Hot Springs: 1 Big Happy Chinese Family
Last Monday (April 3), my friends and I went to a hot springs resort. This resort was called Tangpo Hot Springs. While here, we met a Chinese family. This family invited us to dinner and took us for a ride in their Teslas!
Monday Morning
We left for the hot springs at 8:30 am. The resort is only about 35-40 minutes away from campus by taxi. When we arrived at the resort, we were not sure where we were supposed to go. Using Chinese, I was able to ask a worker and figure out where we needed to go. The resort is a 5-Star hotel; however, we stayed in a 3-Star hotel. Our hotel was only about a 10 minute walk from the main hotel and the hot springs. The place is located on a small lake and is very beautiful. Once we found the hotel and put our stuff in our rooms, we immediately headed out for the hot springs.
The HOT Springs
The resort has many many hot spring pools. There are approximately 5 or 6 indoors and more than 10 outside. When you first arrive to the hot springs, the receptionist gives you a wristband. This wristband has a number on it, which is the number and key for your assigned locker in the locker room. The locker room is very large. Here, you are given a towel, shirt, shorts, and sandals to use during your time in the facility. After you put your stuff in the locker room, you go downstairs where there are many showers and bathrooms. Finally, you head out to the hot springs. After leaving the locker room area, you must walk through the indoor pool area to get to the outside.
So...the hot springs were TOO HOT! There were few pools which were a perfect temperature. Most of the pools were 40 degrees celsius and above! My friends and I spent a lot of time in the big pool, which was, in my opinion, a perfect temperature. The big pool, however, requires all people to wear a swimming cap. The first day, we were able to get away without wearing one. We told the worker that we did not have any money to buy a swimming cap. The next day, we were not so lucky. They demanded that we wear a swimming cap. So, my friend, Vitali, and I went upstairs to find the swimming caps. We did not want to pay 10 Yuan for a swimming cap! We asked the lady at the shop if she had any extra plastic bags. Luckily, she did. We used these as swimming caps. Everyone looked at us funny and some even took pictures of us. We also found it very funny.
We ate lunch at the restaurant by the hot springs. It took us a little while to understand the menu and talk about what we wanted to the waitress, but it was well worth it. The food was very good. While eating, a little girl came up to our table and wanted to get a picture with us. The foreigners are very famous and rarely can walk down the street without someone wanting to take a selfie with them. Nobody wants to take a selfie with me because I look Chinese; so, I am not as interesting to them :(
There also was a pool outside which had little fish in it. These fish would eat your dead skin. My friends and I tried it. It was very interesting and relaxing. At first, it took me a little bit to get used to it because it tickled my feet! You had to pay 28 Yuan for this pool.
The next day, we got breakfast at the hotel. We all received free breakfast...well, it came with our renting of the hotel. The breakfast was very very delicious and there were many food options. Everyone was extremely satisfied with breakfast, especially the bread and meat! After breakfast we hit the hot springs one last time before having to checkout at noon.
Chinese Family
While in the big pool, I met two children. I talked with them in Chinese in order to practice my speaking. The children were very sweet and very interested in me and my friends. They told their parents about us and they also came over to talk with us. The mother can speak English so she was able to translate! I spent a lot of time talking with this family. They were very interesting. They ended up inviting us to dinner with them and even better, we got to ride in their Tesla cars to dinner! Fun fact: They have 3 TESLAS! Before going to dinner, they took us to the father's work, which is a Fund Management company. He is a partner in the company. We were able to meet his other partner while at the work building. Here, we played ping pong, badminton and pool. Then, we headed out to the restaurant in the city of Wendeng. The restaurant was a small restaurant and the food was absolutely DELICIOUS! I have been told by my coworkers that the food we ate at this restaurant is well-known in a specific province, which unfortunately, is not the province we are in. After dinner, the family dropped us off at our hotel.
This family was extremely kind and generous. We all really enjoyed hanging out with them. The children (10 years and younger) told me that their parents want them to go abroad to learn English and about Democracy.
We have plans with that family to travel to Kunyu Mountain this upcoming weekend, where there is beautiful scenery and a temple!
