Yesterday I returned home from a four day trip to Zhang Jia Jie and Feng Huang. We left the Center early Tuesday morning. Monday, I actually finished the project I have been working on here. I got 4 positive results and 2 that are really exceptional. Though I was very sad to leave my lab and all the people in it behind, as soon as I finished Ms. Deng booked our tickets to Zhang Jia Jie. It was a very small trip, only Tang Li the person who accompanied me to the lab for the last month, and Gae Gae a sweet 14 year old girl who’s Mom works at the Center came along. Because it is my very last week, this trip was planned so that I would be able to see the beauty of Hunan before I have to leave.
At seven in the morning we took one of the cars from the center and drove to a bus station located in downtown Changsha. The bus was very crowded, but the roads to Zhang Jia Jie were unbelievably smooth. The highways and the regular streets here are like night and day, I slept for almost the entire 4 hours to Zhang Jia Jie. Once we arrived we met our tour guide, her name was Ms. Who. She showed us around the mountains, caves and landscapes for about two and a half days. She spoke a good amount of English; I had so much fun getting to know her. Both Gae Gae and I missed her a lot when we left for Feng Huang.
At seven in the morning we took one of the cars from the center and drove to a bus station located in downtown Changsha. The bus was very crowded, but the roads to Zhang Jia Jie were unbelievably smooth. The highways and the regular streets here are like night and day, I slept for almost the entire 4 hours to Zhang Jia Jie. Once we arrived we met our tour guide, her name was Ms. Who. She showed us around the mountains, caves and landscapes for about two and a half days. She spoke a good amount of English; I had so much fun getting to know her. Both Gae Gae and I missed her a lot when we left for Feng Huang.
It is said that once you visit Zhang Jia Jie there is no need to visit any other mountains in China because nothing can match its size, variety or beauty. After touring different places all over the mountains, from my limited knowledge I believe that is true. However the scenery is not the only very intriguing thing about the mountains. It is the symbolism found around every corner that really made me love and enjoy every location. There were tales that followed so many of the rock formations, Sometimes the rocks looked so much like what they were supposed to represent it was almost hard to believe that the formation had not been carved out. One of the most beautiful in my opinion was located right on the river; it depicts a maiden’s face. Another highlight from the trip was on the 22nd I got to experience an eclipse. They only happen here once every 100 years! It was really the perfect timing because when it was supposed to occur we were waiting in line outside. Suddenly it became very dark, though it was the middle of the morning. Everyone was so excited cheering and flashing endless amounts of pictures. Sadly, my camera did not catch the eclipse the way I wanted it too, it brightened up the scene and when I took pictures of the hidden sun it just looked blurry. It was still a very cool experience; we live in a very miraculous world.
At 2:30 on the 3rd day we left for Feng Huang. It is about 5 hours away from Zhang Jia Jie but because the bus that connects directly was already full we had to stop in another town first with many delays. We did not arrive in Fung Huang until about 10 PM only to find out that the hotel we thought someone had reserved for us had not been booked. It was late but thankfully we found a small and tasty place to eat dinner. By the time we finished eating Tang Li had worked out the details and we got the last available three person room in the hotel. It was the best hotel we stayed at in regards to size and furnishings however the water damage smell was so strong it was almost unbearable, we think it was mostly because our room was in the very corner of the hotel. After a shower and a good night of sleep we walked into the ancient city. Feng Huang was a beautiful old city, which became popular because of an artist who painted it spread its fame across all of China. There were many tourists in Feng Huang but it was not nearly as busy as Zhang Jia Jie where we had to wait in long lines to do anything. A river runs through the city; we got to take a boat tour which was lovely. There were many people selling all sorts of different items. One of the best parts for me was wearing the local traditional clothing. I got so many stares but it was worth it for the fun pictures I got out of it.
We then returned to Changsha. I had so much fun with Tang Li and Gae Gae, I will miss them so much when I return to America.
