On Thursday a funny thing happened to me. I was loitering out on the front steps of my hotel, reading a book, when a friend came up to me, “Hey, Liam what are you doing this weekend?”
“Mm, nothing yet.”
“Wanna go on a free trip?”
There’s not really much else you can say an offer like that. I had some vague suspicions, but otherwise, I was ready to have a blast of a weekend. I have been holed up in my room most of the time studying, and I thought an adventure off in some obscure part of china would be good for the spirits. I somehow managed to wake up at 7 o’clock on a Saturday morning and we were off on a bus ride to Shouxing, China, in the Zhejiang province just south of here.
Before my friend’s offer I had never heard of Shouxing before, so for those also in the dark: Shouxing is China’s “wine capital”, but this really just means Chinese White Liquor. If you haven’t heard of this drink before either…well, if you like drinking paint peeler, smelling of dank cheese, then be my guest and try it. I’ve never actually tried it myself, but I know a friend that’s made himself sick for a the past three weeks drinking half a bottle. I would only recommend this to someone who is either really passionate about the Chinese culture, or someone just trying to prove their own bravery.
On top of that Shouxing is China’s textile region. As a matter of fact the entire region pretty much only has textile shops. Really, that’s all there is in the city. We tried to find a place that sells ice cream, but we walked up and down a radius of a couple of blocks and couldn’t find anything, but fabric dealers. Apparently that’s why we got to go on the trip for free. A travel agency was hired to help bring publicity to the local Textile Convention by bringing in foreigners. A big affair certainly; There were cannons being fired, performances, and the marching of military processions, but it was still such an intensely dull place. Regardless, thanks to the good spirits of a free trip, and the energy of a few good friends we managed to turn a very drab place into a party.
We arrived at a gorgeous five star hotel. Each of us was given a room to share with another person. We all walked into our rooms to find gorgeous queen sized beds and full accommodations. This was the kind of place that was so classy it even had telephones in the bathroom. We all felt so at home that me and all my friends promptly decided to slip into bathrobes and never came out of them the rest of the night. Mind you we were there under the auspices of doing “business”. We were supposed to hobnob and schmooze at our best, but even when the cocktail hour hit, we went into the room, with full confidence, in our bathrobes.
We had ourselves a massage, which brought us all to a nice mellow state, and we decided to go to the karaoke lounge across the way. I think the front desk was a little shocked when we walked in, but we just acted normal and they let us into see our friends who had gotten there before us. We walked in to see a room of half alive, awkward people; half singing, mostly sitting and staring. In we walked in our bathrobes and the party began. None of us held back and the rest of the room really took to that. The party evolved from singing, into a private dance party in full force. It could have gone all night, but dancing in a robe is pretty hard. It’s far too warm and tends to start falling off when your moving.
From there, our berobed tribe wandered back to our rooms and decided to make a steam room out of our bathroom. The hotel actually had a sauna, but it was only for men. We had much more fun creating one for ourselves. We sweat it out the rest of the night, telling stories and enjoying each other’s company, until we all got tired and wandered back to our respective spaces.
The next day we got up early for breakfast and a few trips through the textile areas: nothing too eventful, and we packed up our stuff and made it back home. I wouldn’t recommend anybody spend time in this city unless they have to do business, but for us it was a total blast. In some roundabout way it will probably go down as one of my favorite adventures here in this crazy country we call China.
Hey, everybody! My names Liam, and right now I'm living a dream that I didn't think would come true. I am living in China, studying at Nanjing University for a full ten months. Don't ask me why I wanted it so badly, I've just always been drawn to the culture. Europe sounded too comfortable to me, and there are so many chances for growth and adventure in this country. As for me I like finding a good adventure outside of the mainstream, having a challenge, and reading a few books (at once) when I get the free time.
Berobed in Bedlam
On Thursday a funny thing happened to me. I was loitering out on the front steps of my hotel, reading a book, when a friend came up to me, “Hey, Liam what are you doing this weekend?”
“Mm, nothing yet.”
“Wanna go on a free trip?”
There’s not really much else you can say an offer like that. I had some vague suspicions, but otherwise, I was ready to have a blast of a weekend. I have been holed up in my room most of the time studying, and I thought an adventure off in some obscure part of china would be good for the spirits. I somehow managed to wake up at 7 o’clock on a Saturday morning and we were off on a bus ride to Shouxing, China, in the Zhejiang province just south of here.
Before my friend’s offer I had never heard of Shouxing before, so for those also in the dark: Shouxing is China’s “wine capital”, but this really just means Chinese White Liquor. If you haven’t heard of this drink before either…well, if you like drinking paint peeler, smelling of dank cheese, then be my guest and try it. I’ve never actually tried it myself, but I know a friend that’s made himself sick for a the past three weeks drinking half a bottle. I would only recommend this to someone who is either really passionate about the Chinese culture, or someone just trying to prove their own bravery.
On top of that Shouxing is China’s textile region. As a matter of fact the entire region pretty much only has textile shops. Really, that’s all there is in the city. We tried to find a place that sells ice cream, but we walked up and down a radius of a couple of blocks and couldn’t find anything, but fabric dealers. Apparently that’s why we got to go on the trip for free. A travel agency was hired to help bring publicity to the local Textile Convention by bringing in foreigners. A big affair certainly; There were cannons being fired, performances, and the marching of military processions, but it was still such an intensely dull place. Regardless, thanks to the good spirits of a free trip, and the energy of a few good friends we managed to turn a very drab place into a party.
We arrived at a gorgeous five star hotel. Each of us was given a room to share with another person. We all walked into our rooms to find gorgeous queen sized beds and full accommodations. This was the kind of place that was so classy it even had telephones in the bathroom. We all felt so at home that me and all my friends promptly decided to slip into bathrobes and never came out of them the rest of the night. Mind you we were there under the auspices of doing “business”. We were supposed to hobnob and schmooze at our best, but even when the cocktail hour hit, we went into the room, with full confidence, in our bathrobes.
We had ourselves a massage, which brought us all to a nice mellow state, and we decided to go to the karaoke lounge across the way. I think the front desk was a little shocked when we walked in, but we just acted normal and they let us into see our friends who had gotten there before us. We walked in to see a room of half alive, awkward people; half singing, mostly sitting and staring. In we walked in our bathrobes and the party began. None of us held back and the rest of the room really took to that. The party evolved from singing, into a private dance party in full force. It could have gone all night, but dancing in a robe is pretty hard. It’s far too warm and tends to start falling off when your moving.
From there, our berobed tribe wandered back to our rooms and decided to make a steam room out of our bathroom. The hotel actually had a sauna, but it was only for men. We had much more fun creating one for ourselves. We sweat it out the rest of the night, telling stories and enjoying each other’s company, until we all got tired and wandered back to our respective spaces.
The next day we got up early for breakfast and a few trips through the textile areas: nothing too eventful, and we packed up our stuff and made it back home. I wouldn’t recommend anybody spend time in this city unless they have to do business, but for us it was a total blast. In some roundabout way it will probably go down as one of my favorite adventures here in this crazy country we call China.
Best Wishes,
Liam
Liam
Hey, everybody! My names Liam, and right now I'm living a dream that I didn't think would come true. I am living in China, studying at Nanjing University for a full ten months. Don't ask me why I wanted it so badly, I've just always been drawn to the culture. Europe sounded too comfortable to me, and there are so many chances for growth and adventure in this country. As for me I like finding a good adventure outside of the mainstream, having a challenge, and reading a few books (at once) when I get the free time.
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