Day 27
We woke early, or early for us anyway, in an attempt to beat the Beijing heat, with a forecast of 95 degrees and humid we wanted to do as much as possible before the hottest part of the day. Donna said that she'd pick us up after she dropped Ray at summer school camp, a four day thing that he needed to go to because the teachers at his new middle school said so.
Breakfast was golden brick bread, which the kids love, golden brick bread with chocolate, which 0they love even more, yogurt, puffed barley from Tibet, and eggs. Zachary came with us but the other boys were asleep. Donna came at 8:00, having decided that Ray could make it to school on his own but it still took us until 8:30 to get ready.
We went to a couple of hutongs, areas of Beijing that have old single story buildings and narrow roads, dating back centuries. There are still people living there but the main road through is all tourist shops and places to eat.
Zachary was dragging and sleep deprived so, after we took an electric version of a pedicab around a lake I took Zachary back home, figuring I'd feed him and the other kids and then get him to nap. Unfortunately, when I got there the other kids had already eaten and were playing video games. A nap was no competition for video games with other children. I napped.
That evening, at about 5 we set out for Karaoke, which they call KTV. We took three subway lines, walked a bit, and entered a building full of stalls selling clothing, cell phone accessories, appliances, and so forth, like a giant flea market. It was very much the opposite of the upscale malls we have been in so often the last few days. We went up escalator after escalator, the fifth floor had food, the sixth floor had a huge arcade with more lights and buzzers than a Vegas Casino. I was particularly impressed with a game that had a full electronic drum kit and appeared to be actually teaching a real skill.
Bill paused, asked somebody for directions, and we headed to the back of the arcade. We went through a small gray door, marked exit and found ourselves in a dimly lit stairwell with bare concrete steps. Andrea commented that she felt like we were in a Harry Potter movie and would soon emerge onto a hidden street. Two floors up we took an unmarked door and emerged someplace magical. The lobby was two stories of elegant marble with cool 3 dimensional mirrors on two walls and colorful lights hanging from the ceiling. We were guided upstairs to a Karaoke room, with leather benches, tables, disco lights, and computers. We were given cards with 60 Yuan load on them to buy food with. I was aghast at the huge amount allotted to the meal, but taken out of the Chinese perspective it was less than $10.
We ate and sang Karaoke until 10. Then we headed home in taxis, Zachary asleep on his brothers' shoulders.
Tomorrow we head home. I'm ready for it although I am still a bit scared because I will be leaving Zachary.
Monday, July 11, 2016
Hutongs and Karaoke
Day 27
We woke early, or early for us anyway, in an attempt to beat the Beijing heat, with a forecast of 95 degrees and humid we wanted to do as much as possible before the hottest part of the day. Donna said that she'd pick us up after she dropped Ray at summer school camp, a four day thing that he needed to go to because the teachers at his new middle school said so.
Breakfast was golden brick bread, which the kids love, golden brick bread with chocolate, which 0they love even more, yogurt, puffed barley from Tibet, and eggs. Zachary came with us but the other boys were asleep. Donna came at 8:00, having decided that Ray could make it to school on his own but it still took us until 8:30 to get ready.
We went to a couple of hutongs, areas of Beijing that have old single story buildings and narrow roads, dating back centuries. There are still people living there but the main road through is all tourist shops and places to eat.
Zachary was dragging and sleep deprived so, after we took an electric version of a pedicab around a lake I took Zachary back home, figuring I'd feed him and the other kids and then get him to nap. Unfortunately, when I got there the other kids had already eaten and were playing video games. A nap was no competition for video games with other children. I napped.
That evening, at about 5 we set out for Karaoke, which they call KTV. We took three subway lines, walked a bit, and entered a building full of stalls selling clothing, cell phone accessories, appliances, and so forth, like a giant flea market. It was very much the opposite of the upscale malls we have been in so often the last few days. We went up escalator after escalator, the fifth floor had food, the sixth floor had a huge arcade with more lights and buzzers than a Vegas Casino. I was particularly impressed with a game that had a full electronic drum kit and appeared to be actually teaching a real skill.
Bill paused, asked somebody for directions, and we headed to the back of the arcade. We went through a small gray door, marked exit and found ourselves in a dimly lit stairwell with bare concrete steps. Andrea commented that she felt like we were in a Harry Potter movie and would soon emerge onto a hidden street. Two floors up we took an unmarked door and emerged someplace magical. The lobby was two stories of elegant marble with cool 3 dimensional mirrors on two walls and colorful lights hanging from the ceiling. We were guided upstairs to a Karaoke room, with leather benches, tables, disco lights, and computers. We were given cards with 60 Yuan load on them to buy food with. I was aghast at the huge amount allotted to the meal, but taken out of the Chinese perspective it was less than $10.
We ate and sang Karaoke until 10. Then we headed home in taxis, Zachary asleep on his brothers' shoulders.
Tomorrow we head home. I'm ready for it. The hardest part will be leaving Zachary.
We woke early, or early for us anyway, in an attempt to beat the Beijing heat, with a forecast of 95 degrees and humid we wanted to do as much as possible before the hottest part of the day. Donna said that she'd pick us up after she dropped Ray at summer school camp, a four day thing that he needed to go to because the teachers at his new middle school said so.
Breakfast was golden brick bread, which the kids love, golden brick bread with chocolate, which 0they love even more, yogurt, puffed barley from Tibet, and eggs. Zachary came with us but the other boys were asleep. Donna came at 8:00, having decided that Ray could make it to school on his own but it still took us until 8:30 to get ready.
We went to a couple of hutongs, areas of Beijing that have old single story buildings and narrow roads, dating back centuries. There are still people living there but the main road through is all tourist shops and places to eat.
Zachary was dragging and sleep deprived so, after we took an electric version of a pedicab around a lake I took Zachary back home, figuring I'd feed him and the other kids and then get him to nap. Unfortunately, when I got there the other kids had already eaten and were playing video games. A nap was no competition for video games with other children. I napped.
That evening, at about 5 we set out for Karaoke, which they call KTV. We took three subway lines, walked a bit, and entered a building full of stalls selling clothing, cell phone accessories, appliances, and so forth, like a giant flea market. It was very much the opposite of the upscale malls we have been in so often the last few days. We went up escalator after escalator, the fifth floor had food, the sixth floor had a huge arcade with more lights and buzzers than a Vegas Casino. I was particularly impressed with a game that had a full electronic drum kit and appeared to be actually teaching a real skill.
Bill paused, asked somebody for directions, and we headed to the back of the arcade. We went through a small gray door, marked exit and found ourselves in a dimly lit stairwell with bare concrete steps. Andrea commented that she felt like we were in a Harry Potter movie and would soon emerge onto a hidden street. Two floors up we took an unmarked door and emerged someplace magical. The lobby was two stories of elegant marble with cool 3 dimensional mirrors on two walls and colorful lights hanging from the ceiling. We were guided upstairs to a Karaoke room, with leather benches, tables, disco lights, and computers. We were given cards with 60 Yuan load on them to buy food with. I was aghast at the huge amount allotted to the meal, but taken out of the Chinese perspective it was less than $10.
We ate and sang Karaoke until 10. Then we headed home in taxis, Zachary asleep on his brothers' shoulders.
Tomorrow we head home. I'm ready for it. The hardest part will be leaving Zachary.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Science and Technology Museum
Day 26
Woke up to a breakfast prepared by Andy, including a very soft tofu (not my favorite) and some bread things that came both with and without meat. It took me a while to determine that the meat was donkey, which I was not brave enough to try.
We went to the museum of science and technology right after breakfast, stopping on the way to pick up Andy's niece, who is visiting for 20 days, now that school is out. At the age of 17, she is going to be a senior next year and is studying for the gowkow, and the college enterance exam. She is putting in 100 hours a week. Her goal is to go abroad, to New York city, for college.
The museum was massive, like everything in China and crowded, like everything in Beijing. I particularly liked the DNA sculpture made of men and women, and the stegosaurus skeleton. There was a large exhibit on Chinese science and technology on the first floor and as we made our way around it I really enjoyed seeing Zachary engaged by the exhibits, especially by the math puzzles.
We ate lunch in the museum cafeteria, though we didn't buy anything there. Stubbs we knew that it was expensive and not that good we stopped in a grocery store on the way. It took us a solid 20 minutes to get two tables, which we got by hovering and sitting as soon as people left. The tables were not adjacent. Whenever one of us got up from one of our tables, even for a minute to pass something to the other table, a person would try to take the seat and the remaining people from our group would need to defend it.
While I was looking at the exhibits a Japanese boy, about 12 years old approached me , declared that I was "so handsome, " and asked if he could take a picture with me. I consented. After he took a selfie, he said "I have prepared a gift for you," and handed me a pair of chopsticks in a small cloth bag. I thanked him politely and went on my way.
About an hour later I was sitting on the floor, resting with a thousand other Chinese museum goers when another person approached for a picture. I obliged and that was the start of a string of four or five. I sat back down and a few minutes later noticed a middle school girl with a couple of friends starting at me, whispering, but unable to work up the courage to approach, so I gestured her over. Her friends took a picture of her with me. Then the friends wanted one too. By that point the rest of her class, which was on a field trip, had noticed. I must have had 20 photos taken with members of that class before I sat back down.
