A Very Merry Christmas.. Chinese style!

Christmas came to Yichang in the form of silly cardboard Santa cutouts on every door, the absolute worst children's carols playing in Walmart, and glitzy trees in the display windows of shops all around town. Other than the commercial benefits of this sacred holiday, Christmas doesn't really mean too much to most Chinese people unless they're Christian. Yichang does have about 3 churches though so there's got to be some kind of Christian population in this place.. Anyway, it really didn't come as a surprise that this city wasn't making all that big of a deal about Christmas, but I definitely wasn't prepared for some of the particular ways this holiday would end up being different here in China.

Lets start with the decorations...

First of all, skinny Santa.  Wut? Stop it.

you can see the Christmas decorations right up next to the Chinese New Years decorations at Walmart

Really giant christmas tree decoration made out of string lights. 
I was impressed!

Christmas tree display in Walmart

Traditions

The Chinese have a cool tradition of giving each other apples on Christmas Eve. This is because the words for Christmas Eve (Ping’ānyè) supposedly sounds similar to the words for apple (píng guŏ). To me, they sound nothing alike, but I'm obviously no authority on the Chinese language, and I'm not about to go complaining about people giving me apples.. Walking Street, which is the most popular nightlife area in Yichang, was totally hopping on Christmas Eve. I find it funny that the words for Christmas Eve--ping’ānyè-- translate to directly to "silent night," when the truth is that this night is far from silent here in China! Instead, it can be labeled more accurately as a carnival night of sorts. People walking around the streets wearing glittery masks, glowing devil horns and giant Minnie Mouse ears; the bars and KTVs overflowing with drunken youths happy for an excuse to party on a weeknight; and the street vendors out in full force selling balloons and various light-up toys. Once I got over the various Christmas blasphemies I was witnessing, I was able to shrug it off and enjoy Christmastime Chinese-style with my friends. I started out the night with my wonderful foreign teacher friends at a bar called Happy Hometown. Lindsey and I slipped off briefly to get some hot chocolate from McDonalds to have with our Bailey's, and along the way a jolly group of Chinese guys selling various glowy things flagged us down, wished us Merry Christmas, and handed us each an apple wrapped up in the cutest little Merry Christmas gift boxes.

Happy laowai at Happy Hometown :)



My university friends and I also had a Christmas party at my friend Sam's apartment.. although I have to say the only Christmas-y thing about it was the White Elephant gift exchange. I got a poop-shaped piggy bank, which I have to say I'm pretty dang psyched about. I actually did need something to put my spare change in! I use cash for almost everything here because most shops don't have a bank card swiper machine thing, so I have quite the coin collection going on over here!

Lindsey had the brilliant idea of bringing men's USA underwear for her white elephant gift. A definite crowd-pleaser.

 On Christmas Day, our good friends invited Lindsey and I to their family Christmas dinner. I can't even begin to describe how comforting this was after the least-Christmasy Christmas that I had ever experienced. We ate so well that night, thanks to master chef Darren and his lovely wife Tao! They made turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and chili. I brought over some roasted carrots. After dinner we played Uno and ate strawberry shortcake. So thankful for this wonderful family! <3

I guest-taught for a Christmas Party at an English training center where one of my Chinese friends works! In this pic I am teaching the kids how to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

 And last but certainly not least.. the Jin Dongfang Christmas party!

     

...and I HAD to get a picture with the principal Mr. Shi dressed up as Santa!

Strawberry Season in December

I remember at the orientation for my teaching agency, one of the instructors jokingly told us that whatever seems normal to us in any situation, just expect the opposite here in China. While this statement is obviously a bit of a hyperbole, it has actually turned out to be true in some instances during my stay here in Yichang. For example, I would think that come payday, we all just slip into the secretary office, collect our pimp-wads (yes we get paid in cash, yes Chinese bills only go up to 100 yuan, and yes that means one giant stack of cash) and go back to teaching our classes for the day. But instead, everyone piles into the office,crowding around the secretary's desk and while we're waiting, and two of my colleagues just straight up ask me how much I make in a month. And when it is my turn to go collect my spoils, I have multiple teachers blatantly craning and stretching to steal a look at the amount on the receipt I'm signing. And salary is just the tip of the iceberg in regards to unexpected appropriate small-talk topics. I've learned not to be surprised if someone I've just met asks or comments about my weight, acne, parents income, and marital status. While most Chinese people I know are very uncomfortable talking about sex, they are quite comfortable talking about things like menstruation and bowel movements. People here also drink hot water instead of ice water, and you're not supposed to tip your servers.

