As a Chinese adoptee raised by white people, I was cultured as much as I could have been. I was taught the basics of my heritage, while still having a love for a good ol’ american cheeseburger too!
I remember as a kid, learning about the Terracotta Warriors and thinking they were real people stuck in stone, as if Medusa had had a tour in China and forgot her sunglasses at home. Well, apparently that’s not true. In Xi’an, we saw the real Terracotta Warriors, and how they were made. I got to envelop myself with my heritage culture by even making a mini general myself!! It was really cool and the lady said I was a fast learner. We also did a good other couple of things that you can really only find abroad.
In Xi’an, there are so many street markets in the city. We discovered a pedestrian street filled with gift shops and food vendors, and we were absolutely blown away by the noises, the smells, and the beautiful lights that would shine at night. In these streets, my dad and I even tried fried octopus on a stick. Definitely not something you find in good ol’ Granger, Indiana. I had tried plenty of calamari before, however never from a street market. And especially never where it’s served on a stick and drips all over your hands and feet (even with the cup they give you to catch the drippings). My dad and I faced these weird tentacles with plenty of enthusiasm, and without hesitation. It was the BEST octopus either of us have ever had (And we’ve had our fair share of course). No regrets!
While going through the narrow backstreets of the city, we found a couple of men huddled around, talking, while handling some colorful cages. We stopped, said hello, and found out that these were giant crickets! (Just like in the Mulan movie!!) We got to watch the men feed them, we got to take pictures, and we got to say hello to the little cute creepy bugs. That’s something you can’t find at a local PetSmart!
My family also ventured to try a “warm water fish spa.” This is when you take your shoes and socks off, dip your feet in the tanks, and let the fish nibble at the dead skin on your feet. It was a surreal and crazy and very ticklish sensation. Again. You don’t find THAT in Indiana. And it was only 20 yuan per person, for as long as you wanted. We started hesitantly, but we all enjoyed it. My dad always loves a good feet treatment (as some of you may know, he has infamously grody feet). And my mom tried her best to relax as I was laughing my head off, and rocking back and forth grabbing her arm, bc my feet are so ticklish! I swear, I couldn’t stop laughing and I couldn’t stop moving. But I kept going and had a good time out of it!
All in all, there’s plenty of things here that you would never be able to experience at home, or even with a fast paced travel group. I know I appreciated the time and experiences I had here with the culture I come from. And we all appreciated the time we had to ourselves to explore, get lost, and find our way through this wandering adventure.
-Ellie 😁
Wander Tales by PC, PB, and Ellie 