Not
knowing what to expect from a ski trip in subtropical Southern China we took a
breath and boarded a greyhound packed with a bunch of other Chinese outdoor
sports enthusiasts and nestled into our “VIP” spots my student’s mother
reserved for us at the very front of the bus. They told us the ride would be
about 5 hours, so we we were happy to have a
great view out the giant front window and plenty of leg space. During the ride, our club leader dude kept the
bus entertained with what I was guessing to be stories, informational tidbits about
Shennongjia, and spontaneous interviews of various passengers on the bus. Multiple
times we heard the phrase “Meiguo ren pengyo,” which would more often than not be
followed by chuckles and chatter. Yes, they were
talking—and laughing-- about us.. Meiguo
ren pengyo means “American friends.” But 6 months into living in China and
this kind of experience wasn’t anything new. And the laughter wasn’t malicious by
any stretch. Our ski trip group was actually an incredibly welcoming and
humorous bunch, and even had a few English speakers among its ranks. Below you can see Lindsey with two English teachers who were on the trip.
The bus
ride ended up being 2 hours longer than originally estimated. The road was
narrow, winding, and bumpy as hell. When we finally arrived at a small mountain town
about an hour away from the ski resort we got a hotpot dinner at a local
restaurant then stayed the night at a decent hotel.
In the morning we got up at 6am, prepared our own breakfasts in our rooms, piled into the bus, and drove an hour to Shennongjia Ski Field. Yes.. you read the right. Field. When we got there we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. “South China’s largest ski resort” was a slightly slanted snow field divided into two runs and two stand and pull lifts. The lifts were poma/t-bar style, which involve standing and placing a bar with a plastic disc at the bottom between your legs and being pulled up the hill. There were other runs, but only these two were open for the weekend and actually had snow on them. Also, we were told by our tour guide upon check-in that we need to hide our faces cause we were sneaking in...
I would say there were about 300 people at
the ski resort and I’m not exaggerating when I say that, apart from the employees,
Lindsey and I may have been the only two people there who actually knew how to
ski. Most of the people at the resort were gathered around the bottom of the hill
and were either scooting around and getting a feel for their skis or taking
selfies. The scene was surreal, like hundreds of baby fauns walking around on
ice. In the background, the loudspeakers would periodically blast Ravel’s Bolero, adding even more comedy to what
we were witnessing around us. I have to hand it to these people though, it takes guts to learn how to ski, and even more guts to take one of these crazy lifts up a hill and push yourself off down the hill having no idea what you're doing. I learned how to ski when I was small child and I had the help of a ski instructor at one point, and then my parents, and they would put one of those harness leashes around me and ski behind so I don't lose control and go careening into a tree or someone's legs. That's what these people needed. Ski instructors and leashes. The bunny hill was a war zone. You'd have to keep one eye on the uphill because at any moment there would be a glamorous Chinese woman wearing a fur coat and a lacy miniskirt heading straight towards you at full speed, screaming what I assumed to be "get the eff out of the way I can't stop," and soon she would be on ground with skis twisted in all directions, cracking up while her friends would all be laughing and cheering for her at the top of the hill.
Despite there being very little actual
skiing that day, there were plenty of great moments.
Highlights included:
Highlights included:
l Hiking up above the lifts to try out a steeper part of the hill,
only to find out the snow was super wet and heavy, making turning almost
impossible without losing a ski..
l Trying to explain the “big pizza” and “french fries” techniques to
our Chinese friends who had never skied before
l Lots of immature phallic jokes every time we rode the ski lifts
l Free snacks at lunch cause we’re Westerners
l And last but not least.. the group photo session at the end of the
days, because Chinese tourists.
(click on pictures for full size)
(click on pictures for full size)
Well Shennongjia, it was great. See ya (and hopefully some of these guys) in the springtime!
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| photo taken from china.org.cn |
