Harbin: Eating Our Way Through Zhongyang Street

Today, we are time-traveling back to December of 2022 as I continue to slowly (slowly) catch up on my adventures since moving abroad. After Michael and I both got sick in early December (as did the rest of Shanghai – pandemic restrictions lifted in late November and we had no herd immunity…) and had a few more weeks of online teaching while we all recuperated, we had a cozy Christmas and Hanukkah just the two of us at home, filled with traditions new and old. (Michael has happily jumped into my love of holiday traditions, and I love him for it.)

Though it was important to us to be home for Christmas itself, a few days later we hopped on a plane to head out for a trip to bring in the new year. Now, there are many warm, tropical places in China we could have visited to get away from the cold, but we chose instead to lean into the holiday season and embrace the ultimate winter wonderland: 哈尔滨 Harbin.

Capital of the Heilongjiang Province in Northeastern China, Harbin was founded in 1898 as a camp for Russian engineers surveying the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway, an extension of the Trans-Siberian Railway. After the revolution in 1917, many Russians fled their home country and settled in Harbin, leaving a significant impact on the city’s architecture, cuisine, and culture – Harbin was even referred to as the “Moscow of the East” due to the incredibly high number of Russian expats living there. It became a hotspot for international communities and the blending of cultures. Nowadays, the city is a thriving tourist destination, especially in the colder months; though its winters are bitterly cold (with an average temperature in January of -24°C to -12°C), Harbin is known as the Ice City and hosts many popular winter tourism activities. (More on those later…)

Though we’d be joining along with a tour a bit later on, Michael and I flew up a few days earlier to get a chance to explore Harbin on our own first. We decided to really lean into the aesthetic and booked a room at the Mansion 1903 Hotel. Located right on Harbin’s Central Street, the Mansion 1903 Hotel has a history going back over 120 years, and it feels like it as soon as you walk into the absolutely stunning lobby. I instantly began mentally cosplaying Anastasia – I mean, how could you not?!

One of the cool features of the hotel is the original elevator, installed in 1903. Even though it’s more than a century old, the elevator is still operational! (But, alas, we still had to take the stairs to get up to our room…) Apparently, this elevator is one of two century-old elevators in China, with the other located in Shanghai. What a cool little piece of history!

After giggling about how amazing the hotel was, we bundled up (and I mean BUNDLED – we’re talking long underwear, insulated undershirts, wool sweaters, three pairs of socks inside of fuzzy snow shoes, the whole nine yards) to go and explore 中央大街 Zhongyang Pedestrian Street. Zhongyang Street, or Central Street, is the longest and largest pedestrian street in Asia; the 1,400 meter long street was built in 1898 and has been referred to as a “gallery of European architectural art.” With hundreds of shops and restaurants lining the street, there are seemingly endless places to visit and explore. Though we couldn’t feel our fingers or toes within maybe 30 seconds of stepping outside, we were so excited to explore this iconic spot we’d be calling home for the next few days.

When it came time to grab dinner (and warm up a bit), we found a cute little restaurant whose sign simply said “Russia Coffee & Food” – we were curious to try some local Russian dishes in as authentic a place as we could find, so we headed in! (The placemats also said Russia Holiday Garden, but the menu seemed to allude to the restaurant being called Lucia? So, one of those may be the name of the restaurant? Unclear.) We were instantly in love with the kitschy, cozy vibes. It felt like stepping into a little old Russian grandmother’s home, with old black and white pictures covering the walls around us. After attempting a rough translation with my phone, we were able to read the following from what was written within the menu: “‘Lucia’ is a large living room of Russian expatriates in Harbin in the 1930s. She shows the life, history, and culture of Russian expatriates in Harbin. She wants everyone who walks into this large living room to feel a history of the past. . . They are cordial, friendly and sincere, living in harmony with the Chinese people in Harbin. They no longer see their faces. The only thing left is a very sweet memory, with a few sad. After signing an agreement with the Qing Empire, on June 10, 1898, the Russians built the railway to the Songhua River in this wasteland. The Russians created this city again – Harbin. Due to various historic and political ignorance, 200,000 Russians left Harbin in a hurry in the 1960s. This is not only their home, but also their soul.” We know it may be unlikely that we will ever be able to experience Russian culture in Russia, a place we may never get to visit. We also know that a culture is not its leader or its politics, and there are good people in every culture. So, we feel lucky to be able to experience the little bits of this culture and cuisine that we could find.

For dinner, we tried two of the recommended dishes: a traditional Harbin Russian red vegetable soup and cabbage rolls! From their menu: “Red vegetable soup, also known as Suba soup, is to make soup with fresh beef bones for six hours. Add potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, and a variety of seasonings slowly. Fresh, sour, and delicious, balanced nutrition. It’s a story that’s been around for over a hundred years.” Both dishes were delicious and comforting, and we absolutely loved having dinner here for our first night in Harbin!

After sufficiently stuffing ourselves, we waddled back to our dream of a hotel. (To sleep on the hardest mattress we’ve ever experienced. You win some, you lose some. Ah well.) After experiencing only a few hours out on Zhongyang Street, we were already excited for what the next few days would bring.

The next morning, we set out with only one intention: eat ALL the things. (And we truly mean ALL the things. From this point on, this post will mainly be about food because that’s, quite literally, what we spent most of the next day doing. I have no regrets.) We started by walking all the way down to the end of the pedestrian street to see what we’d be working with, keeping track of the restaurants we may want to try later. When we saw a sign for kvass, we went in to grab a bottle! Kvass is a traditional Russian beverage made from fermented rye bread; I had first tasted it when I was out in western China my first year here and LOVED it, so I was eager to share it with Michael! (The kvass in Xinjiang was better, though. This stuff was….fine. But I still have dreams about the kvass in Xinjiang…)

With streets that were still quiet before most of the city woke up, we were able to wander up and down the cobblestones all morning taking in the sights. The city was preparing for the upcoming ice and snow festivals, and so there were all sorts of sculptures being constructed along the sides of the street!

For first lunch, we stopped in to get some classic Harbin boiled dumplings filled with pork and cabbage. If there’s one thing you should know about Michael, it’s that he enjoys a good dipping sauce. So, when presented with six different options, we went with…all of them. And then proceeded to taste test all of the different possible combinations. We love a good food experiment!

Our next snack was one that I had read a lot about when researching local Harbin food: a 马迭尔冰棍 Madieer Ice Cream Bar! (Ice cream?! In below freezing weather?! Absolutely!) The ice cream parlor was founded in the Qing Dynasty in 1906 and still utilizes the same production methods it used when it first opened. The classic ice cream “popsicle” is a simple recipe with a “milk” flavor. You guys, this may be the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. And when the rest of you is already freezing, the freezing cold of the ice cream doesn’t feel too bad! Plus – it doesn’t melt as you’re eating it! It’s a win-win.

As we were walking along, we then saw what looked like a Coca Cola shop selling steaming hot cups of Coke. Thinking it couldn’t possibly just be hot Coke, there must be some kind of cocktail or like mulled something going on, Michael went up and pointed at the menu to purchase whatever it was that everyone else was ordering, no questions asked. It was, in fact, a steaming hot cup of Coke. We both took a few sips, said “huh,” and moved right along.

The next snack we brought back to nibble on in the hotel room was another of the famous foods I’d read about: 大列巴 Dàlièbā, or Big Bread. (“Da” is Chinese for “big,” and “khleb” is Russian for “bread” – Dàlièbā is the combination of those two words.) This giant loaf of sourdough was introduced to locals by Russian bakers over a hundred years ago, and now can be found in the windows of all of the local bakeries. (I have to be honest, by the time we tried this back in the hotel we were, unsurprisingly, so very full that we only had a few bites. They were good bites, but…we couldn’t do anymore. We put the rest back in its bag to save for a later time.)

After naps to try to digest a bit, we went out for lunch! (I warned you. All we did this day was eat. I am actually pretty impressed with us. Good job, us.) We walked over to a beautiful place a few blocks from our hotel and split an appetizer of mushroom soup, broccoli with white sauce, and Russian meatballs. (I don’t know what else to say, I’m not a food blogger, but guys – go to Harbin just to eat. Seriously. Everything was fantastic.)

Because we clearly hadn’t had enough to eat, after another few hours resting and warming up at the hotel, we wandered our way into Tatoc for dinner. Originally an Armenian restaurant (that now is mostly thought of as being Russian), Tatoc is filled with old antiques – gramophones, typewriters, books, brick fireplaces, unique lamps – that instantly transport you to a different time and place. We ordered the stewed mutton and sausage with cream sauce (and vodka…because…obviously…).

While sitting down for dinner, a few days before the new year, Michael and I pulled out a notebook to go back through memories from the year. We thought about the trips we’d been on – to Xishuangbanna, Guilin, Sanya, Ningxia, and now Harbin – and the restaurants we’d eaten at, the food we’d tried, the views we’d seen, the dates we’d been on, and experiences we’d had. (Including the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad lockdown.) We each made Top 5 lists in each of the categories and shared them with each other, laughing and reflecting. We realize how incredibly lucky we are to be here, and really enjoyed looking back on the year to count our blessings. This has, since then, become one of our favorite new year’s traditions.

The next morning, it was time to check out of our royal palace of a hotel and enjoy our last day on our own before joining our tour. We went for one last walk along Zhongyang Street and each bought an уша́нка ushanka (you know those hats – the big Russian fur-trapper ear-flaps hats that instantly make you feel like you’ve stepped into Anna Karenina) as well as some Russian nesting dolls to bring back home for friends and family. And, because it is physically impossible to walk along Zhongyang without buying snacks, we also grabbed fried cheese sticks and, a personal favorite, kürtőskalács! Kürtőskalács, or “chimney cakes,” are a Hungarian sweet fried dough that is spiraled up and coated with sugar – when served hot on a cold day, the steam that comes up from the top of the cone makes it look like a little chimney! My friend Becca and I had loved them when we found them at a Christmas market in Budapest in 2018, and so I was so excited to have found them again way up here in China.

After finally saying goodbye to Zhongyang Street, we wandered over to see another of Harbin’s famous sites: the Софийский собор 圣索菲亚教堂 Saint Sophia Cathedral. Built by Russians in 1907, Saint Sophia is the largest Eastern Orthodox church in the Far East, and is the most finely protected Neo-Byzantine architecture in China. (It now serves as an art gallery!) Though we weren’t able to see the inside (on this visit…), we were not upset at all – just walking around the square admiring this beautiful cathedral from all sides was worth the trip in and of itself! The architecture of the structure is so different from what we’ve seen in other areas of China, and so it was really cool to be able to experience it.

We stopped in for one final meal in this part of town before walking across the city to our next hotel across the city. This restaurant might have been called Brown Bear but, again, hard to know for sure and the internet provides no further information upon searching for it. We once again were instantly enveloped in cozy, kitschy trinkets and decorations (I’m sensing a theme here) and loved all of the colors. We ordered pirozhki (mutton & veggie buns), some kind of delicious beef and rice patties with a great tomato sauce, and, my personal favorite, borscht. If you don’t know, borscht is a soup that originates in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia made with meat/bone stock, vegetables (cabbage, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and beets), and seasonings. Look, I’ve had authentic borscht a few times before (I dated a Russian in high school, it was a frequent dinner at his house) and didn’t think I really liked it, but this borscht was unlike anything I’ve ever had before. It was incredible. I begrudgingly accepted that I had to admit I actually like borscht now. I need to know what their secret was, so I can make this myself and cozy in whenever it gets cold outside. SO good.

We walked the 30 minutes to the hotel (and oh boy was a walk needed after yet another fantastically filling meal…) and then, honestly, laid down and did nothing for the remainder of the day. We had snacks from our bags for dinner and went to bed early. Though we tend to do a lot in our days when traveling, sometimes you have to balance it with time to just rest and take a too-long shower. So I may not have as much to share on those days, but, believe me, they’re there too. Don’t worry though – our next day in Harbin would bring us a New Year’s Eve exploring what Harbin is actually famous for…

Midnight in Shanghai: The Paris of the East

When you’re young, there are some things you just take for granted, you assume are no-brainers. You don’t yet understand the way that life twists and turns and throws your no-brainers off in ways you never could have anticipated. I never, ever, ever could have imagined a world where I would not be present at my youngest brother’s wedding, and yet, with twists and turns that brought me to live in China during a global pandemic, my life threw me a curveball. In October of 2022, my brother Dixon got married, and I couldn’t be there. While borders to China had sort of opened up, a little bit, there was no guarantee that if I got out, I would be able to get back in. When I asked my school if I could fly home for the wedding, it was too big of a risk that I’d get stuck outside, and they couldn’t let me go. This, for obvious reasons, devastated me. I hadn’t been home or seen my family in over 2 years, and now I was going to miss one of the most important days of family history-making. But, rather than let this ruin me, Michael and I decided to carve out something special.

With an October 1st wedding, the big day lined up well with our annual Golden Week holiday and the coinciding week off of school. Conveniently, Michael and I also had other reasons to make the weekend special: the wedding day was nine days after our first anniversary, and nine days before Michael’s birthday. So, we decided to do it up special and plan a getaway weekend exploring this amazing city we live in. One of Michael’s favorite movies is Midnight in Paris – remember, where Owen Wilson ends up time traveling back to Paris in the 1920s every night and gets to schmooze and talk art with Ernest Hemingway and Salvador Dali and all the other big names of the time? Well, Paris isn’t the only city that had a roaring Jazz Age, and we just so happen to live in a city filled with its own stories of extravagant parties, lavish entertainment, and a decadent nightlife. In our very own “Paris of the East,” we planned our Midnight in Shanghai.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai was the place to be. The “Pearl of the Orient” had developed into an international hotspot, and was a cosmopolitan playground for the rich and famous. With a flourishing economy and a thriving culture, Shanghai was one of the fastest growing cities in the world at the time. Traders and bankers from across the world were setting up shop, while European architects and real estate moguls were crafting the Bund that we see today. As J.G. Ballard, the British novelist who later went on to write Empire of the Sun and Crash, wrote in his autobiography about being raised in Shanghai during this time, “Bizarre advertising displays were an everyday reality … though I sometimes wonder if everyday reality was the one element missing from the city … I would see something strange and mysterious, but treat it as normal … Anything was possible, and everything could be bought and sold.” Jazz, fashion, parties, nightlife, gangsters – we’re talking full on Gatsby in Shanghai at the time.

(Now, for full transparency, not everyone was thrilled with these new developments in Shanghai or enjoying the big, sparkling party that was Shanghai’s Jazz Age. The Shanghailanders – the foreign settlers in the city, most often British, French, and American – were living in their own concessions of land they’d basically carved out for themselves after really doing some damage in the Opium Wars. Local Chinese people were now being excluded from areas of their own city. As the moral of the story often tends to be, colonialism sucks. So, yes, while I’m going to focus on the glitz and glam and international development in Shanghai at that time, because it IS very cool and significant to Shanghai’s history, I do want to acknowledge that it came with a price, and that price is pretty gross.)

During this era of revelry and luxury, elaborately designed buildings were going up along the Bund, the river-side “Wall Street of the East” that had been built as a testament to trade, commerce, stability, and success. One such building was the Cathay Hotel. Built in 1929, the Cathay Hotel was one of the first high-rise structures ever built in the Eastern Hemisphere. While its green copper pyramid rooftop has become an icon on the Bund’s skyline (you can even see it in both of the old photographs above!) it was what was inside the building that really won the hotel its prestige. With Italian marble floors and Lalique glass artwork, all framed within Gothic Revival-style architecture, the Cathay soon earned a reputation as being the most beautiful hotel in the East. In addition, the hotel featured state-of-the-art amenities such as air conditioning and in-house telephones – which weren’t even in use in European hotels at the time!

