Fùyáng 2024 May 31

We arrived to Fùyáng by high-speed rail on the 31st of May. The train ride took approximately 3 hours and we spent the majority of it socializing amongst ourselves. I got hot-spot data off Ricky to browse the web and Jack gave me a fortune-telling via electronic rune reading.

We spent too long trying to figure out transportation to the hotel. Jack, Elric, and Becca ended up taking a ride-share while Ricky and I ended up settling on a taxi. The local police were corralling the taxis and ride-shares like sheep-dog might herd cattle. It seemed as though the police were having fun, or perhaps they were just bored. Either way, it was amusing. Some enterprising would-be drivers at the train station quoted us (if memory serves me right) 元300 to drive us to the hotel. I think Ricky and I ended up paying our taxi driver 元40.

At the hotel we were able to meet with Max, a Russian who had traveled separately from Nánníng. Later, another good friend, Joe, a British expat, arrived from Wúxī.

Thereafter, we were driven to dinner near the familial home of Ricky’s fiancée, which seemed to be in the city outskirts. Dinner was in a small restaurant located just across the street from Ricky’s fiancée’s home, and consisted of pretty normal Chinese family-style restaurant dishes. I ate mostly pork and bāozi. There was some chicken served, but in typical Chinese fashion it was primarily just skin-covered bones devoid of most meat. The beer was plentiful, however, and at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters.

After dinner we walked back across the street into the courtyard of Ricky’s fiancée’s familial home and participated in KTV over drinks and smokes. Ropes of LED lights were laid down from the upper balconies and fireworks were later set off in celebration.