Zunyi

Pictures to accompany this entry:
http://www.xoopit.com/s/2142bx0urqqiv7678tw5
Don't miss my ever witty captions at the bottom of each photo....

On Tuesday, one of our days off, a couple of our Chinese staff wanted
to take a day trip to Zunyi. Zunyi is a smaller city about 2 hours
away by bus, and it is where the other branch of our English school is
located. You may remember way back in September when the Zunyi staff
came to visit and we went to Huaxi Park, swimming in the river? Well,
it is the second biggest city in Guizhou after Guiyang (remember a
"small" city in China still has millions of people), and some Chinese
people know Zunyi and don't know Guiyang because Zunyi has a famous
Communist site- the meeting place where Mao Zedong was elected head of
the Communist party (um, I think that's what the meeting was- don't
quote me on that if I'm wrong). Anyways, it has historical
significance to Chinese people.

So Spring, Weiyi, Matt, Chris, Garry and I got on the bus on a cold
morning. Once we arrived, Weiyi's Aunt (who we were all told to call
Gugu, Chinese for Auntie) was our guide. When someone's Chinese
relative is hosting you in any form, you know they will insist on
paying for everything. Gugu took us to a restaurant since we were all
starving by the time we arrived. Really really good food. There was
lots of it too. Sweet and sour breaded fish, which was amazing. A hash
brown pie, pork and green peppers, green beans and pork, lamb soup and
soybeans, some kind of sweet rice cake. That definitely hit the spot.

Then we were off to see the famous Communist sites. The actual
building where the meeting took place was closed, which was kind of
lame. There were lots of buildings, a museum with photos, statues, and
"so and sos bedroom." Overall a bit boring. And not that old, since
this was in 1935. Next, we headed to see Zunyi Interlingua School.
Huang Min, our boss, was there, but none of the foreign staff were
working. We then toured the school. It's huge! Compared to our school.
It's 4 floors to themselves. Every teacher gets their own classroom
(here we all share and switch rooms depending on which age we teach).
They also run a "kindergarten," which is 2 and 3 year olds. Those kids
were there- they are so so cute! It's more like a daycare with half an
hour of English from a foreign teacher every day (can kids that young
learn English? dunno). Also, their teachers' office has couches. So
jealous.

Zunyi has a few streets built to look like the old style buildings,
with shopping. Of course, these buildings are rebuilt, but it's still
nice looking. On these streets you can buy a specialty- chicken cakes.
Yes, it's a small cake. That tastes like chicken. No actual chicken in
it. Why? I don't know. It's weird. We walked around a city square, fed
some koi fish in a pond, and then went to a Red Army memorial which
involved climbing a billion stairs. Of course, as always in China, I
was huffing and puffing while grandmas and small children ran past me.

After I almost died because apparently I'm in terrible shape, we
walked by the river. Then we saw a man down by the river. Stretching.
Then he took off his clothes. He was wearing a speedo. Then he put on
goggles. And jumped in the river. Did I mention it was freezing
outside? He proceeded to do laps while we gaped at the edge of the
river, along with other random passers by.

We ate a local specialty for dinner- lamb with rice noodles. At a
famous place- as with many famous restaurants in China, this was a
back alley with plastic stools. It's okay, I've had it before. Put
lots of chili and vinegar for flavor and you're good to go. After that
we headed back to the bus station, hugged Gugu goodbye, and went home.

I could have been placed at Zunyi. It's all American teachers and
mostly girls. Zunyi has some cute shopping areas and many of the same
stores and comforts of Guiyang. In the end I'm glad I'm at Guiyang. I
like it here, and I enjoy being friends with the guys- my crazy
British co-workers. Zunyi also looked a bit bleak, which to be fair
was probably due to the time of the year. Chris visited in summer and
said it seemed a lot nicer.

Speaking of bleak, it's freezing today. Literally. Cold, windy, and no
central heating. Luckily I can get my little room quite warm and cozy.
I have candles, Christmas music, and hot milk tea. and lesson planning
to do...

P.S. I will try to post some group pictures of this trip from a
friend's camera soon.