As I sat and rested I heard a familiar voice. The kids who gave me the chopsticks was doing his routine again. I briefly thought about telling him that he already had a photo with me, but just let it play out and was presented with another pair of chopsticks. He reminded me of a girl who approached Joshua a couple of weeks ago. She was excited, breathless, gushing. She took a bunch of photos, got Joshua's wechat ID, and has been sending him love messages ever since. She even charmed her name to in wechat to the "you are my boyfriend." He tried to brush her off, but eventually had to block her. As much as Joshua was asked by her we year him that he loves it. I believe that part of him felt flattered.
After the museum we went to a mall, where we left the kids in an arcade. Andrea looked at shops while Andy, Serene, and I sat on a bench.
Then we went to pick up Tommy, an exchange student who will be staying with LiFeng for two weeks (but with us and Serene here, but he is going to be at Donna's for a few days). He's 17 years old, from Queens, and has had two years of high school Chinese. We took him to Dayali, where he met Donna, the kids, Ray and Jack. We all agree in a private room. He must have been pretty overwhelmed. Joshua, whose phone has been out of commission since it fell into a pool at the water park, was deeply engrossed in a cell phone screen. It took me a while to understand; Ari won a high end cell phone, selfie stick, charger, and case at the arcade.
So ends another interesting day. Tomorrow we see the hutongs in the morning.
Woke up to a breakfast prepared by Andy, including a very soft tofu (not my favorite) and some bread things that came both with and without meat. It took me a while to determine that the meat was donkey, which I was not brave enough to try.
We went to the museum of science and technology right after breakfast, stopping on the way to pick up Andy's niece, who is visiting for 20 days, now that school is out. At the age of 17, she is going to be a senior next year and is studying for the gowkow, and the college enterance exam. She is putting in 100 hours a week. Her goal is to go abroad, to New York city, for college.
The museum was massive, like everything in China and crowded, like everything in Beijing. I particularly liked the DNA sculpture made of men and women, and the stegosaurus skeleton. There was a large exhibit on Chinese science and technology on the first floor and as we made our way around it I really enjoyed seeing Zachary engaged by the exhibits, especially by the math puzzles.
We ate lunch in the museum cafeteria, though we didn't buy anything there. Stubbs we knew that it was expensive and not that good we stopped in a grocery store on the way. It took us a solid 20 minutes to get two tables, which we got by hovering and sitting as soon as people left. The tables were not adjacent. Whenever one of us got up from one of our tables, even for a minute to pass something to the other table, a person would try to take the seat and the remaining people from our group would need to defend it.
While I was looking at the exhibits a Japanese boy, about 12 years old approached me , declared that I was "so handsome, " and asked if he could take a picture with me. I consented. After he took a selfie, he said "I have prepared a gift for you," and handed me a pair of chopsticks in a small cloth bag. I thanked him politely and went on my way.
About an hour later I was sitting on the floor, resting with a thousand other Chinese museum goers when another person approached for a picture. I obliged and that was the start of a string of four or five. I sat back down and a few minutes later noticed a middle school girl with a couple of friends starting at me, whispering, but unable to work up the courage to approach, so I gestured her over. Her friends took a picture of her with me. Then the friends wanted one too. By that point the rest of her class, which was on a field trip, had noticed. I must have had 20 photos taken with members of that class before I sat back down.
As I sat and rested I heard a familiar voice. The kids who gave me the chopsticks was doing his routine again. I briefly thought about telling him that he already had a photo with me, but just let it play out and was presented with another pair of chopsticks. He reminded me of a girl who approached Joshua a couple of weeks ago. She was excited, breathless, gushing. She took a bunch of photos, got Joshua's wechat ID, and has been sending him love messages ever since. She even charmed her name to in wechat to the "you are my boyfriend." He tried to brush her off, but eventually had to block her. As much as Joshua was asked by her we year him that he loves it. I believe that part of him felt flattered.
After the museum we went to a mall, where we left the kids in an arcade. Andrea looked at shops while Andy, Serene, and I sat on a bench.
Then we went to pick up Tommy, an exchange student who will be staying with LiFeng for two weeks (but with us and Serene here, but he is going to be at Donna's for a few days). He's 17 years old, from Queens, and has had two years of high school Chinese. We took him to Dayali, where he met Donna, the kids, Ray and Jack. We all agree in a private room. He must have been pretty overwhelmed. Joshua, whose phone has been out of commission since it fell into a pool at the water park, was deeply engrossed in a cell phone screen. It took me a while to understand; Ari won a high end cell phone, selfie stick, charger, and case at the arcade.
So ends another interesting day. Tomorrow we see the hutongs in the morning.
ShunJing Hotspring Hotel
Day 25
Since today was supposed to be blazingly hot again and the kids were tired of Chinese cultural attractions we decided to go to a water park. We slept in and I woke up feeling human for the first time in ten days. The drive to the water park took an hour and a half through traffic that crawled along a modern freeway. Fortunately, I slept through much of it.
When we arrived we made our way through a spacious lobby with cool egg shaped chairs arranged around 25 for high white teepee things. In the hallway just past the lobby we saw that this was the world's largest water park spa measuring 98060.96 square meters per a certificate provided by Guinness book of World Records.
They gave us each a bracelet with a number. The number corresponded to our locker number, which the bracelet locked and unlocked, when it was pressed against the electronic lock along with an attendants bracelet. I had to buy a bathing suit because I hadn't brought one from home so they showed me various styles, of which I chose the least expensive. They only had suits clearly labeled XXXXL, which I explained would not fit me. When they assured me that it would I thought that we had a language barrier but they were right, it fit perfectly.
The park itself was immense and varied. Unfortunately I can't do it justice with a written description. There were mineral springs, giant hot tubs to soak in, including one about 25 feet in diameter full of "pure tea." There was a kiddie pool that had a slide and a regular pool.
We ate lunch at the spa's buffet, which was a big as any I've seen. The nut pie was particularly delicious and the chocolate fountain had tomatoes for dipping, which I decided that I needed to try. It was not my favorite but it was nice, beating expectations.
Upstairs there were areas for ping pong, pool, and a cinema. There were comfortable bed things to lie and relax on. You could buy a massage, but a back massage was too pricey. Andrea and Zachary got a foot rub, which was cheaper while I dozed off. Afterwards I soaked in tea while they had remora fish eat their dead skin cells.
We headed to an art district, they called 798, after the water park which was really cool. Miles of shops galleries and exhibitions, in an old industrial area left over from the Great Leap Forward. I regret not buying a t-shirt that subtly poked fun at the party but it took me a while to figure out that they had the nerve to do so and it was sarcastic not just propaganda phrasing that was poorly translated. We saw a few galleries and Ari poked fun at modern art. "This plain white canvas had meaning and significance because it represents the essential purity and innocence of art." Sure enough the next gallery had a canvas that was entirely black. However, if you liked at it closely the artist had drawn a forest using differences in thickness of the paint.
One exhibit had a back-lit Chinese traditional scene that looked like it was painted with calligraphy brushes but the back was open to show that the entire thing was done by shining light through colored plastic bags, bubble wrap, and other refuse.
We left the area to go to dinner at a Thai restaurant in a nearby mall. The mall was huge, Western, and had bathrooms even cleaner than the Chengdu panda research center. The food was delicious.
After dinner we walked around the mall a bit. Andrea now wants a Dyson fan. We bought Andrea a double machiatto from Costa Coffee, though there was a Starbucks in the mall. She was pleased. Finally we stopped at a supermarket in the mall and bought expensive (for China) food to bring home for tomorrow's breakfast.
Since today was supposed to be blazingly hot again and the kids were tired of Chinese cultural attractions we decided to go to a water park. We slept in and I woke up feeling human for the first time in ten days. The drive to the water park took an hour and a half through traffic that crawled along a modern freeway. Fortunately, I slept through much of it.
When we arrived we made our way through a spacious lobby with cool egg shaped chairs arranged around 25 for high white teepee things. In the hallway just past the lobby we saw that this was the world's largest water park spa measuring 98060.96 square meters per a certificate provided by Guinness book of World Records.
They gave us each a bracelet with a number. The number corresponded to our locker number, which the bracelet locked and unlocked, when it was pressed against the electronic lock along with an attendants bracelet. I had to buy a bathing suit because I hadn't brought one from home so they showed me various styles, of which I chose the least expensive. They only had suits clearly labeled XXXXL, which I explained would not fit me. When they assured me that it would I thought that we had a language barrier but they were right, it fit perfectly.
The park itself was immense and varied. Unfortunately I can't do it justice with a written description. There were mineral springs, giant hot tubs to soak in, including one about 25 feet in diameter full of "pure tea." There was a kiddie pool that had a slide and a regular pool.
We ate lunch at the spa's buffet, which was a big as any I've seen. The nut pie was particularly delicious and the chocolate fountain had tomatoes for dipping, which I decided that I needed to try. It was not my favorite but it was nice, beating expectations.
Upstairs there were areas for ping pong, pool, and a cinema. There were comfortable bed things to lie and relax on. You could buy a massage, but a back massage was too pricey. Andrea and Zachary got a foot rub, which was cheaper while I dozed off. Afterwards I soaked in tea while they had remora fish eat their dead skin cells.
We headed to an art district, they called 798, after the water park which was really cool. Miles of shops galleries and exhibitions, in an old industrial area left over from the Great Leap Forward. I regret not buying a t-shirt that subtly poked fun at the party but it took me a while to figure out that they had the nerve to do so and it was sarcastic not just propaganda phrasing that was poorly translated. We saw a few galleries and Ari poked fun at modern art. "This plain white canvas had meaning and significance because it represents the essential purity and innocence of art." Sure enough the next gallery had a canvas that was entirely black. However, if you liked at it closely the artist had drawn a forest using differences in thickness of the paint.