The Cathay Hotel was one of the passion projects of Sir Victor Sassoon, a property and finance tycoon with a love of high style and high society. He was known for throwing extravagantly flamboyant costume parties; the lists of those who had been invited were published in local newspapers a week in advance. That I’ve been able to find, there was a Pajama Party, a Scavenger Party, a Toy Party, an All-Feminine Cocktail Party, a Shipwreck Party (one couple came naked, just wrapped in a shower curtain!), and a Circus Party. Take a look at these amazing photos from the “Cathay Circus” – I just love them.

As the hotel’s website says, “The guests at the Cathay Hotel were the famous and infamous – adventurers and travelers, members of the Shanghai and Shanghailander families, the swanky, the chic and the talented, artists, diplomats and celebrities – the elite of the world.” Some of the notable guests included Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw, General George C. Marshall, Paulette Goddard, Douglas Fairbanks. . . Noel Coward even wrote his first draft of Private Lives in his hotel room while recovering from the flu!

So, when Michael and I decided we want to make the wedding weekend one to remember, even from another country, we booked ourselves a stay at this historic hotel, now renamed the Fairmont Peace Hotel.

Walking into the hotel feels like stepping back in time. You can feel the whispers of these old elaborate parties and grandeur in the air; it’s magical. We checked into our beautiful room, delighted to be spending the next few days playing dress up in the Jazz Age.

After checking in, we went up to the hotel’s rooftop restaurant, The Cathay Room, for an anniversary dinner. We were seated right next to a window with a stunning view of the more modern side of the Bund across the river, featuring the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower. (If you’ve ever seen a skyline silhouette picture of Shanghai – that’s the view you see.) We enjoyed a truly excellent meal – the chef even came out to prepare our steak right at the table for us!

When we got back to our hotel room after dinner, the staff had prepared a small birthday cake for Michael as a surprise. We were already in love with this place, and hadn’t even stayed there a night yet. It was going to be a great weekend.

The next morning, we woke up early to get dressed up for our Zoom call in for Dixon and Regen’s rehearsal dinner. (Did I instantly start crying and have to conveniently bustle around the room for a bit while Michael chatted with my family and my best friend who carried her iPad around all of the wedding events? Yes. As much fun as we were having, it was really really hard, and I couldn’t wrap my head or my heart around the fact that I was missing this.) We were able to say hi and catch up with family and friends as we were moved around the rehearsal dinner – we were even set up on top of a cocktail table during dinner so people could come by and say hi to us as they went up to get food.

After everyone in the States headed off to bed, our day was just beginning. I had organized and put together a “Midnight in Shanghai Architecture Tour” that would take us along the mile or so along the riverfront to learn more about 38 of the most iconic buildings and structures on the Bund. (By “architecture tour,” I mean I spent way too much time on the internet and also bought a book about all of the Bund architecture, and planned to walk Michael to each of the buildings and tell him all about their history and architecture. Believe it or not, this is actually one of our favorite things we’ve ever done together. Knowing things is cool!)

Before heading out, we first stopped to really appreciate the beauty of the interior of the Fairmont Peace Hotel. After being occupied by the Japanese military during World War II, then seized by the Chinese government and used by the Chinese Communist Party during the 1950s and 1960s, the building reopened as a hotel in 1965. After temporarily closing in 2007, the hotel was refurbished and reopened in 2010 with the intention of restoring as much of the original design work as was possible. Nowadays, the lobby is an Art Deco dream, with copper chandeliers, ornate moldings, and a stunning golden yellow glass skylight that had all been covered up for decades. Thank goodness they are once again visible and able to be appreciated for the beauty they are!

For the next few hours, we walked up and down the Bund, stopping in front of each building to learn about the architecture, what it was originally built for and what it does now, and any other interesting pieces of history surrounding the structure. Now, I won’t be going into all of that in this post – this one’s going to be long enough as it is – but if you ever come visit us in Shanghai, I’d be happy to take you down to the Bund and give you your own personal Bund tour! The buildings are stunning! Shanghai used to have so many banks!

We popped into Victor’s Cafe for lunch (Victor as in Victor Sassoon as in The Cathay Hotel….yes, it’s another one of the restaurants from the hotel. We were going with a theme!!) and loved getting to see all of the old photographs from the Bund in the 1930s along the walls.

That evening, we continued our Bund exploration by joining a Huangpu River Cruise. The river basically cuts right through Shanghai, creating a west side (Puxi) and an east side (Pudong) of the city. (For reference, I live, work, and basically only ever really hang out in Puxi. The only time I really go to Pudong is to go to Disney or to the airport.) But where Puxi and Pudong meet the river is where we get the Bund! So while we spent most of our time exploring the historic Bund on the Puxi side, just across the river in Pudong we have the financial district, where we get the iconic more futuristic looking skyline that you will see on the Shanghai postcards. There are multiple cruise companies that go out with dinner cruises each night, sailing back and forth along the Huangpu and allowing for the best viewing of the contrasting styles of architecture on either side. We enjoyed an evening out on deck, really soaking in the beauty of this magnificent city we call home.

  • Hey! That’s our hotel!

The next morning, we got up in the wee hours of the morning to get dressed up for Dixon and Regen’s wedding! We had ordered a bottle of champagne to the room the night before so we would be able to celebrate our early morning wedding without disturbing any of the staff of the hotel. While the rest of the city slept, we dolled up and waited for the video call from back home when celebrations would start kicking off.

Once again, my friend Tori had us tuned in via her iPad, so after bringing us around to say hi to everyone before the ceremony, we were brought to our virtual front row seat. In addition to us being there on a screen, my mom had printed out our faces on card stock, Flat Stanley style, so that they could have us in some of the pictures back home as well. It was all very silly, and yet, it worked. We poured our drinks, cozied up on the couch with the laptop propped up on the window ledge, and watched my baby brother marry his high school sweetheart.

  • First kiss as husband and wife!

We were passed around the room during cocktail hour as Tori carried us through the festivities. When breakfast at our hotel finally started, the wedding reception was just getting ready to start, so I brought my laptop (with the Zoom still up and going) down to the hotel’s beautiful ballroom where they have their breakfast buffet. Admittedly, I was the only one down there in a formal gown at 6:00 in the morning, but when Michael explained to the hotel staff what I was doing, they were all so sweet and supportive. I ate a quick breakfast while my brother Carter gave a heartfelt toast, then I scurried back up to our room for all of the first dances.

Then, the real party began. Now, an iPad substituting as the sister of the groom shouldn’t work, but it did. By this point, we were tuned in both on my laptop via Zoom AND on my phone via FaceTime, so we had the laptop stationed in the corner of the room providing volume for all of the songs during the party while Michael and I danced around our hotel room with my phone. Remarkably, it was actually really fun. According to my family, apparently us being on the iPad during the dance was not weird at all; we were passed around from person to person, usually a central figure of the dance floor, always involved in the fun.

Obviously I had to try to get some screen shots throughout the morning/night. They were all blurry and chaotic, but I think they do a pretty good job of summing up the experience. It also gave me what is probably my favorite picture ever of my brothers and I…

Even though it was not at all how I had envisioned celebrating Dixon’s wedding, somehow, we were all able to still have a truly wonderful time. On both sides of the world, we felt like we were connected and together for this incredible day, which really is something special. I didn’t miss my brother’s wedding – I was there. I was so much a part of it. When I look back on that day now, two years later, I’m not filled with regret or sadness, but remember it as just being such a happy experience. So while I don’t recommend being trapped across the planet and missing important life events – there are still ways forward. There are still ways to celebrate and be together. This whole experience really taught me that.

After taking a long mid-day nap (we’d been up and drinking since like 4:00 in the morning…), Michael and I headed out for one last celebratory night out on the Bund. In what was formerly the Shanghai Club (a very exclusive British gentlemen’s club) and is now the Waldorf Astoria, you can find one of our now favorite historic bars in Shanghai. The Long Bar was originally built in 1910, and at the time was recognized as the longest bar in the world. The dark mahogany, marble-topped, L-shaped bar extended across the room at 110 feet long, and apparently there used to be a hierarchy with regards to where you were allowed to sit at the bar; all of the fancypants bankers and whatnot sat at one end, whereas men in lower classes had to sit down at the other. (All of the women, meanwhile, were just…not allowed in…) Unfortunately, due to, you know, the giant war going on, the bar was abandoned in 1941 and the Shanghai Club building passed through many different owners and uses over the next few decades. In the 1990s, what had once been the Long Bar was ripped up and the space was turned into a KFC. (Damn it, China, really?!) Luckily, in 2009 the building was taken over by the Waldorf Astoria and the Long Bar was rebuilt in an attempt to replicate the original as closely as possible. So even though it is not the original bar anymore, visiting the Long Bar feels like stepping back into the past at this famous and historic bar. (Plus, as a woman, I always feel sneaky proud that all of those old stodgy British men would hate that I’m enjoying a Manhattan at their exclusive bar…)

With our last morning at the Fairmont before packing up and heading back home, we joined the hotel’s Peace Museum Heritage Tour. Not only did a guide lead us through the main areas of the hotel and point out items of historical significance, but we were then brought to the hotel’s museum that showcases various hotel memorabilia: porcelain, crystal, antiques, Art Deco furnishings, old newspaper articles and photographs, and more. After the tour, we went back up to The Cathay Room for afternoon tea, enjoying the beautiful view of the Bund through the window one more time before saying goobye.

You never know where life’s twists and turns will lead you. While my twists and turns may have prevented me from physically attending my brother’s wedding, they also brought me to this incredible city which I wholeheartedly love, and this wonderful, blessed life I get to lead, with the amazing partner I’ve met here. Though I’m still quite behind in my blog posts and writing this just over two years after Dixon’s wedding, I’m writing it exactly one year (to the day!) before my own wedding next fall. And that feels pretty damn magical.

Ningxia: Into the Desert

As we continued on our end-of-summer adventure through Ningxia (click HERE to read Part 1!) our next stop would have us once again hopping back and forth throughout time as we learned about the incredible depth of history in this area of China. (Seriously, there’s just SO MUCH.) We prepared for another hot day outside in the dry desert sun, and headed off to start our day at the 宁夏水洞沟旅游区 Ningxia Shuidonggou Tourist Area. Now, some context:

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Shuidonggou was an important defensive military site; to build up their defense against northern nomadic tribes (we are right at the border to Inner Mongolia here – one side of the Wall is Ningxia, the other is Inner Mongolia), they built this section of the Great Wall, known as the East Line of the Ming Dynasty. (There are other sections of the Wall in this region that were built during other dynasties as well. Everything about Chinese history is long and complicated and a bit hard for my brain to comprehend in its entirety, but I’m trying.) As opposed to the typical view of the Great Wall you might be picturing, this section was made using rammed earth, cutting across the desert landscape. So anyways, we can put this on your mental timeline from about 400-600 years ago: Ming Dynasty builds the Great Wall here as a defensive structure. Great, now:

Fast forward to 1923, about 100 years ago. After some investigation of this site, two French paleontologists, Émile Licent and Teilhard de Chardin, discovered and excavated mammal fossils, burnt bones, and stone artifacts dating back thousands and thousands of years. As excavations continued over the next hundred years, more than 30,000 stone tools and 67 ancient animal fossils have been discovered from the Old Stone Age, providing evidence that humans were living here at Shuidonggou about 40,000-30,000 years ago. Shuidonggou is currently the most important site complex for the Late Paleolithic area in northern China, and is thought of as the “Birthplace of Prehistoric Archaeology in China.” There is SO MUCH written about this – if super intense scientific research papers about archaeology and the Paleolithic Era are your thing, seriously, go do a search and dive in; I just spent like 10 minutes just reading about color-stained ostrich eggshell beads from 32,000 years ago. It’s a lot.

So before we move into the specifics of our time there, to summarize what we have so far on this wild mental timeline of Ningxia:

* Paleolithic Era/Old Stone Age (~30,000 years ago): Early humans living here and making stone tools and fancy ostrich eggshell beads.
* Mesolithic Era/Middle Stone Age (~10,000 years ago): Petroglyphs and rock paintings created in the Helan Mountains.
* Tang/Han Dynasties (206 BC – 907 AD): Important spot for trade and transportation on Ancient Silk Road.
* Xixia Dynasty (1038-1227): Central ruling area for the Xixia Dynastry, big beautiful imperial tombs created.
* Ming Dynasty (1368-1644): New areas of the Great Wall built as a defense against the nomadic tribes of the north. (Who, if you remember, had completely wiped out the Xixia Dynasty in this very area only a few hundred years before.)
* 1958: Ningxia formally becomes an autonomous region of China.
* 1980s: Ningxia starts bringing over fancy grapes from France and making wine!

And that’s only the stuff we’ve talked about!!!

So anyways, we began our third day in Ningxia with a visit to 水洞沟 Shuidonggou. We started with the sweet relief of air-conditioning Shuidonggou Site Museum, where many of the prehistoric artifacts that have been uncovered are on display. As we walked through the various rooms, learning more about how humans lived at that time, we got to see many of the various stone tools that were used. Now, I fairly regularly have a hard time in Chinese museums getting my brain to grasp time properly (“you mean this is from 2,000 years ago?!”), so trying to wrap my mind around 30,000 years nearly broke it.

As we headed out from the museum and into the rest of the Shuidonggou site, we passed one of the current excavation sites where they are actively working on uncovering more artifacts, fossils, and more. It’s so incredibly cool to see things like this, where time is spanning backwards and forwards all at the same time. (Maybe I can be an archaeologist in another life. For this one, I’ll just have to enjoy the little glimpses of cool history that I can get!)

Then, we shifted our brains back into the Ming Dynasty (600ish years ago) history of this site to visit the 萬里長城 Great Wall of China! For all of the traveling that I’d done around China thus far, I still had never seen the Great Wall! And though this is perhaps not the typical “first viewing” that people get, I still had the little stomach butterflies singing you are about to see something really cool and important. (Does anyone else experience that? I’ve noticed when I’m traveling and going to see THE thing – THE Great Wall, THE Colosseum, THE equator, THE whatever it is – I get almost anxious? My body gets all bubbly and nervous and excited, knowing that I’m about to see something I’ve always read about, something that many people dream of seeing. It’s a strange and magical feeling and I hope I never lose it.)

For any who don’t know, the Great Wall of China is not just one big long brick wall across China that was all built at the same time. There are many little sections of wall, not all connected, across various parts of China and that were built thousands of years apart from each other. Some areas of the Wall were built as early as the 7th century BC, then again during the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty, the Northern Wei Dynasty, etc etc etc. The Ming Dynasty was responsible for building much of the Wall that we typically associate with the Great Wall – those sweeping images of a never-ending brick wall rolling through the mountains (don’t worry, I’ll get to that in a later blog…) – as well as much of the Wall that still remains today across northern China. So while our first visit to the Great Wall was not perhaps what many would expect, I kind of love that our first sighting was out of the ordinary, in a smaller province that not as many people travel to. It feels right, for us.

We reached the section of the wall that has had a small wooden platform built atop it so we could actually climb up and walk on the Great Wall. Though it might not look as technically impressive as some of our future Wall visits, I felt so lucky to be there and experiencing this. Plus, it was pretty cool to be standing right on the border between Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, which I’d travelled to the summer before!

