Friday, July 8, 2011
First thing this morning, I had to find out about how the two game shows went yesterday. Exciting news, the girls dominate both shows. You know what that means – Mr. Yip is matching the winnings yuan for yuan. The promise has been extended to anymore winnings they may receive as a result of any other game shows on the trip. In addition to doubling their earnings, Mr. Yip has requested that a fabulous room at the best KTV (karaoke) in Macau be reserved for the girls after their packed schedule. You can tell that the board members sincerely care about the girls, and it’s not just all for show.
The morning has a delayed start of 10AM, which was a nice change of pace. The reason for the delay wasn’t as nice. Several of the girls’ have fallen ill, and the delayed start was due to trips to see doctors and hospitals. The rest of us climb aboard the bus on our way to the first stop of the day which is Hefei’s version of “It’s a Small World”. Each building houses a multitude of information about different East Asian nations with scaled down replicas of historical landmarks. There are also interesting sculptures peppered throughout the park. The crew from the television station is there to capture every second of the girls walking through the park. Once they get to the amphitheater for the water show, the girls are split up to do different little ads for the station and probably the park.
We file back on the bus, and it’s time for lunch already. After lunch, we head to the water park next to the Hefei Aquarium. Five of the girls have volunteered to compete on “Boys vs. Girls”, an obstacle course game much like “Wipeout” in the States which we got from Japan, if I’m not mistaken. Two groups of youth martials arts groups perform for the intro. The first group is mostly older elementary school kids with nunchuks. The second group are little kindergarteners showing off their kick and punches. Too cute . . . and deadly! Yi Yao (Contestant #1), Isabella Chan (Contestant #11), and Danni Wang (Contestant #7) all get a chance to perform before the competition begins. Yi sings a classic Mandarin song. Isabella raps which throws the hosts of the program completely for a loop. Danni performs a sultry dance involving a chair, a hat, and some hip shakes in a bright red, fringe-filled outfit. The five volunteers, however, are not the performers, but the brave Ivy Hu (#4), Yufei Liu (#5), Miriam Lau (#6), Allison Ye (#10), and Mei Shao (#11). With all of the obstacles moving and sprayed with water, it’s not an easy course to navigate. Unlike a typical ropes course, there isn’t hardly anything to grab a hold of when your foot gives way, so the girls have to get creative. The hosts give the team members a lot of pointers like the faster you can make it through each obstacle, the safer you will be, and the longer you take the more fear will build up.
Allison volunteers herself to go first. She makes it to the spinning bit before she hits the water which is about 1/3 of the way through the course. The makeup was most definitely waterproof because she still looked great being hoisted out of the water. Yufei is 100% sure that she will make it through the entire course when the hosts interview her. She gets to the top of the moving staircase before she’s thrown into the water which is about ½ through the course and the farthest any of the five girls get. When the hosts ask for the next volunteer, the three girls point to Pan Pan, who stands in for Contestant #8. He tries his best, but the fourth “toadstool” gives him trouble. Miriam is next, and she takes the hosts advice about going through the obstacles at quickly as possible . . . perhaps a little too quickly because she overshoots the trampoline and takes a header into the water getting passed just the first obstacle. Ivy is our last hope, but the fourth “toadstool” also proves to be her foe. The game ends pretty early, so Pan Pan gives it another go and wrestles again with the final “toadstool”. Though the game was short, I am thankful to get out of the sun and heat and head back to the hotel.
A quick shower and costume change, and the whole gang is back in the lobby. I am greeted with a big hug by Miriam, the W&M alumna, and then, we’re on the bus for our farewell dinner. We pull up to this secluded spot in the hills. The parking lot is packed, and people crowd the entire area. The entrance is like entering a grand Chinese home with a large door where you must take a big step to cross over the threshold. You pass through a hallway where there are sample dishes on display as well as aquariums holding future meals. Once you get passed the line of woks and cooks, the space opens into a great hall decked out much like the inns you see in Chinese period movies with a lofted second floor where you can see those down below. The woodwork is intricate and reminiscent of times gone by, as if you were gazing into the inner chambers of a wealthy family.
Little did we know what we were in for, but all of a sudden a disembodied, male voice in the operatic style starts speak-singing to the customers. The lights on stage are lit, and an actor in operatic costumer walks out and begins to sing followed by an actress also in period costume. I wasn’t expecting dinner AND a show. A few more actors come out and sing very classical songs; then, it’s time to dig in. One of the most well-known, well-attended establishments in Hefei, dish after dish of local eats come out from the kitchen. The waitresses end up stacking dishes on the lazy susan because of the large amounts of food going uneaten. For this foodie, I was not impressed with the amount of oil and salt in the food, but thus is the style here in Hefei, Anhui. The typical cuisine is also heavy on root vegetables and legumes like sweet potatoes, purple yams, peanuts, soy beans, and taro.
Tomorrow we leave for Zhongshan, Guangzhou. I will need to brush up on my Cantonese if were going to be in the province where the language started.
Stereotype Rebel 