Tomorrow I head back home, thank God! I’ve been on gone for 11 days (or perhaps more since I’m traveling in time) and am ready to be home again.
Today I went with Gary to the city center and did some sightseeing. Gary is the first Press guy hired in China and is Chinese. It’s interesting that some Chinese create a Western name for themselves, instead of their real names they have an English name (it’s not the equivalent of their Chinese name in English). Imagine that, you can re-create yourself with another first name during your life. Some do it but it’s uncommon for the States but it is commonplace here. It makes me wonder, why did he choose Gary? Typically the names are short and simple, Gary, Leo, Jerry….
Okay, back on track. We left and stopped for lunch at a coffee shop, New Island Coffee. I took a chance and ordered their special fried rice for lunch, I figured what could go wrong, it’s their specialty. So while we wait, they bring us some water…strange, the glasses look like they just came out of the dishwasher. It turns out that they serve water warm during the fall/winter and cold in the summer. Alright, I can buy that but where is the water coming from? I’ve been told don’t drink the water, just bottled water. Well, I’m thinking no problem but how do I know where this water came from, and should I trust the orange juice, was it mixed from a can or did it come from the carton. What about the lemon juice I ordered to drink (lemonade), how did they make that? You can’t walk around in a hazmat suit so I try not to think about it but I didn’t drink the warm water. So the fried rice shows up, it has a fried egg on top…jackpot. Wait a minute, what is that, looks like lumpmeat crab…are those tiny shrimp and what’s these pink cubes and those thin cylinder looking thingys. Crap, it’s some kind of seafood fried rice and I believe it was squid pieces and some kind of fish. I ate as much as I could but the voice in my head kept saying “you’re going to pay for that”. Typically I eat very safe before I fly just to avoid any potential for “discomfort”. I stop in the restroom before we leave and there it is….I found it, squatty potty (see picture). We’ve read about this in the China books but I didn’t expect to see them. Even in a relatively new restaurant, they have squatty potties. Imagine looking for a toilet and seeing this. I know, one of the pictures I post from China is of the restroom…..calling Anthony Perkins, your mom is on the line,
Gary takes me to center city and shows me the shopping area. People everywhere and this wasn’t even crowded according to Gary. Shops upon shops, everything you can imagine. We looked at the clothing stores and they had everything but the prices were still crazy for stuff like Nike shoes (I hate Nike, they don’t make shoes they market shoes and charge 2 times the price for a swoosh, gimme a break, won’t buy them, won’t wear them….ever!). We stopped in 2 of the local food stores. It wasn’t a market like you would see from Andrew Zimmerman, they sold nuts, candy, cookies, bakery items and local foods (I can’t tell you what they were because I couldn’t read the label, round, square and other). Right in the middle of the length of this street, there’s a temple. We stop in and I watch as people purchase large pieces of incense, light candles and incense and go to the front of the temple to present their offerings for good fortune and luck. There were several temples here but some required tickets to go inside, I guess the god of sales is worshipped there. We walked through the remaining area, going in and out of shops. The local work is amazing, the silks and crafts, it’s tough to walk through those shops and not get something. The shop keepers had unique English, “Hello, just looking?” Since the Chinese language has a lot of tones incorporated, they might not be aware that it sounds more like a question than they intend. There were many “salemen” that came directly to me showing me brochures of watches, bags and other trinkets. I was an attraction and felt a little out of place like a small boy at the Vatican. It’s something you have to accept, I’m in the minority here and will always be. I didn’t feel afraid, just a little intimidated. On the weekend Gary says it is very crowded, great. It’s not my thing anyhow so I won’t be back on the weekend. I still have sights to see rather than shops to find.
After “Walking Street”, Gary took me to a park. I assumed a greenspace area for playing, walking, etc. It turns out it was the Humble Administrator’s Garden, one of the most famous gardens in China. I had asked Gary where we were while walking through this park (I had no idea what it was), I guess I didn’t understand him because to me it sounded like he said Hangbo Park. Later that night when I asked him again to tell me where we were (I looked everywhere and could not find this park on a map), that’s when he said the full name and I understood. It didn’t matter I was impressed and I finally looked like a tourist taking a ton of photos. In a couple of photos you will see a pagoda in the background (one photo with me in front). It’s something they call “borrowing a view from afar", which enables you to see a much wider sight within a limited space. The pagoda, which seems to be in the garden, is actually a km away from the garden (Paying Debts Pagoda). I’ll let you see pictures since that will best describe this garden.
Click here to see the garden photos.
I’ve also posted many more photos for your viewing (and yes, it means I finally figured out how to do this).
Click here to see the temple photos.
Click here to see the Le Gong Di & Jinji lake photos at night.
Click here for the walking street photos.
I’ll stop the post here for today; the next post may have to wait until I am home although you never know I may get bored at the airport waiting for my flight. I appreciate the thoughts and prayers while my family and I are going through this transition. It’s been a long 11 days and I’m looking forward to being home. Keep checking in, I’ll have the post trip wrap up show coming up after this message from your local sponsors.