After the Wall, we headed on to explore more of the Shuidonggou Tourist Area. As is pretty common in a lot of these Chinese tourist areas I’ve been to, there are a sequence of little gimmicks or activities to do as you go throughout the area. So we rode a small boat along the river, walked a path through a petting zoo, rode both a donkey-drawn and camel-drawn cart, and just enjoyed the desert landscape as we headed to our next destination.

Though usually you ride the carts with a small group, we actually lucked out and got a cart all to ourselves for the first ride! For a tip, the drivers would sing traditional local folk songs while pulling you along. (A no brainer – bring on the music!) It was one of those special moments when you can’t see another living soul, just gliding bumpily along through this new landscape being underscored by an unfamiliar music, the finishing touch on the experience.

Finally, we reached our next destination: 红山堡 Hongshanbao, a Ming Dynasty fort used during wartime. Built in 1521, Hongshanbao could hold around 1,200 soldiers, and was in charge of eight beacon fire stations. But the part that we found most interesting was actually below the surface, in the Ancient-Troop Hiding Cave; this cave of endless branch tunnels, twisting and turning in a multi-directional maze, not only had bed rooms, meeting rooms, kitchens, and storage rooms, but also an assortment of traps and holes with hidden weapons. If invaders managed to get into the cave in an attempt to break through to China, not only would they have a hard time navigating and maneuvering through the thin unfamiliar passageways, but they would be met with booby traps and sneak attacks. Historians have uncovered ancient swords, spears, firecrackers, shells, spiking iron balls, waist sabers, waist swords, arrows, quivers, and more.

As our guide walked us through the maze of tunnels, we walked through all sorts of traps that felt right out of Indiana Jones – sudden pits in the ground filled with sharp spikes, small intentionally-placed holes in the wall where someone could thrust out a weapon as you pass, step-here-and-this-giant-rock-falls-on-top-of-you rigs, the whole nine yards. It was epic. According to historical records, while many areas of the Great Wall were broken down or pushed through during invasions, the defense lines at Hongshanbao were never successfully broken through.

After finishing up our morning at Shuidonggou, we headed over to the Qingtongxia Yellow River Grand Canyon Tourist Area to see another popular landmark in Yinchuan: the One Hundred and Eight Pagodas. The 一百零八塔 One Hundred and Eight Pagodas were first built during the Xixia Dynasty (remember them? The beehive tombs?) and were an important piece of Buddhist architecture during that time, as there was also a grand temple in this area. After being repaired multiple times in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, the pagodas were eventually rebuilt into brick pagodas. During the process of rebuilding, multiple artifacts were unearthed – brick Buddha statues, silk paintings, sacred books, and other cultural relics that have contributed to the research on the historical Xixia culture.

According to Buddhism, there are 108 different types of feelings, and 108 types of earthly desires or temptations that a person must overcome to achieve nirvana. To work to eliminate these temptations, people need to pray to Buddha 108 times, knock a bell 108 times, etc… So the number 108 is incredible significant, as can be seen in the layout of this historic spot. It is said that anyone who walks around all 108 pagodas will have eternal luck.

While we did not walk around each of the 108 pagodas, our guide told us that the local custom is to circle the pagoda at the very top three times for good luck and prosperity. With guidance from the other locals at the top, we circled our way around the three required times – we’ll always take a little extra good luck!

We spent a bit more time exploring the area of the Yellow River Grand Canyon and enjoying this beautiful place.

After driving back into Yinchuan, our guide joined us for an excellent traditional hotpot dinner before we tucked in for the night after another fantastic day.

For our last full day in Ningxia, we were originally supposed to be heading further out into the desert for a bonfire and some other fun activities, but due to (you guessed it) pandemic restrictions, the company had to cancel last minute. Luckily, our guide was great and worked to find us something else fun and desert-y to do, so she bought us to the Shapotou Scenic Area. Shapotou is, basically, a desert amusement park. There are little rides, a boat ride, a sand slide, a zip line, all sorts of stuff. It would be a great place to go with kids, as you can really work your way around the park hopping from activity to activity. The highlight of the day for us, easily, was the camel ride! Even though it was only maybe a 5-minute ride in a straight line up one hill (again, desert amusement park, not just…desert travel), it was my first time riding a camel and I loved it!

For our last evening in Ningxia, Michael and I ventured out for one more big food adventure at the 怀远观光夜市 Huaiyuan Night Market. With hundreds of little food stalls (and crowds getting bigger and bigger as the night went on), we knew that this was going to be a great place to get a few more authentic local tastes before flying home. Now, sometimes when we’re traveling we have specific snacks or meals we are looking for, things we’ve researched ahead of time and know we want to try while there. (We did a lot of that in Italy – blogs to come soon!) Sometimes, we just wing it and look for the longest lines to see what everyone else is going for. This was definitely one of those times. We wandered up and down the various streets, stopping when we saw something that either looked good, looked interesting, or else we saw other people eating and wanted to try ourselves! I would give more specific details on what we ate, but honestly – I don’t know! We had sort of a long pretzel-wonton type crunchy snack, some kind of hot milk with goji berry drink, some kind of spiced hard-boiled eggs – anything and everything!

In keeping with our “look for the longest line and there you will find the food to eat” mentality, when we found one of the central areas of the night market we saw a long line, chefs preparing food in front of a window where everyone was taking their picture, and everyone eating from the same kind of wrapper. Guess we found our dinner!

After doing some after-the-fact research, I have been able to identify that we ordered crispy beef patties from what is either called Mafuming, or Bo Fang Su Xiao Meng, or something with an abbreviation of MJR that was written on the wrapper. I wish I could give you more information, but I am still learning how to navigate the Chinese internet and a Google search isn’t giving me anymore information. Based on the long lines and the CCTV sticker, I’m guessing this is some kind of famous food stand? Either way, we found a spot to sit down with a beer and our absolutely delicious crispy beef patties and had a fantastic time doing what we love.

Even though we were not hungry in the slightest anymore, on our way out of the night market we passed one more food stall that we absolutely could not pass without stopping. We saw what looked to be a corn dog covered in green sprinkles? For scientific purposes, we obviously had to order one.

The result? Well, I’ll leave you with Michael’s first reaction upon biting into it…

Ningxia: The Lost Xixia Dynasty

After heading back to Shanghai from Hainan (we’re time traveling back to August of 2022 for this post as I continue to work towards catching up!), we assumed our holiday travels were done for the summer as restrictions and limitations due to the pandemic were still pretty prevalent. But then, with a few weeks left before we had to be back at school, another province opened up to travelers from Shanghai. A new part of China I’d not seen and an opportunity for a few more days out exploring?? We booked the 5-day trip with a tour company we loved using, and headed out to . . . Ningxia!

宁夏 Ningxia, or, more accurately, the 宁夏回族自治区 نِئٍ‌ثِيَا خُوِزُو زِجِ‌کِیُوِ Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, is located in what China considers the northwestern region of the country (though, if you look at the map above, it feels pretty central to me). As I’ve mentioned before, China has five autonomous regions: areas with a large population or significant history of an ethnic minority. Though they do not have the legal right to secede, they are allowed their own local government and a greater degree of legislative rights. (This trip to Ningxia would bring me to my fourth of the five autonomous regions – I’ve seen Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, and now Ningxia; once I get to Tibet I’ll have been to all five!) Ningxia is the smallest of the autonomous regions, with a population of around 6 million, and yet 20% of China’s Hui population lives in Ningxia! This relatively-dry desert region served as a trading point on the ancient Silk Road, connecting China’s central and northwestern regions, and later primarily focused on animal agriculture before diving into its new specialty: winemaking.

Additionally, Ningxia is the home to some really incredible history within China; the earliest human activity in Ningxia can be traced back to 30,000 years ago! Ningxia was also a major hub for trade and transportation during the Tang and Han Dynasties (206 BC – 907 AD) and was the core area for the great Western Xia Dynasty from the 11th to the 13th century, ruling over northwestern China at the time. It can be pretty overwhelming, honestly, to travel around and learn about different areas in China just trying to comprehend the depth of history in some of these places. Trying to keep up a mental timeline that spans so much further than anything my little United-States-trained brain can even begin to imagine has been both mind-boggling and awe-inspiring. So, knowing very little about this part of the country we’d never even heard of, Michael and I set off to learn and explore!

We flew into 银川市 Yinchuan, which means “silver river,” where we’d be staying as a home base during our trip. Located on the Yellow River, Yinchuan is the capital of Ningxia and is a significant spot for Chinese Muslims as the capital of the Hui autonomous region. Every other year, Yinchuan hosts the China-Arab States Expo which serves as a platform for sharing opportunities and strengthening economic and trade ties between over 30 Chinese and Arab countries. Yinchuan has served as an important site during many historical periods, throughout multiple centuries and dynasties. Just to attempt to put the expansiveness of the history of this place into your own mental timeline: Yinchuan is home to China’s earliest Paleolithic site, with evidence from inhabitance over 30,000 years ago in the Old Stone Age. That is . . . incredibly hard to comprehend and also so cool. We’ll be moving in and out of various dynasties and moments in history throughout these next few blogs, so try to keep that mental timeline up and working, and I’ll do my best to put everything into context!

Without any major plans for our first day there, Michael and I did what we do best: went exploring for new local foods to try! We found a street near our hotel with a bunch of food stalls, and our favorite thing we tried was an amazingly crispy “golden beef patty.” (I have tried and tried to find the Chinese name for it, but I’m coming up empty!) It was like a juicy yummy beef patty, but then instead of just fried dough around it, it was almost as though it was wrapped in like…fried spaghetti noodles. Or the dough had been pulled into long thin strips before being wrapped around the beef? Either way, it was fantastic. After wandering around Yinchuan familiarizing ourselves with the city, we stopped at a restaurant our guide had recommended as a place to get some Ningxia classics for dinner. There, we were able to try 手抓羊肉 hand-grabbed mutton, a famous local dish with a history going back a thousand years. A traditional flavor of the Hui people, this dish is made with sheep ribs that have been stewed for a long time, until the meat is incredibly tender and fragrant, then dipped into a sauce before eating. Michael absolutely loved the mutton, and we enjoyed getting to try something so traditional on our first day there!

The next day, we prepared for a long, full day of history and culture (in probably 100 degree heat). First, we started by heading into the 贺兰山 Helan Mountain, an important geographical boundary between Ningxia and Inner Mongolia. The highest mountain range in the region, Helan provided a barrier against sands and desert winds as well as invaders, helping to provide Ningxia with the nickname of the “Oasis Beyond the Great Wall.” Many of China’s early northern nomadic tribes lived among these mountains, leading to much of the cultural significance nowadays.

Our first stop was to go and see the 贺兰山岩画 Rock Paintings of Helan Mountain. These petroglyphs, created by removing the surface of the rock through picking or carving to form patterns or designs, were created between 3,000-10,000 years ago (put that on your mental timeline!) and provide a glimpse into the local people’s lives at that time. Images of animals, human figures, shaman masks, hunting tools, and more can be found etched into the stone in these 20,000 petroglyphs, offering a look at these early civilizations’ beliefs, customs, and daily lives. We walked through the mountain pass with our guide, looking at these incredible “rock paintings” from so many years ago.

One of the most famous petroglyphs in Helan Mountain is that of the Sun God; depicted with double ranged eyes, long eyelashes, and a halo representing the light of the sun, this petroglyph is believed to be one of the oldest in the area. It is carved significantly higher than the other rock paintings, closer to the sky and the sun it embodies.

It can be a really powerful thing, walking through these echoes of the past and thinking about all of the people that came before. Especially as an artist myself, there is something so intrinsic in creating these time capsules of culture, creating art to reflect the world around you, that really makes me feel connected to humanity across time. We have always told stories, we have always used art to make sense of our lives and communicate with others. Hopefully we always will.

After leaving the petroglyphs, we moved forward several thousand years on our mental timelines to the era of the Western Xia, or 西夏 Xixia Dynasty. The Xixia, also known as the Great Xia or the Tangut Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China from 1038-1227 AD that, at its peak, ruled over more than 800,000 square kilometers (about 310,000 square miles) of modern northwestern China. While in power, the Xixia made significant achievements in architecture, literature, art, and music as well as maintaining a key point on the Silk Road trade route. When the Xixia dynasty was annihilated by the Mongol troops of Genghis Khan in 1227, most of its written records and architecture were destroyed, and so little had been held onto from this dynasty. However, just outside of Yinchuan, which was the capital of the Xixia dynasty during its rule, there remain discoveries in the largest surviving Xixia relic site and the best-preserved historic cultural heritage representing the Tangut civilization.

We first visited the Xixia Museum to learn a bit more about the ancient Tanguts and take a look at pieces that have been uncovered in the past few decades: pottery, scrolls, sculptures, and more that provide glimpses into this nearly lost civilization.

The most significant discovery, made in 1972, was that of the nine imperial tombs of the Xixia dynasty. These emperors’ tomb complexes each have a similar layout, including an outer wall, two towers at the southern gate, watch towers at the four corners, and a few other inner pavilions. The tomb mounds were each made out of rammed earth and positioned in the northwestern section of the enclosure, which would then have been covered in bricks, decorative tiles, and sculptures.

Before going out to see the tombs in person, we looked at smaller models within the museum that depicted how the mausoleum would have looked during the time of the Xixia. As you can see, the emperors would not have actually been buried in the burial mound itself, but in an underground tomb below the tomb complex. (All of which have since been emptied, likely many of them during the Mongol invasion.)

After enjoying the history lesson within the beautifully air-conditioned museum, it was time to hop on the bus and head out to see the main attraction: the 西夏王陵 Western Xia Imperial Tombs. Nowadays, not much remains of the tomb complexes except for the rammed earth mounds which have lost their outer decorative coverings and now stand in the desert looking like giant beehives coming up from the ground. These “Pyramids of the East,” as they are sometimes referred to as, occupy an area of more than 50 square kilometers (19.3 square miles) with a layout patterned after the celestial bodies.

Though we could barely breathe in the sweltering heat, it was worth it to walk amongst these ancient wonders. In the one thousand years since these tombs were built, there have been countless torrential floods in the Helan Mountain area, and yet neither the preserved tombs nor burial objects were ever hit, causing many to believe these tombs have a mysterious miracle about them. It certainly felt both special and eery to walk through not only an area where many important people had been buried, but whose civilization had been completely wiped out and destroyed.

This is one of the most incredible parts about living in China; there are sites like this, with an incredible amount of history and cultural significance, everywhere. Many of them, such as these Xixia Imperial Tombs, that I’d never even heard of before. It is just so amazing, the degree to which my understanding of the world, of history, and of other cultures has expanded since living abroad and traveling, constantly seeking to learn more.

After sweating out every bit of moisture in our bodies, it only made sense to rehydrate while learning more about one of Ningxia’s newer endeavors: winemaking! Since the 1980s, Ningxia has been slowly working towards their wine production, especially in this region near the Helan Mountains. With over 200 active wineries in the region, the East Foothill of Helan Mountain was recently designated as China’s first and only wine appellation. Many boutique producers were started by Chinese winemakers who studied abroad in traditional wine regions such as Bordeaux, and today many of the wines coming out of this area hold their own against wines from those famous regions in international wine competitions. After a long day learning about so much history and culture, a winery tour and wine tasting was just what we needed!

