Dear Kris,
I Have found a natural place to relax. This place name is "bai shui
yuan" which in zhe jiang province, near to hangzhou and it's
not far away from Shanghai. I didn't go before, but I have looked from the web, I feel it is
beautiful and quiet and natural. It has the lake and the mountain and waterfall.
And in the morning we can heard the sounds of birds and the cocks will wake us
up. And in night, we can see the stars and the moon in the sky and drink a lot.
Then in last time, we can play with the dogs or the cats or reading or lay on
the ground or play the games or do nothing. I have get the mountain house telephone
which we can live. It's very cheap. The price each people is 50RMB or so and
include three meal every day. And I also get the train and bus time list.
If we will decide go, we can go on Friday night or afternoon. If we
go on Friday night, we can live one night in hanghou then go "bai shui yuan" on
the next morning. It should spend about 1 hour to get "bai shui yuan" by bus.
If we go on Friday afternoon, we can go directly to "bai shui yuan" by bus. It
should spend about 4 hours to get "bai shui yuan". And we can live in the
mountain for two nights. Or if we don't mind the boss, we can go Friday
morning.
I think I want to relax after exam. And if y like go with me, I am
very glad to go with y. And if your
friends want to go with us, I am also glad to. Or if y don't like this plan, I
won' be mind. We can go together next time.
The little three wheeled dream machine. We didn't get to take a
spin in this little luxury liner, but we did admire her, as the
surrouding locals increased in their interest in us.
Lindala, propped up on a little p
edestal, where she belongs.
Munching on some bread getting tossed around in the back seat of the little van that picked us up
Lets go swimming! The Laoban of the mountain house drove us down for our first dip in nature together.
Lindala, got a little swimming lesson from " the
boy". " I want to go swimming so
bad Kristin!"
So relaxed la.
mmmmm, way back.
The boy, and Lindala, near our mountain house, quacking at the ducks.
Sean, the lao xi gua, Linda...and an amazingly sweet, and strong
homemade plum liquor. It was sitting in a vat on a countertop
with a hundred or so little plums slightly smaller then a golfball
fermenting inside. Just two plums, and you're finished. We
drank, and laughed, and laughed and laughed. Laying in bed that
night, discussing Sean's, potential wardrobe opportunities, my asthma
even kicked in from laughing so hard. " I haven't laughed this
hard in a long time."
-Me neither. It was exactly what I needed, too. Totally
awesome, totally drooling, and totally loving gasping for each breath.
Hardie har har.
The beginning of day two. Pi gu still in tact. Company, and temperature, perfect.
Dams are meant for crossing. Sean questioned, " Do we dam every
river in America?" I said that I didn't think so, but who
knows. America, like China, loves screwing around with nature.
yuan fen
You Yuan Qian Li Lai Xiang Hui
Wu Yuan Dui Mian Shou Nan Qian
If you have yuan fen with someone, a thousand miles couldn't keep you
apart. If you don't, you could be standing right next to each
other, and never touch hands.
On the way, to our special trip Linda and I talked a lot about yuan
fen. When we got to Hangzhou, Sean helped me understand better
what Linda's poem meant. It's like the concept of affinity in
English. You can have it with your job, friends, and
lovers. Why do we know each other, why should we cross
paths? Of everyone in the world, and of everyone in Shanghai, why
should we two meet, and touch each other so deeply? We have yuan fen.
dipity dip, day two. Can you believe the color of this water?!
We got exactly what we came for.
Linda and Sean took one route, while I raced them on another.
Stopping for a minute.
"A snake!!!" Then I asked her, "How big?", and she showed me.
Giggleing I thought she had just seen a worm, and her city girlness was
just freaking out. Later, 'the boy's' masterful-alien
intelligence, especially with regard to the most obscure,classified the
snake-worm, as a salamander.
Check him out, he looks like a leaf from the top.
jaw-drop after jaw-drop
What does awesome mean?
yeah!
We've got to just do it.
Can you feel me?
You mean your intensity?
I'm going to do it.
I won't push you.
I have to do it on my own.
If we do it together, it's too much chaos.
These city folk are crazy. We weren't cliff diving, we were
merely slipping into the deep, crystal water...eventually, yi, er,
san...and I was in first. woohoo. A few minutes later,
getting pushed around by the current, the bikini came off. Yeee haa!
There she is.
All the goodness.
Snuggle partners. Boy, do you think we are weird?
Yes, but I might not be friends with you if you weren't.
The last stop, before my pi gu flop.
Crouching down to get a drink of water, I slipped and fell. My
camera went flying, along with my breath. I banged up my bootie
so badly that I have a lot of trouble walking today. Linda helped
me at the hospital, and everything skeletal is just fine. I'm
just a little bruised, moaning, and awkward.
Little Girl, Giant Knife. She did just fine.
Ducks? Geese? Are those swans?
Hmmm, city people, a strange breed.
Tri-peng you
The ride back to the bus stop.
Giddy. My pigu hurt, Sean's pi gu was just fine, and Linda's was still shao.
We tried to take this picture 62 times. Each time we waited for
Linda's 20 minute self timer, and each time, her whole head wouldn't
make it into the frame.
Lucky to slip on the last few moments of the last day, I was able to
make it back to Shanghai, and get home for a good night sleep, before
waking up the next morning all stiff and hurting. Linda joined me at
another Chinese hospital for x-rays, and sweet sharing. I walked
around a little funny, and crabby, while wondering if passer's by thought I had an awesome
romp the night before, a baby, if I'm horribly consipated, or just a freak
foreigner. In the Huashan Hospital I chased down ( as much as I
could chase) this boy to get a photo for Jay Bil.