Excursion Fun!

We’ve been out enjoying the fairly cool weather the past two days. This is a relative term, of course. By cool I mean upper 80s with low humidity. I’ll be freezing when I get home! Anyway, yesterday we went to the northeast of town to Huaqing Hot Springs. These were former imperials baths that served as a retreat for the imperial court. I can tell why they would choose this spot. There’s a beautiful mountain and the scenery is so tranquil. That being said, it wasn’t the most exciting visit in the world. Our Chinese guide was a little hard to understand and really didn’t go into any depth. We were basically led from one hole to another, “this is where water would have been.” The one interesting tidbit that I learned was that the imperial staff also bathed there. The cooks could not touch their feet since they prepared the emperor’s food, so they had to develop a series of holes in the bottom of the

bath in which pumice stone was placed for them to scrub their feet. Two thoughts came to mind: 1) it’s always a good rule of thumb not to touch your feet and then cook, even if you’re not serving the emperor, and 2) what I wouldn’t give for that type of foot bath right then and there! The visit wasn’t a total wash (get it, bath, wash…work with me people) as this served also Chiang Kai-Shek’s headquarters. So we got to see Chiang’s office, bedroom, bathroom, etc. The bullet holes where the communists fired at him are even preserved.

Today my roommate, George had an interesting cultural experience. He got to visit a Chinese doctor. Like many of us, he developed a nagging cough. I had the same thing last week, losing my voice. Most of us brought antibiotics with us. I took mine and felt a difference within hours. George unfortunately didn’t have any, so he got worse. The “internalist” (a doctor who deals with what goes on inside) wasn’t in the office, so the “externalist” had to see him. Basically he was told, “well, this isn’t my area of expertise, but I think you have a sinus infection. Here’s an antibiotic.” The cost of the doctor’s visit and the medicine was 5.8 Yuan.

Today’s excursion made us feel like typical tourists, and it was great! We visited the Bell Tower, which is the heart of the city. Traditionally, all Chinese cities had a drum tower to wake the citizens up in the morning and a bell tower to tell people when curfew was going into effect in the evening. So we walked up into the bell tower and watched the traffic swirling around the base. The traffic here is just mind-boggling. After a half hour there, we went to the city wall. While the city has been walled since ancient times, this wall dates from the Ming Dynasty, being built in the 1300s and had a major restoration in the late 1700s. It’s the only city wall in the world where you can ride a bike all the way around it. And that’s what we did! It was a great way to see the city. It was hot, but not unbearable. Of course, the strategically placed ice cream stands helped with that. I made it about 1/3 of the way around the 14 kilometer wall, but turned around. I know, I know. I should have toughed it out, but these bikes were not made for anyone over 5 foot 6! My legs were getting worn out. I still had an amazing time though and would do it again in a heartbeat.