Now that I am able to place photos on this blog, I have taken the opportunity to photograph Wuhu from the windows of our twelth-floor flat (the photo to the right was taken from my bedroom this morning - you can just see Mirror Lake behind the trees) and also from an old section of Wuhu that Rex showed me yesterday. I decided that a walk in the sun (the weather is still very warm here) and Rex's mum's cooking might help me feel a bit better after my tummy bug episode, so it was an offer I gladly accepted. What was particularly lovely, if not so good for my recovering stomach, was that Rex's Mum (I cannot remember her Chinese name - arhh!) remembered I like red wine, so she bought some especially (they don't drink much of it here so I actually had to open the bottle to show them how to break in!). We happily drank it together, although I'm not sure rex was a fan, and she said she actually liked it more than chinese alcohol, so I think I have a convert!
Regarding the 'old district' of Wuhu (which is pictured below), Rex is sure that it, along with all old areas in Wuhu, will not survive for more than a few more years. There is so much construction going o
n in this city (like throughout most of China, as far as I can tell) and the government have no qualms about pulling down old buildings and re-housing people, at a scarily quick pace.The image of the old town is an interesting contrast to the area in which we live (the centre). Indeed, Wuhu's shopping district is largely modern and, according to those who have travelled, looks much like any other Chinese city: the neon lights, high-rise buildings, street stalls next to KFC, crazy taxi drivers and hoards of bustling, queue-jumping shoppers. There are what might be described as more 'run-down' areas right next to our building (pictured below, from the bathroom window), but generally the centre is far more modern and new than its sprawling suburbs. What I think is fantastic about living here, as opposed to visiting it whilst backpacking across China, is that you get a chance to see far more areas of the place; I am sure I will be learning new things about this city until the day I leave!
Apropos new sights of Wuhu, Joe, Ahmir and I were taken to a market this afternoon by Rex. I had asked him where I might be able to find some plants to make my room more homely, so he led us only a little way from Walking Street, behind the buildings that look over the far side of Mirror Lake, into what appeared to be a combined plant and pet covered market. The first thing that struck me were the animals, not the potted greenery. There were fish, guinea pigs, rabbits, turtles, terripines, cats, dogs (from tiny yappy dogs to two fully-grown golden retrievers) and much more. The apalling thing was that most of them were squeezed into cages that were far too small for them - it just would not be allowed in England. I am no animal activist, but my first impulse was to buy all the dogs and take them home with me to care for properly. Of course that wouldn't have been particularly wise, so I stopped myself and continued, deeper into this bizarre, hidden market.
Retrospectively, I feel quite guilty for having effectively dimissed suffering animals in order to obtain a couple of pot plants. However, my attention was indeed diverted when I undertook my first ever attempt at bartering in Chinese. I will happily admit that it actually gave me a bit of a buzz getting a 25% discount on a tiny little chinese tree/plant with pink flowers, using only my own feeble Chinese mixed with animated body language. That I could actually communicate with the little old lady who sold it to me was sooo cool, considering Mandarin is proving so bloody difficult to learn!
One last point before I go is that, although I am certain that the Chinese do not treat their animals/pets anywhere near as well as they should, they do have a healthy understanding and appreciation of the link between animals and food. For example, on my way to the gym today, I saw two separate shoppers holding bags of freshly killed chickens - their feathers and heads etc were still very much present, despite the bags squishing them up a little bit - which I presumed were to be eaten over a celebratory Mid-autumn Day meal. Contrastingly, I am sure that there is a large proportion of people in Britain who make only the vaguest connection between the breast fillets they idly place in their shopping basket in Tescos and the actual bird from which it was torn. Having said that, I will never eat chicken's head, however accustomed I become to these Chinese ways.
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