FuXian Lake

Most schools in China are boarding schools and a large percentage of the students live on campus. So this means I get lots of invitations to go and visit families in their home towns and explore new parts of China. This week I was invited to go and stay with a student for the weekend in a local town. Where she lives is also the home to the famous, Fuxian Lake. Now I know back home the biggest lake we see is probably Rutland water or something on that scale so when I first saw Fuxian Lake, I was taken back for a few minutes. The lake itself is the 2^nd deepest in the China and one of the largest in the world. It stretches for almost 30 miles so it’s no wonder that the students tend to call it ‘The Ocean’.

I was met by some of my students, Crystal and Cherry on a Saturday morning and, with pooch in one arm, set off to get the bus to meet her family. It was about an hour journey there and after living in china for almost 6 months that is one of the shortest journeys around. I’m used to 8 hour trains and 9 hour coaches to get to where I want to go. Once we arrived I went to Crystal’s family home. It was so great to be in a traditional Chinese home, it’s actually where I feel most relaxed and happy over here, besides getting waited on by everyone, it’s the only opportunity I get to really be in a family environment, which I miss so much now I live alone. We had some lunch, one of my favourite Chinese dishes and particularly special to this region of China called ‘Mi Xian’ English translation – Rice Noodles.

For a Chinese person it’s a really huge honour to have a foreigner, especially who is the complete polar opposite of the Chinese in both looks and culture like me, in their homes. They go to the extremes of buying copious amounts of food, tea and buying me anything they think I could want. So after having a great lunch and watching some of my favourite Chinese TV, we finally set off to visit the lake. I was really excited, I had read and heard so much about this place and I was so lucky to have my own family tour guides with me. When we arrived at the lake, I was completely blown away by the sheer size of the thing. It was so beautiful and it was the perfect day. It also contains some of the cleanest water in China. There is so much history and myth behind the lake and it was not until recently that scientist discovered that there is a city at the bottom of the lake. Some say it’s a famous city that mysteriously disappeared hundreds and hundreds of years ago.  

I handed Pooch over to Crystal’s family for the day whilst my students and I rented a boat to sail over to an island in the centre of the lake. Its English name is ‘Money Island’ as not so long ago it used to be home to many monkeys that would even swim in the lake. The boat was bobbing up and down and it really felt like I was out as sea. We got to the island and ate some of the most amazing fresh water sea food. Fried prawns, Octopus and white bait, all delicious. We decided to climb the island mountain and explore the temples. The temples, views and experiences in China never cease to take my breath away and this island was doing no less. After the trek we decided to cool off and get a boat back to the mainland where both Cherry and Crystal’s parents were waiting for us, as was my Pooch.

We now moved onto a famous cave where you can go and fish for yourself and take your fish home to eat but unfortunately there has been a bit of a drought whilst I have been out here and the caves where bone dry, no fishing for us. But we did how ever get the chance to go swimming.  I was not told we would be swimming so I ended up just having to go into the lake with my shorts, much to the shock of my students family who were adamant that I should borrow some speedo’s from Crystal’s dad, no thanks. The water was cool and clean and it was so nice to swim. The sun was now starting to set over the lake and we were all pretty hungry so we went to a restaurant about 5 miles down the road. The families had arranged for a huge feast in my honour and served up the famous ‘Fuxian Lake Copper pot Fish’ which was delicious, as well as other typical Chinese bites.

 After being fully stuffed we then went to watch the sun set and dip our feet in the lake. It was a moment I’ll never forget for as long as I live. Everything was perfect, the sun, the lake and the company, just everything. It was that moment I really realised how much China has changed me, my outlook on life, on people and the natural beauty of the world. I realised that I’d had the most incredible months of my life and that they were coming to an end. I just felt so lucky to be in that moment. Being happy is so important to me and volunteering could not make me more happy. It really is true what they say; ‘You get out of life what you put into it’