The Banyan Tree

Banyan trees are a new fascination, since moving to China. There is a restaurant near campus called "The Banyan Tree" where patrons eat under tarps and the banyan tree's branches. It's the best food we can get around campus, and they know that vegetarian food means "no meat whatsoever."

Ever since I was little, I have loved trees with things hanging down, such as willow trees. Banyans have air roots that hang down, like brown fuzzy strings. When an air root reaches the ground, It begins to transform itself into a vine and eventually into a twisty trunk. This is why a banyan tree's trunk is actually a mass of thick twisted vines, reaching an outstretched hand out and grasping the ground.

There is an even older and bigger tree near the middle of the campus.

As you walk along the road that goes through the campus, suddenly the walk opens to the wide expanse of shade under the banyan tree. Bricks are tiled in a circle beneath it, which makes it stand out among all the other trees.

-吴佩芙