We visited the renowned 西鴿酒莊 Xige Estate, known for being the winery with the most advanced winemaking equipment in China. Founded in 2017, Xige Estate is the first Chinese winery to pass the BRCGS international certification which offers the world’s highest quality standard. Since its establishment, Xige has already won more than 100 international awards for its premium wine from up to 2,300 hectares of vines at its 25,000 square meter winery. Basically – there’s some good wine coming out of here, and they have big plans moving forward to continue putting Ningxia on the map for wine!

After a tour of the winery, we sat down for a tasting of three of their wines. I am by no means a wine expert (so if you’re looking for those kinds of details about Ningxia, I’m sorry, but this is not the blog for you) but I will say that we really enjoyed the wines we tasted, and we left with a bottle of their Cabernet Gernischt for ourselves! (Which we still, two years later, have yet to open. We bought ourselves a fancy little wine fridge and have a few wines in there that we want to save for a special occasion!) Though this was the only winery we visited while in Ningxia, we would definitely be interested in doing what our wine-tasting companion was doing – visited Yinchuan just to hop from winery to winery, tasting wines!

After having spent much of our first few days in Ningxia in the Mesolithic period of 10,000 years ago (petroglyphs), the Xixia dynasty of 1,000 years ago (imperial tombs), and the wine-making period of the last 40 years, next we would time travel into another few dynasties to learn even more about this important region in Chinese history. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!

Summertime in Sanya 2: Return Visit

Hello again! It has been… a while. Unsurprisingly, I have once again fallen rather behind in keeping this blog updated with my travels and adventures while living abroad. (Turns out having a time-consuming job and chaotic brain chemicals will do that to you.) I’ve not posted in over a year, and am two years behind in trips. And I know that I could just jump forward in time and skip over a few trips, but A) my brain doesn’t work like that, and B) the whole point of my writing these was to share the cool things I’m learning, especially about the places that people might not have heard much about before. So… bear with me, and thank you for reading, and hopefully I will get back to these at a somewhat regular schedule. Maybe. Hopefully.

We last left off in July of 2022. After the nightmare that was the Shanghai lockdown during the pandemic, Michael and I were free(ish) for the summer and set out to travel to the few provinces who would actually let in people coming from Shanghai. After having toured around Guilin and Yangshuo (my last few posts), we headed down to somewhere warm and tropical where I had been the summer before: 三亚 Sanya! (As I’ve already written a few posts with a bit more context for Sanya, please feel free to go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 from my previous trip there for a more detailed background on most of the places I’ll mention in this blog! Saving time, catching up on blog posts, go go go! I can do this.)

For our first 5 days, we stayed in the area I had visited the summer before: 大东海 Dadonghai, one of the more popular tourist areas. When booking our hotel for Dadonghai, we were amazed to find an incredible deal: a room for $45 a night, with a view of the ocean?! What was the catch??! (After our first night there, the catch became ever so apparent: paper thin walls, and clientele who take advantage of the many nearby bars and clubs. The drunk people finally started going to bed around 4:00 am, only for the babies to wake up around 5:00. It was not our best week of sleep…) Even so, we had a rooftop pool, an under-5-minute walk to the beach, and were staying in a giant mall shaped like a pineapple – life was good.

In addition to wandering the boardwalk, sipping fun tropical cocktails (if it wasn’t a Blue Hawaiian or served out of a coconut, I was not interested), and desperately trying to slather on enough sunscreen to make it through the next week and a half, I wanted to make sure to bring Michael to one of the spots I’d enjoyed the year before: 鹿回头公园 Luhuitou Park. (See my previous Sanya post for more background info!) Though I’m still not convinced that the love story of the hunter and the deer-fairy is a romance we should aspire to – generally, I find fleeing in terror to not be a great start to a relationship – I always appreciate a local myth.

We hiked our way up and around the mountain park, enjoying the views from the top and the many nods to the origin story including the live deers you can feed and the big statue at the top of the park. After having been out in the sun for a few hours, we decided it was time for a little treat and bought ourselves some ice cream cones. Now, at just about any other park on a summer day, ice cream seems like an obvious good choice; in a tropical island in China, however, we had forgotten to take into account one very important aspect into consideration: the monkeys.

  • These are the smiles of two people who don’t realize they’re about to lose their ice cream cones.

You see, Sanya is an area of China where macaques make their home and, having been exposed to tourism quite frequently, these monkeys do not fear humans. (I don’t think they fear much, to be honest. They are little terrors. Cute little terrors, but terrors nonetheless.) And so on said hot summer day, the macaques ALSO thought that ice cream sounded like a nice treat and would stop at nothing to get it. As soon as we started the hike back down the mountain road with our ice cream cones, the monkey gangs surrounded us. And not like the “oh cute, look at all of the monkeys” type of surrounded us, the “there are 5 large, aggressive monkeys swiping at my legs” type of surrounded us. I had what can only be described as the Macaque Mob Boss come right up to me and make like he was going to lunge at me, the monkey equivalent of “You want to take this outside, bro?” as he kept lurching towards me and getting closer each time. But hey, his scare tactics worked; rather than wait to see if he would follow through with his threats, I decided I valued my fingers more than my ice cream and chucked the cone as far away from me as I could. My monkey gang took off after the cone, no longer interested in me. Michael held on longer, however – he was really excited about the ice cream cone and didn’t want to trash it. It did lead to this delightful video, though – it’s like Chris Pratt and the velociraptors, only it’s Michael and the macaques instead. (Shortly after I stopped recording, he too threw his ice cream cone away from him. It just was not meant to be…)

After our first few days in Dadonghai, we took a taxi up to a different beach for a night. We wanted to be able to see a few different parts of the island rather than spend all of our time in in the busiest part, and so we decided on a night in 亚龙湾 Yalong Bay. Yalong Bay sits on a crescent-shaped sandy beach about 7,000 meters long, and is known as being one of the most beautiful beaches in Sanya with its clear water, blue skies, and surrounding green hills. We were excited to explore these new (slightly less crowded) beaches, but before we could do that: food adventure.

A brief note about division of labor: as Michael and I travel together fairly frequently, we’ve worked to figure out how to split up who is responsible for what on each trip. Being the obsessive control freak that I am, I tend to take on much of the activity planning because I enjoy deep diving into itineraries and looking for fun things to do and destinations within a place. (I also regularly have at least 8 tabs open on my laptop at a time. This may or may not be related.) But something in Michael’s domain is deciding on restaurants. When we know where we’re going, Michael will go in and do the reading on any good restaurants in the area that we should visit, and figure out a plan. For our first night in Yalong Bay, Michael had done just that: found a restaurant, made a reservation, and kept any more information than that a surprise. Even as we were on our way to dinner, all he told me was that “it’s like a treehouse… I think.”

After a drive that took us away from the beach and up into the tropical forest surrounding Yalong Bay, our taxi dropped us off at a resort named Yalong Bay Earthly Paradise Bird’s Nest Resort. After waiting in the lobby for a bit, a golf cart arrived to bring us even further up, up, up into the rainforest until we reached the very top of the mountain.

Finally, we arrived at 海阔天空泰餐厅 Haikuotiankong Thai Restaurant, and were led out to our open-air table overlooking the tropical rainforest and the views of Yalong Bay below. With panoramic views of the surrounding area, it really did feel like the restaurant was in its own little treehouse or bird’s best at the very top of the forest. Not only were we able to enjoy the beautiful scenery while we watched the sun set, but the Thai food was absolutely fantastic. We ordered Tom Kha Gai, spring rolls, and noodles, but the real treat was the crab and yellow curry. It was mouthwateringly good. A+ on the restaurant find, Michael. If we ever go back to Sanya again, I would absolutely return here.

The next morning, though we only had a few hours before checking out and heading off to our final Sanya destination, we wanted to go out and see the beach that Yalong Bay is famous for. While we were met with a lot of construction – not quite the beautiful, peaceful views we were anticipating – we still found a little patch of sand we could lounge in for a while. (To be clear – I lounged in the sand. Michael tucked himself up under a beach umbrella to read his book. Our bodies can handle sun differently in that I can be out in the sun for more than 5 minutes without burning and Michael instantly turns into a lobster. Hence, we religiously carry sunscreen around with us.)

Next, we headed off to our final destination: 海棠湾 Haitang Bay. Being a bit further out from the central hub of Sanya, the beaches in Haitang Bay are typically quieter and cleaner than the others, and home to multiple resorts with various activities and attractions. As we were very much still in the throws of “we survived an awful and traumatic pandemic lockdown, we deserve a break,” we booked a few nights at the InterContinental for some adventuring and some relaxing. As someone who specifically books hotel rooms based on their bathtubs (I am what I am, and I am not ashamed) I was thrilled that our delightfully large bathtub was located on a covered outdoor balcony with a clear view of the ocean just beyond. One of the very best hotel bathtubs – good job, InterContinental.

Our second day, I wanted to bring Michael to another park I’d been to the summer before, so we hopped in a taxi and headed out to spend a few hours at the 呀诺达 Yanoda Rainforest Park. In addition to all of the usual Chinese tourist gimmicks like glass bridges, big swings, zip lines, and cute selfie spots, here there are all kinds of hiking paths through the rainforest where you can just breathe the fresh air and enjoy being lost in these giant trees and draping vines. A special highlight that we especially enjoyed was the aviary; after paying to bring in some food for the birds, we soon had all sorts of little friends climbing all over us. It was maybe the greatest thing I’ve ever done.

The next day, we pretended to be fancy and hopped over to the Atlantis resort. (Our “being fancy” actually just looked like us buying tickets for the waterpark and the aquarium, but still.) As we were in the aquarium, we were notified by the travel organization we were in touch with for the trip we were supposed to be going on next that the trip had to be cancelled due to Covid outbreaks in the destination. We sat staring at the beluga whales trying to find a way that we could justify still heading down to the next province, but given what we had just gone through with the lockdown, did not want to risk getting infected and being put into a quarantine camp. (Things were scary here in China, y’all. I know we’re a few years out and it all feels like a bad dream, but it was really bad here for a while.) We cancelled our next flight to Guangxi, and booked a return trip to Shanghai instead.

To console ourselves on having to cancel our we are finally free of Covid lockdowns trip early due to more Covid lockdowns, we went in to grab drinks at the Atlantis hotel bar before our dinner reservation. Now here we are, thinking this is a pretty fancy hotel with a pretty fancy bar menu, right? Michael orders a Manhattan, and I ordered a yummy mocktail with some kind of soda water/mint/fruit/simple syrup concoction – nothing too crazy. What arrives, very proudly, is a small bit of whiskey doused in soda water (Michael’s Manhattan) and some kind of iced coffee/strawberry ice cream assortment (my… mocktail). I pulled the menu back out to confirm with our bartender whether I had received the drink I ordered, pointing to it and going over some of the ingredients, to which the bartender replied “Yep, this is it! I made it myself, and it’s my own recipe!” She was so sweet and proud of it, who was I to tell her it was wrong? Michael very kindly switched drinks with me (as I don’t drink coffee) and we carried on with our happy hour. If I have learned anything from traveling, sometimes it’s just best to go with the flow and be ready to bounce.

For dinner that night, Michael had also made a reservation ahead of time for Bread Street Kitchen and Bar, Gordon Ramsay’s only restaurant in China at the time! (There is now also one here in Shanghai.) Though I’ve never seen his show, Michael was very excited to eat here and insisted we absolutely had to order the Beef Wellington. (This is a thing? Gordon Ramsay’s Beef Wellington? I do not entirely know, but if someone tells me this is the thing we are supposed to order, who am I to argue?) Michael’s reaction upon taking his first bite: “Pure bliss.” I have to agree – it was incredible.

After our meal, I was surprised when the servers brought out a small birthday dessert to our table. As my birthday is in April, and Michael’s in October, we were not technically celebrating either of our birthdays here in July; but since I had spent my 30th birthday alone locked down in my apartment, Michael wanted to make sure we were still able to go out for a fancy meal to celebrate. And I will always accept a belated birthday dessert!

As we packed everything up to prepare to head back to Shanghai, we looked back on the wonderful week and a half we’d been able to spend down in Sanya. Between beautiful sandy beaches and awesome rainforest adventures, Hainan really has a lot to offer. And while I know that for most people reading this blog, there are probably tropical islands much closer and more accessible for you to reach, if you ever find yourself in China and wanting beach vacation vibes: Sanya really has a lot to offer, and so many things to do. We are, as always, thankful for this incredible, incredible life we lead.

Thanks again for jumping back in after my yearlong absence, and stick with me – more coming soon!

Yangshuo, From Below

(To no one’s surprise, it’s been nearly two months since I’ve last posted and I am approximately 10 months and 20+ blogs behind schedule. Thank you for your patience and I promise I have so many amazing things to share with you, it’ll just take me a while to get them all out there! Also, hello to all of my middle school students who have found my website and were shocked to discover I am a real person with a real life who doesn’t just live at the school 24/7.)

After a thrilling first day exploring Yangshuo from up on top of the karst mountains, for our second day we set out to explore Yangshuo from the ground in one of the popular activities – biking! Our guide Evelyn helped us rent bikes, then we set off to ride through the villages and along the Li River.

Initially, we were also supposed to be able to ride the bamboo rafts along the Li River – another popular tourist activity in Yangshuo – but because it had been so rainy this season, the river was flooded. The waters were too high and too strong for any rafting (which was a shame, I hear it’s lovely… guess we’ll just have to go back!) so we decided to just keep biking around instead!

We rode over to see the Big Banyan Tree, a 1,400 year old tree that was planted here in Yangshuo during the Sui Dynasty (581-618). After growing here for over a thousand years, the tree is now about 17 meters/56 feet tall with a circumference of 7 meters/23 feet – it’s HUGE! The Big Banyan Tree spans out like a giant green umbrella, its roots twisting and turning below.

Apparently this tree was featured in a romantic scene in a 1960s Chinese film adaptation of the myth of 刘三姐 Third Sister Liu; in the film, under this banyan tree the main character 刘三姐 Liu San Jie (the “Goddess of Songs” in the Zhuang minority) sings a love song with 阿牛哥 The A’niu, then throws him an embroidered silk ball – he catches the ball, and their love (and engagement!) is confirmed. This act of throwing an embroidered ball is a traditional custom in this region; women stitch handmade 绣球 xiuqiu, or silk decorative balls, for the Zhuang Nationality Song Festival. During the festival (inspired by the story of 刘三姐 Liu San Jie) young girls sing call-and-response songs to which the boys must sing back their responses. If a girl decides that she likes a boy after hearing his responses, she throws him her xiuqiu; if he returns the feelings, he attaches a small gift and throws the ball back to her. They are then considered a match. (I’ve included a picture of a xiuqiu a bit further down in the blog!)

Because this famous scene was filmed here, many lovers now come to the Big Banyan Tree to wish that their relationship will be a long and happy one. According to some, couples who make wishes under the tree will have their dreams come true.

We continued biking throughout Yangshuo and marveling at all of the beauty of the area. Pictures truly can’t capture it; even with cloudy/muddy days like we had while there, it is one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in China.

To finish out our bike ride, we rode out to see the famous 月亮山 Moon Hill, considered to be one of the icons of Yangshuo. Though we weren’t able to get up to the top on this trip, there are a few hiking paths as well as some rock climbing routes that make it a popular destination when people visit Yangshuo. (Evelyn tried coaching us into a pose that made it look like we were holding the “moon” in our hands. We…were not the most successful. But we DID feature in the photographs of the 20-30 high schoolers that were delighted to see us trying.)

