{"id":2424,"date":"2015-09-15T15:47:46","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T19:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.rollins.edu\/wpsites\/letters\/?p=2424"},"modified":"2020-02-05T13:30:31","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T18:30:31","slug":"stinky-tofu-and-white-snakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/2015\/09\/15\/stinky-tofu-and-white-snakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Stinky Tofu and White Snakes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Fields of rice paddies alongside a dirt road; elderly locals\u00a0cooking and selling\u00a0unique food on streets; the smell of tea plants during their peak season;\u00a0cloudy mountains hovering\u00a0in the landscape,\u00a0preserved forests and waterways; tiny boats paddling down a\u00a0canal\u00a0lined with\u00a0close-knit homes; traditional art being protected and displayed; public dancing and martial arts; the Beijing opera, folk stories\u00a0and pipa musicians; buildings topped with red\u00a0gabled roofs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Most likely\u00a0formed due to my\u00a0decent knowledge of\u00a0Chinese history, these are the\u00a0images that\u00a0immediately flip through\u00a0my mind when I\u00a0hear the word “China”. Idealized? Almost suredly. However, they embody\u00a0the China that I’m making sure\u00a0I experience within these four months. That being said, I was very excited\u00a0that Alliance took our Rollins group\u00a0to Shaoxing<\/u><\/a>\u00a0(\u7ecd\u5174)\u00a0and\u00a0Hangzhou<\/u><\/a>\u00a0(\u676d\u5dde) for three days!!\u00a0These cities are about three hours south of\u00a0Shanghai\u00a0by car and\u00a0are both known for their beauty and\u00a0cultural preservation. The drive was definitely worth it! However, I would suggest visiting\u00a0them\u00a0back-to-back because Shaoxing and Hangzhou both capitalize on different aspects of Chinese culture.<\/p>\n

From what I experienced, the historical district of Shaoxing highlights some unique\u00a0culture regarding literature, food and architecture. For example, Shaoxing is the hometown of Lu Xun<\/u><\/a>, a\u00a0very renowned, influential and controversial writer in 20th century Communist China. We visited his well-preserved family home where we saw glimpses of traditional middle-class lifestyle. It was interesting see what I’ve been studying in person!<\/p>\n

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Traditional Singer near Lu Xun Residence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, the stinky tofu<\/u><\/a>\u00a0(\u81ed\u8c46\u8150 ch\u00f2ud\u00f2ufu) was without a doubt the most surprising and…unrelenting aspect of our Shaoxing visit.<\/p>\n

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Stinky tofu\/traditional district of Shaoxing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I fear going into too much detail for fear of scarring whoever is reading this post, but the smell must be addressed; it’s in the name, after all. But that is a difficult task because there are no words to describe just<\/em> how rancid,\u00a0peculiar and just plain bad it smells, especially when it is cooking and wafting into the air.\u00a0In some ways,\u00a0it will deceive and tempt you to\u00a0smell it just so you can figure out the odor; only for you to set a personal speed-walking record to be outside of its 40 foot radius.\u00a0What’s more, they were ever-present in the traditional district; we would be strolling down the traditional walking streets, window-shopping and taking in the atmosphere when BAM!-<\/strong>you’ve entered one of many stinky tofu radii. We didn’t want to be rude and cover our noses\u00a0or express too much…discomfort on our faces\u00a0so when it repeatedly came in waves without warning we\u00a0ended up just chuckling\u00a0to hide our grimaces \ud83d\ude00\u00a0\u00a0Then, when we thought it was over, our tour guide\u00a0decided to order stinky tofu for our lunch table! I can proudly and gladly say that I have tasted stinky tofu, but it was an experience that I categorize as “one and done,” seeing as its taste was not that different than its odor. It was certainly a great way to\u00a0bond, though!<\/p>\n

Even more memorable than the stinky tofu was the 20 minute\u00a0black-awning boat<\/u><\/a>\u00a0(\u4e4c\u7bf7\u8239 w\u016bp\u00e9ngchu\u00e1ng)\u00a0ride down a very beautiful,<\/p>\n

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Shaoxing black-awning boat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

rustic house-lined canal (see cover photo). It makes me smile just thinking about it! The boat was powered by a kind local man who was\u00a0paddling with both his foot and his hands!\u00a0There was a\u00a0rotating lever by\u00a0one of his feet he would use to row\u00a0a large paddle and propel the boat. Halfway through he skillfully turned the boat around\u00a0in\u00a0a canal just three times the width of the boat. We applauded him for that (literally).\u00a0It was all very interesting to watch!\u00a0The homes\u00a0were very unique and interesting as well with steps leading into the water (see cover photo). The pictures can speak for themselves more than I ever could. I can tell it will be a highlight of my semester!<\/p>\n

