Places of Xiangyang: Phoenix Hot Springs (凤凰温泉)

Phoenix Hot Springs is basically exactly what it sounds like: it’s a resort built around a set of hot springs. But I don’t exactly know if they are real hot springs or if they’re man-made hot springs, with today’s technology I figure it’s pretty easy to make fake hot springs now: just a little hot water flowing into a pool and that’s that. That’s what it looked like there, but I’ve never seen real hot springs before so I don’t know if that’s just how normal hot springs look like. Don’t get me wrong though, it really was a very beautiful place. It’s situated in a little pocket of country behind the mountains so that you can’t see civilization as far as the eye can see. It was especially pretty at the time we went, the pools accented against the backdrop of mountains really made it very picturesque.

My fellow teachers and I went there twice, and it really was a great time. I’ve never gone to a resort or hot springs before, but apart from most of it being like being in a pool or a hot tub, there was one other particular attraction that made it exclusively something I can’t get just anywhere (they also had massages, but they were mad expensive and not even full-body so we didn’t get those). The exclusive thing was this “Kiss Kiss” pond. It’s basically a small pool (man-made of course) filled with thousands of these teeny little fish that like to eat dead skin. That sounds gross but it’s like a symbiotic relationship: the fish get their food, and the humans get a pretty awesome ski- exfoliating experience.

We went over there, and already some other teachers who had been there previously had given me some really great reviews of the place and how your feet feel like heaven by the time you’re done. They also mentioned it tickles just a bit. So of course after their lovely review I was keen on trying this experience. So we went over there and the other teachers stuck their feet in no problem. A few comments of “oh, this tickles” were uttered, but no more. So I didn’t think it was going to be that bad. There were literally thousands of fish, and as soon as you put your feet or hands or whole self in, they immediately came and proceeded to make a meal of you. I watched as many of the participants’ feet could hardly be seen underneath the inch-long fishes crowding around for a bite.

Now I had to be a part of this, so I stuck my feet in. The fish came swarming and began to nip at my feet. That was not fun for me. As many of you know, I’m SUPER ticklish (a comment that I will deny if I ever see you face to face and you are asking me with a sly look on your face). And to me the nips of these little fishes were the most intense  form of foot tickling I’ve ever had to endure. Immediately, I took my feet out of the pool and was almost resolved to watch the rest of everyone enjoying a great exfoliating experience while having none myself.

But after a few seconds of watching everyone have so much fun, I made the decision to get my money’s worth of this place and stick my feet in again. Once more, the feet came out almost immediately. I did this several times until one time I just bit the bullet (and my finger to keep from laughing) and just kept my feet in there, enduring the tickling. Finally after a few minutes of this ordeal my feet and shins got used to nipping and things got a whole ton better. We chilled out in the pool for a while, until the fish decided they had got all the meal they were going to be able to get from our feet, and then we got out of the pool. When I stepped out of the pool, I felt like my feet were the most perfect feet in the world, and that I was walking on heaven. It was the best and cleanest my feet have ever felt, and probably will ever feel again (until I get rich and famous and buy myself my own little kiss kiss pond of fishes for my own pleasure- and it would be indoor so I can get at it any time of the year).

That really was pretty much the highlight of my time at Phoenix Hot Springs. Later on, a few of the other teachers returned to the Hot Springs to do this little TV competition (which was like a very VERY VERY minor version of Wipeout…aka a few mats floating on the pool and they had to try to run across them blindfolded without falling). I opted out of doing that because I’ve had my time on TV and I have made a personal promise to myself that if I’m ever going to be on TV, that I’ll be there for my name and not for my face (aka I’ll be on TV for my talent and/or accomplishments, rather than for being just a face in the crowd…and in the case of China, for being a foreign face in the crowd; it’s not that I have anything against this, because I don’t, but it’s just a promise I’ve made to myself because of certain goals I hope to achieve in the future). So they all had a bunch of fun there, and I enjoyed watching them fall all over the place in the videos they taped and showed back to me.

We really only went there twice, the weather got cooler (it didn’t get cold, it just stopped being summer weather, and therefore not pool weather) and so we haven’t gone back. Maybe we’ll go back in the spring when it’s warmer…we’ll see.

This is by the entrance to the springs, the lake in the background was part of the complex, but it made a beautiful accent to it all.