That evening, after having seen it while biking by earlier, we decided to visit the 桂林千古情 Guilin Romance Park. As I’ve written about before when I visited Sanya the previous summer, China has a variety of Romance Parks (at least 7, but there could be more) throughout the country that highlight (in a Disneyland kind of way) the local minority culture and feature a spectacular circus/dance show. They are ridiculous and I love them. Michael and I want to make punch cards and visit all of the Romance Parks.

  • I always love getting to see the traditional costumes!
  • This is a large example of the xiuqiu, the embroidered silk love balls!

The performance featured 5 local myths and legends, each with their own songs, dances, and circus performances. Aerial silks, contortionists, local dances, stage combat – these shows are incredibly demanding and the performers are FANTASTIC. (I’m pretty sure they all go to a specific training program – it’s all very Cirque du Soleil.) The big thing about the Romance shows that Michael and I just love is how heavily they rely on spectacle.

If you are a theatre goer, especially if you’ve ever seen any of those epic mega-musicals from the 1980s, you understand spectacle. A chandelier crashing to the stage in Phantom of the Opera, a helicopter flying down in Miss Saigon, the battle on the barricade in Les Miserables… you know the type. China LOVES spectacle, and so, without fail, these Romance shows always feature at least one thing that is specifically included to wow the audience. For the Guilin Romance show, it was….noodles. Lots and lots of noodles.

Allow me to explain. Guilin (and, thus, Yangshuo) is FAMOUS for its rice noodles. (And with good reason, they are fantastic.) So, when we reached the third story in the show, from what we could gather (the shows are all in Mandarin so we’re working mostly with context clues): there was a woman who had to send her son/husband (unclear) off to the war. She was sad about it. The war was rough. Her son/husband died? Everyone was sad. And then there were all of these soldiers who were…smuggling big bags of something past the enemies? (They literally zip-lined their way onto the stage running horizontally on the walls of the theatre, Michael giggled aloud he was so excited.) Maybe they were bags of rice? And then we see the woman in her kitchen kneading dough, and epic triumphant music starts playing, and suddenly a sky full of noodles sweeps across the entire theatre making its way to the stage. I wish I could say I was exaggerating, but I am very much not. And then everyone was happy, probably because they now had noodles. So we assume this story had something to do with…bringing the noodles to Guilin? Or coming up with the recipe for the rice noodles? Or cheering up the troops with starchy carbs? Either way, we were delighted. Who needs a chandelier when you have THOUSANDS OF NOODLES?!

The Lord of the Noodles

But hands down my FAVORITE thing we saw at the Guilin Romance Park was the incredible 变脸 Bian Lian “Face Changing” performance. Though this style of performance originates in the Sichuan province rather than the Guangxi province, I was not complaining – it is completely and utterly magical. One performer, dressed in an elaborate and colorful costume, has multiple silk masks all representing different characters or moods. As the performer goes about his movement, he changes his face in a split second. (No, seriously. It’s unreal.) This ancient Chinese art form is a secret that is incredibly well protected, and the knowledge of how to do it is taught in a special school and often passed down from generation to generation. Please click on the video below and watch it. I was speechless. It is AMAZING.

Bian Lian

After our time at the Guilin Romance Park, we headed back for one last night out in Yangshuo’s West Street. (These pictures are misleading – an hour later, everything was PACKED with people.) We tried some street food, purchased some small gifts and souvenirs, and settled down for dinner with live music while appreciating the atmosphere of West Street. As I said in my last post, it really reminds me of being in New Orleans – music, food, dancing, and contagious joy.

The main thing we learned from our time in Guilin and Yangshuo was that we absolutely wanted to return. Though I’ve seen many, many incredible places throughout China, this one truly is in the top few. Though we were sad to be leaving the Guangxi province, our summer adventures were not over yet…

Yangshuo, From Above

(Click here to read the first part of this trip!)

After our first few days in Guilin, we couldn’t imagine finding anywhere more beautiful. And yet, as is a common saying here in China, Guilin may be the most beautiful natural scenery in the world, but Yangshuo is the most beautiful part of Guilin. So when we packed up our bags and hopped in the van for the hour drive, I couldn’t wait to see what we were about to step into.

阳朔 Yángshuò is a county of Guilin, almost like a suburb outside of the city. The name Yangshuo combines the words “阳 yang” – from the Taoist yin-yang, symbolizing heaven, light, strength, and masculinity – and “朔 shuo,” which means “new moon.” Thus, day or night, Yangshuo is one of the brightest places on Earth. Known for its stunning natural karst scenery, this town has a history dating back over 1,000 years. In the 1980s, Lonely Planet featured it as a backpacker’s destination, and it has since become one of the most popular tourist destinations in China. Even if you’ve never been to China, you may have seen Yangshuo’s iconic karst mountains before. For my nerds out there, Yangshuo was one of the the primary background filming locations for Kashyyyk in Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. Just take a look at those Wookiees enjoying the beautiful views!

After all of the rainy, cloudy weather we’d been getting in Guilin, I’ll admit that I was worried as we drove to Yangshuo; these karst mountains are iconic and had been recommended to me from the beginning of my time here in China. What if when we visited it would be too cloudy for me to see any of them? I didn’t want to let on to my partner or our guide, but I was so worried I would be disappointed. Never fear; I was anything but.

As the drive went on, slowly, one by one, karst mountains started to come into view along the road. At first, I would squeeze Michael’s hand each time I saw one to make sure he didn’t miss it. Soon, there were too many to count.

Even before checking into our hotel, we went on our first short hike to take in the scenery. 相公山 Xiànggōng Shān, or “Prime Minister Hill/Mountain” due to its shape of a man wearing a hat and cloak of feudal China, has not always been a popular sightseeing destination; however, after a local photographer won the bronze medal in the 10th Annual International Photography Exhibition with a photo from this lookout spot, it became a site where everyone wants to bring their cameras and see the view for themselves. After only a 15 minute hike to the top of the viewing platform (which, admittedly, after a 2-month lockdown of not leaving the house, was not as easy as it should have been) we were in awe of the amazing view surrounding us. Even with all of the clouds, it was one of the most breathtaking, otherworldly sights I’d ever seen.

So why does the landscape look like this? What is karst anyways?

Well, from what I can gather, wrap my non-scientific brain around, and summarize easily: Karst is an area of land made up of limestone. Limestone is a sedimentary rock primarily made up of calcium carbonate formed under the sea from the remains of organic matter like seashells and plants. Rainwater gradually wears away at the limestone (over millions and millions of years), and so there are many karst landscapes in tropical southeast Asia (like Thailand!) and subtropical southern China (like here!) where there are high levels of rainfall. Additionally, karst landscapes are famous for their cave systems, such as the Reed Flute Cave we’d just seen in my previous blog! So basically — all of this used to be underwater, and the top of the mountains (or thereabouts) was where the seafloor was. Then, after millions of years and lots of rainfall (and a bunch of chemistry equations having to do with carbon that only half stick in my brain), these karst mountains are what remains!

If Xianggong Hill was a taste of what we’d be experiencing for the next few days, we were absolutely thrilled.

Following our first little hike, our brilliant guide Evelyn brought us to a small restaurant with a view of another iconic Yangshuo landmark: 月亮山 Yuèliàng Shān, or Moon Hill. See the hole at the top that’s shaped like a moon?

  • Moon Hill
  • This is the summer I made it my mission to drink as many coconuts as possible.

Whenever we’re dining in a local restaurant, we usually ask our guide or server for what they recommend; we would always prefer to try local recommendations and get a real taste of where we’re traveling. (Plus, we wouldn’t even know where to begin when choosing otherwise!) Luckily for me, Michael will eat anything; I can have a bite of whatever we’ve got and if it’s too meat-y for me, Michael will eat the rest!

Our guide Evelyn was friends with the owner of the restaurant, a middle-aged woman who came over knowing exactly what she wanted us to order and wasn’t going to take no for an answer: “Beer One-Bone Fish.” As it was the most expensive dish on the menu, we weren’t really sure if that was what we wanted – especially because I’m not a seafood eater. But no matter what else we pointed to, even after we’d put in orders for a few bamboo dishes — “And Beer One-Bone Fish. Only one bone! Very good! Beer One-Bone Fish!” After several minutes of a back and forth on this, we decided we may as well at least try this dish that the owner recommended. When the food came out, we were glad we had ordered as much as we did – everything was amazing!

(For what it’s worth: as I write this 8 months and many trips after our time in Yangshuo, to this day Michael still insists Beer One-Bone Fish is one of his favorite dishes he’s had in all of China. That woman knew what she was talking about!)

  • A delicious bamboo dish
  • Beer One-Bone Fish

After our delicious lunch, we headed for what was probably my favorite experience of the entire trip. 如意峯索道景區 Ruyi Peak Scenic Area is an adventure tourist attraction that gives you the opportunity to experience the karst scenery from above in a variety of different ways. Naturally, I was thrilled and delighted. (Michael, who you may remember has a terrible fear of heights, was less so.)

After purchasing our entry tickets, in order to get up to the tourist zone we got to take a cable car up and over a few of the mountains. These things are taller than they look from the ground, and going through them truly felt like flying through another world.

When the cable car dropped us off at the top of the first mountain, we were able to get a good look at what was in store for us: a footbridge, a glass walkway, a glass plank road, some sightseeing platforms… here we go! For you to fully visualize this scene, we have: one Madie, very excited, taking lots of pictures, ooh-ing and ahh-ing; one Michael, doing his best to disassociate completely, deathgrip on Madie’s hand, looking at his feet on the ground in front of him; and one Evelyn, bopping along because she has done this a million times and is excited to share it with us. We made quite a team.

After hiking along the side of one of the mountains, our first stop was the bridge. (Take a look in the picture above. See the long, straight one way high up? That one.)

When I asked Michael if he’d like to write a paragraph about this portion of the day, he told me to write, and I quote: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Though whether that’s because he doesn’t want to relive it or has completely blacked it out is unclear. (I’ll get him to write something for a blog one of these days…) So:

When we approached the bridge, it became clear just how high and just how long this bridge was. Looking it up afterwards, I think it’s 58 meters/190 feet high and 148 meters/486 feet across; you’re quite literally walking from one mountain to the next, this bridge is no joke! But when you can’t go over it, can’t go under it, can’t go around it, you have to go through it; so we grabbed onto each other and carefully started to make our way across the bridge.

The thing about bridges like these, if you’ve never crossed one, is that you can never really prepare yourself for the wind that hits as soon as you’re out in the open. You can be feeling just fine and then WHOOSH, everything feels a bit more… exposed? Vulnerable? But step by step, we pushed on. I am fairly certain that Michael was chanting some sort of Buddhist prayer as we went along, trying to keep his mind occupied. But we made it across. And then, like the loving and supportive girlfriend I am, I made him go stand back out on the bridge so I could get a picture. (Worth it!)

As I’ve said before, I only write about Michael’s desperate fear of heights because he has given me the green light to do so. I know there are plenty of men out there who would either not admit to or try to hide something like that because they think it makes them seem less… manly? As though having fears is a weakness or character flaw? I am proud to have a partner who will not only tell me when he’s afraid, but will push through so that we can have these experiences together. I will always be happy to hold his hand and guide him across bridges, just as he will help me face my anxieties and fears in turn. (And also…thank you/sorry to Michael for all of these adrenaline-junkie China trips I keep taking us to!)

After crossing the bridge, we hiked our way up to the top of Ruyi peak – the highest peak in Yangshuo! The term 如意 Ruyi has a very long history in China, but boils down to mean something very simple: “as you wish.” According to the sign at the scenic spot, ruyi is “the most sincere voice deep down in our hearts, bringing good luck of getting what you want, and success in our health, studies, life, and career.” There’s a kind of poetry in that – the epic journey to climb the tallest mountain, in the midst of a sea of this beautiful alien landscape, to find the voice deep down in our hearts and hope it will help us reach our wishes.

As with many of these beautiful scenic spots, people can buy ribbons or flags for good luck, blowing in the wind and carrying those good wishes along. I always love seeing these, thinking of all of the people who have come to this spot and hoped for something, wished for something, prayed for something. Especially as they blow in the wind, I can’t help but think of all of that hope, that positive energy, spreading out to all who the wind touches. As you wish, indeed.

As we continued on through the park, it felt like at every turn we were met with an even more incredible view. I wish the pictures could capture just how gorgeous it was. This is one of those places I’ve only heard about from those who are living in China but would absolutely recommend for anyone coming to visit – it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

We continued on to not only a glass bridge (they’re everywhere over here) but a glass ridge walk as well — basically, a small glass walkway along the edge of a cliff hanging off the side of the mountain. Yes, they are incredibly safe and secure. But still, definitely not for the faint of heart – that’s a LONG way down!

Though definitely one of the more adrenaline-pumping days we’ve had, this experience at the Ruyi Peak Scenic Area is absolutely one of the highlights from my entire time in China thus far. We both were completely blown away.

With more wobbly legs than we’d started the day with, we rode the cable car back down to head off to the next part of our adventure. (Check out Evelyn giggling at Michael’s sigh of relief at nearing solid ground again!)

After checking in to our adorable hotel (that had absolutely no air conditioning working which, in a China summer night, meant that I slept very little, but I digress…) we went out to wander through the famous Yangshuo West Street. One of the oldest streets in Yangshuo, with a history going back over 1,400 years, West Street has now become a hub for handicrafts, shops, cafes, pubs, and every kind of street food you could ever want. Since the 80s it has been a popular spot for tourists to visit, earning a reputation as a foreigner street where people of all cultures can mingle. As we walked along the S-shaped street, it almost felt like being in New Orleans – live music was streaming out from all of the open doorways, and everywhere you looked was either a beautiful souvenir or delicious treat waiting to be scooped up.

Our first day in Yangshuo truly could not have been more perfect, and we could not wait to spend more time in what was fast becoming our new favorite place in China.

Guilin: By Water, By Mountains, Most Lovely

After a 65-day lockdown that took our spring away from us, my boyfriend and I were very anxious to get out of Shanghai and do some traveling over the summer. As you can probably assume, if you have not yet witnessed the madness yourself, I am the master of hypothetical itineraries. Before Lockdown (B.L.?), I had put together a truly epic 2-month summer travel adventure that would have us visiting Xi’an, Qinghai, Gansu, Guizhou, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yangshuo, Beijing, Zhangjiajie… Once June hit and it was clear that summer travel was still not going to be fully back to normal, I had to reevaluate. While most provinces’ borders were closed, or others were closed specifically to those coming from Shanghai, it became a game of Who Will Let Us In (Please Please Please Someone, Anyone, Let Us In). As we reached the final few weeks of online teaching for the year (our school year doesn’t finish up until the end of June) there was a tiny spark of hope – Hainan and Guangxi were both open for visitors. In the span of maybe 12 reckless hours, Michael and I reached out to the travel companies we’d been in contact with and booked our trips: a 5-day tour of Guilin/Yangshuo, a 7-day tour of the Detian Waterfall and southern Guangxi, and some time down in Sanya in between the two trips. I’m pretty sure we finalized all of our flights and trip deposits 3 days before we were supposed to leave? I guess you could say we were a bit desperate. But (please please please please) we had a plan, and a summer of travel ahead of us!

On the way to the airport, with backpacks packed for 4 weeks.

