A year ago today, I arrived in China, toting 100 pounds of luggage and not a clue as to what I was in for. I vividly remember standing on a corner near Xizhimen in Beijing, sweaty, loaded down with suitcases, and with no idea where I was or where to find my dormitory. It was my first time on my own in China and hardly an auspicious beginning. Since then, I’ve only been out of China for a month and a half — two weeks in India and a month of R&R stateside. It has been a long and sometimes difficult year, but the chance to live and travel in this fascinating country is worth all the mafan its bureaucracy can offer.
In celebration, I give you new guides to Changsha and the historic villages of Anhui Province. Changsha is my Chinese hometown, and although others may call it “the armpit of China,” I think it has a charm of its own. That charm is mainly found in the city’s restaurants, where you can sample the delectable and fiery local cuisine, 香菜 (xiangcai). In March, I went to Anhui for a teaching conference and had a chance to visit three of the ancient villages near Huangshan: Xidi, Hongcun and Guanlu.
And for laughs: On Saturday, I encountered this most delightful example of Chinglish, directing visitors to the old city walls in Changsha’s Tianxin Ge Park:
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