One exhibit had a back-lit Chinese traditional scene that looked like it was painted with calligraphy brushes but the back was open to show that the entire thing was done by shining light through colored plastic bags, bubble wrap, and other refuse.
We left the area to go to dinner at a Thai restaurant in a nearby mall. The mall was huge, Western, and had bathrooms even cleaner than the Chengdu panda research center. The food was delicious.
After dinner we walked around the mall a bit. Andrea now wants a Dyson fan. We bought Andrea a double machiatto from Costa Coffee, though there was a Starbucks in the mall. She was pleased. Finally we stopped at a supermarket in the mall and bought expensive (for China) food to bring home for tomorrow's breakfast.
Friday, July 8, 2016
The Forbidden City
Day 24
We had a quick breakfast at home and headed out to the hidden city. We went by bus most of the way, which wasn't too bad because it had the bus lane. Ray stayed home to watch a soccer match but Donna, Jack, and Tienzu came with us.
Tienamen Square was huge, highly policed, and exactly what I expected from the pictures I've seen.
At the far end of the square, under the portrait of chairman Mao, was the entrance to the forbidden city. It was where emperors lived for centuries. One had 3,000 wives and concubines. Although I hate to concede inferiority to any other man, I suggested to Andrea that 3,000 might be too many for me.
It was really really hot. 90 degrees and incredibly humid. We ate noodles and eggs rolled into a tortilla like bread at the Palace restaurant for lunch.
Andrea got into an argument with Joshua about Zachary's little toy electric fan. The way that he was speaking to her was unacceptable and I let him know it. He argued and I ended up taking away his cell phone. Much drama ensued. Between the heat and the disagreements it was not the best of days.
For dinner we went to Dayali a restaurant famous for its roast duck. We started with the duck, which we wrapped in little mushoo pancakes, added some vegetable and sauce. I'm not a duck fan but this was good. I didn't think that any of the kids would try the duck but when Zachary and Ari and Zachary saw the relish with which Ray, Bill, Tianzu, and Jack ate the duck they ate it too. We also had Chinese yam with blueberry, Lotus flowers, beef with pepper and onion, spicy green beans, mushroom soup, eggplant, pea sprouts with walnuts, chicken with the sesame and almonds, and Chinese greens.
Years ago, my best friend at the time read one of my travel blogs and commented that I always talked about the food. My reply was that I didn't think I did, but now I realize that I do it intentionally because we spend so much time eating and it is such a big part of the adventure. Dayali was certainly no exception. Donna told us that Ray was really looking forward to taking us there. Initially I was unenthusiastic but it was quite an experience.
We went home and hung out with everyone including Li Feng and Andy. Bill just got his scores for the middle school entrance exam: math 100%, English 99.5%, and Chinese 97.5%. He thinks that will put him in the top 10 in the city. I was certainly impressed. Ray takes his exam tomorrow.
Finally, a few notes on cultural differences: I won't talk about squat toilets or dirty bathrooms, I promise.
We hear a lot about Chinese and Japanese students putting in long hours studying and worrying about high stakes exams. While Bill and Ray are only starting middle school, we already see it with them. They do manage to get time for soccer and video games but they have grueling schedules that include a lot of homework and summer and cram schools. In China the government only pays for school through the end of 8th grade but they will pay for Ray to go to boarding school if he gets in.
Andrea is blown away by the lack of cold beverages at meals. When we went to the university cafeterias and the closest thing they had to a beverage was soup, she was shocked. We sent the kids out to buy bottled beverages and bring them back.
The first day I was going to ball the kids out for getting water all over the bathroom floor when they showered but I held my tongue and just cleaned it up. Then I showered and I did the same thing. It took me a few days to realize that it was not me failing to close the curtain all the way or something; the shower curtain is just not waterproof. I don't think I'd ever see that in America.
We had a quick breakfast at home and headed out to the hidden city. We went by bus most of the way, which wasn't too bad because it had the bus lane. Ray stayed home to watch a soccer match but Donna, Jack, and Tienzu came with us.
Tienamen Square was huge, highly policed, and exactly what I expected from the pictures I've seen.
At the far end of the square, under the portrait of chairman Mao, was the entrance to the forbidden city. It was where emperors lived for centuries. One had 3,000 wives and concubines. Although I hate to concede inferiority to any other man, I suggested to Andrea that 3,000 might be too many for me.
It was really really hot. 90 degrees and incredibly humid. We ate noodles and eggs rolled into a tortilla like bread at the Palace restaurant for lunch.
Andrea got into an argument with Joshua about Zachary's little toy electric fan. The way that he was speaking to her was unacceptable and I let him know it. He argued and I ended up taking away his cell phone. Much drama ensued. Between the heat and the disagreements it was not the best of days.
For dinner we went to Dayali a restaurant famous for its roast duck. We started with the duck, which we wrapped in little mushoo pancakes, added some vegetable and sauce. I'm not a duck fan but this was good. I didn't think that any of the kids would try the duck but when Zachary and Ari and Zachary saw the relish with which Ray, Bill, Tianzu, and Jack ate the duck they ate it too. We also had Chinese yam with blueberry, Lotus flowers, beef with pepper and onion, spicy green beans, mushroom soup, eggplant, pea sprouts with walnuts, chicken with the sesame and almonds, and Chinese greens.
Years ago, my best friend at the time read one of my travel blogs and commented that I always talked about the food. My reply was that I didn't think I did, but now I realize that I do it intentionally because we spend so much time eating and it is such a big part of the adventure. Dayali was certainly no exception. Donna told us that Ray was really looking forward to taking us there. Initially I was unenthusiastic but it was quite an experience.
We went home and hung out with everyone including Li Feng and Andy. Bill just got his scores for the middle school entrance exam: math 100%, English 99.5%, and Chinese 97.5%. He thinks that will put him in the top 10 in the city. I was certainly impressed. Ray takes his exam tomorrow.
Finally, a few notes on cultural differences: I won't talk about squat toilets or dirty bathrooms, I promise.
We hear a lot about Chinese and Japanese students putting in long hours studying and worrying about high stakes exams. While Bill and Ray are only starting middle school, we already see it with them. They do manage to get time for soccer and video games but they have grueling schedules that include a lot of homework and summer and cram schools. In China the government only pays for school through the end of 8th grade but they will pay for Ray to go to boarding school if he gets in.
Andrea is blown away by the lack of cold beverages at meals. When we went to the university cafeterias and the closest thing they had to a beverage was soup, she was shocked. We sent the kids out to buy bottled beverages and bring them back.
The first day I was going to ball the kids out for getting water all over the bathroom floor when they showered but I held my tongue and just cleaned it up. Then I showered and I did the same thing. It took me a few days to realize that it was not me failing to close the curtain all the way or something; the shower curtain is just not waterproof. I don't think I'd ever see that in America.
The Great Wall Of China
Day 23
I woke up at 6:00, stuffed up as usual and wrote the blog post about yesterday as I waited for Andrea to get up. Li Feng made a huge breakfast: eggs both hard boiled and scrambled with tomato, noodles, cucumber salad, and fruit. We ate, walked to the train station together where we met Donna, Ray, Tianzu, and an 18 year old who asked us to call him Jack. We paired off, using a busddy system for the day to avoid a repeat of yesterday's debacle.
We took two subway lines to the bus stop that we needed. The subway was crowded; the cars a tad less crowded than I've seen in Tokyo or New York but the station where we switched lines was worse.
When we arrived at the Great Wall we bought tickets for the sliding cars, little cars like those that you might find on a kiddie roller coaster that take you half way up to reduce the amount of climbing that you need to do.
We rode the car up, walked seven of the eight towers, decided that the crowd between us and the last tower was just impenetrable so we turned around and headed back.
Andrea, Ari, Donna, and I went shopping in the center of Beijing. Well, mostly we looked at the outside of stores that sold luxury goods that we'd never buy. We went into a huge bookstore and bought Ari a notebook, which he been asking for, and we got some lotus for seeds from a street vendor. They taste sorry of like coconut but with a hint of bitter.
We returned home and hung out for a while. While Li Feng made dinner, Donna, Jack, Tianzu, Joshua (who had gone trio an Internet Cafe) and Ray all trickled in. At around 7 we all set and ate a huge meal. Beef, tofu, eggs, two kinds of noodles, fried carrot balls, and vegetables. After dinner the adults sat and talked (and ate watermelon). We discussed hosting Ray and Bill next summer in the United States. We talked about sending Zachary again in the future. Nothing was resolved but it felt good to talk about it with real friends.
I woke up at 6:00, stuffed up as usual and wrote the blog post about yesterday as I waited for Andrea to get up. Li Feng made a huge breakfast: eggs both hard boiled and scrambled with tomato, noodles, cucumber salad, and fruit. We ate, walked to the train station together where we met Donna, Ray, Tianzu, and an 18 year old who asked us to call him Jack. We paired off, using a busddy system for the day to avoid a repeat of yesterday's debacle.
We took two subway lines to the bus stop that we needed. The subway was crowded; the cars a tad less crowded than I've seen in Tokyo or New York but the station where we switched lines was worse.
When we arrived at the Great Wall we bought tickets for the sliding cars, little cars like those that you might find on a kiddie roller coaster that take you half way up to reduce the amount of climbing that you need to do.
We rode the car up, walked seven of the eight towers, decided that the crowd between us and the last tower was just impenetrable so we turned around and headed back.
