June 27 — sunny. Left campus at 6:30, got to Fubei Station at 7:30, train at 8:30, reached Nanchang at 11:00. Picked up tickets at 11:30 and split up. I ate a big meal at Wallace with the class monitor, then walked to Bayi Square. It was brutally hot. We looked at the Bayi Monument—tall and imposing—then went to Walmart for supplies, came back to the square, and sat in the sun. Watched the fountain, said to be Asia's largest. Quite a spectacle. Dinner, then back to the station; played cards in the waiting hall until boarding. Once on the train, my seat was already taken by an old woman. I didn't want to make her get up, so I squeezed in with a classmate. Soon a kid took over most of that seat too. Amazing. I went to wash plums; one sink was broken, and when I turned the tap on the other, water sprayed all over the old woman next to me. I apologized a dozen times, but she kept grumbling—annoying, she got soaked too, who was she supposed to complain to? As if I wasn't the one suffering. After a dull wait, we finally arrived. Shuttle to Zhijiang College, dorm, wiped down the mat, swept, ate, bought supplies, slept all afternoon. Evening meeting to discuss a few things, then back and bed. Nothing more to report.
June 29 — overcast. First day of fieldwork, from Nanshan Cemetery to Yuhuangding. Got off at the zoo, walked to Nanshan Cemetery. Lots of gravestones; the map showed more than a dozen sections. Followed the path in front of the cemetery to Baiyun Nunnery. Supposedly you could go up to Yuhuangding without a ticket, but a toll booth had appeared in recent years. The woman at the booth would not budge—she insisted we buy full-price tickets. After a huge effort, our teacher finally got us all half-price. As we went up, she was still counting heads. Speechless. Passed Songguan, climbed, reached Zilai Cave, followed the road, and set another point near the parking lot. At Hanbi Pavilion we learned how to read a geological map; then we were dismissed. I had planned to go to West Lake, but the climb had wiped us out—our teacher even suddenly fainted on the road and only improved after we rushed to help. So we went straight back to school as soon as we were free. Shower, sleep. Not a word more.
June 30 — overcast. Second day, from Siyanjing to South Peak. Off at the zoo again, walked to Siyanjing, and at the road measured the attitude of a small anticline: northwest limb, southeast limb, and plunging end. Then up South Peak. At Shuiyue Cave the teacher explained it; we went in and found it rather underwhelming—short and not even cool. Further up to Yanxia Cave, which had many Buddha statues. Beside the cave was an elephant-shaped hill formed by differential weathering. Further still to Qianren Cave, with calcite veins by the entrance and mudstone seeping into the deep inside. After dismissal we followed a mountain path to the South Peak summit, where there was a pavilion; we shouted our heads off. Down the peak to Hupao Spring. We thought about going in but the ticket was too expensive, so T and I went straight to West Lake. Walked along Su Causeway—the scenery was endless and gorgeous. Played by the lake, watched a peacock display its tail, rested in a pavilion, and ate at KFC. Walked to the Zhejiang University Affiliated High School and took Y5 back to school; it was already past 5:40. Dinner, dorm. Nothing else.
More later.