TANYA ROBBINS (fiction writing major) writes:
This morning we woke up at 5:00 a.m. to go see the exercises in the park. It was mostly older men and women, doing dance and Tai Chi to music. It was really interesting to watch their form of exercise, as it’s so different from America. There were a ton of cats in the park, too, and a cat lady who was feeding them some type of block-like food. I can say that I successfully did use the squatting toilet today, and it's not as bad as I imagined. In fact, I used them twice. After the park we took a two-hour bus ride to Suzhou, a town much older than Shanghai, where many intellectuals studied.
The first stop we made was the New Suzhou Museum built by I. M. Pei. The design of the building, the shapes inside, the use of wood and other materials, are all traditional Chinese designs, but Pei transformed them to be more modern. In the center of the museum, outside is a lake with stone bridges going across it and a beautiful green and rocky landscape. There were some koi fish, but not as many as I expected. The exhibits were interesting, featuring old jade and bronzes, some scrolls, and other ancient Chinese artifacts. There was one that was a Ming study room where intellectuals during the Ming dynasty went to study and students went to learn. The museum is a lot smaller on the inside than it looks from the outside, and I think the architecture is the more intriguing part about it.
After, we went to a large garden where you could get lost for hours. It was beautiful and tranquil, and if it wasn’t so cold out, it would have been a nice place to sit and write, but it was freezing! There was a bonsai tree museum in the garden which was really neat to look at. All the trees were contorted and shaped and mingled together. Some of the trees in there were 100 years old.
We had lunch at a Muslim restaurant which was really good. I ate a lot of lamb, which isn’t my favorite thing, but there it wasn’t as tough as it usually is. There was also great rice and noodles, spicy chicken and potatoes, and bread that I could eat all day.
We went to a smaller garden after lunch that was quaint and serene. I climbed up on top of one of the rock caves and just sat there for a while looking around and thinking. It was really peaceful and the perfect place for Chinese intellectuals to go.
Then we went to the silk factory where we got to the see the process of making silk. The tour showed us how they clean the cocoons and wash the silk, and then stretch it to make quilts and other things. They explained to us that if there is one worm in a cocoon they can use the silk to make anything, but if there are two, making it a double cocoon, it can only be used to make quilts. We got to stretch some of the silk ourselves and feel how soft it is. Apparently, the silk is high in protein, so all the workers at the factory have really soft hands, and the only way to wash the silk is with shampoo like you could use on your hair, because that is also protein. After the tour we went into the silk shop where I bought a beautiful mauve long silk robe. I’ve wanted one for a long time, so I figured why not now. They are much less expensive in China than they are in the States anyhow, and getting it at the silk factory where they make it also ensures that I’m purchasing real silk.
The bus ride back to Shanghai took another two hours and we watched the sun set on the way. For dinner we went to a vegetarian restaurant attached to the Buddhist temple we had been to previously. We had won ton soup and some sort of coconut dessert which was pretty tasty. The Chinese idea of dessert, once again, is much different than in the States. After dinner we came back to Motel 168 where I’m typing this. But, I think it’s time for an early sleep. Tomorrow we’re going to school to talk with some students and later we get MASSSAGES! I can’t wait.
Tanya Robbins is a junior in the fiction writing department.
