ChinaTeacher

WEATHER – It’s been sizzling HOT this summer in Hangzhou.  Temperatures soared to the high 30’s, remaining at 36-38 degrees for the past two weeks.  Combine this with high humidity and you will understand why I shower several times each day.  The weather is badly affecting my summer plans too. 

I have three part-time teaching jobs this summer as I decided to stay in Hangzhou rather than travel.  Each day, I usually have great plans for after I finish teaching class, but, because of the heat I usually pack it in and head straight home to my air-conditioned apartment. 

It’s just too hot – I’m too tired to do anything more than that!  And I’m not the only one who feels this way.  The air-conditioned shops and restaurants are all doing a ‘booming’ business, for obvious reasons.  And, in the evenings, department stores and supermarkets are packed with people seeking places to ‘cool off’, to save money on electricity (extremely expensive in China).

EXAMS – Final exams at my university are finished now, and with the departure of the last busload of students, my university and surrounding streets are quite deserted.  It’s rather depressing, like living in a ghost-town.  Luckily for me, however, several of my students are staying on-campus because they have secured summer jobs to get work experience on their resumes.  We often meet for dinner or just sit around my apartment having a good chat (actually, I’m convinced they only come because I have air-conditioning, and they don’t!).

ANCIENT TOWN – Development in Hangzhou is progressing at such a rapid pace that I sometimes feel the need to get out of the city and experience ‘old China’.  Lucky for me, many small towns can still be found just an hour or two away from Hangzhou.  So, last week a friend and I hopped on a bus for the one-hour ride to Wuzhen.                  

The ancient river-town of WUZHEN displays its two-thousand-year history in its ancient stone bridges, stone pathways and ancient waterside homes decorated with exquisitely-carved wooden and stone doors and windows.  Thankfully, Wuzhen’s old buildings, made of stone, wood and tiles, have been preserved rather than restored, and lovingly maintained.

The people in Wuzhen still live a simple life. Daily life goes on as it has for the last thousand or so years.  Coppersmiths, wood-carvers and silk-spinners continue to work at their age-old crafts.  Most have even retained the tradition of buying fruits and vegetables from trade boats through the windows of their canal-side houses.  Bicycle rickshaw drivers exchange stories as they wait for passengers. People cart water, cook meals, and tend their postage-stamp size gardens.

The townsfolk of Wuzhen gather in the town square around mid-day, talking, smoking or playing mah-jongg. They look laidback and quite contented.  Most of all, they seem to enjoy observing the passing parade of tourists, which provides a constant source of amusement. I wondered myself whether it was the town or the strange foreign visitors like me that are often their main attraction.  Western visitors are still a rarity here.  I was very glad to learn that Wuzhen has been included by UNESCO in the reserve list of world cultural heritages.  It’s nice to know that ‘old China’ will not disappear in the wake of all this development here in China!

NEW FRIEND – As a foreigner in China, I find it very easy to make new friends each and every day.  It’s strange – the Chinese rarely start conversations with people they don’t know, but they will do almost anything to have a ‘foreign friend’ to show off to others! 

So, a few weeks ago, I made a new Chinese friend while standing in line at my local supermarket.  He is a businessman who recently moved to Hangzhou from Shanghai.  We discussed the pros and cons of Hangzhou – he wholeheartedly prefers Shanghai, so needless to say we almost had a battle on our hands!  But, alas, we departed as friends, each other’s business card in hand. 

A week later I was invited to join him and his wife for lunch.  (I am always on the lookout for new eating spots, so this was an outing I anxiously looked forward to)!.  Several items were not to my liking – fish, for instance, I really don’t like, and this is famously popular in China.  But, my new friend also told me he had a special ‘dish’ for me to try – FROG!  I really wish he hadn’t told me this BEFORE I tried it. But, hey, I’m a good sport, right?!  The frog arrived, served with vegetables and broth in an earthenware casserole set atop a flame.  You know what, it tasted really good, like chewy chicken I guess.  I had several servings and would try it again. 

I just hate to think of those poor frogs being killed for my meal.  It reminded me of the Night Food Market in Beijing – rows upon rows of food stalls, all featuring skewers of strange food items, among them scorpion and tiny ‘skinned’ frogs, which would be BBQ’d to the customer’s specifications.

ROMAN BATHS – I had quite the experience the other day.  I was invited to a Health Spa unlike anything I have ever seen before.  It is located inside an old 4-star hotel, decorated in a very ornate manner, including the architecture.  Upon our arrival at the front desk, we were given sandals to wear (no outdoor shoes in the spa, if you please).  Once in the spa, plastic ID bracelets were placed on our wrists – these are also used to open the lockers where our clothing, handbags and personal effects are stored.  Once ‘declothed’, we approached the bathing areas – I assure you, this amazing space reminded me of what the ancient roman baths must have looked like in the old times – exquisitely tiled floors, walls and ceilings, sculptures, marble pillars, individual hot tubs, bath tubs, see-through shower stalls everywhere.  And people walking around, nude.  Oh by the way, this was the WOMEN’s side of the spa – there is a MEN’s area too, quite separate!  

I took a shower, after selecting my choice of soaps, shampoos, body gels, from the extensive array available on the shower cart, then it was off to one of the saunas where the attendant applied water to the hot stones to generate additional steam.  After a cup of tea, and another shower, we headed to one of the ‘treatment’ rooms.  We had both decided on a body sloughing (exfoliation) treatment to remove our bodies’ dead skin and then a quick massage to enhance our blood circulation.  Now, these attendants were garbed in white shorts and black bras – can you picture this?  The uniforms made me laugh, I have to admit.  In the MEN’s room, apparently they have unlimited services of all kinds! (use your imagination!).  An hour later, with tingling shiny skin, soft as baby’s bottom, we took another shower, headed for a steam bath, another sauna and then a last shower.  We were given huge fluffy towels to dry off before being bundled into ‘leisure clothes’ to wear while resting in the spa’s ‘leisure room’ located upstairs. 

The Leisure Room consists of rows upon rows of lazy-boy style chairs, each with its own private TV and headset featuring over 100 channels (none in English – I checked very one).  Most people usually fall asleep, or order something to eat or drink.  Some order additional services, such as foot massage or pedicure/manicure.  We rested for about an hour and then returned to the spa to get dressed and head outside.  I felt very strange when we left the hotel.  I had truly lost all concept of time – no windows in the spa. We had stayed about 3 hours total – I felt so ‘clean’ and so amazingly relaxed – all that for just RMB 100 (approx. $15)!!  What a fantastic way to pamper yourself – I could never afford such services back in Canada!  I can’t wait to go again, and what’s more, in China I can afford it!