucky we were to see it in snow. Tracy told us that she'd never seen so much snow, ever, as she had that day and plenty more people have told us they've never heard of the snow being that heavy before. An American-Chinese man we met also told us that, in the 20 years he's lived in Jiujiang, he's never once been able to see snow on Lushan, so I'm feeling quite smug about it now!
Ella xxx
PS. Nicole's parents also brought us lots of presents from England, including home-made meringues from Granny and two packets of crisps and a copy of the Guardian from my parents - thankyou again! Nicole's parents were (understandably) a little confused, but I loved them.
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Jim Sounds super - but oh-so cold. I think I would have guessed which loo Mao would have been known for using - but I think this using the loos of the peasant stuff is propaganda. He went for the bourgeois bog methinks.
Stephanie (Nicole's mum) It was a wonderful and memorable way to celebrate my 50th birthday, followed by a lovely dinner in Jiujiang - thanks to Nicole and Ella xx