For our Guilin tour, we were signed up to be going with Joy Travel – a company neither of us had used before. Though we had originally signed up for a group tour, as we’d done in the past, the 3 other people who were supposed to be traveling with us were from Chengdu and were undergoing their own lockdown just before the trip was supposed to happen. Noooooo! We asked the company if there was any way the trip could still happen (please please please!) and we were able to, with a bit higher price, organize a private tour following the same itinerary we had signed up for. Though we felt a bit silly and bougie at first (you must remember, we both spent our 20s living paycheck to paycheck as broke theatre artists – the concept of a private tour was very foreign to us) we were willing to do whatever was needed. Whatever it takes. (Thanks, Captain America.)

Getting out of Shanghai felt WILD. We anticipated higher security and health checks every few steps, but it still felt like we were doing something we weren’t supposed to be doing. With each step, we kept waiting for them to turn us around and send us home; especially when we reached the airport. As foreigners, or 老外 laowai, as we hear just about everywhere we go, there’s always a bit more suspicion present when we’re checking in through flights. Are you coming from abroad? Have you been abroad in the past 14 days? What about the past 40? When was your last entry into China? Are you sure? Are you really sure? Where is your entry stamp? Where is your visa? Can I see your health code? Can I see your negative test results? Okay, your travel code? Look dude, I’ve been here for nearly two years straight, I’ve been in lockdown same as you, now please just let me leave. After a (loooong) check-in process, we made our way through the eerily empty airport and waited in the heat (no air conditioning for fear of spreading the virus) for our flight. The whole time we were in the air, we were still mentally preparing ourselves for them to turn us away as soon as we landed when they saw we were from Shanghai. To our surprise and delight, they didn’t. We had made it to Guilin.

Located in the northern region of the 广西壮族自治区 Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which is in the south of China and borders both Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin, 桂林 Guilin is one of the most popular tourist destinations in all of China. Guilin (pronounced “gway-lin”) means “forest of sweet osmanthus,” and is is known for its gorgeous scenery and serene atmosphere. Epic karst mountains, sweeping rice terraces, and peaceful rivers – it’s like jumping into a fairytale. As the famous Chinese epithet says: 桂林山水甲天下 (By water, by mountains, most lovely, Guilin/Guilin’s scenery is the best among all under heaven). Since I first moved to Shanghai, people had been telling me I needed to travel here – now I was going to find out why.

After arriving and getting set up at our hotel the night before, we met up with our local private tour guide, Evelyn, who would be showing us around for the next few days. (Side note: we love Evelyn. We wanted to adopt her as our cool Chinese auntie and bring her with us on every trip from here on out. She was, to quote her Despicable Me-loving son, “brilliant.”) The first item on our itinerary would take us back in time over 180 million years ago: the Reed Flute Cave.

芦笛岩 Ludi Yan, or the Reed Flute Cave, has been a landmark and tourist attraction in Guilin for over 1,200 years. Within the cave, there are more than 70 ink inscriptions that can be dated back as far as 792 AD, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). However, it is believed that knowledge of the cave was forgotten and it remained left untouched for over a thousand years before it was rediscovered in the 1940s by a group of fleeing refugees. Reed Flute Cave (so named for the reeds growing around the mouth of the cave, which can be turned into flutes) was officially opened as a tourist attraction in 1962, and has since received millions of visitors (including former US Presidents Nixon and Carter!) to appreciate its beauty.

I will admit, when I saw this on the itinerary I was not particularly thrilled. I’ve seen caves before, quite a few actually, and they’re fine, but they’re just… caves. HELLO I WAS WRONG. I would like to live inside this cave with an army of Dwarves and our thriving underground society. I would like to host a Vampire Ball in this cave and float around in a dark velvet gown. I would like to get married in this cave and dance the night away under the stalactite chandelier with the music from the orchestra bouncing off the walls. This cave is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. Since we were on a private tour, Evelyn was able to get us in before the giant group of tourists that were waiting in the queue when we arrived. We were able to slowly walk through, gaping at this awe-inspiring natural masterpiece, without anyone else in sight. It truly felt like we were on another magical planet. Normally, I’m not a fan of the rainbow lights used to light up caves, but here it just worked. These pictures don’t even come close to capturing the magnificence, but, just LOOK.

  • A perfect reflection in the natural underground pool.
  • There was this VAST Great Hall within the cave – just incredible!
  • The Monkey King’s staff

We spent a few hours wandering through while Evelyn showed us the various named cave architecture: a lion, a mushroom, a snowman, Santa… Exploring the Reed Flute Cave was SUCH a great way to start our summer adventure; we couldn’t imagine that anything could possibly top this on our trip.

After we finished in the cave, we had a short walk to get back to our driver and van. As we walked, we got our first glimpse of some of the karst landscape that Guilin is famous for. The lush rounded mountains jut up from the ground, looking like trolls that have been frozen in place for centuries. I remember seeing these and being very excited — I wanted to make sure I got some pictures just in case I didn’t see anymore. Oh, silly Madison, just wait until you get to Yangshuo…

  • Our first karst mountain sighting!

Next, we headed to another iconic Guilin landmark: 象鼻山 Xiàngbí Shān, Elephant Trunk Hill. Similar to the Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Trunk Hill – named because it looks like a giant elephant drinking water from the river below – has been a tourist destination since the Tang Dynasty. The opening formed between the elephant’s body and trunk is known as the Water Moon Cave; at night, the cave and the reflection in the Li River below seem to form a “water moon,” which has been painted and written about by Chinese artists for centuries. Some of the inscriptions on the walls within the Water Moon Cave have dated back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Legend tells us that Elephant Trunk Hill is the embodiment of a God Elephant who was once the mount of the Emperor of Heaven. The elephant was injured in battle and separated from the Emperor; he found his way to Guilin where he could tend to his wounds. A kind, local couple took care of the Elephant and nursed him back to health. By that point, the Elephant had fallen in love with Guilin and wished to remain there rather than returning to Heaven with the Emperor. The Emperor bestowed a pagoda to help the Elephant protect the people of Guilin, and here the Elephant remains.

Sometimes when traveling, there are these iconic landmarks that come up in every guidebook, every blog you read, everyone’s recommendation. People have been coming to see this landmark for over 1,000 years, it is synonymous with this location. And yet… it was a bit underwhelming. Or, rather, the amount of people jam-packed in to a tOuRiSt pArK all scrambling to take pictures and buy postcards and sell keychains and hit the right pose in their TikTok video… it was a lot. I would have loved to learn about Elephant Trunk Hill and find it in a small, peaceful park. But that is no longer the experience. And, unfortunately, as more people are traveling, hearing about destinations on social media, and trying to be the next big travel influencer, this is the case with more and more of these famous tourist destinations. (I am not one to talk. Obviously I am writing a travel blog as well. I too am taking pictures. It’s a complicated situation.) I am glad that China has protected this landmark by making it an official tourist zone, with tickets for entry and guards ensuring its upkeep, but also… now it kind of feels like a theme park. Regardless, it was cool to see this unique piece of nature and history. (And then immediately try to push out of the crowd of people surrounding it.)

  • The famous Sun and Moon Pagodas on Fir Lake

Next, we were feeling hungry after a big day and ready to eat some dinner. We asked Evelyn for a recommendation and said we were not looking for anything fancy — we didn’t need an expensive restaurant with a fancy chef, we wanted to eat where the local people liked to eat. She knew just the place.

First, she brought us to a tiny little food cart for a quick (and DELICIOUS) bite: 糯米饭 Nuo Mi Fan, or Chinese savory sticky rice. They scooped sticky rice, chilies, sausage, garlic, greens, and possibly actual magic into a tiny little plastic bag then sent us on our way. We ate it right out of the bag, and this truly may be one of my favorite street food bites I’ve ever had. It was AMAZING.

Then, for dinner, Evelyn brought us into a tiny little restaurant that we would never have been able to find on our own. (We’re pretty sure she was friends with the owner – fine with us! A friend of Evelyn’s is a friend of ours!) We told her to order us whatever she liked, we trusted her recommendations. Soon after, we were given a bowl of wonton soup, 桂林米粉 Guilin Mǐfěn (rice noodles that Guilin is famous for), and what was described to us as “green bean soup.” Except that whatever you are picturing when you read “green bean soup” – I can assure you it is not that. 绿豆汤 Lùdòu tāng, or Green Bean Soup, is an incredibly popular sweet, cold, desert soup. Or, smoothie. Slushee. Something. Also known as Sweet Mung Bean Soup, it is a simple recipe made with mung beans, coconut milk, and palm sugar blended up with ice. And it was actually pretty good! Evelyn told us that everyone loves green bean soup – they have it almost every day, especially in the hot summer months. Traditional Chinese medicine has categorized mung beans as having a cooling effect on the body (“yin” energy), so Green Bean Soup is often used as a remedy to help clear toxins, reduce body heat, harmonize organs, nourish the skin, and calm nerves. Check that off as another really cool snack that I would probably never have even known to look for on my own!

  • Rice Noodles
  • Green Bean Soup!

The next day, we were headed off to see another of the famous Guilin attractions: the Longji Rice Terraces. A full day of outdoor fun! There was only one problem: it was raining. And forecasted to rain for the entire day. Ah well — adventure does not wait for a sunny day! We grabbed our raincoats and most rain-friendly clothes, borrowed an umbrella from our hotel’s front desk, and we were off! Our first stop before going in to the rice terraces was the Huangluo Yao Village.

  • This little dinosaur came out to greet me!

The Huangluo Yao Village has quite the claim to fame: it holds the Guinness World Record for World’s Longest Hair Village. The women in the Red Yao ethnic group cut their hair only twice in their entire life — once at 100 days old, then again on their 18th birthday. Their long hair symbolizes longevity and prosperity and has been measured to be between 1-1.7 meters (3.3-5.6 feet) long! Once they get married and have children, the women wear their hair twisted up on top of their head. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the women and their hair – it doesn’t feel right to take pictures of people and post them on my blog without their consent – but you can do a quick Google search and see for yourself!

  • Cooking Bamboo Rice and Bamboo Chicken

After wandering for a bit, we stopped to eat lunch before hiking up into the rice terraces. Once again, we asked Evelyn to order for us — we always want to try whatever the locals are eating! Sometimes this works in our favor, sometimes we leave a bit hungrier than we intended. For this meal, we were given another famous dish among the Zhuang ethnic people in this part of the country: Bamboo Rice! It’s basically exactly what it sounds like: sticky rice (and a little bit of meat and veggies) cooked inside a bamboo tube. It was excellent! We also ordered the big ticket item the restaurant was selling: Bamboo Chicken. This, I had a harder time with. China doesn’t do all of this “boneless, skinless chicken breast” that I grew accustomed to living in the States. In China, if you order a chicken, you get a whole chicken. Usually one that’s just kind of been chopped up and thrown into the dish, bones, skin, and all. So… I tried to find a few bites of some easy-to-access meat. Then let Michael take care of the rest.

  • Bamboo Rice
  • Bamboo Chicken

After lunch, it was time for us to head to the terraces. The 龙脊梯田 Longji Rice Terraces, or the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces, have a history of over 650 years. This unique farm engineering method has allowed for people to cultivate and harvest rice on Guilin’s mountains for centuries. They are called Longji/Dragon’s Backbone because, when sunlight sparkles in the water reflections, the terraces look as though they are dragon scales along the “backbone” of the mountain’s summit. The rice terraces are not only famous for this region, but one of those iconic images you think about when thinking of China.

We started our hike up the terraces in the pouring rain and surrounded by clouds. “Normally, you can see all the way down and it is very beautiful,” Evelyn assured us. We had to take her word for it. But we appreciated the little that we could see!

  • The view from one of the famous lookout spots…

When we reached the top of the mountain, we climbed up to the viewpoint to see… nothing. We were soaking wet and completely stuck in the clouds. (I had a similar experience when reaching the top of Table Mountain in South Africa. You can’t always get the postcard view, I suppose!) Luckily, between Michael, Evelyn, and I, we kept our spirits up and were able to laugh at the situation rather than get frustrated. Nothing you can do to stop the rain, so, might as well just laugh and enjoy it!

The “view” from the top.

On the walk back down, we were able to get a better view of some of the terraces. It’s incredible to think that these were all built by hand hundreds of years ago!

Though certainly not how I had initially wished our day at the Longji Rice Terraces had gone, we certainly had a memorable visit! At the end of the day, we were at least able to see some of the “dragon scales,” and that was worth it in and of itself.

To wrap up our very wet day, Evelyn suggested we go to one of her favorite restaurants – the local Irish Pub. (To be honest, the idea of french fries didn’t sound so bad after having spent a day out in the rain.) But, in typical Madison and Michael fashion, we couldn’t just order Western food… so we ordered another local delicacy: Li River snails! We thought they would just bring out a few. Instead, we got a whole plate. (Luckily, Evelyn helped us with the rest of the snails we didn’t finish. Okay, we each had maybe 2 snails and she ate the rest. We tried.) After an amazing few days in the city of Guilin, we went back to the hotel to pack up our bags and get ready for the next part of the trip…

Mid-snail chew.

Shanghai Lockdown 2022

As I assume many of you know if you are reading this blog, I moved to Shanghai in October of 2020. For the past few years, the pandemic has not affected my life TOO greatly. Sure, I haven’t been able to leave China, and we wear masks more frequently than my friends in the States have to, but life has felt more or less “normal” since I got here. (Just look at all of the amazing places I’ve traveled to and things I’ve gotten to do!) And then, well, spring of 2022 hit. For most of the world, the phrase “spring of 2022” does not strike fear, panic, and memories of endless cabbage into their very souls, but for those of us in Shanghai, we had a very different year…

This is an experience that I’ve gone back and forth on how to share. I think it’s important, before I begin, to say once again that I have loved living and traveling through China. I have learned so much, met so many amazing people, and had experiences that I will treasure for the rest of my life. As I’ve said before, my intentions with this blog have always been to cultivate an enthusiasm and curiosity in my readers, to share stories about a part of the world many have never been to and know little about. That being said, there were things going on here during lockdown that I think a vast majority of the world outside of Shanghai were not witness to; things that I think it is important to share. In a country where voices are often silenced, I do not want to also stay silent about what the experience was like. But I want to preface this by saying: I still live in Shanghai, and I will for at least a few more years. I still look forward to traveling around the country and learning about the amazing history and cultures here. The actions of one are not necessarily supported by all, no matter how much the media tries to convince you of that. This is not a chance for you to say “well WE would nEvEr do something like that here” – nope. Knock it off. I’ve seen just as much unbridled nationalism in the States as I have over here. People are people, everywhere, and the fact of the matter is: what the people of Shanghai experienced from March-June of 2022 created trauma whose ripples will be felt for years and years. I do not ask for your pity or righteousness; I ask for your attention and compassion.

Outside my building’s front door. “Locked Down Area.”

In early March, we all started getting the sense that things were getting a little weird. Our first sign that this might be bigger than the usual underlying COVID aversion was the second week of March, when our school let us know that we should no longer take public transportation or go out to restaurants/malls/public areas — the school would reimburse all taxi charges so that we would get to and from school coming into contact with the fewest number of people. A few days later, while at school, we were told that we would be undertaking a 14-day health observation as a campus. (We were not the only school to be doing this – it seemed as though everyone was, just some started a day earlier or later than we did.) This meant that the entire school – students, staff, admin, security staff, cafeteria workers, everyone – would need to receive NAT tests, on campus, multiple times throughout the 14 day period. After they announced this, we all were instructed to return to our homerooms with our homeroom classes and wait there until further notice. We would not be able to leave campus until all of the tests had come back negative.

