More Shilinxia

We all ended up hiking at different paces and splitting off. By the end it was just me and Michael, with some far ahead and already downing beers, and other far behind and trying to make it through the mountain. We figured we had just enough time to hit the waterslide.

Yeah, the mountain we were at was a mix between the most beautiful natural sights I’ve ever seen…and a theme park. Even the trail we walked on was man-made stairs, sometimes out of rock and other times just metal. According to Beijing hikers, though, this was hiking. I was dying to skip off the path and scurry up the mountain, but there were actually signs everywhere in English, tell me not to. (This is especially important to note, because pretty much everywhere in China, you’re on your own. Free from lawsuit-plagued American thinking, I’ve had a year of making my own poor choices, law-free. The fact that whoever was in charge there took the time to not only make rules, but also translate them into English kept me straight on the path.)

After the mountain but before the parking lot there was a waterslide and a raft ride. We debated for a while, but eventually decided on the water slide, because of the sheer awesomeness of the vertical drop. Unfortunately, we waited for a while before realizing everyone else in line had a ticket. We actually considered pretending to be foreigners who don’t speak Chinese in an attempt to keep our place in line, but eventually decided against it.

To keep us as dry as possible, they gave us basically plastic bag-ponchos with hoods. (Plastic bags in China, by the way, are unlike the plastic bags in America. They’re more like the plastic bags you might find at a grocery store just to put a few cherries in than what you’d get to take your groceries home.) The “ponchos” were so thin that people weren’t taking them off at the end of the ride, they were standing up, dripping wet, and just ripping the whips of plastic like the incredible hulk.

I haven’t been on a roller coaster since…I can’t even remember. It felt great to have that rush again, as the log lifted me and Michael up towards the mountains before crashing us down with a giant splash into the filthiest water imaginable.

Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that until it in the air and crashing down on my hair. “Don’t lick your lips or touch your eyes!” I warned.

After that we went to the “Peach Orchard”, which actually has no peaches, but was as gorgeous as promised.

Unforgettable Moment: The Chinese VP busting out opera-style in the middle of the peach blossom orchard.