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Ores sound spreads far away
Historic town Xitang south of the Changjiang River
Opens your long-sealed memory
An exhibits the life space of ancestors
You may feel that she is that kind
As if an alley where you once romped in childhood

So goes the English translation of a poem intended to bring Chinese tourists to this quaint village. It has recently opened up for tourism and as I understand it is different from similar sites in China in that here the residents were allowed to remain in their homes. The hospital arranged to take a group of us for a field trip to this delightful place. Twelve of us left Sunday morning at 8:30 by a small bus to visit Xitang (translated, West Pond) an hour and a half away toward Shanghai. It was a cold windy day but sunny. Houses there are built along small canals and very narrow passages. As usual there were many small shops some of them tiny. I saw one where a lady was sitting next to her display of a dozen or so knitted slippers while her fingers nimbly were engaged in knitting yet another one.

As we walked down the first alley one of the first things that caught my attention were the green soybeans cooking. At some places they were being cooked in a wok-type pan over a charcoal fire. At others they were in a porous tray with steam coming through it (The steam was generated from a water-filled pan over a charcoal burner.) These charcoal burners are ubiquitous in these outdoor kitchens. They use charcoal briquettes about 4” in diameter and 3” high. They have 4-5 cylindrical holes passing through them making it easy to pick them up, hot or cold, with some special tongs. They stack them up in their little “furnace” putting the new one on top. I saw one being changed. Two hot bricks were taken out stuck together (they retain their shape when burned). The bottom one was knocked off and laid aside and the top one returned to the stove and a fresh one added to the top. In this way the fire is kept going.

As we continued down the “alley” I looked down a side alley and saw and elderly couple making their over a stone bridge. She was walking with a cane. At a jog in the alley I observed a doorway in plastered brick wall from which patches of plaster had fallen off. It seemed an ideal place to take a group picture and they all agreed. As we came alongside a canal that was about 40 feet across I noticed a lady at the bottom of a narrow staircase squatting washing clothes in the canal. Then as we crossed this canal on another stone bridge we saw just beyond it several boats of different sizes and construction moored. Some were made out of wood and some reinforced concrete. It was obvious that someone lives on one boat made out of wood. It was about 15-20’ long and 7 ‘ wide.

Further along we toured a rice wine museum. Where the different steps in making rice wine were portrayed. After fermentation the liquid has to be pressed out of the mash. I was interested to notice the difference between the Chinese wine press and that of the Germans. In the latter case they used a round container and a large screw to apply the pressure. The Chinese use a square container and a lever system for applying the pressure. I won’t describe the entire process but will note that we were told the end result is 16% alcohol.

Crossing another bridge I heard the loud quacking of 2 ducks and the clucking of several hens as their owner stepped out the door next to the canal to feed them. They were soon all gathered around the pan into which their food had been placed. Should this have reminded me that it was almost lunch time? It didn’t. A couple of us had trailed behind and it seemed we had lost our group but then I heard my name. Looking around I could not find the source until I looked up and here was our hostess looking out an upstairs window. This was our lunch stop. Finding our way up the narrow and steep stairway we found that we had a room all to ourselves with a round table and carrousel. A wide assortment of food was provided. The Bamboo dish was the best bamboo I have had in China. I also enjoyed the eggplant, squash and tofu. While we were eating a couple came in. He was dressed in a suit with a turtleneck shirt and overcoat (it was cold outside) and felt hat. She was dressed in a long sleeve plaid red and white blouse carrying a stick and hollow wooden block. He was carrying an er hu (roughly pronounced “are who”). They were soon entertaining us with a couple of traditional Chinese “songs” that even the Chinese with us could not tell us what the songs were about. They seemed to be mostly sounds rather than words anyway.

A boat trip on a canal was next on the agenda. The boat was large enough to accommodate us comfortably but not many more. The boatman stood at the back to propel and steer the boat with one paddle. It was not like any paddle I have ever seen before and I don’t think I can describe it using only words. He was paddling against a cold wind so we all huddled together but still enjoyed the scenes and took several pictures. He took us till we could see where the canal connected with a canal system that leads to the “grand canal”. This canal is 1,114 miles long and has 24 locks. It’s construction was begun in 486 B.C. and completed in 610 A.D. It connects Hangzhou with Bejing.

We then toured a couple of homes that have been made museums. You guessed it these had been homes of wealthy and influential people. One of them was built by descendents of a military official who escorted the Song emperor south when the Song Dynasty had to retreat to the south about 1000A.D. One branch of this officer’s family settled in Xitang and built this home about 1670 A.D. during the Qing dynasty. The ornate furnishings and wall hangings were well preserved. In another such home there were hangings inscribed with the poetry of a very famous Chinese poet. On one wall it had a picture of him shaking hands with Mao Zedong in 1949.

This has been a day we will long remember and we are especially thankful for our friends who made it possible and so enjoyable.

Paul and Darleen