At this point, we were feeling uneasy. We had heard of office buildings being locked down – workers forced to sleep on the floors of their cubicles, trying to clean up in shared office bathrooms, maybe getting a blanket or small pillow if they were lucky – and so it would not be unheard of for us to be stuck at school overnight with all 450 of our students. Luckily, around 7:30 pm, we were released and able to return home. The next day, I brought in a small extra bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a few extra pairs of underwear.

Due to the NAT testing schedule the school would have to comply with during our 14-day health observation, we knew that we would have to come in on Saturday for testing – just a few hours, test and then go home. On the Friday of that week, my friends and I were soaking in the beautiful weather and walking the few hours home when we received a text in our campus chat: when we were in for the testing the next day, we should instruct all of the students to clean out their lockers, and we were to bring everything home that we would need for online teaching. We’d had a few bouts of online teaching before, usually around big holiday travel times and only for 1-2 weeks, so this was not entirely unusual. I asked a colleague on the campus leadership team if we had an estimate on how long we’d be online so I knew how many online rehearsals we’d need to incorporate for our spring musical; he said they weren’t sure, but it would probably be until after spring break, the first week of April. At the time, I remember being shocked. (Oh, you sweet summer child…)

Though we were teaching online, life was more or less normal-ish. We didn’t go out to eat, didn’t really go OUT at all, but could go on walks, order food, work from home… not too bad. On March 17th, all of Shanghai was put into temporary quarantine, in phases, so they could mass test the entire city. Going one neighborhood to the next, neighborhoods were shut down and all of the residents tested — there wasn’t a lot of information coming out, but in group chats with friends from other parts of the city, it seemed like we all were locked in for 3-5 days or so. I was released on March 20th and biked over to Michael’s house to try to see him (this had probably been the longest we’d gone without seeing each other at that point…. sweet, sweet summer children…) but his compound was still locked up with guards at the front. The next day, on March 21st, he was released as well. A week later, on March 28th, it was announced that all of Shanghai would be going into a complete citywide lockdown from April 1st to April 5th. Not wanting to risk going out to a store, we sat down that night and ordered grocery delivery — the earliest date they could deliver was April 2nd, after the lockdown began. We assumed that would be okay – why else would it have been given as an option?

  • This is the last picture I took of the outside world before the lockdown. Michael and I like to declare interesting clothing we see on mannequins as our New Year’s Outfits. These were perfect.
    March 27.
  • Everyone else had been taking selfies with their at-home antigen tests from their compounds. I felt left out because I hadn’t gotten one yet. March 29.

Even though we could technically still go out and about that final week of March, Michael and I both made the decision to stay at our (separate) homes. We’d heard too many rumors of people getting locked down while out at a store, or getting stuck over at a friend’s house, and didn’t want to risk it. We assumed that we would each have to carry out the lockdown from our own houses; we were registered with the police under the addresses and thought they might use that registration information to carry out all of the testing. It’s only a few extra days, we thought. We can handle it, we’ll be back together on the 5th.

The night of March 31st, Lockdown Eve, we both felt incredibly uneasy. The energy just felt… weird. Running low on groceries until my delivery would arrive, I went to order dinner on my usual delivery app. Shanghai RUNS on deliveries, you can always order absolutely anything, anytime, anywhere. When I opened the app, almost everything was gone – only a few restaurants were open, with limited meals available. I tried ordering something and, after being delayed for over an hour, the order was cancelled. Pictures were popping up in my WeChat Moments (sort of like a social media newsfeed) of people out and celebrating one final night out before the lockdown. Michael and I, who had both been through various forms of pandemic quarantines in Sudan, the US, and China, felt sick to our stomachs. If people were all out partying now, inevitably spreading the virus even more, that didn’t bode well for these next few days…

  • For a brief time, we had an app where we could see if there were any positive cases near our addresses. This was what it liked like in Michael’s neighborhood.
    April 5.
  • Another app with COVID cases throughout China. I would obsessively check it daily, watching the numbers climb and feeling my stomach sinking.

Starting on April 1st, all compounds in Shanghai were completely shut down. Depending on the layout of the compound, we were all locked in through various means, with volunteer 大白 Dabais guarding the gates. Dabais, or “Big Whites” as they were nicknamed due to the white hazmat suits they wore, were stationed at every compound, responsible both for conducting the NAT tests and ensuring that no one came in or out. Michael and I called them Astronauts, because that’s what my anxiety-exhausted brain thought they looked like when I first encountered the suits on my flight from the States to Shanghai. Every few days, the Astronauts would either knock on my front door or shout into a loudspeaker, and we would all go down into the alley for testing. Other than to come out for testing, we were not allowed to open our front doors.

When the lockdown began, all deliveries were cut off completely. We had all been under the assumption that we would still be able to order food, that had been the impression that the lockdown announcement had given, but that was not the case — no one was to be allowed out of their homes, and that included to make or deliver food or water. The groceries that I had tried ordering almost a week earlier never came.

On April 5th, it was announced that the lockdown was indefinite.

The alleyway in my compound where I was tested. The only outside world I saw for over 2 months.
A sweet email I received from one of my Year 8 drama students. April 7.

In a further announcement, it was released that absolutely no deliveries of any kind were to be carried out, and that the government would provide food to all locked down households. Thus, every so often, there would be a knock at the door and an Astronaut would hand me a package of food. Sometimes it would include a real treat — an onion! Tomatoes! GARLIC!! Most of the time, the package would be some combination of bok choy and cabbage. On a good day, the greens were still edible. Some days, they’d arrive with fruit flies already in the bag.

I am not someone who especially enjoys cooking. (I have a boyfriend who likes to do that for me, thank the old gods and the new.) I am also not someone who has an incredibly healthy relationship with food – years of body image issues brought on by being a woman who hit puberty in the era of “heroin chic” and “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” So the idea of having no control over food – not knowing when it’s coming, not knowing what there will be, or if it will still be good, or how I can prepare it, or how long I need to make it last – was not great. My favorite go-to became throwing a bunch of vegetables together and making soup. (Michael, on the other hand, concocted homemade kimchi. So, you know. It takes all kinds.)

Water was even more a source of concern than food. You cannot drink the tap water in China – it’s filled with all sorts of contaminants, bacteria, metals, etc. Most people here in Shanghai order big jugs of bottled water and replace them every few weeks. But the government wasn’t sending water along with the cabbage, so pretty early on we all started to panic. I had a few big bottles that I was trying to make last, at times drinking only 1-2 glasses of water per day. Each day, I would have to decide if I wanted to drink the water or use a little of it to wash off the vegetables I was getting before I ate them. Deciding to splurge enough water to make a soup (which would at least get me eating) was a risky choice. People were all sharing tips and tricks how to boil water, collect the steam on a lid, and let that drip back into a second bowl, which you could then cool and bottle for drinking. I filled a few empty bottles with this home-brew drinking water and hoped for the best. Rumors spread of someone who “knew a guy” that was somehow not locked down and could get you water, but even then, you have to buy in bulk and it wasn’t a sure thing. Eventually, a colleague shared a contact from a company that sold water filtration devices who were miraculously able to deliver during the lockdown. It cost me nearly $500, but removing the anxiety of not having enough water to drink for an indefinite lockdown with no end in sight was worth it.

A little over a week after lockdown began, on April 9th, I had my 30th birthday. Because my birthday falls over spring break, we had originally planned on going to Tibet so I could hike up to Everest Base Camp to welcome my next decade. Instead, I spent my day completely alone locked up in my house. Thanks to modern technology, I was able to Zoom or FaceTime with my family and friends back home, who each called me for a birthday hang-in-there chat, and Michael and I pulled a classic “3-2-1, press play NOW” viewing of a travel documentary and Newsies. Not quite the birthday I had envisioned, but certainly a memorable one.

As time went on, the days all started to feel the same. I’d log on to teach my classes for a few hours a day, but then there was just endless nothingness. I am lucky enough to live in a pretty big apartment, so I could try to create some kind of normalcy: I would “commute” up the stairs to my craft loft where I kept my laptop for work. I would cook and eat in the hall, though after a few weeks of not being able to take the trash out, it wasn’t always the greatest place to hang out. My living room has lots of sunlight and my pole, so I’d head in there to read or work out. I tried to keep active, to do something with my time, but many days I couldn’t manage much more than moving from my bed to the couch.

  • My plants were delighted to have me home. Lots of new growth, which I was around to notice and appreciate.
  • Very thankful I had invested in an at-home pole – gave me a way to work out and move my body even when stuck at home.
  • Rainbow soup ingredients after a particularly exciting food drop.
  • I am someone who always needs to have something in my hands to play with and help me focus. This was the pile of “fiddle things” I kept on my bed during lockdown. I guess you could say I was a bit anxious.
  • Michael and I would try to cook the same recipes over FaceTime – early on, we were both able to make banana bread!
  • In the beginning, I tried to move my body at least once per day.
  • Pulling out those old Norwegian family recipes to introduce to Michael.

The days came and went. I remember hitting Day 15 and thinking it had been so long, now officially one day longer than the initial 14-day quarantine I’d gone through when I first entered the country. Around Day 40, our school PTA arranged for an amazing food drop for all of the teachers – not only did it include some beautiful fruits and veggies, but some truly amazing treats like CHEESE and CHOCOLATE and DISH SOAP and TOILET PAPER! Some grocery delivery companies had started to open up, sort of, but most of them only in Chinese — all of the apps targeted towards expats were still shut down. Each morning at 6:00 am, I would attempt to log on to the apps and translate enough to figure out how to order some basics. When one of the English language grocery apps did open up again, they had limited food boxes that they would release every so often — friends would all text each other as soon as the boxes were released in the hopes that you could beat out the other thousands of people trying and maybe get something other than bok choy for dinner that week.

Michael and I would typically spend anywhere from 3-8 hours on the phone each day. Sometimes just having the phone call on while both sitting and doing our own things. I think once I accidentally made him sit through an hour and a half of me singing the entire score of Jesus Christ Superstar to myself while I was cooking and doing dishes. One night we fell asleep with the phone call still open – he woke up and hung up the phone somewhere around 4:00 am.

  • On top of it all, the internet here is questionable at best. Trying to get a call to go through was challenging enough.
  • PTA food delivery. AKA the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
  • FaceTime Date Night!

Meanwhile, we were all receiving no information from the outside world. As you may know, internet censorship in China is more intense than possibly anywhere else in the world. If the government doesn’t want something to be up on the internet, it will be removed. Even with a VPN, sometimes either the VPN or the WiFi itself will just mysteriously not work. This meant that for all of us locked in our homes, we had no way of knowing what was really going on in the rest of the city. Pictures and stories would be posted on WeChat only to be removed. Videos of riots and arguments, people begging for more food, people in need of medical attention but not being allowed through their gates, people standing up against the Astronauts… they would briefly appear and then be wiped from the internet. Over the course of a few days sometime in May, my newsfeed was filled with videos of “Do You Hear The People Sing” from the musical Les Miserables. This song, which has been used as a protest song in Hong Kong for the past few years, has been banned in China – it is mysteriously missing from all of the cast albums on Chinese music sites. And yet here it was, being posted and removed, all across Chinese social media. “Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men. It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again. When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drum, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes.“

The only thing we would hear were stories through word of mouth, or videos that someone had managed to post on Instagram. A video of a corgi who had been beaten to death because it had tried to follow its owner as they were taken away into central quarantine. Astronauts breaking into people’s houses to take them away to a quarantine camp if they refused to go on their own. Children being separated from their parents in quarantine, without being told where the rest of their family was. Even more gates and locks going up, even though all of the announcements were telling us that things were getting better. No, that man wasn’t begging because he was starving and had no food, he was just drunk, it was a rumor. No, that door hadn’t been broken into to take someone away, it was actually the fire department because they locked themselves out without keys while going down for the NAT tests. No no, everything is fine, everything is working, we will achieve zero COVID, this is the way, just trust us. [Photos taken from @shanghaiobserved and @wulumeme.lu on Instagram.]

None of us had any idea if and when this would ever end. We weren’t afraid of the virus itself – there were hardly any deaths and a majority of the cases were asymptomatic – but of being dragged away to a camp. If someone tested positive, they could not simply wait it out in their homes as has been the case for my friends in the States. Testing positive (which would be public knowledge because of the mass testing every few days) would mean being taken to one of the massive quarantine facilities they had erected. Sometimes in schools, in gyms, in giant warehouses, they set up thousands of beds where those who had tested positive would be sent to keep them away from the rest of the population. For a while, we heard that even if you hadn’t tested positive but someone on your floor or in your building had, you too would be sent away, just in case. By this point, even the US Consulate had left us – they had evacuated and basically told us we were on our own, there was nothing they could do. [Photos of quarantine camps taken from Western media sources.]

With the weight of all of this going on, on TOP of everything it took just to go about daily life, AND trying to keep a brave face for my students, my mental health took a pretty rapid decline. As did everyone’s. Friends were having panic attacks, not eating, pacing their apartments for hours on end, unable to sleep…

What kept me going was the little contact I had with the outside world. FaceTimes with friends back home, family Quizzo nights on Zoom, endless hours on the phone with Michael, Netflix releasing an assortment of awful reality shows… Day by day, my Lockdown tally grew.

A photo my brother’s girlfriend Steph sent me from their home in Pittsburgh.

Towards the end of May, some complexes started opening up slightly within the compound area. Though we weren’t allowed out of the compound, it was still gated up, I could at least leave my front door and pace back and forth on the little street in front of my house. This was a HUGE help for my mental health. As soon as I would finish teaching, I would put on my tennis shoes, slather on some sunscreen, put on an audiobook and pace outside.

Until then, I had only been able to leave my house in 5 minute intervals for testing. One day for testing, it was raining slightly and I just started crying as I walked back into my apartment – the rain felt so good on my skin, and I just missed being outside. On my newly allowed compound walks, one of the first things that overwhelmed me was the smell of the trees. Small flowers blossoming and growing — I had forgotten that nature had a smell. Though my body would be completely exhausted after only walking 3,000 steps, I began to go out every day, thankful for this small blessing.

  • A very distinguished dog neighbor that I met on my walks.
    May 21.
  • Feeling the sun on my legs, having a shadow. Pure bliss.

As we reached the end of May, it seemed like we might maybe possibly hopefully be on the road to release. Some of my friends’ compounds were letting them out for one hour, one person per day, only within their neighborhood. Though I wasn’t having any such luck yet, there was a rumor that we would all be released on June 1st. We knew better than to get our hopes up (after all, this started as a five day lockdown that would end on April 5th, remember?) but at least it was something to hold on to hope for.

On May 30th, Michael was given a 2-hour freedom pass. He called me and immediately began to walk over to my house; luckily, he only lived a 15-minute walk away so even though we had been dating “long distance” for the past 2 and a half months, he was now within walking distance again. I made my way out to the locked gate in my compound that wasn’t guarded by Astronauts, and we saw each other for the first time in person since March. Unsurprisingly, I immediately started weeping. I’m sure we were putting on quite a show for my neighbors as we reached through the gate, trying to touch each other’s faces and hold each other’s hands. I don’t even care.

First time seeing each other again.
May 30.

The next day, May 31st, you could once again feel the energy in the air. Unlike Lockdown Eve, when the energy was eery, this time everything felt like the moment before you jump off of a diving board — ready to go, anxious and excited and hopeful. That afternoon, I went to take some trash out and go for a street walk in front of my house, as I had been doing daily for the past week. But this time, as I reached one edge of my street, the Astronaut at the gate gestured me over, and pointed to the street. I frantically typed into my translator app: 我们有空出去吗? Are we free to go out? He nodded. Without even going back in to my apartment to grab my keys, my backpack, anything, I left.

