大同

The initial bus ride from Beijing to Datong, Shanxi Province was foreshadowing of what was to come. We made an epic pass outside of Beijing through the mountainous region which encapsulates sections of the Great Wall. Further on, when we were essentially on the edge of nowhere at all, a nasty storm came rolling up. We were sitting in the front row, so were given theatre like views of what was coming on. And it came on slow at first: utter blackness in the distance at 3pm. Suddenly, all was eclipsed with blackness of clouds and burning coal and the wind which was blowing swept over little villages that looked deserted and ruined. I was strongly reminded of scenes from "The Road." It was seriously frightening, looked like the oblivion.
Then once we reached Datong, I discovered it is the worst shithole of the shitholes I've seen in China. Worst shithole city, that is. There was a creepy strangeness about the place. I actually liked it, particularly bc it was the exact place I had once conjured in a dream about living in a run-down industrial city. That crumminess and grittiness felt altogether familiar. Walking through certain sections brought me back to the vivid dream I had once had.
The specialty in Datong was rabbit head. We happened upon a street where the only restaurants lining either side were ones serving severed rabbit heads. Large vats of heads bubbling in five-spice powder (五香粉). Naturally, we tried one.