2024 China Liase Official Website

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.   

We started the day off going to the Tusi ethnic village “二官寨村”. Thanks to the sheer skill of our bus driver we made it there alive. The roads were quite curvy and at some parts there were only dirt roads. (Somehow there was space for cars to pass our giant bus). 

As we winded through the mountains of Enshi, the cliff faces slowly turned into rows and rows of tea plants. In a place where I wouldn’t think anything could grow, there were terraced tea fields. 

Once arriving in the village, we were given a little tour around by a man who was born and raised in the village but taught at a College in Wuhan. We got to see the preserved traditional housing complexes, and the village square where they have community dancing every once in a while. We got the privilege to go inside a resident’s house, got to see their kitchen, their bedrooms, and wine making set up. Since there generally isn’t heating in Chinese households in that part of China, they had a multitude of thick blankets and once central “heating room” where they dried meat and where residents could go if they got too cold. When I walked into that room I was just grateful for the heat, and didn’t notice the hanging pig intestines until a bit later, it was quite surprising. 

I was also happy to see all of the (definitely well fed) village cats all over the place. It was kind of an “I spy” moment. 

Before we left the village, we had a nice walk along the river, I waded in up to my knees, and Karun went for a little swim (big surprise there). 

We left the Tusi village for a cute little restaurant/tea farm (茶花山庄) where we had (in my opinion) one of the best meals, of local dishes. Since it was still in the mountains and it was a foggy day, it was a very cold dinner, but a tasty one nonetheless. 

After dinner we sat at this long table and had a little tea ceremony, trying different types of tea locally produced and processed. It turned out that the same woman who harvested the tea leaves also made some fruit wines and liquors sold at the restaurant. So after the ceremony, I went back to the restaurant and bought locally made loquat liquor. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to buy any sticky rice wine, even though it was the best wine I think I have ever tasted. (I might try to make it instead). We all all bought a pack of locally sourced red tea which I am drinking as I write this (and its sooo good). 

We then went to the old Tusi City and explored on our own. 

The day concluded with a nice dinner (as per usual) and in order to heal the pains from the previous day at the canyons, a few of us decided to go to a Thai massage spa. (Which was amazing and also surprisingly quite painful) 

Aza Wolfwood