JISHOU, HUNAN — I’ve been busy with a web development project of my own device, so I haven’t taken out time to write anything. So here we go.
This week has been a holiday for many people in China. It commemorates the founding of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) Oct. 1, 1949, their equivalent of the 4th of July. And like 4th of July weekend, good luck getting any action out of any government agency.
We turned in the paperwork for my residence permit the week before National Holiday, so as one might predict, I did not receive it before the week off started. That scotched my plans of visiting Zhangjiajie, where my friend Connie lives, and made me wary of venturing much beyond Jishou.
My liaison officer here, David, reassured me that I could in fact visit Fenghuang, a picturesque and very ancient town about an hour from here. It is within Xiangxi county, as in Jishou, so he said I could carry a copy of my passport and all would be well.
Maybe. I erred on the side of caution, and figured I could visit “Phoenix Town” when all my papers were in order and when it wasn’t mobbed by vacationing tourists.
Last Saturday and Sunday, we had classes, believe it or not, so that we would have exactly seven days off and not, heaven forbid, nine. Such a plan would not go over well at US colleges. Monday I spent lazing around the apartment, recovering from seven solid days of teaching.
