River swimming in China

It's the second last day of July and I've been back in China for two weeks. I had a beautiful six weeks in Canada, stocking up on supplies that included a new passport, a new China visa, footware, clothing, bras, books, some handmade wool socks from my Mom (hey, it was freezing here last winter!), dish towels, a corona beer cooler, beer cozies, homemade soap, decent toothbrushes, toothpaste, spices and last but not least... maple syrup. The best part about being in Canada, besides visiting all my wonderful friends and family, was the fresh clean air, drinkable tap water, delicious food, beautiful tall trees, and swimming in the ocean. Swimming in the ocean, lakes and rivers, is one of the things I miss most, which leads me to my story today....

When deciding to move to Huizhou six months ago, one of the main selling features for me was hearing that you can swim in the river here. You may be horrified at the thought of swimming in a river in China, but thousands of Chinese people do it and they seem pretty healthy to me. So, a few days ago I decided it was time to test the waters of the East River that runs through the city of Huizhou.... it was a relatively pleasant experience. Peter and I grabbed the corona cooler and two beer cozies I picked up in Canada, (thanks Pauline, Peter and Haidee!!), and headed out on our bicycles. It was midday, and intensely hot. We rode across the island to the unofficially designated swimming area on the river, picking up a few cold beers along the way. At the river we found a shady place to sit, under a fake fibre glass rock, and took in the scene. A few people were swimming, and a few others were walking their dogs and letting them cool down in the water. There was only a handful of people around because it was siesta time, but I wanted to swim without the crowds, so for this reason we chose to go in the middle of the day.

By the time I'd finished drinking an ice cold can of Tsingtao, I had psyched myself up to brave the waters. The waters edge was not the most appealing, but I got in quick and swam out further where the water seemed clean enough. The surface of the water was amazingly warm. It felt good to get out and swim. I swam almost half way across the river and back.

We sat some more as I dried off, and two little boys came to take a swim in the same spot. One of them had swim shorts underneath his clothes, so he stripped down and jumped in. The younger of the two picked a giant leaf and hid himself, Adam and Eve style, while he undressed. Turned out that he didn't have a bathing suit at all. He ran with the leaf to the waters edge and at the last minute he tossed the leaf and plunged in naked. It was the cutest thing! When they first got to the swimming spot they pulled a life ring from the bushes, which was very unlikely theirs, and once in the water they busted it in two so they'd each have a piece. They were pretty funny to watch, happy as could be on a hot sunny afternoon!

If you look closely, you can see me swimming way out in the river.

On the way home we stopped by the same shop for another round of cold ones. These two little rascals took an interest in us and were giggling away, as they do. All in all, it was a pretty fabulous day.