Stir it up

Sorry it’s been awhile since my last update, but as usual, things have been hectic and a lot has happened since I last wrote on here.  In this blog I’ll be rambling about an awful trip to a town named Ankang, my first experience of a Chinese wedding and a Mexican festival named Cinco de Mayo.  It’s also close to midnight and I’m due to leave for Shanghai tomorrow morning (again), so forgive me if this blog is short and sweet!

High Spirits

            Last week a friend and fellow expat here in Xi’an organised a trip to a town named Ankang.  Ankang is approximately three hours away and we’d chosen to hire a mini bus for the journey.  The plan involved renting a boat and travelling from island to island within a large valley near the town, which would have been great, if it wasn’t for the weather.  Up until now it’s rained seldom here, so the fact it rained on this particular day was nothing short of unlucky.  Upon leaving Xi’an the sky was starting to cloud over and as we drew closer to Ankang the weather seemed to be escalating towards a glorious disappointment.  However, despite the ominous weather, our spirits were still high.  

The drive to Ankang was picturesque.  Mountains surround and engulf you for miles, which is disrupted slightly by some lonely, run-down and supposedly empty looking houses.  I’d like to hope they’re empty, due to a distinct lack of windows and no obvious signs of life within close proximity (knowing China this is probably a false hope).  As well as driving past mountains, the drive also involves going through the mountains, sometimes for at least 15 minutes at a time.  God knows how long it took China to tunnel through mountains of that scale.  Mind you, if the tower block outside my apartment is anything to go by, then it couldn’t have been that long, at least not by Western standards.  You know you’ve got a committed work force when they literally don’t stop working.

We arrived in Ankang and as predicted the heavens opened.  It didn’t rain; it poured.  Suddenly the idea of jumping on a boat didn’t seem so attractive anymore.  By this point it was about 1 p.m. and so we decided to order some food and a crate of beer for the boat trip.  We ordered the food, which came about an hour later.  The food itself looked questionable, but as I’ve said before, I’ve given up asking questions and now I just consume regardless.  When in Rome… The food was OK at best, and we were given a bowl of fish soup, which none of us remember ordering.  I say fish soup, but I literally mean a fish plopped in the middle of a bowl of water with tofu and a few other random ingredients.  Needless to say, it wasn’t the most popular dish.

It turns out that the fish was soon to be our downfall, as the restaurant owners decided to take us for a ride and charge us 150 kuai for a fish we didn’t even order.  Reluctantly, we paid for the pitiful fish and went on our way, with one of the group acquiring an ashtray as a memento for the trouble.  The dock wasn’t far from the restaurant, but it involved going through a gate - a gate that was charging everyone in the minibus 10 kuai per head to pass through.  We parked the mini bus and as we were departing we were then informed of another 20 kuai charge parking fee.  Bear in mind our parking space was practically adjacent to the gate we’d just come through - by this point I was beginning to sense a pattern.

After our numerous over-priced incidents we finally purchased a rental boat.  I can’t actually remember the price, because by this point I was just handing out money; I think we’d all given to the fact that this day was going to cost more than we originally thought.  We were shown to the boat, which almost seemed to appear, as if it had been hiding behind all the other boats on display.  The boat itself was nothing spectacular, but it was of a very similar style and standard to the other boats in the dock.  So we stepped on, ready to set off and explore the various islands, despite the dreadful weather.  The boat departed and the group continued to drink, determined to make a good thing out of a bad situation.

Luckily, the boat had a roof.  However, on this particular day, the rain did not want to let up; it was practically coming in sideways.  We huddled round, played cards and took in the mist-covered mountains as we drank.  For a moment, things were picking up.  Then we arrived at the first island, which had another charge to explore it, so we swiftly left.  Climbing the stairs up to the reception was farcical; a pipe was streaming water onto the stairs and creating a staircase waterfall, with a group of strange Western foreigners attempting to ascend it.  I say strange, because many of the locals like to stare at Westerners at the best of the times.  On this particular occasion, not only had the Westerners seemingly chosen an odd day for a boat trip, but they’d also decided to do it in shorts, flip-flops and t-shirts, apparently unaware of the weather (the real reason for shorts and flip-flops was because some of the group didn’t want their other clothes to get wet).

Anyway, suffice to say that our boat trip was somewhat of a disaster, but still, it’s one of those experiences you can look back and laugh at.  Soul-destroying yet character building?  On the bright side, the teachers from our school at Aston 3 were invited to Helena’s wedding during the same week.  Helena is a Chinese, English teacher, or in Aston terms, a CT (Chinese teacher).  Conversely, Western or foreign, English teachers are known as FTs (foreign teachers).  Her wedding was definitely an experience like no other.  On entry to a Chinese wedding you sign a register and hand over a red envelope filled with money (how much you give is completely up to you).  The important thing with formal situations such as these is to remember to hand over such gifts with two hands, as a sign of respect.  Not doing so could cause offence.

Brian, Andy, his girlfriend (Jona) and I arrived together.  The décor of the room was mainly golden and all the tables were laid out with three bottles, which were orange juice, Coca-Cola and báijiǔ, or Chinese white wine.  I may have mentioned báijiǔ before, but if I haven’t, well, it’s not wine at all.  Báijiǔ is an extremely potent alcohol, usually 50% and may be sipped or downed, depending on whom you’re drinking it with.  The wedding was due to start at midday and Chinese weddings or occasions such as this generally only last a few hours.  Therefore, I wasn’t planning on drinking, but when you’re surrounded by Chinese people encouraging you to drink with them and thanking you for coming to the wedding, it’d be rude not to.  I had two shots of the stuff and that was enough; báijiǔ isn’t the nicest tasting drink and I don’t know why someone would want to savour that taste by sipping it.  Put it down to cultural differences and tastes I guess.

Chicken feet anyone?

From an outside perspective – a Western perspective – the wedding appeared to be somewhere between tradition and a sports game.  There was an abundance of cultural differences, such as lighting fireworks prior to the ceremony to scare off evil spirits, having the bride wait in a white gazebo for the husband to collect her and a bizarre mix of both Eastern and Western music.  One pleasant thing to see was the bride and groom lifting their hands high and holding them for a few seconds in front of the crowd, representing their lives being forever bound (or at least I’m assuming that’s the reason).  One of the stranger things was the commentator, who narrated the entire proceedings.  Like I said, at times the wedding seemed like a sports game, because that was often the style of narration adopted by the speaker.  The wedding was definitely different, but it was another first here in China; it was a beautiful occasion that I was honoured to be a part of.

From left to right: Brian, the bride, the groom, myself and the bride's maid.

Another Chinese and Western first for me recently was Cinco De Mayo; a day of Mexican pride, celebrating Mexico’s unlikely victory over an invading French army.  Cinco De Mayo is largely celebrated in parts of America and Mexico.  The occasion was basically marked with a party and an abundance of fish fajitas.  I’d never had fish fajitas before, but once again, there’s a first time for everything.  It was good to see such a large group of people out on such a sunny day, as it’s not often everyone comes together.  I’m pretty sure the picture below sums it up better than I can.

One more thing: this month Xianese (Xi’an’s expat magazine) published an article of mine named Xi’an Shock.  I’ll be sure to get a photocopy or some form of it to upload on here as soon as possible.  Since its publication, I’ve also been contacted by another Xi’an blogger.  His blog is definitely worth a look if you’re remotely interested in Xi’an: http://www.notesfromxian.com/xian-web-links/