Wazigou - A trip to the village

China is a great, big country. Like America, it is a country with a great deal of geological diversity, from the far western dry deserts to the hot and humid southern coast, to the northern steppes and the rocky eastern coasts. Although most people choose to travel outside of the country to regain one's inner peace, visiting China's non-cities can also be rejuvenating and extremely adventurous. Once you get there.

This weekend, a group of us from the Consulate decided to take a two-hour road trip to a small village called Wazigou 瓦子勾, known for its rural home stays 农家院. The BFF & husband, along with J & J had been there before, so this was a return trip to the countryside for them. For the rest of us, this was our first experience in touring the Dongbei's rural homes and sleeping on a kang.

Despite our best efforts of getting out of Shenyang at a reasonable hour, heavy traffic, crazy construction, and absurd detours prevented our anticipated timely arrival in Wazigou. However, once we finally got onto the highway, it was smooth sailing to the village. Driving in China's cities can be extremely frustrating; on the other hand, driving on the highways is actually pleasant since most of them are newly built and empty of traffic. The trouble lies in the maps that advertise highways before they're actually finished, which is often the case in China. Needless to say, it's always an adventure driving anywhere outside city limits.

Our patient driver and co-pilot

On our way, the boys got hungry, so we stopped at the first establishment we saw off the highway that offered food. After inspecting the kitchen's stocked ingredients and negotiating with the cook, two guys in the group ordered us a feast! I'm not the most adventurous eater, so naturally I'm always skeptical when trying out new places. But these guys knew what they were doing and every dish was quite tasty.

Our feast!

After lunch and a bit more driving, we made our way to our home for a night. For those who aren't aware, a rural home stay normally involves a villager family opening their homes to guests (normally rich Chinese or foreigners like us) in a bed-and-breakfast style. The Dongbei-style home stay also includes sleeping on a kang, basically a stone slab bed that's heated from within. In the winter months, kangs seem like a brilliant idea. Toasty beds covered in blankets and pillows to keep you warm. But without all the blankets and pillows to soften the hard concrete? I was skeptically looking forward to seeing what all the hoopla was about.

Our home stay was nothing fancy (most things in China aren't), but provided a good respite from the hustle and bustle of city life. We settled into the second floor balcony overlooking the countryside, drank some beers, and read a bit. The rain came in and out for a good hour, but once it cleared up slightly, we headed down to the reservoir geared up with a baseball and football, fishing pole, and of course, more beer. I wish I had been able to take some photos of the beautiful lake, but the rain came back once or twice and would have been bad for the camera. Once the rain passed, the skies opened up and the sun heartily warmed us. By the second hour, the stresses of Shenyang had left us behind and we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

The gang's all here!

Dinner was being served at 7:00, so we headed back in anticipation of our special order. While the home stay did provide regular dishes, we had also called in advance and specifically ordered a whole roasted lamb for our group. While the sun set behind the mountains and provided a beautiful ending to our day, everyone was looking forward to dinner. When it finally arrived, it was go-time!

They named her Mary. 

What's the best way to end a night in a nongjiayuan? With a hootenanny, of course!

Shenyang's hoot, coming to you live from Wazigou

We followed that with a bit of a stroll "downtown" to serenade the neighbors, meet the locals, and enjoy the stars. A great night of fun, lots of laughs, and GREAT company. Couldn't have been a better weekend.

After a rough night of sleep on the kang (not very comfortable, by the way), the BFF, A & I laced up and went for a run around the reservoir. Again, I wish I had brought my phone to take pictures, but it was nice to be unplugged and able to unwind. Worked our way up some killer hills, and got a good leg workout in. This was the last long run in preparation for next weekend's activities, and so the taper begins.

Post-run breakfast was perfect, with everyone pitching in some goodies: freshly roasted coffee from R, delicious raisin scones from M, spicy & fragrant tea from the BFF, and some brie & crackers to top it all off. All in all, the trip out to the village couldn't have been any better. It's experiences like this that remind me why I love the foreign service and why I am so lucky to be among such amazing people friends.

Wazigou 2013 -- don't stop believing.