Andrea, Ari, Donna, and I went shopping in the center of Beijing. Well, mostly we looked at the outside of stores that sold luxury goods that we'd never buy. We went into a huge bookstore and bought Ari a notebook, which he been asking for, and we got some lotus for seeds from a street vendor. They taste sorry of like coconut but with a hint of bitter.
We returned home and hung out for a while. While Li Feng made dinner, Donna, Jack, Tianzu, Joshua (who had gone trio an Internet Cafe) and Ray all trickled in. At around 7 we all set and ate a huge meal. Beef, tofu, eggs, two kinds of noodles, fried carrot balls, and vegetables. After dinner the adults sat and talked (and ate watermelon). We discussed hosting Ray and Bill next summer in the United States. We talked about sending Zachary again in the future. Nothing was resolved but it felt good to talk about it with real friends.
SummerPalace
Day 22
I woke up early despite being sleep deprived. My ears still wouldn't equalize after yesterday's flights. I could feel fluid sloshing around in my right ear and the ear was starting to hurt. I was worried about getting an ear infection. I took a Sudafed to try to decongest.
I was texting to Sonja, who models for me, on messenger about rescheduling a shoot when Donna and Ray came with breakfast (those deep fried churro things, sesame pancakes, and hard boiled eggs).
We are staying at our friend Li Feng's apartment. It is on the top (18th floor) of the building. The apartment is quite nice. The living room has this ornate overstuffed furniture that looks like it could be in Versailles, not my style but very comfortable. They appear to have a very comfortable lifestyle although she and her husband work very hard to maintain it. He leaves for work at 6:30 and she at 8:00 and they routinely work past 8:00pm.
We ate, woke the kids, did a few loads laundry, showered, and realized that it was getting close to lunch time. Andrea, and Donna, and the little kids went to her apartment while Joshua and I hung laundry. When they returned 20 minutes later, we all headed for the staff cafeteria at the University where Donna teaches. The food was good, too many choices to try everything, and amazingly cheap. We sat in a clean room, with clean tablecloths on every table, and pretty art on the walls. The plates are all color coded by price and have some sort of embedded electronics and when you are ready to check out you put your tray on the counter next to the register and it totals the price automatically and deducts the total cost from your ID card (or in our case from Donna's).
After lunch we headed to the Summer Palace. We took the subway and a bus. Despite being told to keep it safe, Ari lost in his subway card, fully charged with 50 Yuan on the first train. A ride is four Yuan, a little more than 50 cents.
When I checked I it was 93 degrees ("feels life 92," according to Google, but felt like 99 to me). The palace itself was pretty but mobbed with tourists, including a number of Westerners. "There are Americans," one of the kids exclaimed upon seeing a group of them. "Who let them into the country?" I retorted in a voice full of mock horror.
I sort of dragged through the palace. It was rebuilt in the 1860s after the Anglo - French burned it to the ground. The palace is beautiful but you could only look into the rooms through the windows. It is on a huge lake, which was pleasant to walk along. We had a group of 8, which was hard to keep together. First we lost Tianzu, Ray's friend who came with us, and spent 20 minutes looking for him. Then we lost Ari who insisted on running ahead and spent half an hour locating him. He didn't see what the big deal was.
Tianzu is staying with Donna for a couple of nights while his mom is in Hong Kong on business. I really like how the Chinese people help each other out, taking care of children, sharing meals; it seems in many ways a more integrated social fabric than we have in the States.
We climbed up and over a hill that felt like a mountain and visited a replica of Suzhou street. Then we headed home at about 4:30 in an attempt to beat rush hour. We got back around an hour later and headed to dinner at Donna's University (the Capital University of Business and Economics). This time we chose the Muslim dining hall. I had spicy chicken and a vegetable mixture. The university subsidizes the food so it cost about a dollar per person for a meal. After dinner we went back to the apartment where the kids disappeared into their video games, Andrea posted to her blog. I should have written this post but was just too exhausted.
Around 9:00 Li Feng and Andy returned. We all had some fruit, watermelon and lychees, before bed.
I woke up early despite being sleep deprived. My ears still wouldn't equalize after yesterday's flights. I could feel fluid sloshing around in my right ear and the ear was starting to hurt. I was worried about getting an ear infection. I took a Sudafed to try to decongest.
I was texting to Sonja, who models for me, on messenger about rescheduling a shoot when Donna and Ray came with breakfast (those deep fried churro things, sesame pancakes, and hard boiled eggs).
We are staying at our friend Li Feng's apartment. It is on the top (18th floor) of the building. The apartment is quite nice. The living room has this ornate overstuffed furniture that looks like it could be in Versailles, not my style but very comfortable. They appear to have a very comfortable lifestyle although she and her husband work very hard to maintain it. He leaves for work at 6:30 and she at 8:00 and they routinely work past 8:00pm.
We ate, woke the kids, did a few loads laundry, showered, and realized that it was getting close to lunch time. Andrea, and Donna, and the little kids went to her apartment while Joshua and I hung laundry. When they returned 20 minutes later, we all headed for the staff cafeteria at the University where Donna teaches. The food was good, too many choices to try everything, and amazingly cheap. We sat in a clean room, with clean tablecloths on every table, and pretty art on the walls. The plates are all color coded by price and have some sort of embedded electronics and when you are ready to check out you put your tray on the counter next to the register and it totals the price automatically and deducts the total cost from your ID card (or in our case from Donna's).
After lunch we headed to the Summer Palace. We took the subway and a bus. Despite being told to keep it safe, Ari lost in his subway card, fully charged with 50 Yuan on the first train. A ride is four Yuan, a little more than 50 cents.
When I checked I it was 93 degrees ("feels life 92," according to Google, but felt like 99 to me). The palace itself was pretty but mobbed with tourists, including a number of Westerners. "There are Americans," one of the kids exclaimed upon seeing a group of them. "Who let them into the country?" I retorted in a voice full of mock horror.
I sort of dragged through the palace. It was rebuilt in the 1860s after the Anglo - French burned it to the ground. The palace is beautiful but you could only look into the rooms through the windows. It is on a huge lake, which was pleasant to walk along. We had a group of 8, which was hard to keep together. First we lost Tianzu, Ray's friend who came with us, and spent 20 minutes looking for him. Then we lost Ari who insisted on running ahead and spent half an hour locating him. He didn't see what the big deal was.
Tianzu is staying with Donna for a couple of nights while his mom is in Hong Kong on business. I really like how the Chinese people help each other out, taking care of children, sharing meals; it seems in many ways a more integrated social fabric than we have in the States.
We climbed up and over a hill that felt like a mountain and visited a replica of Suzhou street. Then we headed home at about 4:30 in an attempt to beat rush hour. We got back around an hour later and headed to dinner at Donna's University (the Capital University of Business and Economics). This time we chose the Muslim dining hall. I had spicy chicken and a vegetable mixture. The university subsidizes the food so it cost about a dollar per person for a meal. After dinner we went back to the apartment where the kids disappeared into their video games, Andrea posted to her blog. I should have written this post but was just too exhausted.
Around 9:00 Li Feng and Andy returned. We all had some fruit, watermelon and lychees, before bed.
Lhasa to Beijing
Day 21
I was tempted to just skip blogging today because I only managed three hours of sleep last night and today is a travel day. However today started off with some excitement. We woke to a text from Donna saying that our flight from Chengdu at 10pm (after a 6 hour layover) had been canceled and the new flight was not until 8am the next morning. Panic ensued. Texts were typed , a call made. Fortunately, Donna managed to get the airline to put us on a connecting flight that leaves a three hours earlier, meaning that we may get into Beijing around 10 instead of one am.
Crisis averted there was a knock on our door. Ari told us that "I don't know why but Zachary suddenly started having a huge tantrum and he's screaming for you." Zachary it turned out had his first nosebleed.
On our way out of the hotel I noticed a sign over a room used by the cleaning staff with mops and a utility sink inside which said "sterilization room." Andrea wanted to send me right in.
As much as I am not sad to see the last of Sunrise Hotel Tibet in a way I'm glad that we stayed there. The children bitched and moaned but I think it is good for them to wee that not everything is a Hilton. When I was Joshua's age I was staying in youth hostels that made this hotel look like a palace, sleeping in aisles on trains because the sleeper car was too expensive, and sometimes sleeping in a tent when I traveled.
We got to the airport really early, they suggest that foreigners check in two hours before a flight and Pandon (our guide) added half an hour safety main for traffic snafus. Our flight was delayed an hour and a half. In fact I photographed the departure board because it is cool to see a board that had every flight delayed.
Everything to eat at the airport was horribly overpriced. Andrea and I bought the only affordable things we could find: one bowl of Ramen noodles for $3 and a roll for about 80 cents and split them. They wanted 58 Yuan (almost $10) for a pot of tea so we're making do with tap water.
The Chinese salt everything to incredible levels. We used less than half of the seasoning packet for the Ramen and that was plenty. The other day, the two bags of dried fruit that we bought at the supermarket turned out to be salted. I found out that one had 47% of a person's daily sodium recommendation when I finally got the package interpreted. We gave it to our driver.
The food at Chengdu was more reasonably priced. Andrea and I had beef bento while Joshua and Zachary headed off to Pizza Hut. They decided that the pizza was too Chinese and went to Subway instead.
Our flight was delayed. It finally took off at 9:05. We flew China airlines, which is the classy carrier, because the budget airline that canceled this leg picked up the cost of the ticket. They had a camera in the nose of the plane that we got to watch takeoff through. It was cool watching the runway go by in the pouring rain. Landing was even cooler, seeing the runway lights on approach.
