Julia Colón
March 10th, 2024
We began this day bright and early at the hotel with an 8 am departure time to make the 2 hour bus journey to the Mountain village adjacent to Enshi. The bus ride was pretty bumpy due to the remoteness of the village. However, we learned that the state has been promoting further infrastructure development to make the village more accessible for tourism. Once we arrived, we were met by one of the village representatives for a tour of the village as a whole. The houses and buildings reflected architectural styles of the Ming dynasty, with many of the original wooden structures still standing, or having undergone some restorative construction with newer wood.
We learned that through state and local village government collaboration, projects and infrastructure that bolster the tourism sector are being funded. Despite these efforts, around 60% of village income comes from remittances, with a very small percentage coming from the sale of agricultural products like tea and root vegetables. Additionally, it was mentioned that most of the homes we were seeing were only used as weekend or summer homes as most welfare services like schools, hospitals, etc. were absent due to the small population of the village.
After the tour, we were able to walk around and look at the scenery, complete with fields of tea and beautiful traditional architecture, all against the backdrop of the mountains. We eventually boarded the bus to get to our next destination, where we would find a delicious lunch spread followed by a traditional tea tasting.
I have gotten in the habit of making it a point to try all the condiments, sauces, and garnishes that often go overlooked at meals. Professor Muppidi and I discovered that the green sauce that had been forgotten among the multitude of other dishes we had been served was actually a culinary star in its own right. Luckily for us, the restaurant happened to sell it by the bottle. I got 2, one for my dad, and one of course for myself.
After lunch, we all took a walk to the tea tasting. We were set up at a long table with a beautiful blue tablecloth, adorned with chocolates and sunflower seeds for us to snack on, not that any of us were even kind of hungry after that lunch. We were slightly crunched for time, but were able to taste one variety of local red tea which I personally found delicious. I ended up buying a small bag to share with friends back at Vassar.
Our last stop before dinner was Tusi City in Enshi. We were able to roam freely through the park and enjoy the architecture and views of the city from the high balconies and towers. The group was pretty exhausted by the time we got to dinner. Once again, the meal was super yummy and we all left feeling stuffed, which was the perfect way to end the day.
