Xitang--"It's Very China"

After Friday morning's field trip, a group of teachers including myself went on an overnight trip to Xitang, an ancient river town in the neighboring Zhejiang Province.

After a little awkwardness because nobody wanted to share a room with me or let me join their exploration (undoubtedly and understandably nervous about the language barrier), a nice teacher named Lucia told me to follow her. She, three other teachers and I walked across the bridges, bartered in the cheap souvenir stands, ate deep-fried tofu (not my favorite) and bought the traditional cakes.

Lucia described Xitang best. "It's very China," she said, almost apologetically, as we ate dinner watching the boats glide down the river. "It's very China," she said sympathetically, when I stopped to look at a red and gold qipao, the traditional silk dress for Chinese women. "It's very China," she said persuasively when a local cook wanted me to try a syrupy rice dessert.

What could be more China than the unexpected explosion of firecrackers, the rice wine musuem, the lighted candles floating down the river in paper boats, the chamber pot on the side of the river, the silk-floss comforters to improve one's health, the old man playing an erhu, and the knobbly, wooden tables set for tea? But there were plenty signs of the Western world as well. Photos of Tom Cruise, who visited Xitang, hang in at least half of the restaurants, and I found President Obama's face among the Mao memorabilia. I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

Pictured below is one of Xitang's legendary bridges. This bridge is divied in half, with stairs on one side, and a ramp on the other. Traditionally, a young bride would walk across the stair side of the bridge if she hoped to have a son, and the ramp side of the bridge if she hoped to have a daughter. I told Rose, who I was with at the time, that I wanted both, and walked across both sides in turn! The women below had their pictures taken on the stair side, but I also saw a woman posing with her daughter on the ramp side.

I returned from Xitang on Saturday afternoon.

Last night I had an interesting experience as I was walking downtown. I was waiting at the crosswalk and woman, probably in her late 40s or early 50s, brusquely asked me where I was from. I told her I was from America.

"England? North England?" she asked, but I told her that, no, I was from America. She did not seem too pleased, which is the opposite reaction of what I usually hear. Most people are really excited to meet a real, live American.

"The President...who is the President?" she asked me.

"Obama."

She smiled.
"You like?" I asked her.

She didn't answer me. I nodded good-bye to her because we had crossed the street and I stopped to give one yuan to a street performer. She was a few paces ahead, but she stopped and was waiting for me. She looked very serious.

"He the man kill the woman. k-i-l-l." she said.

I was puzzled. Was she talking about President Obama or the street performer?

"You don't know?" she scoffed.

"I don't know." I said.

She looked me up and down. I nodded good-bye for the second time and quickened my pace. She yelled after me, "Come back. What are you doing? American! What are you doing?" I couldn't understand everything she said, but she was obviously very upset.

I exchanged a nervous glance with a group of girls about my age walking towards me. They were just as confused as I was.

She didn't follow me and I made it safely to the store.

Well, that turned out to be a very long post. I must go...ballet class starts right now!