So.. while I have gotten somewhat more used to expecting the unexpected, I still never thought I would be picking strawberries in December. In Washington, we usually harvest strawberries in June and July. Of course, those are outdoors strawberries that grow naturally in direct sunlight. These special Christmas strawberries were grown in long, plastic-covered greenhouses and were absurdly perfect in shape and texture. I'm not sure what they did to make them so flawless, but whatever it is didn't affect the taste. They were so delicious, in fact, that we took every opportunity to throw one in our mouths while the farmers weren't looking.

In the glasses is my student Alicia from my senior 3 class, and on my right is her lovely mother. I'm so grateful to them for taking me out to the countryside with their family!

My friend and coworker Rachel 
(she teaches math) also came along

so many strawberries!!

Rachel trying to be covert about 
sneaking strawberries

it's love..

the farmer's grandson

demon bird-bug！！

Lindsey and I came across this fantastic specimen in Xiao Lao Xi.. we had no idea what it was. Looked like a hummingbird, hovered like a hummingbird, but had wings and a body like a giant moth and a long needle-like proboscis.
After some research, I found out this thing was in fact a moth! It is called the hummingbird hawk-moth or sometimes the hummingmoth. Pretty badass, huh?
If you're interested, here's the wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroglossum_stellatarum

HD available! It might take longer to load but you probably won't be able to even tell what it is if you watch the low quality version. Click the gear icon that pops up on the bottom right after you hit play to switch to HD :)

Warning: video has brief profanity. 





Here is the pic Lindsey took!


and some more from google images, cause I seriously can't get over how cool this guy looks:

Tiananmen Square Panorama

...from our trip to Beijing during National Day / Golden Week

(high quality video available if you click on the bottom right gear icon)

Birdman at Xiao Lao Xi

(high quality video available if you click on the bottom right gear icon)

Saturday Sanctuary at Xiao Lao Xi

Almost every weekend, Lindsey and I make the journey out to Xiao Lao Xi. A 1 RMB bus ride and a few hitchhikes away from the north end of Yichang, this beautiful river canyon hike features a trail that runs alongside a crystal clear tributary with lush, overgrown cliffs towering up on both sides. Walking up this canyon feels like you've stepped into the animated Tarzan movie.. and sounds like it too, being that Lindsey and I somehow get "Son of Man" stuck in our heads every time we go up there. 
The following pictures are from our most recent trip to Xiao Lao Xi on a beautiful, sunny Saturday. 

Waiting at the bus stop

two friends with matching outfits

Amazing color on this guy.. had to do some research to identify. He is a white-capped redstart (Chaimarrornis leucocephalus) [白顶溪鸲 bái-dǐng xī-qú, 'white-capped brook robin']. 

view from the road

Wow, look at that garden. Not an inch of ground wasted. There's a house in there somewhere!

beautiful mountains over farm valley

pomelo tree 

another white-capped redstart in a less pretentious pose

part of the trail has stairs, a common feature of Chinese hiking trails

really neat teal-blue pool.. checkpoint no. 1

mystical grove with animal-shaped tree trunks, checkpoint no. 2

another weird "same wavelength" moment.. "Dude that looks like an animal, I kind of want to ride it"

The second part of the trail gets pretty exciting. The trail drops out in places and hikers are left to traverse over the water, clinging to the cliffs using chains and various types of footholds, including precariously rigged log bridges, metal loops screwed into the cliffside, and wet moss-covered stones. I'm sure these portions of the hike are greatly treasured by Lindsey, as she gets to put up with me freaking out and yelping about the funnel-shaped spider webs right by our faces..  

Lindsey so calm and collected... as if there WEREN'T GIANT SPIDERS waiting to pounce in every crack and crevice we dared to hold onto 

chasing the sun

what a pair!