In the early morning, her parents drove all of us to Jiajiang province, which is the hometown of her father. The drive was around 2 hours with additional traffic. We had lunch at an open-style restaurant. The lunch was chili oil chicken, stir fried bean curds, and a pork daikon soup. Around the restaurant were some diners eating outside. Hovering around them were some stray dogs. It was common to see some dogs around in the older Chinese towns. I assume that either the restaurant or the customers give the dog some food scraps, which is why they would try to compete for the territory.
We then visited a Buddhist shrine, which had impressive architecture and history. There were many shrines of Buddha, with offerings of oranges, apples, and other snacks. It was forbidden to photograph the shrines. There were knee rests to pray on and make wishes to the shrine. There were other offerings like candles or notes to perform the prayer rituals. There was a PA of a monk reciting a chant to bless something. It was a monotonous, murmuring prayer accompanied with a drum.
The nature trails were very nice, and there weren't many people there. The bamboo was very tall and scenic. I didn't notice any litter at all, which was great. I think that in the sacred area, people have a lot more respect for nature. We hiked up the trail up to another temple.
We checked in the hotel, and then visited her paternal grandfather. He was around 94 years old, and in great physical and mental health. He fought the Japanese in WWII, and traveled all over China on foot. He was still very active for his age (strolls in wheelchairs, watching television, conversation), and having a strict diet. He lived by the motto that you have to keep busy in life. I also met her uncle (her father’s older brother), who said I was very handsome and gave me a red pocket with 1200 RMB (~$170 USD). He was very nice, however the language barrier prevented us from talking directly. Through some translation, he told me asked me about Boston and its history.
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| Thick hot and sour soup |
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| Pork wontons (left) and chili noodles (right) |
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| Skewers of vegetables and meat soaked in cold chili oil |
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| Pork noodle soup |
After the visit, we then went to a local open-restaurant that was a favorite of her family. They had thick hot and sour soup, a sweet egg soup, chili pork wontons, and chili noodles. After that we went to another open-restaurant for pork noodle soup. The broth was very savory and the noodles were firm.
We went back to the hotel, where I had my own hotel. Xuezhu stayed with her mother, and her father got his own room. In his room had calligraphy materials (scrolls, brush, ink), since the province is historical for inventing bamboo paper. The hotel also had a museum exhibit for the aforementioned reason, showcasing the paper creation process, furniture, and art.
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