Nihao! What a day! I just woke up from a VERY late nap because I was so spent :) Today has been, by far, my favorite day since we've been here. Why? Well as several of the students put it, "Wow! You're a science teacher, so you must love this stuff!" I'm a bit of a nerd, so I did, but I don't see how anyone could NOT marvel at what we saw this morning.
All the students met at Huipu this morning at 8... or tried to meet at 8. We got a little bit of a late start this morning. We weren't on the road until about 8:30 and it was a long bus ride. Fortunately, it rained all last night and was still raining this morning, so it was much cooler. We split up in the school bus and a 12 passenger van. Between the aggressive driving, bumpy roads, and rickety jump seat, I was thankful when the ride was finally over :)
We went to Changyu Cave, one of the top five things to do in Taizhou, according to China Tour Online (Linhai Old City is also on there). Personally, I'm wondering what else we will see in China, because I think this could be in the top five for the country. I wish I had more literature about it, because I cannot find a lot about it online. But this location is a national park in China (which I never knew existed, but apparently there are a lot of them- my bad). We hiked through beautiful gardens with sculptures and script carved into rocks. After just 10 minutes, we reached our first stop- the panda building.
The panda building is kind of like an exhibit at the Cle Met Zoo. It is at the top of a hill like the Primates building, but is much smaller. And, like Cle Met Zoo, there is always a little construction :) They said 3 pandas would be out and we saw 2 today. I have never had the opportunity to see the pandas in the U.S. (at least that I can remember- sorry if we saw them in D.C. mom & dad), so this was my first time seeing them in person. It was unreal. I don't know if anyone, our Chinese friends included, realized how RARE it is to see giant pandas. They are such a fragile species- it is believed there are only 2000 left in the wild due to China's rapid growth & lack of conservation efforts. 200 are in captivity in China and less than 30 are in other countries. I will get off of my environmental soapbox now and say that they are so adorable! They do not even look like other bears, really. There is just something about them that makes them so different. One of them woke up while we were there, walked out, then plopped down sitting up to eat bamboo. I can't put my finger on it, but something about it just made it incredible. I could have stayed for a long time.
We moved on with our hike, up lots of stairs (again) to several scenic points, criss-crossing up and down a valley. I don't know where we stopped next, but wow- the view was incredible. In the hillside, you could see several pagodas, a Buddist temple, a large Buddist monument carved out of the hillside, and yin-yang painted on the hillside. It was unbelievable. It's like if someone were to take Mount Rushmore & and make the faces statues, then dub it a holy place :) After you turned from the view, there was a temple in the large cave behind us... and things only got better.
We walked in on a stone walkway with water on all sides. There were MASSIVE koi fish swimming all around us- hundreds, perhaps thousands, of them. We threw coins into the water, trying to land them on a rock for good luck. This cavern was unreal, with light pouring in from all directions. As we walked further, there was a giant Buddha carved in the middle of another cavern. Everything got better and better. In one of the grottos, they even had a stage set up for music. We walked around that and continued up stairs winding around the cavern as far as they would let us go. The geology of the area was simply fascinating and I took so many pictures at a variety of angles. I can't wait to share them with you.
The bus & van picked us up and we drove to Luqiao for a long time. I thought Linhai was intense- the city here was a nightmare. Traffic was so bad, shops were spilling into the streets, and children were urinating in the streets. It was a very bizarre scene. Luqiao is just a small district, the shopping district, of Taizhou. Linhai has a population of 1.09 million; Taizhou has 1.5 million.
We went to a formal lunch at the International Hotel. I think this may have been the first formal meal for some of the students. It was very good- not as scary as some of the other meals I've had here. However, some of the kids were weirded out by the chicken feet and chicken and fish heads. No duck tongue, thank goodness. It was a very late lunch, so we were not done until 2:30.
We drove further into the city until we reached the marketplace. We passed store after store after store. Sam observed 2 Nike and 2 Adidas stores within a block of one another- they really like sportswear here. We had free time at the marketplace until about 4:30. This place was insane. It was like emptying all of the merchandise out of Beachwood Place stores into the walkways, throwing trash all over the walkways, speeding motorbikes through them, add a couple thousand people, and decreasing the value of that merchandise to about 5 yuan, or 73 cents. Whoa. I was a bit overwhelmed by the merchants sleeping in their stands, children running around barefoot, and trash thrown around. However, the students managed to get great deals on sunglasses, jewelry, bags, belts, and other items thanks to their bartering Chinese counterparts. We left for the long drive back and returned around 6. Mr. Kline & I were so tired that we decided to forgo dinner with the other teachers. I can't be force fed any more for today!
Today was eye-opening. China has such natural wonders & sacred places that very few people know about. I didn't get to see everything I wanted to at Changyu, so I will have to go back some day :) Also, I think everyone got a better picture of the "real" China at Luqiao markets today. I cannot compare it to anything I've seen in the US, Europe, and Latin America. I have never seen poverty quite like this and cannot believe families sustain themselves on these stands- that is their livelihood. I appreciate what we have and that we are staying in the safe and relatively clean city of Linhai. It just makes me think a lot about the political and social implications of China's rapid growth and what may ultimately result.
I apologize for getting so in depth this evening. We saw two extremes today, interesting in different ways. Everyone had a great time today and I am sure they will sleep very well tonight.
Another long day tomorrow- touring in Youxi (grass skating is involved and no one has a clue as to what that involves) and rafting. Should be another interesting day!
Hope your day goes well in Ohio! Goodnight!
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