Hei hei: MONIHEI!

On the bus ride back, I decided to cover my camera with sandwich bags. I was determined to bring my camera into the high mud zone. Little did I know that the second the mud fighting would start that there would be NO OPPORTUNITIES FOR PHOTOS.

We waited outside at 2:30 for the gates to open. At 2:45 a huge herd of people rushed unto a field. We waited for an opening dancing ceremony to happen while a lot of us just hovered over huge planter pots full of doctored mud.

Here are some pre-fight shots, which I think are pretty awesome.

Sure they’re blurry but… the Chinese people just couldn’t keep their hands off the opportunity to be the first ones to schmear mud all over the white people (thankfully not me, yet).

(obvi click to enlarge!)

A performance went on before all the people got bored, mid way through someone flung open a tub and the techno music went on. I have discovered that techno music does tend to make exciting things a lot more exciting – in this case, two songs on repeat allowed a field full of people to schmear mud in places that I can’t even speak of. At one point, I looked to my right to see Lucas and John picking up a nearly empty planter to dump its contents on my head. Axel was slip and sliding in the muddy ground. Laura and Sean were interviewed by CCTV. Lucas and Sean posed in front of a stage full of people while John and I smacked handfuls of mud on Chinese popo.

These are what we looked like after:

The mud that we were slathered in was supposed to be easy to wash off and had a light scent of cacao. I suppose it was like what it would be to smear melted cocoa butter on stranger by the tub full. In the end, we were all hunting for people that had skin exposed. It was a mud fight to remember – ridiculous and utterly worth it.  In case you were wondering from left to right, Laura, Lucas, Axel, me, and Sean. The second photo was the same except with a new Chinese friend that wanted to be in our pic. WORTH IT.