Today I went with Gary to the city center and did some sightseeing. Gary is the first Press guy hired in China and is Chinese. It’s interesting that some Chinese create a Western name for themselves, instead of their real names they have an English name (it’s not the equivalent of their Chinese name in English). Imagine that, you can re-create yourself with another first name during your life. Some do it but it’s uncommon for the States but it is commonplace here. It makes me wonder, why did he choose Gary? Typically the names are short and simple, Gary, Leo, Jerry….
Okay, back on track. We left and stopped for lunch at a coffee shop, New Island Coffee. I took a chance and ordered their special fried rice for lunch, I figured what could go wrong, it’s their specialty. So while we wait, they bring us some water…strange, the glasses look like they just came out of the dishwasher. It turns out that they serve water warm during the fall/winter and cold in the summer. Alright, I can buy that but where is the water coming from? I’ve been told don’t drink the water, just bottled water. Well, I’m thinking no problem but how do I know where this water came from, and should I trust the orange juice, was it mixed from a can or did it come from the carton. What about the lemon juice I ordered to drink (lemonade), how did they make that? You can’t walk around in a hazmat suit so I try not to think about it but I didn’t drink the warm water. So the fried rice shows up, it has a fried egg on top…jackpot. Wait a minute, what is that, looks like lumpmeat crab…are those tiny shrimp and what’s these pink cubes and those thin cylinder looking thingys. Crap, it’s some kind of seafood fried rice and I believe it was squid pieces and some kind of fish. I ate as much as I could but the voice in my head kept saying “you’re going to pay for that”. Typically I eat very safe before I fly just to avoid any potential for “discomfort”. I stop in the restroom before we leave and there it is….I found it, squatty potty (see picture). We’ve read about this in the China books but I didn’t expect to see them. Even in a relatively new restaurant, they have squatty potties. Imagine looking for a toilet and seeing this. I know, one of the pictures I post from China is of the restroom…..calling Anthony Perkins, your mom is on the line,
Gary takes me to center city and shows me the shopping area. People everywhere and this wasn’t even crowded according to Gary. Shops upon shops, everything you can imagine. We looked at the clothing stores and they had everything but the prices were still crazy for stuff like Nike shoes (I hate Nike, they don’t make shoes they market shoes and charge 2 times the price for a swoosh, gimme a break, won’t buy them, won’t wear them….ever!). We stopped in 2 of the local food stores. It wasn’t a market like you would see from Andrew Zimmerman, they sold nuts, candy, cookies, bakery items and local foods (I can’t tell you what they were because I couldn’t read the label, round, square and other). Right in the middle of the length of this street, there’s a temple. We stop in and I watch as people purchase large pieces of incense, light candles and incense and go to the front of the temple to present their offerings for good fortune and luck. There were several temples here but some required tickets to go inside, I guess the god of sales is worshipped there. We walked through the remaining area, going in and out of shops. The local work is amazing, the silks and crafts, it’s tough to walk through those shops and not get something. The shop keepers had unique English, “Hello, just looking?” Since the Chinese language has a lot of tones incorporated, they might not be aware that it sounds more like a question than they intend. There were many “salemen” that came directly to me showing me brochures of watches, bags and other trinkets. I was an attraction and felt a little out of place like a small boy at the Vatican. It’s something you have to accept, I’m in the minority here and will always be. I didn’t feel afraid, just a little intimidated. On the weekend Gary says it is very crowded, great. It’s not my thing anyhow so I won’t be back on the weekend. I still have sights to see rather than shops to find.After “Walking Street”, Gary took me to a park. I assumed a greenspace area for playing, walking, etc. It turns out it was the Humble Administrator’s Garden, one of the most famous gardens in China. I had asked Gary where we were while walking through this park (I had no idea what it was), I guess I didn’t understand him because to me it sounded like he said Hangbo Park. Later that night when I asked him again to tell me where we were (I looked everywhere and could not find this park on a map), that’s when he said the full name and I understood. It didn’t matter I was impressed and I finally looked like a tourist taking a ton of photos. In a couple of photos you will see a pagoda in the background (one photo with me in front). It’s something they call “borrowing a view from afar", which enables you to see a much wider sight within a limited space. The pagoda, which seems to be in the garden, is actually a km away from the garden (Paying Debts Pagoda). I’ll let you see pictures since that will best describe this garden.
Click here to see the garden photos.
I’ve also posted many more photos for your viewing (and yes, it means I finally figured out how to do this).
Click here to see the temple photos.
Click here to see the Le Gong Di & Jinji lake photos at night.
Click here for the walking street photos.
I’ll stop the post here for today; the next post may have to wait until I am home although you never know I may get bored at the airport waiting for my flight. I appreciate the thoughts and prayers while my family and I are going through this transition. It’s been a long 11 days and I’m looking forward to being home. Keep checking in, I’ll have the post trip wrap up show coming up after this message from your local sponsors.
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2 comments:
Hi Scott, Great job with all of the blogs, and the pictures are really nice. Send our love, Barbara
Ahhh, the squatty potties...How I miss them! Ok, so maybe not so much! Great pics! The garden looks like somewhere they would film a movie. The night shots on the water are impressive! I'm sure you already know this (and may have shared it in one of your blog "lessons"),but the roof tops curve up for a reason. When the "demons" come down from the sky it shoots them back up. So the roof protects the occupants. ...just a little something I learned on my trip to China. I hope you have a safe journey home!
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