Monday night I felt restless and asked my friend if she wanted to go explore a nearby town with me the next day. She got super excited and it turns out that it the appropriate response because Langzhong is basically amazing.
An hour bus ride later we were in the ancient city (China should just mark the cities that aren’t ancient) This one was pretty awesome though, it was hutong, which is the traditional style of building cities with long narrow roads filled with homes, shops, and restaraunts. We went up on top of the tower to be able to look out and it really was pretty cool. Langzhong is the supposedly the birthplace of feng shui and when you see the map of the place it makes sense.
It really was lovely with the mountains surrounding the city and the Jialing river winding through. We crossed the river on a ferry and climbed a mountain that is famous for being the birthplace of astronomy but it should be famous for having the most mosquitoes EVER. We climbed a tower there that was pretty awesome though.
Afterwards we had been walking for like 5 hours and were getting tired so we got a vinegar foot massage. They soaked our feet in HOT vinegar for a long time and then the massage started.
I loved that they had Chinese soap operas playing.
When I was little my sister and I used to ask people if they wanted a massage. If they said yes we would start pounding on them and scream “Chinese massage” (Honestly it was probably only me that did this)
We were surprisingly accurate though.
The massage started with her slapping my calves. Then it got violent. At one point I think she was punching the heels of my foot. It didn’t feel that bad though, at point I tried to rescue my foot but the lady just gave me a look of disgust and kept assaulting my feet. It did feel amazing afterwards – all’s well that ends well I guess.
I actually really thought this was floating for a minute- So gullible
Anyways, I definitely did not see ALL of Langzhong and I suspect I’ll be back. I love that I can go there for the day. However Monday is Dragon Boat Festival and I have train tickets to Chongqing. That’s traveling to 4 new cities in 2.5 months. My goal is one excursion a month and I’m sort of exceeding that at the moment… but that’s not a bad thing.
Mountains and Passports 
Punching people and calling it a massage was all you, buttercup. I did just die laughing remembering that though.
that’s all I could think about during the massage/beating
Love your massage story – how was the vinegar soak? It seems like it would be pungent.
It was really good. It made my feet feel tingly and fresh… not like I’d been walking for hours in flip flops.
I laughed when you said your massage “got violent”. Great story!
I’ve never been there although I wish I could travel there before I leave China. Looks like a cozy place. I’m a big fan of hot springs! They are so relaxing!
It was pretty amazing. Langzhong is pretty small- I think its really only a travel destination if you’re already in Sichuan, but it was really pretty and quiet.
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