Pua Goes To Xi Tang

Last weekend, excitement loomed over the interns from my program. It was the first organized field trip that I’ve been on since I arrived in Shanghai. We got to visit a water town called Xi Tang. To get there, we traveled south to an adjacent province called Zhejiang. The trip was 1.5 hours by bus. 10 interns and 4 program staff occupied the back half of the tour bus. I don’t know when the last time was that I went on a field trip! But in case you were wondering…field trips haven’t changed. We were noisy and rowdy on the way there, taking lots of silly pictures and eating snacks and standing up in the bus and singing the “oldies” of our generation. And after a long, exciting day, we slept the whole way home.

(Interns from Next Step Connections & some NSC staff)

But let’s back up, shall we? Our journey to Xi Tang took a little longer than we expected. We drove for about 45 minutes, then stopped at a museum. (The woman guiding the tour explained everything to us…but she spoke in Chinese, so I still don’t know why we stopped there…) Upon entering the museum, we filed into a small movie theater where we watched a 10-minute long documentary about some famous guy. Yup, everything still in Chinese. Then we were sent to a museum about some guy…we figured out he was a famous film producer…but beyond that I have very little information about this place and that guy. I don’t even remember his name. (I know this comes across as ignorant, I won’t argue that. But it was really bizarre and I decided not to give into my confusion and just go with it. I’d at least tell you his name, but I can’t read it…I’m useless.)

(roomie love!)

After our random museum visits, we had a delicious Chinese-style lunch. We all sat at a big round table and enjoyed meeting new people and trying different food. We talked and shared stories and it felt like we were all really close friends, even though that was the first day we had all hung out together. I guess when you’re thrown in a situation like this where you live in a new place, in a city where no one speaks English, you latch onto the people who make you feel comfortable. I must say, it was nice to speak English freely and know that you’ll be totally understood.

After lunch, we FINALLY made it to Xi Tang. We entered the complex and were herded over to small boats, similar to the gondolas used to navigate through the canals in Venice. They provided dashing bright orange life vests for each passenger. (I have a special place in my heart for bright orange life vests…but if any SASers are reading this…we were not fortunate enough to do a lifeboat drill…sad.)

The trip down the river was so peaceful. Xi Tang was the complete opposite of Shanghai. It felt fresh and natural. The air was so clean, I felt like I was actually breathing fresh air for the first time since I arrived in Shanghai. There were no cars, only boats, bikes and mopeds. Life seemed very relaxed in Xi Tang. People smiled at us as we sailed past. Some people were having lunch, others were washing their clothes in the river, children were playing with their dogs. I could have stayed on this boat forever!

(fishing ducks...the guys in the boat release the ducks into the water, the ducks get fish and bring them back to the boat. so awesome!)

Alas, we reached the end of the river. We got out of the boat and were throw into a completely different environment. On land was a maze of crowded markets and small stores that lined both sides of the river. These stores had everything you could imagine. Some sold clothes, others had food, deserts, snacks, drinks, souveniers, random weird trinkets, jewelry, you name it…you could buy it at Xi Tang. Part of me wanted to take my time and check out some of these places, but the other part of me was overwhelmed by the massive crowds and wanted to get outta there. We somehow kept most of the group together as we walked through the markets and slowly made our way back to the bus. Along the way, we saw people playing music and singing and dancing. We also got to smell the “stinky tofu” (that’s the literal translation) which smells so gross…and they were making it everywhere! Yum.

(I got my hair stuck on my candied dates :( I ate them anyway...)

(My roommate, Juljia. She's from Lithuania!)

(dead ducks need love too!)

(oh, hey there...)

(I spy white people...)

(rice dumpling thingies. DELICIOUS!)

(chickens!)

(musicians)

We made it back to the bus and everyone knocked out on the way back to Shanghai. I slept like a baby until I woke up and had to pee worse than I ever have before! I was suddenly very aware of the crawling afternoon traffic we were stuck in. It was a close call…but I made it home :)

That night, our program also planned for everyone to go out together. We all met at a Mexican restaurant/bar and had our names put on the VIP list at one of Shanghai’s fanciest night clubs. I almost bailed, but a t the last minute, I got dressed and went to the Mexican place to meet up with everyone. Sadly, I pulled a Pua (again…) and came home about an hour later. I heard the club was really cool and there were sharks in these big aquariums…but I think I enjoyed my sleep more than I would have enjoyed the sharks. :)

Sunday I had a Chinese lesson in the morning and did a little exploring. I got some deliciously fresh fruits & veggies from little markets and got a little lost in a really cute town. Otherwise, I didn’t do a whole lot. The weekends go by so quickly, I can’t believe it’s already Tuesday. It’s back to the grind.

Until next time…aloha, a hui hou!