Friday, September 12. I have two classes this morning. Then to lunch in the cafeteria where one of my students comes to sit with me! Her English name is Sunshine, and she is the class monitor of G0801. (I teach classes G0801 through G0807. "G" stands for the Chinese character that means "senior," "08" is the year the students entered senior school (so I'm teaching senior 1 students who began senior school this year, 2008), and the last two digits indicate the particular class.)
This evening at 9 p.m., we are taking the overnight train from Zhuzhou to Jishou, arriving there in the morning. There is nothing particular in Jishou, but from there we will be able to take a bus to FengHuang, then back to Jishou for the night, then another bus to Dahang on Sunday, then back to Jishou to catch the train back to Zhuzhou. All in the space of about 60 hours!
FengHuang. From the Lonely Planet guidebook: "This is a fascinating riverside town of ancient city walls and gate towers, houses on stilts overlooking the river and hoary temples dotted about the old town. Home to a lively population of the Miao and Tujia minorities, Fenghuang's architectural legacy shows distressing signs of neglect so get to see it before it crumbles away."
Dahang. From the LP guidebook: "In a seductive riverine setting overlooked by towering, other-worldly karst peaks, the Miao hamlet of Dehang . . . offers a tantalising spectrum of treks into picturesque countryside. Rising into columns, splinters and huge foreheads of stone, the local karst geology climbs over verdant valleys layered with terraced fields and flushed by clear streams. Sidestepping the bovine traffic and the occasional cowpat could be the only thing distracting your eyes from the gorgeous scenery. "
OK, so that's the publicity. Stay tuned for the report from the field.
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