Li Feng's husband, Andy met us at the airport. He had a white Hylander, just like Andrea, and so we felt right at home. He had to get up for work the next morning and leaves the house at 6:30 every morning so it was really nice of him to come to get us. Since it was after midnight we flew through nearly empty highways.
Because of my stuffed nose my ears wouldn't equalize on either flight. It was just an annoyance on the way to Chengdu but was pretty intensely painful on the second flight. The pain kept me from sleeping when Andy finally got us back to the apartment.
I was tempted to just skip blogging today because I only managed three hours of sleep last night and today is a travel day. However today started off with some excitement. We woke to a text from Donna saying that our flight from Chengdu at 10pm (after a 6 hour layover) had been canceled and the new flight was not until 8am the next morning. Panic ensued. Texts were typed , a call made. Fortunately, Donna managed to get the airline to put us on a connecting flight that leaves a three hours earlier, meaning that we may get into Beijing around 10 instead of one am.
Crisis averted there was a knock on our door. Ari told us that "I don't know why but Zachary suddenly started having a huge tantrum and he's screaming for you." Zachary it turned out had his first nosebleed.
On our way out of the hotel I noticed a sign over a room used by the cleaning staff with mops and a utility sink inside which said "sterilization room." Andrea wanted to send me right in.
As much as I am not sad to see the last of Sunrise Hotel Tibet in a way I'm glad that we stayed there. The children bitched and moaned but I think it is good for them to wee that not everything is a Hilton. When I was Joshua's age I was staying in youth hostels that made this hotel look like a palace, sleeping in aisles on trains because the sleeper car was too expensive, and sometimes sleeping in a tent when I traveled.
We got to the airport really early, they suggest that foreigners check in two hours before a flight and Pandon (our guide) added half an hour safety main for traffic snafus. Our flight was delayed an hour and a half. In fact I photographed the departure board because it is cool to see a board that had every flight delayed.
Everything to eat at the airport was horribly overpriced. Andrea and I bought the only affordable things we could find: one bowl of Ramen noodles for $3 and a roll for about 80 cents and split them. They wanted 58 Yuan (almost $10) for a pot of tea so we're making do with tap water.
The Chinese salt everything to incredible levels. We used less than half of the seasoning packet for the Ramen and that was plenty. The other day, the two bags of dried fruit that we bought at the supermarket turned out to be salted. I found out that one had 47% of a person's daily sodium recommendation when I finally got the package interpreted. We gave it to our driver.
The food at Chengdu was more reasonably priced. Andrea and I had beef bento while Joshua and Zachary headed off to Pizza Hut. They decided that the pizza was too Chinese and went to Subway instead.
Our flight was delayed. It finally took off at 9:05. We flew China airlines, which is the classy carrier, because the budget airline that canceled this leg picked up the cost of the ticket. They had a camera in the nose of the plane that we got to watch takeoff through. It was cool watching the runway go by in the pouring rain. Landing was even cooler, seeing the runway lights on approach.
Li Feng's husband, Andy met us at the airport. He had a white Hylander, just like Andrea, and so we felt right at home. He had to get up for work the next morning and leaves the house at 6:30 every morning so it was really nice of him to come to get us. Since it was after midnight we flew through nearly empty highways.
Because of my stuffed nose my ears wouldn't equalize on either flight. It was just an annoyance on the way to Chengdu but was pretty intensely painful on the second flight. The pain kept me from sleeping when Andy finally got us back to the apartment.
Monday, July 4, 2016
Ganden Monastery
Day 20
I slept poorly once again. Eventually I used oxymetazoline for my stuffy nose but it dried out my throat so I traded a stuffed nose for a less stuffed nose and a store throat and cough. When I did sleep, I had vivid dreams of seeing migrating monarch butterflies in China.
We had our usual mediocre Lhasa hotel breakfast supplemented with drinkable yogurt and crackers from the supermarket.
We got into the van at 9:30 and set out for Ganden monastery. We drove through the newer parts of Lhasa and when we passed a fancy five star hotel Zachary said "We should have stayed there."
"On your dime," Andrea retorted.
"I don't think it would be any more expensive than our hotel," I chimed in. Our tour guide laughed.
We soon hit road construction. The road was completely torn up, just massively rutted dirt and mud. The kids had a blast. Andrea said that she had to wait to work on the cell phone puzzle /game that she was supposed to do with Zachary or she would get car sick. I suggested that we talk a bit more about McCarthyism and the Cultural Revolution. The kids had enjoyed the conversation yesterday and maybe even learned something but we missed the forest for the trees. I thought I'd get a chance to do better.
"Oh, God no," Andrea exclaimed, turning what could have been another positive learning experience into a lost opportunity. I tried to salvage it but couldn't. I was sad and hurt.
I forgot to put a detail in yesterday's post that I found interesting. When we finished lunch at the fly infested pit there was a fly in the car. One of the kids asked me to kill it. The guide looked horrified and said, "No! Please don't. I will open the window and get it out without harming it." I have now met somebody who literally would not harm a fly.
Another interesting tidbit is that small groups of men at our lunch spot were playing sho, a game that involved dice in a bowl that is slammed down onto a leather thing that looks like a concave drum top. It also involved tokens, seashells, beads, beer, and betting.
We took a very long set of hairpin turns up a mountain. We did an hour long hike around the mountain. The views were terrific. The mountain itself was draped with prayer flags and the path had multiple places to burn incense and hang prayers from tree branches. People chanted and prostrated themselves on the path.
Andrea didn't wait for me as I took photos. I found myself not able to pause to tie my shoelaces and running between quickly set up shots to catch up. Running on a narrow dirt and rock path with a sheer 100 for drop to my left distracted by thinking about photography and with untied laces; what could go wrong? She got far ahead of the guide too. In fact, at one point the guide couldn't yell loudly enough for Andrea to hear her and so she had me shout so that Andrea would take the correct fork in the path. It took even me several tries.
After our hike we went to the monastery itself. The main chanting hall was the most impressive room. There was also a male only bull headed protector room with statues of a Buda with a bull's head.
We ate lunch at the monastery restaurant. The food was unremarkable but the view was fantastic. It overlooked the monastery on the side of the mountain in one direction and the valley in the other.
The driver dropped us in town. The family sent me to buy water while they shopped for spring jackets in a huge three level market with hundreds of stalls that the Tibetan called a supermarket. I returned with the water, followed the family around as they tried on jackets, photographed a couple of t-shirts that I found amusing and a couple of people.
After the market we walked around town. I bought a small souvenir, a four armed bodhisattva, and Andrea bought a Tibetan painting made with sand and glue that looks like it was painted.
Just like at the monastery Andrea and the boys charged ahead. I had a struggle keeping up, let alone trying to take pictures. I like to amble, to look around and take time to notice things. I like to be able to smile at people, to say a few words. At one point the family paused for a minute to put on sunscreen and even though I should have sunscreened myself I took the opportunity to talk to a group of men playing should. They invited me to take pictures and I got a decent shot. I figured I'd try to stay in the shade as much as I could. The family let me know they were ready to move. Later, after dragging me through a bunch of streets, on the sunny side, at breakneck speed, in a futile search for a cafe because she wanted coffee Andrea commented that I looked red and should have used sunscreen. I was at a loss for words.
We went into a mall. Ari ran ahead and got lost. I refused to chase him. We found him after Andrea got her coffee, using text messages. Then, after all of that rushing we had lots of time to kill and ambled through the upscale mall looking at stuff none of us had any interest in.
I always rush myself when photographing models (I'm working on it). I feel like they'll get impatient. This trip has made me realize how much of that comes from my family.
After the mall we walked to Lhasa kitchen, where we meet the guide for dinner. It was delicious, as usual. Joshua ordered two entrees, including chow mein and a Kashmiri naan, the rest of us ordered standard Indian fare. Joshua decided that he didn't like the naan after all when it was not what he expected, but more like a plain naan covered with yogurt and fruit.
After dinner we walked to the park under Potala palace, where the Chinese have built a huge monument to their "peaceful liberation of Tibet", watched the magnificent fountain, and took pictures. The fountain started at dusk, sending hundreds of jets shooting up to what looked like forty feet into the air, making patterns out of water, synchronized to music. We needed to go through a metal detector and have our bags x-rayed to get in, which was not unusual for tourist attractions and even some streets in Lhasa, but this time Joshua left his brand new coat on the x-ray belt. We had a mad dash back to get it just when the driver picked us up.
We got back to the hotel. Our key card didn't work, the kids were giddy, the WiFi is inoperable again, and still no toilet paper. They are getting my first one star review on Trip Advisor.
So, here I am, nose stuffed, face hurting from the sunburn, trying to think about the amazing things I saw today instead of how tired I am and how hard it is to sleep with muscle aches, sunburn, and difficulty breathing and how awful it was to feel like I was chasing my family all day instead of enjoying Tibet with them.
Another couple of notes:
In China they use flashing blue and red lights to signal drivers to slow down. I've seen them everywhere, at ends of driveways, on the walls of tunnels, even affixed to the back of a truck. I suspect that this makes drivers less cautious when approaching a real police car.
The clouds yesterday evening at dusk were amazingly beautiful. Unfortunately, by that time my camera’s battery had run out, so I tried photographing with my tablet. We’ll see how that worked.
I slept poorly once again. Eventually I used oxymetazoline for my stuffy nose but it dried out my throat so I traded a stuffed nose for a less stuffed nose and a store throat and cough. When I did sleep, I had vivid dreams of seeing migrating monarch butterflies in China.
