B&E Photography: Tunxi, China - Push it, Push it real good

Charming, historical, and well populated despite its small size, Tunxi was a great find for us. We had finished earlier than expected in Guilin and, after hastily researching somewhere to go and fill the time, found ourselves in a part of China with a great blend of culture and modern convenience.

We happened upon our hostel by chance when our other hotel had given us such bad directions that we were forced to find something else as the night was getting late. A great couple visiting from Shanghai randomly helped us along to their hostel located in the exact area we were trying to spend the night. The hostel was so cheap, clean, and centrally located that we ended up using it for our jumping off points.

The next day we woke up early to catch a 6 am bus to a famous mountain in Huangshan. The mountain had three ways to get up: ascend the difficult eastern steps, the treacherous western steps, or take the glorious and pain free Gondola. Take a wild guess which one we chose! After paying for our ticket, our guide book stated the line for the Gondola should take no more than 45 mins. What came next was Erica and I's biggest test of patience yet. We rounded the corner and viewed a line twisting and turning with absolutely 'no light at the end of the tunnel.' If the line were a snake it would have been an Amazonian Anaconda the likes of which the world had never seen. Why were their so many people? We quickly ascertained that it was Women's Day in China and that all Chinese women are admitted free of charge. Every grandma, aunt, sister, girlfriend, niece, cousin, mom, daughter and then some had come to see the mountain. To top it off people were not standing in line in an orderly fashion. It was chaos at best as people shoved, pulled, squeezed, and slipped through trying to get by one another without any concern for their fellow human's well being all while blowing snot and hocking loogies making our stomachs flip and flop with disgust. How is this the norm? We found ourselves forced to jockey for position or be left at the back of the line. Admittedly, when we did shove people around, without saying a word, they would look at us like, 'nice move.... touche touche'. It was without a doubt the most irritating and nerve racking ordeal we've ever put ourselves through. After three and a half hours, we reached the top and were so fried from the experience that we barely looked around, decided instead to just find some remote villages to see, and quickly set our feet in the direction farthest away from the crowds and confusion.
It sounds really bad, and sometimes it was, but it was such a contrast to have people be so helpful in with directions and then completely and seemingly ill-mannered. However, that is strictly just our experience and we hopefully are not deterring you from seeing a truly unique and wonderful culture and landscape; it's more of a warning so that the shock isn't quite as extreme for future travelers as it was for us.

Leaving the mountain, the village we entered was really unique. It was listed on UNESCO as a world heritage site and we could see why. The entire village had small water drains that ran through them like veins; matter of fact, it was built purposely to resemble an ox's entrails for a reason we never did find out. As we first entered, we noticed three women cleaning items in the stagnant lake water. Upon closer inspection our worst fears were confirmed: two were cleaning vegetables while one of the ladies was skinning a cat for dinner. Yep! I'd say this village is definitely just reached the level of authentic! On a less stomach wrenching note, one of the bridge's in the village had been used in the very famous movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

The next day we were suppose to travel, I got very sick with the barfs and China Belly and had to stay in bed. Erica took great care of me as I slept, complained, and threw up around her. It was definitely not my most handsome moment but she tackled it like a champ!

With the previous day dedicated to being ill, it was time to head to our next stop, Shanghai, where we look forward to meeting up with friends of friends and getting to see China's most modern city.