After coming back from Shanghai, I rested for three days before setting out for Huizhou. I had imagined a fun 3 day getaway in Huizhou, but then the worst of the worst had to come.
I woke up with a terrible cold. The disastrous summer cold had struck. The extremely sore throat and runny nose had taken over my body and I was feeling my worst in years. It normally takes me three days to heal and that means living three days like a monk. Why did it have to happen to me now? Even the way from Guangzhou to Huizhou was a long and tiring road. That day was hot and sticky, but it felt hotter and stickier to me. We took a long train ride to Tianhe Terminal to wait for my uncle to pick us up. By us, I mean my grandma, my mother and I. My uncle Kai brought his daughter, who I will call cousin Su. He drove us for nearly four hours. During the entire ride, I had a mass of tissue stuffed in front of my face. As much as I wanted to talk, it felt like everything I did was painful. Upon arriving at my great aunt's house, I showered and went straight to bed. Even my sleep that night was terrible. The top bunk was stuffy as hell and the lights were for some reason very late into the night.
The next day, I woke up feeling more refreshed. My throat at least felt much better. We went for lunch to eat. It was at this place called Gao Ji (高记). Apparently it made it to local television and is very popular among the locals. It was a very small restaurant and we had our own room with AC. The relatives had their own conversation. I was too busy focused on eating. There was a lot of local foods that day cooked in a very home-like way. For instance, lot of the vegetables are blanched and then quickly stir-fried lessening the amount of oil used. I had some pork offal soup. I haven't had the taste of pig blood in years. It didn't have a gamey taste. It was smooth and delicate like silken tofu. I learned that goose was a local specialty in Huizhou. I'm told that it's suppose to be slowly roasted, but since it's too time consuming, restaurants have it simmered and then put into the oven. As a result you have juicy meat and crispy skin. If I wasn't too sick, I would have eaten more of that goose. There was also Hakka-style stuffed tofu for lunch that day. I never get bored of tasty stuffed tofu. There was also this mugwort rice cake. It's sticky rice and mugwort cooked together with sugar and shaped into huge pieces which are then deep fried. It's a very greasy dish, but also very delicious.
That night, Uncle Kai brought my mom and I to see the Wen Xing Tower. We walked along the West Lake, not to be confused with the one in Hangzhou. A lot of people were out at night singing, dancing, exercising, playing erhu, and doing a lot of stuff. It's basically a public space open for people to do whatever they want. I watched the bridge light up and change colors. At least the second day in Huizhou was going well. I only have one more day to stay anyways.
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