Well, the steps weren't as bad as I feared (of course). Only about 15 minutes of relentless climbing. This time I was able to shoot some photos of the lovely mountains:
After coming down off the mountain in "the largest cable car in all of China", we drove back to Huizhou, had a stunningly good lunch at a different International Hotel, and then repacked our luggage.
Huizhou is in the region where the basic tools of Chinese calligraphy were developed: rice paper (actually made from mulberry pulp), brushes and ink sticks. We were taken to a workshop where the ink sticks are still made in the ancient, artisainal method. First soot from burned tung oil is mixed with animal hide glue. The resulting mix is pounded and mixed, then put into hand carved molds. The molded dried sticks are polished smooth. The inscriptions on the ink sticks are filled with silver or gold paint. To use the ink the stick is rubbed into the well on an ink stone with water. After touring the sales room of the workshop (where there were elaborately carved stones selling for thousands of dollars), our guide "John" demonstrated some calligraphy for us. Apparently this classical art is no longer regularly taught in schools, and is fading from general use.
We spent the evening strolling the "Old Street" in Huizhou, a thousand year old street, cobblestoned and narrow, now a street of vendors of all kinds of hand crafts. It is surrounded by the center of modern Huizhou, and is a lively street where teenagers hang out at night.
After dinner some of us went shopping, and some of us went to the "Foot Bath", and had foot and leg massage. (I saw businesses labelled "foot bath" in a number of cities. Apparently it's a thing here.) I did the latter. It was kind of creepy. The massagers were all young men, who, judging by their asymetrical dyed hair and super tight skinny jeans would clearly be gay in the US, but were harder to read in China. They also spoke no English. The room was cold (no one in China really heats indoor spaces), poorly lit, rather dirty, and there was a disagreement about payment. They kept all the change. Our guide told us this was for a kind of involuntary tip, but it caused much annoyance.
After dinner some of us went shopping, and some of us went to the "Foot Bath", and had foot and leg massage. (I saw businesses labelled "foot bath" in a number of cities. Apparently it's a thing here.) I did the latter. It was kind of creepy. The massagers were all young men, who, judging by their asymetrical dyed hair and super tight skinny jeans would clearly be gay in the US, but were harder to read in China. They also spoke no English. The room was cold (no one in China really heats indoor spaces), poorly lit, rather dirty, and there was a disagreement about payment. They kept all the change. Our guide told us this was for a kind of involuntary tip, but it caused much annoyance.
Then, at nearly 11 PM we flew to Shanghai, arriving near 1 AM. Our local guide "Susie" met us at the airport, which was slick, shiney and full of large ads for luxury goods (Coach, Burberry, Dunhill) with Western models. The airport was also thronged with well dressed Asian and Western travellers. I can't imagine what it would be like at 4 PM. And I also can't imagine what they all thought of our group, bedraggled and unwashed after a night up on the mountain, all dragging 3 weeks worth of luggage and purchases.
We arrived at the Portman Ritz-Carlton hotel, and I had a kind of aesthetic whiplash. Comparing this 5-star luxury hotel on an international scale, surrounded by shops selling luxury goods, a Starbucks and several Western style restaurants, to the hovel we'd sheltered in on the mountain, I couldn't quite grasp that it was the same kind of business. Finally getting to bed near 3 AM I could hardly believe the soft warmth of the mattress, the smoothness of the sheets, and the complete silence of the hotel. Yay.
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