We had our usual mediocre Lhasa hotel breakfast supplemented with drinkable yogurt and crackers from the supermarket.
We got into the van at 9:30 and set out for Ganden monastery. We drove through the newer parts of Lhasa and when we passed a fancy five star hotel Zachary said "We should have stayed there."
"On your dime," Andrea retorted.
"I don't think it would be any more expensive than our hotel," I chimed in. Our tour guide laughed.
We soon hit road construction. The road was completely torn up, just massively rutted dirt and mud. The kids had a blast. Andrea said that she had to wait to work on the cell phone puzzle /game that she was supposed to do with Zachary or she would get car sick. I suggested that we talk a bit more about McCarthyism and the Cultural Revolution. The kids had enjoyed the conversation yesterday and maybe even learned something but we missed the forest for the trees. I thought I'd get a chance to do better.
"Oh, God no," Andrea exclaimed, turning what could have been another positive learning experience into a lost opportunity. I tried to salvage it but couldn't. I was sad and hurt.
I forgot to put a detail in yesterday's post that I found interesting. When we finished lunch at the fly infested pit there was a fly in the car. One of the kids asked me to kill it. The guide looked horrified and said, "No! Please don't. I will open the window and get it out without harming it." I have now met somebody who literally would not harm a fly.
Another interesting tidbit is that small groups of men at our lunch spot were playing sho, a game that involved dice in a bowl that is slammed down onto a leather thing that looks like a concave drum top. It also involved tokens, seashells, beads, beer, and betting.
We took a very long set of hairpin turns up a mountain. We did an hour long hike around the mountain. The views were terrific. The mountain itself was draped with prayer flags and the path had multiple places to burn incense and hang prayers from tree branches. People chanted and prostrated themselves on the path.
Andrea didn't wait for me as I took photos. I found myself not able to pause to tie my shoelaces and running between quickly set up shots to catch up. Running on a narrow dirt and rock path with a sheer 100 for drop to my left distracted by thinking about photography and with untied laces; what could go wrong? She got far ahead of the guide too. In fact, at one point the guide couldn't yell loudly enough for Andrea to hear her and so she had me shout so that Andrea would take the correct fork in the path. It took even me several tries.
After our hike we went to the monastery itself. The main chanting hall was the most impressive room. There was also a male only bull headed protector room with statues of a Buda with a bull's head.
We ate lunch at the monastery restaurant. The food was unremarkable but the view was fantastic. It overlooked the monastery on the side of the mountain in one direction and the valley in the other.
The driver dropped us in town. The family sent me to buy water while they shopped for spring jackets in a huge three level market with hundreds of stalls that the Tibetan called a supermarket. I returned with the water, followed the family around as they tried on jackets, photographed a couple of t-shirts that I found amusing and a couple of people.
After the market we walked around town. I bought a small souvenir, a four armed bodhisattva, and Andrea bought a Tibetan painting made with sand and glue that looks like it was painted.
Just like at the monastery Andrea and the boys charged ahead. I had a struggle keeping up, let alone trying to take pictures. I like to amble, to look around and take time to notice things. I like to be able to smile at people, to say a few words. At one point the family paused for a minute to put on sunscreen and even though I should have sunscreened myself I took the opportunity to talk to a group of men playing should. They invited me to take pictures and I got a decent shot. I figured I'd try to stay in the shade as much as I could. The family let me know they were ready to move. Later, after dragging me through a bunch of streets, on the sunny side, at breakneck speed, in a futile search for a cafe because she wanted coffee Andrea commented that I looked red and should have used sunscreen. I was at a loss for words.
We went into a mall. Ari ran ahead and got lost. I refused to chase him. We found him after Andrea got her coffee, using text messages. Then, after all of that rushing we had lots of time to kill and ambled through the upscale mall looking at stuff none of us had any interest in.
I always rush myself when photographing models (I'm working on it). I feel like they'll get impatient. This trip has made me realize how much of that comes from my family.
After the mall we walked to Lhasa kitchen, where we meet the guide for dinner. It was delicious, as usual. Joshua ordered two entrees, including chow mein and a Kashmiri naan, the rest of us ordered standard Indian fare. Joshua decided that he didn't like the naan after all when it was not what he expected, but more like a plain naan covered with yogurt and fruit.
After dinner we walked to the park under Potala palace, where the Chinese have built a huge monument to their "peaceful liberation of Tibet", watched the magnificent fountain, and took pictures. The fountain started at dusk, sending hundreds of jets shooting up to what looked like forty feet into the air, making patterns out of water, synchronized to music. We needed to go through a metal detector and have our bags x-rayed to get in, which was not unusual for tourist attractions and even some streets in Lhasa, but this time Joshua left his brand new coat on the x-ray belt. We had a mad dash back to get it just when the driver picked us up.
We got back to the hotel. Our key card didn't work, the kids were giddy, the WiFi is inoperable again, and still no toilet paper. They are getting my first one star review on Trip Advisor.
So, here I am, nose stuffed, face hurting from the sunburn, trying to think about the amazing things I saw today instead of how tired I am and how hard it is to sleep with muscle aches, sunburn, and difficulty breathing and how awful it was to feel like I was chasing my family all day instead of enjoying Tibet with them.
Another couple of notes:
In China they use flashing blue and red lights to signal drivers to slow down. I've seen them everywhere, at ends of driveways, on the walls of tunnels, even affixed to the back of a truck. I suspect that this makes drivers less cautious when approaching a real police car.
The clouds yesterday evening at dusk were amazingly beautiful. Unfortunately, by that time my camera’s battery had run out, so I tried photographing with my tablet. We’ll see how that worked.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Lake Yamzhou
Day 19
We woke up to another mediocre hotel breakfast but this time we'd shopped and could supplement. So, in addition to the hotel food I had a yogurt and some dried fruit. The dried fruit was salted, so that was a disappointment.
After breakfast I edited a few posts for this blog which I uploaded to Andrea's laptop but overstayed my welcome on it. Then I downloaded them to my cell so that I could post them while we were on the road lake Yamzhou.
We had a long drive to the lake much of it through very scenic countryside. We stopped several times at roadside overlooks that had a variety of souvenirs, a bathroom, and lots of people trying to get you to take photos with their animals (Tibetan Mastiffs, baby goats, and yaks) for 10RMB.
At one of these stops the guide warned is that there was a two RMB fee to use the bathroom. I have tried not to bitch and moan about the deplorable lack of cleanliness and lack of toilet paper, paper towel, hot water (sometimes any water) in Chinese bathrooms. My wife and kids are doing enough for the entire family. However, I'm no fan of disgusting bathrooms so when Zachary asked why and the guide told him that it was because somebody cleaned these bathrooms I decided that I'd do my part to encourage clean bathrooms in Tibet and go even though I didn't need to. I felt totally ripped off.
The lake itself was beautiful. At 14,700 feet it was huge, with blue water and mountains on all sides.
Lunch was at a Tibetan restaurant about half an hour from the lake. It was disgusting. There were more flies than I'd seen anywhere, ever. All of the seating was outdoors. All the kids refused to eat and waited in the car. Andrea let the guide know how upsetting it was, and we were moved to a table on the edge with fewer flies. Andrea and I ate a small lunch. We feed the kids fruit and packaged cupcakes in the van and headed home.
When we checked in there was a half roll of toilet paper. We took it off the holder because the holder made it difficult to get at and put it on the bathroom counter. Before leaving today there was probably a third of a roll left. When I got back the roll was gone and I thought that they’d replaced it with a full one in the holder. No such luck. They didn’t empty the trash but they made the beds and stole our toilet paper.
After a break at the hotel we went to dinner at a different restaurant that had Tibetan, Chinese, Italian, and Indian sections on a menu that was written in English. Ari got spaghetti Bolognese and the rest of us ate Indian food. After dinner we got donuts from Dream Donuts a couple of doors down.
On the way back from dinner, with the guide already gone home, and only the driver who spoke no English remaining, we got into a discussion about the cultural revolution because Zachary did not know what it was. Joshua said it was no different than McCarthyism and I mangled the discussion by focusing on the scale of the tragedy instead of talking about the importance of checks and balances and a free press to put a stop to those kinds of excesses whenever and wherever they happen. Tomorrow I'll try to do a better job of being a parent.
We woke up to another mediocre hotel breakfast but this time we'd shopped and could supplement. So, in addition to the hotel food I had a yogurt and some dried fruit. The dried fruit was salted, so that was a disappointment.
After breakfast I edited a few posts for this blog which I uploaded to Andrea's laptop but overstayed my welcome on it. Then I downloaded them to my cell so that I could post them while we were on the road lake Yamzhou.
We had a long drive to the lake much of it through very scenic countryside. We stopped several times at roadside overlooks that had a variety of souvenirs, a bathroom, and lots of people trying to get you to take photos with their animals (Tibetan Mastiffs, baby goats, and yaks) for 10RMB.
At one of these stops the guide warned is that there was a two RMB fee to use the bathroom. I have tried not to bitch and moan about the deplorable lack of cleanliness and lack of toilet paper, paper towel, hot water (sometimes any water) in Chinese bathrooms. My wife and kids are doing enough for the entire family. However, I'm no fan of disgusting bathrooms so when Zachary asked why and the guide told him that it was because somebody cleaned these bathrooms I decided that I'd do my part to encourage clean bathrooms in Tibet and go even though I didn't need to. I felt totally ripped off.
The lake itself was beautiful. At 14,700 feet it was huge, with blue water and mountains on all sides.