I took these next photos from a balcony at a higher floor in the main building. The hot springs pools were hidden in little pockets along that hill on the other side of the big pool. Where the small pavilions are mark their location.

If you look closely in this picture, you can see the blue water slide peeking behind this closest building.

My Apartment!!!

So I'm finally posting up these photos of mi casa. I live in an apartment building, where the front doors are outside rather than inside. Mine looks pretty homey, but I did a lot to make that happen...a lot of cleaning, and then I put up a bunch of my posters which helped give it the homey look. As you'll see, it's a step up from Kunming. The only concern is that now in the winter time there is no insulation and very limited heat (limited doesn't even scratch the surface of describing it), so I've been sitting in an icebox for about two months now. And when it gets warm again, it'll be pretty hot inside the house too. But it's a pretty place.

Living Room

Dining Room

Bathroom

Shower, there's no tub for the shower, just floor

Kitchen

This is my gas stove

Office

Bedroom

Places of Xiangyang: People's Square and Wan Da Plaza

People’s Square:

People’s Square. 人民广场 (ren min guang chang). There isn’t really a whole ton to say about this one, because I haven’t explored it to its full capacity. If I do, I’ll write more another time. The main reason why I ever go to People’s Square is because of a lovely Western bar that is over there called Pengyou Bar (translation: Friend Bar). Now keep in mind, bars in China aren’t ALWAYS bars where they just serve beer or have glitzy lights where you dance around. Most of the bars I frequented in Kunming are like Pengyou Bar, where they were run by Westerners or Western-minded Chinese and they serve Western style alcoholic drinks or Western beer. IN ADDITION, they are also a restaurant where Western food is served…it is at these places where you’ll find the best Western food in town: the best burgers, pizzas, salads, pastas, and depending on the place you’ll see other things too. In Kunming, there was a bar that specialized in Mexican food. Another place specialized in French food and served lots of French bread. Pengyou Bar’s specialty would be burgers and steak. It’s run by a Western-minded Chinese young lady who is native to Xiangyang, but has spent many many years in Beijing. She told me that when she lived in Beijing, she would always have a wide variety of choices for foreign foods there. If she wanted Italian she could get Italian, Indian, French, Mexican, and of course Chinese, she could get everything she wanted. But coming back to Xiangyang to live, she had a very VERY limited variety of Western foods, so she decided to start her own restaurant so she could eat more Western food. I am very grateful that she decided to do this because she serves the best burgers in Xiangyang. You take a bite of them and the juicy meat melts in your mouth. The only other place that has comparable burgers to hers is the Crowne Plaza, which I’ll talk about next, but their prices are a bit more expensive than hers. Oh, and also, she serves the best pizza in Xiangyang too (at least that I’ve tasted…so it’s possible somewhere else may be better). Her pizza is so good, the cheese is perfect, and the toppings aren’t fake meat like I’ve seen other restaurants try to put on the pizza. Sooooo good. So for now, that’s People’s Square’s highlight.

Wan Da Plaza:

Once more, not a whole lot to say about this one either. You'll know Wan Da Plaza when you see it because there's a big glaring gilded statue of Zhuge Liang placed right in the middle of it. The plaza consists of features such as a stadium, a small fun park for little children, several small bars and stores, the large Wan Da supermarket (where I get much of my stuff to cook food with...the name Wan Da is a Chinese cognate for the supermarket's original name "Vanguard"), and the looming Crowne Plaza Hotel. I've gone to this plaza for several reasons: to hang out with friends at the bars (remember what I mentioned about bars before...I'm there for the food and company, cuz I don't like beer), to go food shopping at Wan Da supermarket, and to have dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (which is rare and expensive, but sooo much fun and so worth it). So here's a little bit about the place.

This is one of the main places Westerners stay if they ever had any random reason to be in Xiangyang. Or rich Chinese people who are more likely to have a reason to come to Xiangyang. But the Crowne Plaza’s claim to fame is, like Pengyou, their FOOD. Okay, I know I may be talking a lot about food in my posts, but really…it’s the rare person that can come and live in China for an extended period of time and not have cravings for any kind of hearty food. (Hearty food is not China’s specialty. Healthy is.) Don’t get me wrong, I love Chinese food…but I need some hearty Western meals every once in a while to hold me over. The other day (and my Jamaican friends and family will understand this reference) I was sitting in my apartment daydreaming of a nice plate of ackee and saltfish, all mixed together, with a piece of fried bammy (or some hard dough bread or a Johnny cake would do too) to eat it with.

