Rural China

Jimmy and I decided to explore, which always foreshadows good times. We had no destination or plan, except for a desire to find rural China. It was by far my best trip yet.

Frankly, I’d been disappointed in my previous travels in China. My travels had all, with the lone exception of Wuyishan (see earlier entry), been to major cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou). I’m sick of sites that are so packed shoulder-to-shoulder, full of large tourist groups with flags and loudspeakers. Nor am I a fan of artificial nature (lakes, gardens, and concrete “rock” formations, “supplemented” by chirpy music emanating from speakers). Part of the problem is also that I cannot always appreciate the historical and cultural significance of sites, and the English explanations are poor.

But most Chinese and I also have different ideas about what makes for good travels. Even the tourist information center found it hysterical that we wanted to go to a rural place, one without too many people: “What is there to do there? Besides, that’s simply not safe, what will you eat?” Others advised us: “But that town is so small! Go to Yiwu, there are so many people there, even black ones!”

HuiHang GuDao（徽杭古道）
Fortunately, our trip started with a bang. That is, we played Mafia (called or hitman in Chinese) for several hours, with a wonderful group of five young Chinese professionals we met on the overnight train: Andrew, Helen, Eric, Sarah, and Constantine. They were kind enough to allow us to crash their hiking and camping expedition. Early the next morning, we stepped off the train to join our new friends on their adventure.

The HuiHang GuDao (the Anhui to Hangzhou Ancient Trail) is a path pioneered by a famous “Chinese capitalist-man” of yore to trade his tea. The trail wound through green mountains shrouded in mist, eventually arriving at a designated camping site where we pitched our tents. The evening was a lively one. We had a scrumptious meal, roasted bread over it, and sang songs around the campfire. For a short time, we also joined an adjacent party of university students who were roasting a goat on a spit. They also played “Truth or Dare,” though their game was tame by Western standards: dares included “Ask the foreigners to participate” and “Guy and girl must hug.”

It was two days of constant Chinese speaking practice, and our friends patiently tolerated our many mistakes. We discussed everything from Tang Dynasty poetry and Jared Diamond to US-China relations and dystopias. See photos.

Greetings from the YaoLin (瑶琳) Police Force
After parting with our friends, we headed off to a beautiful area of China (Tonglu County, in Zhejiang Province, southwest of Shanghai), determined to find another spot to hike and camp. Our first night upon arrival in YaoLin, however, we checked into a budget hotel. After wandering the tourist town and eating dinner, we returned to an uproar at the hotel. Apparently, foreigners are not permitted to stay at hotels in this town, a law which I erroneously thought had been abolished in China.

We paid a visit to the local police station to clarify our overnight accommodations. It took six sleepy police officers to enter our passport and visa information into the computer (“What month is July?”). After 1.5 hours, the police van drove us to a new hotel across the street from our original hotel, where we repeated the entering of passport/visa info routine for another hour. Four more policemen joined in on the “action”—perhaps this is how the government keeps the Chinese masses employed? Then the hotel boss joined us and distributed fancy cigarettes to all, a fitting China ending to the evening.

TaoYuan（桃源）
The next day, we took a gamble on a town at the end of the road. The tiny village of TaoYuan turned out to be a great find. There’s a meadow for camping, hiking in the hills, a babbling brook, and a nearby reservoir, good for fishing and pneumonia-inducing swimming. We also befriended some villagers who invited us for dinner. The dishes were local, vegetarian, and tasty: bracken and fresh garlic, bamboo, cabbage, green beans, and peanuts, all whipped up in a large wood-fire heated wok. We were invited to return anytime and plan to visit again soon.

In the evenings, my pyromaniac travel companion would light a healthy fire, over which I would roast a simple bread of flour, baking powder, and water. We topped it off with some honey that we had purchased in the village, fresh from the comb. It was a sweet trip. See photos.

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