Lunch was at a Tibetan restaurant about half an hour from the lake. It was disgusting. There were more flies than I'd seen anywhere, ever. All of the seating was outdoors. All the kids refused to eat and waited in the car. Andrea let the guide know how upsetting it was, and we were moved to a table on the edge with fewer flies. Andrea and I ate a small lunch. We feed the kids fruit and packaged cupcakes in the van and headed home.
When we checked in there was a half roll of toilet paper. We took it off the holder because the holder made it difficult to get at and put it on the bathroom counter. Before leaving today there was probably a third of a roll left. When I got back the roll was gone and I thought that they’d replaced it with a full one in the holder. No such luck. They didn’t empty the trash but they made the beds and stole our toilet paper.
After a break at the hotel we went to dinner at a different restaurant that had Tibetan, Chinese, Italian, and Indian sections on a menu that was written in English. Ari got spaghetti Bolognese and the rest of us ate Indian food. After dinner we got donuts from Dream Donuts a couple of doors down.
On the way back from dinner, with the guide already gone home, and only the driver who spoke no English remaining, we got into a discussion about the cultural revolution because Zachary did not know what it was. Joshua said it was no different than McCarthyism and I mangled the discussion by focusing on the scale of the tragedy instead of talking about the importance of checks and balances and a free press to put a stop to those kinds of excesses whenever and wherever they happen. Tomorrow I'll try to do a better job of being a parent.
Lhasa
Day 18
We all slept poorly except for Zachary. I had a stuffed nose to contend with. Andrea has altitude sickness and suffered a splitting headache. When we repacked we put all the medicine in one of the kid's duffels and didn't want to wake them, but eventually Andrea did.
The breakfast buffet was as dumpy as the rest of the hotel. There wasn't much and a lot of what there was was less appetizing than you'd expect. Even the raw cucumber, which I didn't think was something you could ruin, was in a really salty, slimy white sauce.
Our guide and driver meet us in the lobby at 9:30 to take us to Polata Castle. The castle was huge. Built on a hill overlooking the city it has 14 stories, though how they are counted is beyond me. We'd go up a flight of stairs and the guide would tell us we'd gone from 9 to 11. There are 999 room, of which we saw about 20. Each room was full of ornate statues of Budas and bodhisattvas, paintings, and sometimes scrolls or mandalas (elaborate golden 3D models). The palace was full of monks and locals worshiping. There was money everywhere, left as offerings, to the point where it overflowed donation containers, where they existed, but more often it just coated the floors.
We spent about 2 hours on the palace, including half an hour at the museum at the base, half an hour on the grounds and the climb up to the entrance of the palace itself, and one hour (timed, with a steep penalty for going over) in the palace, where your time inside is strictly limited because the weight of all the tourist was a problem for wooden floors that are centuries old.
Ari complained about the incense smoke. Zachary complained about a stomach ache. Joshua complained about his brothers complaints making the second half unenjoyable for him. Andrea complained about Joshua's lack of empathy. I was unhappy with the no photography policy. There are a lot of things that were inspiring and I'd love to be able to look at again but I resisted the urge to complain.
After the palace we ate lunch at a Tibetan restaurant that was delicious. The food was similar to Indian, Naan, chili yak, a coconut milk soup, butter chicken, some vegetarian noodle dish, and greens. Joshua had an apple lassi and Andrea and I got lemon ginger tea that was made from ginger pieces and lemon slices. While we ate the children read our blogs for the first time. They giggled at the horrible typos and autocorrect garbage in my posts. I'll edit them when I am back.
After lunch we went to visit Jokhan temple that was in many ways a smaller version of the palace: golden Budas and beautiful paintings, but this had a ornate gilded roof. Legend holds that it was built on a lake that was inhabited by a daemon who was defeated by having the temple built directly on his heart.
After the temple tour we spent an hour walking around old town, a collection of small shops that sold everything from Buddhist statues to food. Andrea bought a scarf. Then the driver took the kids back to the hotel while Andrea and I remained to walk some more.
When we were done shopping Andrea and I caught a cab to get back to the hotel. It took longer than anticipated. When we got into the cab there was a guy in the front passenger seat who I assumed was a friend or helper for the driver. He spoke English, told us what the fare would be, looked up the hotel on GPS. A few blocks after that he paid the driver and got out of the taxi. A few blocks after that a woman poked her head in the window while we were stuck in traffic, discussed something with our driver and got in. The driver started going in the wrong direction. Andrea showed him on the GPS and tried to explain to no avail. After a couple of attempts, the driver had an animated conversation with the passenger in the front seat, which I imagine went like this:
"These foreigners are getting agitated. Mind if I drop them off first even though it's out of the way? "
"That's nuts."
"Please, I'll give you a discount on your fare."
"OK, but make sure that you charge them enough to make up for the discount."
So, our 13 Yuan fare became 30, but we got home.
After several nights of bad sleep we took a nap. Getting up from that nap for dinner was the hardest thing I'd done in years. We went downstairs and tried to hail a cab. They ignored us and screamed by. Andrea went into the hotel for help. They couldn't call a cab. They sent somebody out to help. His luck was no better than ours but eventually a cab dropped off a couple at our hotel and we just piled in. The driver argued with the man from our hotel for a while but eventually took us.
We had dinner at the same Tibetan place we'd eaten at for lunch. It was once again excellent.
After dinner we went to a supermarket which was large, well lit, and had a variety of interesting things. The kids bought desserts while Andrea and I got fruit, milk, more tissues, and hair conditioner.
We got done with the supermarket and tried to hail a cab. As you might have guessed this one was no easier. We stood out on the street for 45 minutes until Joshua got so pissed at an empty cab that passed us that he ran after it until it hit a red light, told off the driver (in English) and held it until we caught up.
Exhausted though I was I had trouble falling asleep.
We all slept poorly except for Zachary. I had a stuffed nose to contend with. Andrea has altitude sickness and suffered a splitting headache. When we repacked we put all the medicine in one of the kid's duffels and didn't want to wake them, but eventually Andrea did.
The breakfast buffet was as dumpy as the rest of the hotel. There wasn't much and a lot of what there was was less appetizing than you'd expect. Even the raw cucumber, which I didn't think was something you could ruin, was in a really salty, slimy white sauce.
Our guide and driver meet us in the lobby at 9:30 to take us to Polata Castle. The castle was huge. Built on a hill overlooking the city it has 14 stories, though how they are counted is beyond me. We'd go up a flight of stairs and the guide would tell us we'd gone from 9 to 11. There are 999 room, of which we saw about 20. Each room was full of ornate statues of Budas and bodhisattvas, paintings, and sometimes scrolls or mandalas (elaborate golden 3D models). The palace was full of monks and locals worshiping. There was money everywhere, left as offerings, to the point where it overflowed donation containers, where they existed, but more often it just coated the floors.
We spent about 2 hours on the palace, including half an hour at the museum at the base, half an hour on the grounds and the climb up to the entrance of the palace itself, and one hour (timed, with a steep penalty for going over) in the palace, where your time inside is strictly limited because the weight of all the tourist was a problem for wooden floors that are centuries old.
Ari complained about the incense smoke. Zachary complained about a stomach ache. Joshua complained about his brothers complaints making the second half unenjoyable for him. Andrea complained about Joshua's lack of empathy. I was unhappy with the no photography policy. There are a lot of things that were inspiring and I'd love to be able to look at again but I resisted the urge to complain.
After the palace we ate lunch at a Tibetan restaurant that was delicious. The food was similar to Indian, Naan, chili yak, a coconut milk soup, butter chicken, some vegetarian noodle dish, and greens. Joshua had an apple lassi and Andrea and I got lemon ginger tea that was made from ginger pieces and lemon slices. While we ate the children read our blogs for the first time. They giggled at the horrible typos and autocorrect garbage in my posts. I'll edit them when I am back.
After lunch we went to visit Jokhan temple that was in many ways a smaller version of the palace: golden Budas and beautiful paintings, but this had a ornate gilded roof. Legend holds that it was built on a lake that was inhabited by a daemon who was defeated by having the temple built directly on his heart.
After the temple tour we spent an hour walking around old town, a collection of small shops that sold everything from Buddhist statues to food. Andrea bought a scarf. Then the driver took the kids back to the hotel while Andrea and I remained to walk some more.
When we were done shopping Andrea and I caught a cab to get back to the hotel. It took longer than anticipated. When we got into the cab there was a guy in the front passenger seat who I assumed was a friend or helper for the driver. He spoke English, told us what the fare would be, looked up the hotel on GPS. A few blocks after that he paid the driver and got out of the taxi. A few blocks after that a woman poked her head in the window while we were stuck in traffic, discussed something with our driver and got in. The driver started going in the wrong direction. Andrea showed him on the GPS and tried to explain to no avail. After a couple of attempts, the driver had an animated conversation with the passenger in the front seat, which I imagine went like this:
"These foreigners are getting agitated. Mind if I drop them off first even though it's out of the way? "
"That's nuts."
"Please, I'll give you a discount on your fare."
"OK, but make sure that you charge them enough to make up for the discount."
So, our 13 Yuan fare became 30, but we got home.
After several nights of bad sleep we took a nap. Getting up from that nap for dinner was the hardest thing I'd done in years. We went downstairs and tried to hail a cab. They ignored us and screamed by. Andrea went into the hotel for help. They couldn't call a cab. They sent somebody out to help. His luck was no better than ours but eventually a cab dropped off a couple at our hotel and we just piled in. The driver argued with the man from our hotel for a while but eventually took us.