Anyway, the Crowne plaza has a delicious variety of foods like the ones I mentioned offered at the Pengyou Bar. We tried these one day and they were SUPER GOOD. But to describe them would be repeating myself. What I WILL mention is what the Crowne Plaza has that is exclusively from Crowne Plaza. The Crowne Plaza has a smorgasbord of seafood which you can partake of ALL YOU CAN EAT style for 200 kuai. Now before you freak out at the price, 200 kuai is like $40/$50. I cannot tell you everything that it has because I have not tried it yet…but I know it has sushi, shrimp, and fish. We will go there for Thanksgiving so when that happens I’ll be sure to give you a full account…and if I’m not starving, I’ll remember to take pictures too.

That's the huge Zhuge Liang statue. As I mentioned in my earlier posts, Zhuge Liang is one of the key icons of Xiangyang, having spent some years here in his life. You can recognize him because he always carries a feather fan (that's it in his right hand). The Crowne Plaza is one of the large buildings behind him, to the right.

These guys have these kind of whip-like things in their hands. They swing it and whip it against the big spinning top thing that's on the ground, and that's how the top keeps spinning around. When it was warmer, these older men used to do it every night. I also saw some people cracking actual whips in the air. I guess it was their form of exercise, like tai-chi or the late-night dancing that the older Chinese women would do.

These are some pictures I took from the upper level of the mall that Wan Da supermarket was located in. Of course, you can see a McDonald's is here too.

Here's a view of the side of the stadium. I thought it was a cool pic with the sun in the background.

Here's the fun park. It was really dirty and some of the rides were rusty and didn't work. So, not really a big hotspot for people to go to. There were only a few people there.

Places of Xiangyang: Gulou District

Gulou has come to be my favorite part of town. It’s a gorgeous section of the city that is recreated to look like how it did in the ancient times. There are a couple large walls and gates there that have been renovated and rebuilt with new materials. The roads are stone, and the stores are all built in the style of ancient Chinese buildings. It’s really pretty. It’s located along the banks of the Han River, which I think I mentioned before is a tributary to the Yangtze River. In Gulou there are bars, coffee houses, restaurants, a small museum, a nice park area along the wall and river, and a lot of stores to shop in. It’s really a lot like a big market area. So much is happening there, it just is such a nice place to be…I’m always happy when I’m over there. A lot of times the other teachers and I have gone over there to either get food, shop, or hang out at one of the bars. Beware of little kids peeing on the streets though, steer away from random puddles on the side of the streets when there has been no rain. Hehe. One time we discovered this lovely little restaurant that serves really great dishes and the prices were really cheap. They had really great Mongolian beef and fried shrimp.

The museum has a ton of artifacts from ancient times and you can get in for free. It’s fun, but maybe only a one time thing…two times tops.

Probably my favorite thing that you can find in Gulou is place where they do massages. It’s not a spa, they only do massages, but there’s a blind lady who though visually impaired can massage like no other. Last week was the first time I had ever had a massage (massages from family don’t cut it, sorry…cuz none of you can massage like I can). And it was amazing…I was in heaven…it was crazy. And it was sooo cheap…only 40 kuai. I am so going again next week…I’m going to have to add that into my budget. She did a full body massage and the 40 kuai was for an hour’s worth of a massage. Yeah, that’s happening again.

PICS!!!!

This is the gate on North Street (Bei Jie- 北街), inside is the small museum I mentioned.

When you go through the gate, you enter more of the ancient style market area.

In the distance is the gate from the other side.

This here was when we were at the restaurant I mentioned. This dish I think is some kind of tofu.

Mongolian beef!!! mmmm...

Biscuits with red bean filling

Li Gong Welcome Dinner Pics

Earlier at the beginning of the term, the teachers of Ligong treated us four foreign teachers to a welcome dinner and before that a welcome ceremony (which was basically a five minute speech from our Ligong boss at the top, Mr. Zheng, saying "welcome, we're glad you're here, we hope we will be able to have a great year working together"). The restaurant they took us to was really nice and beautiful, and it was located along the banks of the Han River, so we could see it from our windows.

Here are some pics from the dinner (get ready for lots of food), and sorry about the blurriness, my camera isn't the best: