I eat fish, so fish ate me. Seems fair.

I was excited when I woke up because I remembered that today was the day where Beth and Jitka were coming to Yongkang! First, they came to my lovely school. It was strange to see my school without having to duck behind things frequently as children come flying out from every corner! It was a bit of a ghost town on a Saturday. 

Melinda (who works with Beth), Jitka, Betty, my principal, me, Beth, Josh and Debbie (Jitka's host teacher).

Yongkang is also known as Hardware City, the hardware capital of China. So they drove us through the new exposition center (it looks like the Indy airport, but wayyyy bigger), and then we went to the old center.

I didn't know fans fell under the umbrella topic of hardware, but they were all over the place.

Next, we headed to Blue Mountain Cafe for lunch. They had a liiiiiiittle typo on the sign at the top and the bottom cracked me up. Sure, why not?

A student from my school who went on the trip to Logansport in May stopped by. When she walked in the room, she yelled "MRS. LANG!" which made my heart happy. 

Well, every Chinese meal has to have that token "WHAAAAAT?!" moment, right? Here it is. Pig's feet. But not like I've seen in America, instead it's in a stew. And yes, I ate it. Probably won't be having it again.

They were famous for their coffee drinks, so I got a frappuccino and it looked delicious!

Except, to my dismay, when I tried to drink it, that pretty drink tried to stab me repeatedly in the eye. No such thing as easy food in China! You gotta work for it if you want to eat it.

Guodong Village was next on our to-do list. This is the original stone sidewalk that leads into the village. It's 600 years old. If I look that good when I'm 600 while simultaneously massaging people's feet, I will be the most popular woman on earth.

Ahhh, my old friend, the coy fish.... We meet again. Thank you for not mobbing me this time.

Gorgeous.

"Please Don't Play With Water."

Then we went into an ancient grainery, and I practiced my grain churning moves. The guide said it really works your core muscles. I considered churning for a few more hours... The grainery not only provided the town's grains for food purposes, it also produced hydra power for the village.

Me and the ancient bridge. The village is in the middle of the mountains in rural China, and had double walls all around it for extra protection from invaders. This bridge looks out, but it had to be rebuilt several times. This village focused on education, such as a special temple for scholars who are headed to take their important exams. 

Charming. Also possibly where a hobbit lives. 

Then, we headed up the mountain for some hiking. I can't read Chinese, but I know the one on the right means "mountain" because I'm just that awesome.

Hiking on slippery rocks right after rain. Whole new meaning of adventure!

I loved these two trees. The one on the right is dying, and the one on the left now holds the dying tree up. These trees are a reminder of the Chinese adage: close neighbors are sometimes better than distant relatives. 

The view about halfway up.

Then, we came back down the mountain and I turned a corner and BAM. Hello there, hen. Sorry I was in your way! Diva.

Next we saw a gorgeous 600-year-old building which has been owned and lived in by a family for over 11 generations. I loved all the details of the house such as the intricate knockers.

This is one of the small panels on the giant wooden doors inside the courtyard of the home. During the cultural revolution, families who had a lot of money were targeted, so they sold many of the rooms of the house so it appeared their family wasn't so wealthy.

The intricate brickwork outside the building and inside the building was gorgeous. They laid it using strange ingredients, one of which was eggs, if I remember correctly. 

Outside the door of the home, two phoenixes, a male and female to symbolize, of course, the longevity of the family's success. It also symbolizes the freedom of choosing a husband, because the family was very progressive and believed in partners choosing who they wished to marry. 

Last in the town, we went to the Clan Temple of the He Family. Outside you can see many high poles which all belonged to different people. The higher the pole, the more successful the person.

The doors to the temple were stunning. Women always enter through one side and men enter from the other. They only open these doors on special occasions such as town meetings with the elders. 

The symbol of the temple which is really intricate. Let me point out some things as I explain it...

On the upper right (which I highlighted in yellow) is a man crossing his fingers and thinking to symbolize the wisdom of the elders. On the opposite side on the right is a monkey (highlighted in green) which symbolizes youth and young people's ideas and opinions. They are one because of the struggle to find a balance. 

The building also served as a village center and place for performances. The building was built in 1609, which is almost exactly when the Globe theater was built in Europe. Fantastic history!

Selfie with the Chinese Globe.

In the back half of the building is a courtyard with this tree. According to the Chinese, this is a male tree, so for that reason only males could go in the back rooms. How convenient. Drat, those tricky men!

These are tools and clothing for farming. The black coat is essentially a raincoat, but it reminded me of this:

Every time I looked at it, I kept seeing the villains in Mulan.

This is my attempt at an artistic view (I have probably epically failed you, Mike). There were twelve of these huge stakes. On the right were stakes which represented the warriors, and on the other side were stakes that represented the scholars. Again, this village really valued education. 

Also in the back... Coffins. Ready to go. Just in case... Bet they throw a slammin' Halloween party.

Then, we got caught in the temple in, as far as we knew, a monsoon. So I hammed it up on stage with the water running around me. It was one of two surreal moments that day, where I felt "How did I get to be here, doing this?" I was in this place of ancient history, where countless shows have been acted over time in a huge rainstorm. I froze that moment in time in my mind. *Click* Perfect.

When the rainstorm ended, we went to dinner. Strange food of the meal: Cucumber juice gelatin. Uhm, yum? Tasted like, well, cucumbers and jello. I've had better combos...

I LOVE boiled cabbage with spicy juice. Seriously so good!

In the restaurant. 

Our final destination for the evening was the famous Wuyi spas. It was a lot more like a water park plus a spa part. 

Jitka, Debbie, and I got adventurous and did this. It was SO much better than I expected. We followed Jitka's lead and submerged ourselves into the water. THANK GOODNESS it was dark and I couldn't see the little guys and only felt them nibbling, nibbling, nibbling all the dead skin away. I mean, I've eaten more seafood in China than two lifetimes before. So if I ate fish, it's only fair they eat me, right?

 

Uhm, we didn't see men like this really. But I didn't bring my camera into the spa for fear of it getting wet. We went into spas which had fish and also into spas of different temperatures that had flowers which "caused weight loss" (lilacs) or "calmed the mind" (chrysanthemums). We also wandered around in the rain with our towels, virtually in the dark, going from place to place and relaxed in a warm spa with the cool rain on our faces. 

And I thought as rain fell on me, I relaxed in the spa, and had wonderful conversation with a friend:
how blessed am I?