Cord Houle: Wu Zhen
In our first day at Wu Zhen, we walked around some of the historically preserved areas of the town. One of the things about this place that will stay with me was how nice the local people were. One lady in particular was very gracious, allowing us into her house and showing us her family pictures. She told us about her children and about how she used to work at a silk factory. One thing that struck me was how much she reminded me of my own grandma. Always talking about her children and grandchildren and showing guests her photos of friends and family. After a tour of her small house and meeting her curious friends, we continued on our way looking at the different sites in the historical district.
That night we visited the second part of the town that was historically preserved. This area was a vast hotel and very beautiful. The rooms were on the top floors of the buildings that housed the various shops and restaurants. The beauty of this place was very overwhelming as it showed the architecture that ancient china was so well known for. This made me think about the history we have the states or rather lack thereof. China has a rich cultural history and is fortunate enough to embrace it. In the states, the only cultural history we possess goes back a mere 300 years. Other than that, we have Native American culture; however, much of the cultural history involved with the Native American people is dismissed as a whole. From my time in china, I have come to greatly appreciate the rich heritage of the society. It is great that the Chinese people have something like that to draw upon.