Excursion #3 Tiger Hill and Hot Pot 火锅

On our third excursion, we went to Tiger Hill. In order to get there, we took another canal cruise, but this canal was extremely narrow compared to the one surrounding the city. It was enclosed by small, ancient houses (looking exactly like the photos people imagine when one thinks of China) where people still live today. Once we got to Tiger Hill, we took a tram up the hill to the pagoda. We had the chance to walk down winding steps from the top of the hill to the base. The pagoda was so steep that it appeared much further away than it actually was. Our Chinese student id's saved enough money on admission that the class was treated to a large meal called Hot Pot (火锅）following the excursion. There were at least ten types of meat and several vegetable dishes dumped into a large pot, which sits in the center of the table. It remains steaming throughout the duration of the meal and cooks the meat as guests sit around the table. We were wondering why our food was taking so long to be served. It turned out we had ordered chicken and the servers were in the process of catching and killing it!