A pretty epic post wedding hash party through Taipei. Shanghai Hash House Harriers calls itself a drinking club with a running problem, and it is probably true that half of the people do have a drinking problem. It’s hard to describe a hash, you honestly just have to try one out to understand. There’s a lot of vulgarity, chauvinism, and of course beer. There’s also a lot of running, fun, and camaraderie.
At the end of 2016, 2 years after I left Shanghai, I went to Taipei to attend my friends’ wedding as a bridesmaid. I met the bride through Hash, after multiple invites from the groom to join the running club. Even though running through smog filled Shanghai probably wasn’t great for my health, I got to see areas of the city I would have never ventured to otherwise, and built friendships with people I probably wouldn’t have gotten to know otherwise. The wedding turned out to be a massive hash reunion, involving lots of drinking and drama. My favorite part of the weekend was the run, where the Taipei group showed us around town in our favorite hash fashion.
I’ve thought about rejoining hash after returning to the states, and have even run into a hash in San Francisco. But somehow it just won’t be the same. It doesn’t help that I’ve stopped drinking all together.
I guess it’s another one of those things that I will hold in my nostalgic mind, and cherish with all the other memories that can’t be recreated.
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