Michael and I both left our apartments at the same time to just meet up wherever we bumped into each other on the way. After a very long and tearful (on my end) hug, we went on a long walk though our city, refusing to let go of each other’s hands. It was eery walking around the streets, seeing all of the new testing booths that had been put up, buildings that had been abandoned and locked up for months. There was trash on the streets (which NEVER happens) and everyone was walking around looking slightly shell-shocked, like none of us could really believe this was happening.

We snuck Michael back in to my apartment that night; he was probably allowed, we were never told otherwise, but we avoided the Astronauts anyways, just in case. The next day, June 1st, the lockdown officially ended. After 65 days, we were free. Though no restaurants or businesses were allowed to open back up yet, we were free. It wasn’t quite the same energy as what I experienced in Philly the day after the Eagles won the Super Bowl, but it was pretty damn close. There were parties in the streets, bars that had been closed for months selling drinks out of their windows, happy reunions and drunken dancing everywhere you looked. Michael and I made our way to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and ordered tequila shots, margaritas, and tacos through the window to enjoy on the sidewalk with all of the others who’d had the same idea. (After this day, the rules very quickly changed and no one was allowed to congregate on sidewalks outside of bars anymore. But it was fun while it lasted.)

Since June, as I write this in October, the rules have relaxed but we are not yet completely out of the blue. There are NAT testing sites every few blocks; we must get tested at least once every 72 hours, and present our green health code (proof of negative test results) in order to enter any public space. We scan in to any building we enter for contact tracing. Though we are back on campus for school this year (so far… knock on wood…) we are required to do a campus-wide NAT test every single day before we go home. It’s become a part of our class schedule – 30 minutes to take your homeroom to get tested. Restaurants and shops have opened back up, but there are still restrictions and limitations – live music in restaurants is still a no go, KTV places have been shut down, only every other table in some restaurants can have guests, etc.

It’s odd, going about life now, because sometimes it feels like the lockdown never happened. And then you hear about someone’s compound being locked down for a few days for another round of mass testing, and a deep shiver will go down your spine. At brunch yesterday, my friends and I all panic-ordered some more toilet paper, water, and food essentials because the number of cases has started going up again. Sometimes it feels like you’re being gaslit by your own brain: look how amazing the food at this restaurant is, how could you possibly have been eating sad cabbage and mystery meat in your apartment for 2 months? What do you MEAN you didn’t leave your front door for over 60 days, your legs are so tired from walking all across downtown Shanghai!

Of course, through all of the anxiety and fear and depression and crying and, well, everything, humor makes for great distraction, so I thought I would share some of my favorites of the Shanghai lockdown memes that popped up throughout the spring. They served as a nice reminder that we weren’t alone in the madness of it all. [Photos taken from @wulumeme.lu on Instagram!]

It seems like some kind of strange fate or destiny that, of ALL of the places in the world I could have moved for my first international living adventure, I ended up in Shanghai during this lockdown. It’s hard to really explain or talk about except with other people who experienced it; why we always make sure to have a few jugs of water on hand, just in case. Why we have a crash bag ready to go, in case our compound is shutting down and we can escape to a friend’s house. Why we may never willingly eat cabbage ever again. (Okay, maybe that’s just me.) We made it out. Now, here’s hoping we never have to go back in again…

Xishuangbanna Pt. III: A Cuppa Pu-erh with the Great Stone Dragon(s)

(To read the first part of my trip to Xishuangbanna, click here! To read part two, click here!)

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about traveling, especially traveling in China, and ESPECIALLY especially traveling in China during a pandemic, it is this: you have to be flexible. You have to bounce. If your plans come crashing down to the floor, you can’t let them shatter – bounce, redirect, and keep going. As has been my motto since first trying to get into this country (remember that whole saga?), nothing is certain until it has already happened. Especially in the time of COVID, just being able to travel at all still feels like a blessing, so when things go “wrong” I take them in stride.

On our next day in Xishuangbanna, we were supposed to spend the day on a semi-challenging rainforest hike. Our guides knew of a local trail off the beaten path where there wouldn’t be any other tourists, so we were excited to get to see a bit of the “real” forest. On any trip I go on, I try to make sure there will be at least one day of hiking – it’s one of my favorite things to do and so it’s usually my favorite travel day. When we reached the trailhead, a local man was in the forest and looked uneasy upon seeing us. A few minutes later, a local cop showed up and spoke with our guides. The trail was closed, we couldn’t go hiking there, the community was not comfortable with foreigners using the trail.

Before you get huffy: this is not entirely unusual. First, the rhetoric from many people here has been that foreigners have been responsible for much of the spread of the outbreak. Because the country has been pretty sealed off, there is a belief that we keep bringing it in with us and spreading it. Even though most of the expats here have been here for the entirety of the pandemic and have not been able to leave, it’s always easy to blame the “other.” The States has been doing the same thing. And, unlike in the States, when all media and press is government controlled, if that’s all you are being told and shown, it’s hard to believe otherwise. In a country where it is very important to “save face,” there’s always someone else to blame. Second, I get it. This is a small local village, with an unknown local trail. It’s their trail. If they don’t want a group of 30 strangers hiking up their trail, that’s their prerogative.

At this point, we all had to decide what to do. We were composed of two groups of about 15 people and 2 tour guides. The other local tour guide mentioned that he knew of another entrance up to the trail and that the bus could drive around to use that entrance instead. On our bus, our guide, Yan, mentioned that he did not feel comfortable doing that – especially if the police had already told us we were not allowed to use the trail. Neither Michael nor I wanted to put Yan in a situation he felt uncomfortable with, and we also wanted to honor the wishes of the local community. Though a bummer, our bus turned around to head back into the city. After significant complaining, the rest of our travel group decided they wanted to just go back to the hotel and spend the day there. Michael and I asked if there was anything else in the city we could go see – we were flexible and would be excited for whatever Yan thought was best. Since it was just the two of us still interested in exploring, we let the bus driver go and hopped into our guide’s car for what had now become a private tour day. We were off to see the Mengle Temple!

  • I love these dragon guardians on the stairs. There were dragons on every staircase leading up to the top of the temple!

The 勐泐佛寺 Mengle Buddhist Temple (which I’ve also seen spelled Mange Temple) is one of the largest and best preserved Theravada Buddhist temples in all of China and is the most sacred religious site of the local Dai people. (Quick tangent: From my limited understanding, there are different sects of Buddhism; three of the main groups are Mahayana Buddhism, Vajrayana/Tibetan Buddhism, and Theravada Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism – which means “Doctrine of the Elders” – is sometimes called “Southern Buddhism” as it is strongest in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar. So, this is all a different sect than the temples I was seeing up in my trip through Sichuan — those would have been Vajrayana temples. So interesting!)

Theravada Buddhism is a very important part of the Dai culture. Traditionally, when they turn eight years old, all Dai boys go to a temple and lead life as a monk for a year; this is where they learn to read and receive an education. With China’s policies on education, it is likely this tradition will not continue.

There are over 500 temples and 200 Buddhist pagodas in Xishuangbanna, but the Mengle Temple is the largest. The temple, originally named the Jingpiao Buddhist Temple, was built in 1477 as a royal temple in the Dai Kingdom (1180-1950). The Dai King at the time, Bolong, built the temple to memorialize Nansha Weibian, a pious Dai princess who suffered an early death from illness. Though the original temple was destroyed in a war 1848, the Mengle Temple we see today is a reconstruction of the original temple.

It was so interesting to get to explore this beautiful temple as Yan shared information and stories with us. I absolutely loved all of the architecture, the colors, the statues, the little details… One of my absolute favorite parts of the temple was all of the dragons. Along nearly every staircase, decorating the roofs of buildings, coming out of the mouths of other dragons – they were everywhere! While in Western mythology dragons are usually depicted as evil beasts for heroes to defeat in battle, in the East and in Buddhism they are seen as guardians; symbols of enlightenment, creativity, change, and positivity. These dragons represent the raw power of nature, the energy that breathes through all of us.

As much as I loved the dragons, Michael had a different favorite mythological temple guardian. As I’ve mentioned before, Xishuangbanna is known for its elephants and its peacocks — they are represented everywhere. Well, at the temple, we kept seeing a depiction of a creature that seemed to be a combination of the two: what looked like the body of a peacock with the head of an elephant. This, of course, immediately raised some questions: is this creature supposed to be peacock-sized, with a cute little miniature elephant head? Or is that a giant colorful peacock body with a normal-sized elephant head? Is the elephant head also colorful? Can this creature fly?! When we asked Yan what this animal was, he answered immediately: a phoenix. Ah yes, of course. Well, okay then. Michael officially found his new favorite animal.

  • Can you spot the dragon on the roof?
  • Dragon!
  • Dragons on dragons on dragons...
  • Here it is. The famous… phoenix.

As we were walking up the many (many… many…) stairs to reach the top of the park, there were several smaller little buildings on either side of the walkway. From my understanding (because none of the signs were written in English and I’m struggling to find anything online about it) each of the smaller buildings were built to represent the various art and styles of Therevada Buddhism throughout different countries. So there was one that represented Sri Lanka, one representing Cambodia, one representing Thailand, etc. It was cool to go in and see the different art styles of both the statues and the paintings!

  • I don’t know what this little holy rock did to become holy, but I am proud of it.

As we continued to climb higher, we were able to get a closer look at one of the highlights of the Mengle temple: the Great Buddha Statue overlooking the city of Jinghong. At 49 meters tall (about 161 feet) and weighing 400 tons, this giant statue is a wonder to behold.

It’s hard to capture in pictures just how epic this statue is, so you’ll just have to believe me. Especially in the sunlight, with the gold shining from the top of the hill… so beautiful. Also, I was really happy that this was a Buddha I could actually take a picture of! You’re not allowed to take pictures of the Buddha statues within the temples themselves, so I’ve seen so many amazing statues I haven’t been able to share pictures of. It’s nice to be able to share this one with all of you.

See all of the tiny little people standing on the platform at the foot of the statue? Yeah. It’s THAT big.

After climbing up the final batch of stairs, we reached the top of the temple complex. Waiting for us was a holy Bodhi tree, grown from a sapling of the same tree that the Shakyamuni Buddha attained Enlightmenment under. Surrounding the tree were wishes and prayers that people had left tied to the gate with red ribbons. The tree was guarded by a final dragon guardian, with a long horn growing from his nose.

Of course, because China’s gonna China, there was a glass bridge from which we could walk out and look down upon the city. Even though the day had not turned out how we had originally expected, we were so glad that we were able to make a visit to this beautiful and sacred temple.

The beautiful Mengle Temple. It was being renovated so we could not actually enter, but just LOOK at it!

The next day, we drove out to the famous 南糯茶山 Nannuo Tea Mountain. As one of the oldest tea-producing regions in the world, Yunnan was once a key destination along the ancient Tea Horse road. In ancient times, Nannuo Mountain was inhabited by the Hani people, and each year the village chieftains were to be presented with gifts from each of the local tribes. The Hani people on the mountain were known for making a paste out of the leftover bamboo shoots they had not eaten, so when it came time to present their gift to the chieftains, they gave them some of their bamboo paste. The chieftains enjoyed the taste so much that we named the mountain 南糯 Nannuo, or, “bamboo paste.” (Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to taste test this bamboo paste for ourselves!)

Nowadays, Nannuo is most famous for their traditional cultivation and production of mountain forest 生茶 Pu-erh Tea. With a history of over 1,700 years, pu-erh is one of the oldest types of tea in China and is revered for its many health benefits – aiding in digestion, lowering cholesterol, supporting gut health, enhancing circulation and blood flow, and much more. It is a cold, fermented tea pressed into a cake for storage and delivery. Pu-erh can be cultivated in industrial monocultures on bushes on terraced slopes, but the traditional tea cultivation method requires tea trees to grow wild in a mountain forest ecosystem. However, as forests are being cut down and lost, so too does the ability to continue to cultivate mountain forest pu-erh tea leaves. In fact, in all of the production of pu-erh tea, mountain forest tea accounts for only about 5% of it! Nannuo is one of only three mountains (all in Xishuangbanna) where mountain forest pu-erh tea is still being produced and cultivated in the traditional way: without any synthetic chemicals and harvested only twice a year, picked by hand. During the harvest, farmers will visit the same tree once every 7-10 days, carefully selecting which leaves are fully developed on each visit. Many of the tea trees in this region are between 200-500 years old! When we were given the opportunity to tour the pu-erh tea farms on Nannuo Mountain, we were thrilled to learn more about this famous tea and its cultivation.

  • You can see the shorter tea trees growing amongst the taller trees of the mountain forest.

Yan led us on a hike through the mountain forest, teaching us more about the history and process of making pu-erh tea. I had never been on a tea tour before, nor had I ever been to a tea farm, so I found it really interesting! After walking through the tea trees for a while, we stopped at one of the tea houses for a tea tasting experience!

Now, full disclosure, I am not typically a tea drinker. (Or if I am, I load it up with sugar and cream.) So I can’t say that I am the best person to ask to describe the taste or the flavors of the pu-erh tea. (I am equally as useless when it comes to describing wine — I can tell red or white, but that’s about as far as my taste buds can specify.) But, especially as I’d never been to a tea tasting here in China, it was really cool to see all that goes into it! Hot water to warm up the tea cups first, then pouring in some of the tea to prepare the cup (I suppose?), pouring that tea out and THEN filling the cup with the tea you are supposed to taste… We were given three different teas to taste – some of different ages, and different blends. Pu-erh tea’s taste, color, and aroma change as it ages and ferments; according to people who know what they are talking about, as the tea ages it develops a more earthy color and the taste becomes rounder. This process can take decades; similar to wine, pu-erh tea is often classified by region and year of production!

After our tea tasting, we had another short hike through the village on the way to our next destination. On such a beautiful day, it was so lovely to walk through the tea trees and see what life is like for those who live and work on Nannuo Mountain!

  • We found a guzheng – a Chinese plucked-string instrument with a history going back 2,500 years!
  • Bees! (Pu-erh tea honey, y’all.)
  • Dinosaur Tree!!!!

Finally, we reached the gem of Nannuo Mountain: the King of Tea Tree. This ancient tree has been human cultivated for more than 800 years! It’s amazing to think that, for centuries, this mountain and its inhabitants have been cultivating this special tea. Before we left, Michael and I bought a small tea cake with tea from one of the ancient trees. We were told it only gets better with age, so maybe in 30-40 years we’ll open it up and give it a taste. For now, it’s a pretty cool talking piece to keep up on the mantle.

  • Looking pretty good for an 800-year old, eh?

Though I never would have thought that a tea tour would be a highlight of a trip, I loved getting to explore Nannuo Mountain and learn about pu-erh tea! (If you are interested in trying it yourself, I know you can purchase it online! Have a taste!)

After a long day on the mountain, that evening Michael and I took advantage of the beautiful hotel we were staying at and visited their many hot springs. I am always a big fan of an evening soak.

On our last day, we went out for one more small trip to visit another local minority village. We were able to see another smaller Buddhist temple and were given a delicious lunch by a small bed-and-breakfast. (Maybe next time we visit, we’ll stay there instead!)

Though we were sad to leave, we had an amazing time touring Xishuangbanna over our Chinese New Year holiday. I’ve seen many different places throughout China, but this is perhaps the region that has felt the most like being in a completely different country. Between the elephants, the peacocks, the dragons, and those majestic phoenixes, we had a magical trip that we will never forget.