The next day (Friday, 6/27/14) I was able to relax a bit and acually settle in. The morning was spent doing some proof reading and viewing a couple films on the environment in China.  After lunch at another noodle shop I was finally able to wander around the city on my own.  The area close by doesn’t have any flashy things to see, like many people might look for, but every corner, twist, and turn results in something strange and intriguing.  This part of the city (and many others) is also largely in disarray, the new can be seen right next to the crumbling old.

I have an intense, somewhat morbid fascination of urban decay so I couldn’t be happier as I explored the city.  I find things falling apart to have their own kind of beauty.  Within such areas you can find simple treasures, such as these:

 A somewhat hidden garden had many bonsai, or rather, pénzāi as they are called in Chinese.

An entrance to an apartment community.

As I wandered I kept getting odd looks of disbelief, excitement, annoyance, bewilderment, fear, curiosity, blank stares, and many more.  I had been warned that as a foreinger I would attract attention, but I didn’t think it would be that much.  According to Chinese cultural norms, strangers are ignored, sometimes to the point of what might be viewed as impoliteness to an outsider.  However, because Wuhu is isoloated from most foreign tourism, people like me can attract more attention then would be desired.  Apart from mild annoyance, I actually find the vast range of odd stares to be quite amusing.  However, it would be nice to be able to blend in.

I spent several hours wandering and came accross so many interesting areas.  I loved seeing how lively (and hazardous!) the streets were.

However, I looked everywhere for any sign that might have the characters 功夫 (Gōngfū), meaning Kung fu, and I found nothing.  I had been asking everyone I had met so far if they knew of any Kung fu schools in Wuhu, but no luck.  I had really been hoping to be able to train while I am here!  I wasn’t about to give up so soon though.

I returned to the office in time to meet my supervisor so we could go for dinner.  She took me to a Chinese hot pot place that specialized in Wuhu’s style of cuisine, mostly hot and spicy!  It was incredibly good.  We then went to massages, which are very inexpensive in many areas of China.  It was my first hour long massage and it was so nice.  The evening was pleasantly warm and not too humid so we went for a walk.  We came across a Tsingtao beer festival of all things, complete with a brightly lit stage and performers singing well known Chinese pop songs.  They even had beer can sculptures…

We lingered a bit and then headed back, finishing the night with a long conversation about cultural differences over a couple beers of our own.