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Tea Village with tea plants in Jiuxi Valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So that was my\u00a0Shaoxing visit. On the way to Hangzhou we hiked from a\u00a0tea village\u00a0through Jiuxi Valley (see photo above). The hike\u00a0consisted primarily of forest paths, streams,\u00a0huge fields\u00a0of tea plants, mountain views, and a few lakes. There were a noticeable amount of families and children hiking, many of whom\u00a0had fans or were playing with\u00a0large water guns! \uff08We almost bought one…but thought better of it\uff09\u00a0Even though it wasn’t peak tea season the air still smelled fresh, clean and like tea. It was certainly a nice break from Shanghai’s polluted air.<\/p>\n

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Impression West Lake show on the Legend of the White Snake<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now\u00a0in\u00a0Hangzhou with free time,\u00a0we decided to watch the Impression West Lake<\/u><\/a>\u00a0night show. The audience watches from the bank while\u00a0a music, dance and\u00a0light show is performed on the lake.\u00a0Like any traditional Chinese folk tale, there was no narration or dialogue throughout the performance.\u00a0It was difficult\u00a0but also\u00a0very\u00a0fun to try and follow along with the story. My general thought process during the show\u00a0(edited):<\/p>\n

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“White bird flying? So it’s a bird thought it was snake…..woman and\u00a0man fall in love. Got that part…temple just lit up so marriage?…I see an umbrella……woman leaves to heaven? Is she a snake? bird?\u00a0but she’s in pink. pink snake? She’s dead?… …man\/snake?\/crane died I’m sure of it. but wouldn’t that be the end?…umbrella’s back….WAIT he’s back I’m confused…..FISH?? Why are there fish?….umbrella’s back….I have no clue how\u00a0fishermen-swordsmen\u00a0relate to anything…. what?!\u00a0of course\u00a0she’s back….crying…..fighting…. umbrella….dramatic music…drum beats? footsteps? they’re sure hiking a long time…..a dragon?!\u00a0Oh is that the snake? But it’s not white. WAIT is it a snake or a crane?!…..did he just die (again)?…umbrella……they’re running away? True love…oh nope they’re dead now…Wait guess not…umbrella.. …heaven?…anyways, I’m sure it was a sad ending”.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At one point\u00a0we listened behind us while a mother explained the story to\u00a0her daughter, which gave us a few details. That’s\u00a0another good reason to learn Chinese! It ended up being the Legend of the White Snake<\/u><\/a>, which is one of the four top folktales\u00a0and happens to be based in Hangzhou. It was an extremely interesting show, though, and a great spectacle to watch. They were very creative with technology and usage of the lake. When we bought the tickets we didn’t know what type of show it was, but I’m really happy we got to see it!<\/p>\n

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West Lake Island, Hongzhou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We went back to the lake in the morning to walk around the beautiful island full of traditional architecture and culture. It was\u00a0very calm, clear and refreshing, which I really appreciated.<\/p>\n

All in all, it was an interesting, authentic\u00a0side trip and a pleasant break from the big city. We did a lot of walking but everything was so beautiful and…so…CHINA (my ideals of it)\u00a0that I did not mind one bit! I’m definately looking forward to our\u00a0upcoming trips!<\/p>\n

Chinese Word of the Week: \u559d\u8336\u00a0\u00a0 h\u0113 ch\u00e1\u00a0\u00a0 to drink tea<\/p>\n

\u6c11\u95f4\u6545\u4e8b\u00a0\u00a0 m\u00ednji\u00e3n g\u00f9shi\u00a0\u00a0 folktale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fields of rice paddies alongside a dirt road; elderly locals\u00a0cooking and selling\u00a0unique food on streets; the smell of tea plants during their peak season;\u00a0cloudy mountains hovering\u00a0in the landscape,\u00a0preserved forests and waterways; tiny boats paddling down a\u00a0canal\u00a0lined with\u00a0close-knit homes; traditional art being protected and displayed; public dancing and martial arts; the Beijing opera, folk stories\u00a0and pipa…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":2444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[113,123,161,296,354],"class_list":["post-2424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shanghai","tag-china","tag-culture","tag-folklore","tag-shanghai","tag-weekend"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17430,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2424\/revisions\/17430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}