a tiny little city, i suppose in a way more of a town.., for those of you who drive or walk down the main road there and see the kfc....dont go "yay, this is so cool its got its own kfc", you could not be more wrong. Try going into the kfc, this is where you can truly comprehend the significance of the phrase "point and shoot".
The only way in which you can communicate your order to the kfc people is by pointing, be prepared to make chicken sounds, and swimming motions to indicate fish, because im telling you, english dont work there.
So you go ahead and tell me "shut up dude, im gonna look at the pictures and order stuff"
go right ahead man, you aint gonna get what ur thinkin...thats the thing bout the international joints in china..
once again dont get me wrong, if ur cool with eating the traditional chinese food then you're golden, you wont face any problems. We tried that, and while the food tasted amazing, the after effects on our digestive systems were horrendous.
The thing im going to remember most about dinghai is the buddhist temple we went to. This was a small temple perched atop a small hill. We had to hike uphill in near freezing temperatures, with a hint of rain in the air. Surrounded by lush greenery on all sides, it was easy to forget our actual locations. When one is surrounded by a setting such as I have described above, it becomes easy for one to forget all the bonds and chains tying them to their everyday avatars. You become more attuned to a purer version of yourself, it is easy to see how people might be able to meditate in these settings. The temple itself was beautiful, pristine in a natural way. It had been built for the sole purpose of being a place of worship, and it was doing its job splendidly through the decades. We bought incense sticks and prayed to buddha, language and way of thought somehow becomes irrelevant when one tries to commune with the gods.
In the almost ethereal silence of the hills, with tendrils of mist snaking in through cracks in the doors, every thump of our hearts seemed to communicate to the world above. Desires both hidden and plain for all to see became encompassed in each breath we released.
As the white smoke escaped from our mouths it was almost obvious to think of it as a part of our souls racing up to realms above.
As we were walking down the hill, me and my little brother played around with the one chinese kanji I knew, the one signifying fung, or wind. We pretended we could inscribe the kanji in the air, thereby summoning wind. It was pure plain simple fun.
I loved this experience and will treasure this for the rest of my days on this earth.
On our way back to our apt we visited this little park which was run by the town i think. Even something like a small park was so beautifully done. With miniature ponds inside, and sculptures. A miniature pier like structure with paddle boats. The lighting was amazing, soft and soothing.
There is something unique about evenfall, wherever you are, that time of day has to be my favorite.
After all of this we trudged home, tired but happy at having seen china for what it truly was once.
Next up is Zhoushan.
magus.
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