the nomad lab

I check out of the Kerry Hotel in Shanghai at 5AM, when it’s still dark outside. Jump in a cab and ask him to take me to the bus station. Weird look. “Really? You want to take a long-distance bus…?” “Yes sir, the bus station, please.”

Apparently girls don’t travel alone by bus too often in Shanghai. 

We speed past the city, bridges, skyscrapers just beginning to silhouette against the dawn. The bus station is bustling already. Everyone else is weighed down with boxes, suitcases and shopping bags, compared to my little backpack. I maneuver through the crowd and find my nearly empty bus, a seat by the window, and settle in. 

After a few minutes pressed to the window watching Shanghai’s cityscape rapidly melting into rural farmland, I fall asleep. 5 hours later, the driver is yelling at me to get off at the Huangshan bus station. 

So.. the inn was supposed to send a driver named Chang to pick me up here. Where is he?

I sit and wait. 10 minutes later, Chang shows up with a sign with my name scrawled on it. Whew! We make the one hour drive to Xidi, chatting about the sights along the way. Weaving past horse carts, pushcarts, and tractors seems to be a standard thing around here. You think the police car with his siren on is driving too slow? Pass him.

Yep, that happened.

We arrive, safe and sound!

I pay the Xidi village 100RMB entrance fee for visitors, and Chang walks me down a narrow alleyway to the Pig’s Heaven Inn. I read a few articles saying fantastic things about this inn and knew I had to check it out. The owner turned an old house with a pig’s pen into an unforgettable three-story guesthouse.

As we walk up to the wooden door, I smell a real pig. And then I see it, next door. Huge. Covered in dirt. Snorting and grunting and whatever else pigs do. 

Seriously? I’m staying at a place that used to be… this?

Yep. And as soon as they open the door, the warmth and the smell of sweet bamboo and pork rushes out. I’m totally sold.

Pig’s Heaven Inn is a carefully curated showcase of ancient architecture, historical culture, and the personal touch of the owner’s artistic eye. There’s a sky well, leaving an open courtyard in the center of the house with comfy furniture and a carved stone table. There are pieces of intricate carved wood and stone, colorful lanterns and elements of Chinese cultural art everywhere. Plus, a gorgeous third floor view of the sunset over crumbling grey-shingled rooftops.

The sisters who run the place show me up a steep wooden stairway to my room on the 2nd floor. It has a heater and an electric blanket… and a Western-style toilet, which is definitely not your standard default when traveling in China. They leave me to wander around, running after me out the door to ask:

“Are you coming back for dinner? What would you like to eat?”

Um, YES. PLEASE. 

I arrange to be back in a few hours for dinner, she gives me a business card so I can ask for directions if (…or rather, when) I get lost in the narrow, winding stone alleys. And, I’m off! 

And back in time for a homecooked meal. 

Delish. 

Stay tuned for more details on the Pig’s Heaven Inn in my next post!