Huang Shan Shi aka Tunxi
The girl behind the counter regards us with a mock-stern look as we trudge up to the door, sweating under our packs. She does a little Bruce Lee shuffle and bounce, thumbs her nose at us, and beckons us over if we dare.
Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Jessica, as she introduces herself to my new white friend, Xu May, as she informs me after it arises that my Chinese is not what it should be, or Xu Xue Ping, as she tells us over dinner that night.
She's a receptionist at the Old Street Youth Hostel in Huang Shan Shi, aka Tunxi, and she's appointed herself our guardian. She gives us both new Chinese names... Xu Xue Feng for me and Xu Xue Bai (nicknamed Xiao Bai... Little Whitey is one meaning, but also a diminutive for a famous T'ang poet) for my friend Mike, adopting us into her family, whose influence, she assures us, is far-reaching and formidable.
There's a brief power struggle when her friend Christine, aka Liu Jing Yun, says that her family's in need of some reinforcement too, so Jessica gracefully cedes Mike to appease her. We then proceed to spend half the evening mocking them for the various deficiencies of that pesky Liu family -- they can't hold their beer, they wear jackets out to dinner even though everything's still hot and sticky from the day's lingering heat, and look at those weird beer glasses they drink from!
It's midnight before Jessica and Christine parade us back through town to the hostel, where we tipsily split an orange and head off to bed.
I was planning on bypassing Tunxi altogether, moving on to the mountain as soon as possible. Now it looks like I'll be here for a few days. It'll be too rainy to climb the mountains today, the girls are happy to show us around, the hostel is more convenient if marginally less comfy, and unspeakably more lively and fun than the Shanghai Marriott, and I'm finally starting to feel like I've begun my trip in earnest.
Still haven't had to use a squat toilet yet, though.