A panda walks into a restaurant

Eats
One of the reasons we travel is to have a unique experience, or see something out of the ordinary. It seemed, at first, as though the town of Anji in Zhejiang had not provided anything new to anyone since the KFC was built 8 years ago. Unlike msot of the toursit destinations I've seen, I was shocked to find no 800-year old temples, tea houses hanging over canals, or huge statues of Mao Zidong pointing us to the shopping district. Indeed, it was a town that seemed to have given up. After a day of meandering through the wide, empty streets, we became concerned we might never see anything of value. But, when I asked the taxi driver if there were any good restaurants in town, I received a response that was entirely novel: "no."

Shoots
So why? Why go to Anji? In fact, the real attractions lie to the South, in the still-rugged hills and still-standing forests. The "big bamboo sea" is the largest reserve of bamboo on Earth. And the big bamboo sea lived up to its name! Just off the paved road that led to the filming site of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," lay a pristine creek-side trail that led into the heart of the tall, green nothingness. A few meters later, we were surrounded by bamboo. More importantly, for the first time in months, we were not surrounded by people. The desertion of Anji proved to be a hidden wonder: the rocky path that wound along the series of waterfalls at Nine Dragons Gorge had but a few English students who wanted to make friends with me. At the top of the mountain, the service at Nine Dragons tea house was impeccable: we were the only customers.

Leaves
Having seen the wonders to the South, sailed the bamboo sea, and stood on the dam of which the locals were unusally proud, there was but one task left: buy something kitschy. I had hoped to find some creative bamboo products, perhaps a wooden Olympic mascot or a calendar bound with leaves. But the Anjian's lack of entusiasm for their own town extended deep into the forest: there were none to be found. Instead, we discovered a final hidden jewel: everything for 2 RMB stores! It turned out the people of Anji were full of the up-and-coming enthusiasm I've come to expect from the Chinese- it was just directed towards bargain-basement crap in bins on the floor. Our bags laden with rubber balls, screwdrivers and sticker books, we boarded the bus back to Suzhou and the ever-quickening pace of modern China.