Drifting

Drifting is the phrase the Chinese use to refer to the rafting like activity Desi and I had planned for the day. I had anticipated some sort of debacle this morning, my pessimism seemed to be at a high after the uncomfortably long wait for the taxi this morning. In the cab I thought the driver was taking us back to the travel agency instead of the rafting site. Turns out, I worry for no reason. Didn't need to go to China to learn that,but nevertheless we ended up where we needed to be and at the correct time. At the site we took a bus up the side of a mountain and giggled with the largely high school aged group when we hit bumps that caused the bus to jump in the air. At the top of the river we put on life jackets and army style helmets. Some how Desi and I managed to find the only green pair of helmets and we stuck out like Western enemies of the orange Chinese naval force.  It is yet another sign of how people in china want to be the same, nobody wants to stick out. Westerners however want to be seen as individuals, want to be perceived as individuals. Waiting in line I talked to a Chinese high schooler in English. He was scared about the drifting which made me feel oddly brave given my aversion for the majority of adventitious activities. When entered our raft we were pushed down what looked like a natural water slide. These initial drops and rapids were the most severe. It seems feasible that you could fall out of our raft in the initial decent and if my sandals weren't tied to the sides of the boat they would have surely gone overboard. Then the water gets calm and people begin to splash each other with pales and other assorted containers. Many Chinese, no matter what age, shoot water guns at each other.

This is a great activity to partake in with Chinese that you can't verbally communicate with. I really enjoyed sneaking up on a boat and drenching an unexpected Chinese girl with a bottle of water down their back. With the drifting complete we obtained two laminated souvenir photos, a female Chinese bathing suit all of which resemble a more modest and classy circa the 1950s. Desi doesn't like the Chinese bathing suits, i however think they're like little outfits. We were both rather hungry after having partaken in such a sportive activity and therefore we ended up eating at a canteen-like restaurant on the premises. Our meal included steamed corn, meatballs, beef noodles and tofu. The waitresses laughed at me when I began to bus my own table. Customers don't throw out their own trash in China. Not even at fast-food restaurants. After getting help from a couple locals we took a taxi to the bus station and grabbed the bus back to Shenzhen, our home away from home.