Realized that perhaps I shouldn’t write an entry in Chinese.
So anyways, littlebamboo went out on an adventure today. Waking up and getting ready to leave campus by 0800hrs today was no mean feat, but we managed to do just fine. Kudos to us.
Boarded the chartered van , or ‘面包车’ as the locals call it, and 2.5hours later, we arrived at our destination. We visited a bamboo workshop, where workers were busy creating bamboo light products (using bamboo of course, duh). Don’t worry, they’re not mistreated or working in harsh conditions, as evident in the photos below.
We then headed down to a bamboo weaving place in our little bread van. The road conditions were horrible. Potholes everywhere and we were literally airborne (for a couple of seconds). But to be fair, we were travelling in a mountainous region, so… yeah.
After what felt like FOREVER, we reached the bamboo weaving place. What we saw there will BLOW YOUR MIND.
We were greeted with fresh air and a clear blue sky when we alighted from the van. Can you believe it? A clear blue sky. How long has it been? 8 weeks? Guess living in the countryside has its perks eh?
The bamboo workers were hard at work too. And they were clearly skilled at their work. I’ll let the picture(s) do the talking.
After which, we headed to this tea house, 第一滴水, that made this trip possible for us (They planned the itinerary for us. Pretty cool eh, for a top tier tea house in the country) The shop itself was pretty cool, zen and all. But what was amazing was these sweets they served at the front desk. O. M. G. They are amazing. Go get them if you can. Really.
After which, we bid farewell to An Ji. As if sensing our departure, An Ji sent us off with a splendid sunset – warm orange sunlight spread across the the vast bamboo mountain forest of 50 shades green.
Soon, we were back in Hangzhou, a land shroud in mystery (cause haze looks like fog, hence the mystery. Plus, Hangzhou IS pretty mysterious, so see the pun here? no? okay. I’ll try harder next time)
Stay tuned for the future adventures of littlebamboo.
Signing off,
Littlebamboo
