the recipe

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This post is about a 24km walk from Taigu to Dongguan. I visit a university, the White Pagoda, and the Residence of Kong Xiangxi.

I had a bowl of fried noodles the Agricultural University of Shanxi 山西农业大学:

People had told me that there were some foreign exchange students at that university, so I went and looked around.

I didn’t find any foreigners, but I had some fun with the local students:

At first I was amused by their artworks, because they were clearly propaganda, and outdated, too. They were all about the 17th Chinese Communist Party Congress that was about to take place soon, but their style was rather crude.

They in turn seemed amused by my looks, because I was a foreigner with a huge backpack.

When I talked to them I found out that the artworks were actually for some kind of student debate that they had going on.

They in turn found out that I could speak Chinese:

I had a fun time. They had a fun time. We all had a fun time.

Then I left.

the White Pagoda and the dogs

On my way out of Taigu I walked past the White Pagoda 白塔:

A magnificent structure.

I got into a little argument with the management, though. They had closed the place for lunch (until two thirty in the afternoon) and let a bunch of super-aggressive dogs patrol the area. I told them that I could help them get rid of their dog problem, and that I would love to treat them to a meal of dog hotpot.

They said maybe next time.

Raised eyebrows.

Then I climbed up the tower:

Once again: pagodas are simply not that much fun at the top. But I guess you can never be sure until you’ve been up each and every one.

I liked the fat Bodhisavta they had on the ground floor though:

I ended up spending too much time in Taigu today – there was just so much to look at.

Kong Xiangxi’s house and the bricks

Next place I went to was the Courtyard Residence of Kong Xiangxi 孔祥熙. He was a descendent of Confucius and an important public figure in 19th and 20th century China. There were some other visitors as well:

The guy in the picture is a soldier. He saw me messing around with my tripod and decided to stand in my frame and watch. That’s how he ended up being in the picture – I liked it that way.

A couple of other visitors seemed to have found the recipe for a happy afternoon: good friends + the strong smell of Chinese rice wine + some standard-issue bricks:

Bricks?

At first I thought the guys were just drunken fools, but then I saw them really smash the bricks with their bare hands, all while laughing their heads off and patting each other on the back. They kept shouting “ka-pow!!!”

Cool dudes.

I didn’t test my skills on the bricks. Instead I walked over to the old Drum Tower 鼓楼 and shot a picture that’s supposed to illustrate how to rent a room:

The paper on the left is a note about an apartment that is free for rent. The person standing in the background on the right is apparently the landlord or an agent. As soon as anyone stops to look at the note, the landlord/agent will come running and try to land a deal.

At the time when I noticed this I could have used a room for myself, but I still had to continue for another three hours if I wanted to walk from Taigu to Dongguan.

I walked next to the highway until it was dark, and then I kept walking for a little while longer.

Now I’m in a hotel room that smells bad. It looks clean but there is this terrible stench. I think it’s the sink. I’m getting a headache. Poor me.