fh_trips | Brickyard Retreat, Mutianyu Village, Sunday Afternoon

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spring break 2018: china

Brickyard Retreat, Mutianyu Village, Sunday Afternoon

Some brittle sunlight managed to filter through the overcast skies, but for the most part, the hills of Mutianyu, Huairou County, China seemed ready to go to sleep. But the Brickyard, an old rural outpost transformed into a hotel, was still open for business and ready to greet the incoming students and teachers alike.

Come, settle in, get some sleep. You have a long trip ahead of you.

[[ ocd up! ]]

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The Brickyard preserves an important part of China’s rural outposts while injecting modern comforts to create simple and luxurious boutique accommodation near the Great Wall of China. Huairou District was a center for producing the glazed tiles used in palaces and temples in Imperial times, and the village kiln was originally established in the 1960’s during the Cultural Revolution as a village industry. Thick black coal smoke billowed from the nine chimneys whenever there was a firing, and while rubble and trash were strewn everywhere, the tiles were magnificent.

Today, the Brickyard is no longer a smoke-belching tile factory but a resort striving to be a sustainable operation conscious of both our environment and our community.

Students will find themselves in the Premium Twin (or Premium Queen if it's funnier) rooms, with views of the Great Wall from the window, and wifi so you can Instagram that shit. Teachers and their guests are sleeping in the Deluxe Queen rooms, slightly larger than what the students get, and with better, unobstructed views of the Wall.

(Room assignments are here. NSFW posts go into private journals, please!)

We're arriving in time for dinner, and the Brickyard offers an excellent a la carte menu from the hotel restaurant. They also have drinks and desserts if that's all you're hungry for.

While fireplaces aren’t part of China’s architectural tradition, this cozy gathering space in the Lodge is the perfect place to read a book or enjoy a warm evening beverage.

Immerse yourself in the outdoor jacuzzi while viewing the Great Wall or star gazing in the evening.

There's plenty of other things to see, too! Learn to play mahjong in the Card Room. Watch a movie in the Video & Game Room. Shop in the Lobby. Soak in the Great Wall views from the Rooftop Terrace. Just let us know where you are so we can join you!

Where comments and questions go.

Dante dropped his bag off in his room and immediately took a detour past the drinks section.

Shut up, he was fine being alone away from home. Don't mind him skulking over the bar.

Peebee had stopped in her room exactly long enough to drop off her things -- as if she had any intention of spending a second longer in there than she absolutely had to when there were so many things to see -- before going off to check things out around the town.

By the time evening rolled around, she decided winding down a little bit might actually be a good idea. Had to pace herself just a little, maybe, so there she was in the jacuzzi with a swim cap over her head crests, a datapad in her hand, and a glass of wine within reach. If someone wondered why she was blue, well, she had several stories already made up for that.

Star gazing in a jacuzzi was a good way to spend an evening. Breq had very rarely had one of her bodies enjoy a bath like this, and it was, she had to admit, quite pleasant. Hardly surprising, she knew the reactions the officers who had been connected to her had used to have from baths like these.

After dropping her stuff off in her room, Rey went off to do some exploring. She ended up on the terrace, finding somewhere to comfortably perch and look at the views.

It didn’t matter how much she went somewhere new, it was always pretty amazing.

No, it didn't take long for Sidon to discover the Jacuzzi, but he found himself at a little bit of a dilemma, because while it would be nice to sit and relax in some water for a little bit, there was so much else to see! It was just beginning, too, so, standing there debating with himself for a moment, he then shook his head at the bubbling water and declared, "I will be back for you later!"

"Hey, Breq," Tip greeted, unsurprised to see she had the same idea. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not," Breq said, scooting over to make room for Tip. She made sure to smile, because she meant it. "Have you tried one of these before?"

"I have," Tip said. "But not like this one. Usually the view is just little kids playing in the hotel pool."

“Oh, come on,” Peebee said lightly, having stopped on her way to get a refill on her drink before heading back out to the jacuzzi. “It’s vacation, try and pretend to at least be having a little fun. Not to say it’d be convincing necessarily, but at least you can say you tried.”

This was not so much offering earnest advice (not even remotely) as it was an attempt to at least get a snarky quip or something.

What she got was a cheery middle finger.

Followed by, "I'm just waiting on my Sex on the Beach to get the party started."

"I prefer this," Breq decided, then sank down into the water, staying a few seconds before resurfacing. She wiped water from her face, blinking.

"I haven't tried one of these before though."

Edited 2018-03-04 20:07 (UTC)

The middle finger totally got a double fistpump out of Peebee. “There we go! That’s the spirit. I knew I could count on you to be the guy brooding at the bar with style. The atmosphere’s kind of lacking otherwise.”

"Not brooding," Dante said, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Just taking my drinking seriously."

Steve absolutely made the restaurant's night by ordering roughly half of the menu. He was currently enjoying his Mulligatawny soup while waiting for the entrees to be ready.

Was it appropriate to be reading Pearl S. Buck in China? These were the thoughts plaguing Paris as she read The Good Earth in front of the very nice fire.

Mara was giving the perimeter a once-over...cough, out for a normal walk like teenagers do, that is, and smiled as she recognized Rey. "Hey, I think we're roommates this trip."

Well. Here was definitely a life experience that Amaya never expected to have. Not so much the whole travelling to far distant lands she'd never heard of thing, so much as the doing it as a chaperone to teenagers thing. She didn't even really know what a chaperone should be doing, how attentive she should be, what she should do if anyone acted up or got in trouble. Maybe by the end of the week, she'll have figured it out.

So for now she was just sort...scoping the place out. Really admiring the architecture and chatting up anyone who would give her the time of day about the history of the place. It seemed like such a shame it was no longer a functioning kiln anymore...now that was a vacation that would have really had her interest! But she could still see the signs of the operation all over the place, find them thoroughly fascinating, and might have made a few notes for when she got back and got to work on, oh, just some small little tiny blacksmith project she might have had in mind...

"Shh. Brooding sounds cool," said Peebee, only halfway serious. "Though taking your drinking seriously, that's a good trait too. Doesn't seem much like a party atmosphere around here, though. I mean, it's cute and all? Got that whole charming, rustic vibe going on, but that doesn't really seem like your speed."

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Brickyard Retreat, Mutianyu Village, Sunday Afternoon

The Hotel

Rooms

Dining

Lodge

24-Hour Jacuzzi

Explore the Grounds

OOC

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