From there we all jumped into rickshaws for a quiet and sedate tour of the Hutong part of the city. We wound in and out of narrow streets with lots of small houses and walled courtyards. It was an interesting and new way to get around, and lots of fun!!
At the end of our little tour, we had lunch at the house of a Hutong family. Their house is actually a number of separate buildings around a couple of small courtyards. From the front door (careful to step OVER and not ON the threshold) we walked through a few rooms and a courtyard with a huge iron pot, before coming to the two rooms for lunch. We were treated to a range of vegetable and meat dishes which were delicious!
After lunch, it was time for sport!!
Hockey travelled back to Lucheng Stadium for their game vs a Beijing College team. Today there was lots of wind, and the wind blew dust and grit across the pitch for most of game. It got in our eyes, hair, ears, clothes - it felt like we had rolled in the dirt by the time we were climbing back on the bus at the end of the day!!
The sheep were back again and the shepherd moved them around from time to time to graze on the sparse shoots of brown grass that they searched for in the barren fields around the stadium.
It was another tough game, with the Chinese typically aggressive style putting us under a lot of pressure. However we were becoming used to their different style of playing, and we defended well. This paid off when Libby B got the ball, and crossed it towards Julia, who tapped home for a beautifully taken goal! Unfortunately it wasn't to be our day however, as the Beijing team ground us down and scored another 5 goals.
While the final score was 5-1, Kirsty felt the team performed really well and were definitely showing the physicality and aggression they needed to perform on an equal footing with their highly skilled opponents.
Our soccer team journeyed for an hour towards the west, where the land begins to rise towards the mountains. This is the edge of the city and the mountains dominate the horizon- it's very picturesque and the air is clear and crisp.
The first half began quite evenly, but gradually St Oran's gained the upper hand, playing expansive football with Alyssa and Olivia B running the game from the right and left wings. We scored two goals in quick succession (Bex and Emma) and this obviously concerned the ref and he blowed for half time a couple of minutes early! The message to our girls at half time was simple: more of the same! With the wind at our backs we began the second half with our tails up.
However, the opposition had subbed on their secret weapon: a national rep player. Soon enough she had scored three goals and had a hand in two others. We were 5-2 down in the space of about 15 minutes! Our girls re-focused, closed down this young Chinese star and went hard on attack but we couldn't find the back of the net again.
Both teams representing St Oran's here in China continue to evolve and grow into more cohesive units and the coaching teams are very happy thus far!
Tonight we visited the famous Wangfujing street, a 'walking street' in local parlance, that is to say there's no vehicular traffic and pedestrians can mosey along the wide street. The shops here are 'high street' with brands like Longines watches and Nike and Gap. Huge shopping malls sit alongside souvenir shops and Macdonalds fast food joints, and both tourists and locals alike wander around in the neon-lit night. It was a small break from reality for us - away from the schools where we've been playing, with the most basic of sanitary conveniences (ie no doors on the toilets, hole in the ground), Wangfujing Street is like another world! After an hour of aimless meandering, we headed back to the hotel on quiet buses, not thinking too much further than a shower and bed... Nightie-night, readers.
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