Journey with Lydia - Day 3, Part 2

Another one of Mr. Fan's brothers (he has three) and his wife joined us for lunch.  As with dinner the night before, there seemed to be no end to the food that was served and there were lots and lots of toasts given throughout the meal.  We lingered at the table until Mrs. Xu said she needed to get back to work (I wondered who was in charge at the retirement community while she was gone!).  It was time for us to say good-bye to her and Hua Jun.

Mr. Fan, Dave, Lydia, Florie, and I piled back into his car for the couple hour drive back to Wuhan.  Florie needed to catch a flight back to Hong Kong.  Our time in Qichun was done - until next time, as Mr. Fan would say.

I looked up our Yahoo group post from our trip from Wuhan to Qichun in 2005 to see how I described it:

Once we left Wuhan, which has about 3 million people, the scenery
changed from urban to agricultural and a way of life that is a throw
back to a century ago in America. We saw things such as oxen pulling
plows, people in fields hand picking the crops, and men on foot pulling
ricksaws loaded with lumber and other goods. Along the highway (which
was very much like a US highway) we saw some very interesting "public
works" projects -- the highway was being swept by individuals with hand
made brooms, concrete patches were being made by hand with the tear out
done by pick ax, refilled with concrete from wheelbarrows, and smoothed
by hand. OSHA would have a field day here!

When we reached Qichun, the road became dirt in some areas. Qichun is
an agriculturally based community with an abundance of herbs and
lotus. It became clear very quickly that Qichun is a very impoverished
areas. Homes were very dilapidated and even the chickens were thin.
We reached the orphanage after another hair raising ride through
traffic (when we reached the village -- the downtown -- there were lots
of cars and motorcycle taxis)...

I'm struck by a several things after reading this.  Qichun is still the agriculturally-focused place it was seven years ago.  I remember thinking at that time that it was a really dusty place, like an town from the Old West.  No change there!  However, so much else had modernized and evolved.  Certainly there were still people on the streets with hand made brooms (same with in Hong Kong!), but things like rickshaws and oxen pulling plows were long gone. Nearly all the streets were paved and many new buildings had been constructed. While it's not a wealthy place, it appears the standard of living has really improved.  I saw no skinny chickens! :)  Also, I was unfazed by the traffic - I'm not sure if that's because there were more skilled drivers on the roads or if I'm no longer intimidated by chaos in the streets!

We dropped Florie off at the airport, then began to make our way to our hotel in the middle of Wuhan.  We quickly discovered than none of us knew how to get there - oops, we'd let Florie go a little too soon!  It made for a funny (at least for me as an observer) bonding experience for Mr. Fan and Dave.  Between Dave's Mandarin, the assistance of Google translator on the iPad, and lots of charades-like gestures (and a few wrong turns) we made it.  I have to give many kudos to Mr. Fan - he kept his wits about him driving through some pretty hairy city traffic, unlike anything he has to deal with in Qichun.


Mr. Fan once again insisted on being part of the check in process, making sure everything was in order for.  It was a bit comical as it was an international hotel and the staff spoke English.  I'm sure they were wondering "who are these people?!"

We thought Mr. Fan would be anxious to get back on the road to Qichun, but he wanted to take us to dinner and for us to meet his son, Fan Yi Fan, who goes to university in Wuhan.  I admit, I'd been looking forward to a quiet evening, eating some Western food, and going to bed early - but that had to be put on hold!  Mr. Fan and Dave went down to the lobby to wait for Fan Yi Fan to arrive.  They were able to communicate well enough without the translator (nice job, Dave).  Dave expressed his appreciation to Mr. Fan for the wonderful time we'd had.  Mr. Fan asked if, after our time together, he could call Dave a friend. 

Fan Yi Fan arrived.  He's 18, tall, and super skinny.  He seemed to have a jovial personality - he reminded me of a little kid in a long, lanky body.  "Hello, nice to meet you" was the only English he spoke to us.

He took immediately to Lydia, holding her hand as we walked around and picking her up to see over the counter top at the restaurant.  We had "hot pot" for dinner (like fondue) along with the local specialty - fresh, hot noodles served with peanut sauce and coriander.  Now that's the kind of local dish that I can love!

After dinner we walked to the waterfront and watched people setting off lanterns; the kind where you light a flame under and let go.  It was magical looking - and clearly would break all kinds of rules in the US and be seen as an extremely hazardous activity.  Of course, we had to participate!  Lydia and Fan Yi Fan set off a lantern together:

It was getting late, so we finally said our last good-byes to the Fans.  What an incredible experience it had been!