We had dinner at the same Tibetan place we'd eaten at for lunch. It was once again excellent.
After dinner we went to a supermarket which was large, well lit, and had a variety of interesting things. The kids bought desserts while Andrea and I got fruit, milk, more tissues, and hair conditioner.
We got done with the supermarket and tried to hail a cab. As you might have guessed this one was no easier. We stood out on the street for 45 minutes until Joshua got so pissed at an empty cab that passed us that he ran after it until it hit a red light, told off the driver (in English) and held it until we caught up.
Exhausted though I was I had trouble falling asleep.
Saturday, July 2, 2016
Chengdu to Lhasa
Day 17
Last night Donna came and gave us our official permission papers to enter Tibet. We repacked in such a way that we could give her one of the duffels to take to Beijing where we'll meet her.
We had the hotel breakfast, boarded our 20 passenger bus, which had permission to travel in the municipal bus only lane and sailed past traffic to the airport.
At the airport both the ticket agent and security scrutinized the permission, painstakingly comparing the names and numbers on our passports to those in the document.
At the airport Zachary asked me how to get the WiFi to work. I didn't even try. They always want to know who you are if you're using public wifi and the way that they accomplish that is to use a feature that makes you log in with your cell number and then they text you a password. The interface is always in Chinese. Just painful. Even once you're on it is censored. Sometimes a VPN will work and other times it is blocked.
Another way that they keep track of you is through an app called Wechat. It is really impressive: texts, voice calls, video calls, audio messages, navigation, real time location sharing, and even the ability to pay anyone for anything. On the other hand I tried to register both my tablet and phone on the same account and it threw a fit about security violations and locked the account until I removed it from the tablet and reverified my identity.
In the English language paper provided to us on the airplane there was an article about how the Chinese government was tightening restrictions on mobile phone apps, requiring that the providers determine the identity of the user, keep logs, etc. They claim it is to protect from identity theft, fraud, and terrorism. Of course, the same paper called the Dalai Lama a terrorist.
The citizens seem happy enough to give up their privacy for the stability and prosperity that the government provides. I guess it beats the starvation and strife of the great leap forward and cultural revolution, so if that is your benchmark it's a good deal. On the other hand a government that is so insecure that it can't allow it's citizens to freely talk to each other or to criticize it, with no checks and balances is bound to get out of touch and to stumble eventually.
We arrived at the Lhasa airport and had our visa and passports checked by security again at the airport exit. They were checked again at a checkpoint along the highway, just before we entered Lhasa and again when we checked into the hotel. On the drive into town Andrea asked about all the security and whether the Chinese government was afraid of tourists. The guide diplomatically told her it was too keep everyone, including Tibetan natives safe.
The Chinese are doing lots of public works projects. Our guide pointed out the new road we drove in on and the railway that ran to Tibet's second largest city, telling us when they were built. Despite this there is high unemployment.
Lhasa has a population of about 300,000 more than half ethnic Han Chinese. Every single streetlight in town had Chinese flags attached.
On the way to the hotel we stopped for lunch. No electricity at the restaurant. We ate potato cut into long strips with hot pepper, cucumber with garlic, a really hard tofu that tasted like it was smoked, lamb, shrimp, and a spicy yak dish that was delicious.
We're staying at the Sunrise Tibet hotel. Zachary charmed the lady at check in with his Chinese and we were put on the top floor, the VIP floor. Still, the place is a pit. Stained sheets, plaster dust in the corner, the place where the a/c unit used to be is visible out of the window.
Unfortunately because we are on the sixth floor and had luggage we needed the elevator and the hotel was blacked out too. Shortly after check in, power was restored.
I napped. Zachary napped. Andrea napped. I don't know what the big boys did but I bet that they napped.
We took a strange herbal remedy for altitude sickness that the guide gave us. If I grow a second head I'll know what to blame it on.
The Internet in this hotel is the worst yet. The router is connected to the TV for it to work the TV must be on. We could not get it to work, our guide couldn't either, finally on the fourth attempt a hotel employee got the one in the kids room working. Joshua clocked the speed at an amazing 250kbits/second. They told him that was normal.
We went to dinner at the same restaurant that we had eaten lunch at. The driver and guide ate separately, despite several attempts to get them to join us. Both have a son; the driver's is one and a half and the guide's is almost two. The guide told us that unemployment runs 40% here if you count those who get only occasional work as unemployed.
Andrea and I took a stroll through a neighborhood that was primarily small auto parts stores with an occasional hole in the wall restaurant, office building, or Bodega although there was one fancy mall under construction in the middle of it all.
The kids refused to come with us on our walk. Ari has been saying he's "had enough of Chinese culture. I mean a goose died here a thousand years ago so we built a pagoda and called it a world Heritage site." I retorted "It's better than a duck died here yesterday so we chopped it in half, hung it in the window, and are trying to sell it to you today."
We're planning on telling him that we found the world's most amazing donut shop on our walk.
Last night Donna came and gave us our official permission papers to enter Tibet. We repacked in such a way that we could give her one of the duffels to take to Beijing where we'll meet her.
We had the hotel breakfast, boarded our 20 passenger bus, which had permission to travel in the municipal bus only lane and sailed past traffic to the airport.
At the airport both the ticket agent and security scrutinized the permission, painstakingly comparing the names and numbers on our passports to those in the document.
At the airport Zachary asked me how to get the WiFi to work. I didn't even try. They always want to know who you are if you're using public wifi and the way that they accomplish that is to use a feature that makes you log in with your cell number and then they text you a password. The interface is always in Chinese. Just painful. Even once you're on it is censored. Sometimes a VPN will work and other times it is blocked.
Another way that they keep track of you is through an app called Wechat. It is really impressive: texts, voice calls, video calls, audio messages, navigation, real time location sharing, and even the ability to pay anyone for anything. On the other hand I tried to register both my tablet and phone on the same account and it threw a fit about security violations and locked the account until I removed it from the tablet and reverified my identity.
In the English language paper provided to us on the airplane there was an article about how the Chinese government was tightening restrictions on mobile phone apps, requiring that the providers determine the identity of the user, keep logs, etc. They claim it is to protect from identity theft, fraud, and terrorism. Of course, the same paper called the Dalai Lama a terrorist.
The citizens seem happy enough to give up their privacy for the stability and prosperity that the government provides. I guess it beats the starvation and strife of the great leap forward and cultural revolution, so if that is your benchmark it's a good deal. On the other hand a government that is so insecure that it can't allow it's citizens to freely talk to each other or to criticize it, with no checks and balances is bound to get out of touch and to stumble eventually.
We arrived at the Lhasa airport and had our visa and passports checked by security again at the airport exit. They were checked again at a checkpoint along the highway, just before we entered Lhasa and again when we checked into the hotel. On the drive into town Andrea asked about all the security and whether the Chinese government was afraid of tourists. The guide diplomatically told her it was too keep everyone, including Tibetan natives safe.
The Chinese are doing lots of public works projects. Our guide pointed out the new road we drove in on and the railway that ran to Tibet's second largest city, telling us when they were built. Despite this there is high unemployment.
Lhasa has a population of about 300,000 more than half ethnic Han Chinese. Every single streetlight in town had Chinese flags attached.
On the way to the hotel we stopped for lunch. No electricity at the restaurant. We ate potato cut into long strips with hot pepper, cucumber with garlic, a really hard tofu that tasted like it was smoked, lamb, shrimp, and a spicy yak dish that was delicious.
We're staying at the Sunrise Tibet hotel. Zachary charmed the lady at check in with his Chinese and we were put on the top floor, the VIP floor. Still, the place is a pit. Stained sheets, plaster dust in the corner, the place where the a/c unit used to be is visible out of the window.
Unfortunately because we are on the sixth floor and had luggage we needed the elevator and the hotel was blacked out too. Shortly after check in, power was restored.
I napped. Zachary napped. Andrea napped. I don't know what the big boys did but I bet that they napped.
We took a strange herbal remedy for altitude sickness that the guide gave us. If I grow a second head I'll know what to blame it on.
The Internet in this hotel is the worst yet. The router is connected to the TV for it to work the TV must be on. We could not get it to work, our guide couldn't either, finally on the fourth attempt a hotel employee got the one in the kids room working. Joshua clocked the speed at an amazing 250kbits/second. They told him that was normal.
We went to dinner at the same restaurant that we had eaten lunch at. The driver and guide ate separately, despite several attempts to get them to join us. Both have a son; the driver's is one and a half and the guide's is almost two. The guide told us that unemployment runs 40% here if you count those who get only occasional work as unemployed.
Andrea and I took a stroll through a neighborhood that was primarily small auto parts stores with an occasional hole in the wall restaurant, office building, or Bodega although there was one fancy mall under construction in the middle of it all.
The kids refused to come with us on our walk. Ari has been saying he's "had enough of Chinese culture. I mean a goose died here a thousand years ago so we built a pagoda and called it a world Heritage site." I retorted "It's better than a duck died here yesterday so we chopped it in half, hung it in the window, and are trying to sell it to you today."
We're planning on telling him that we found the world's most amazing donut shop on our walk.
Chengdu and Dujiangyan
Day 16
The morning started at 6:45 when we woke up to eat and get on the road early to go see the pandas. We had a bus that seated 20 for the day, just for the 7 of us. Complete overkill.
I read for a bit on the bus. I'm finding that my book, The Goldfinch, drags a bit. I sucked on Cepacols to calm my throat. I dozed off and the next thing I knew we were there.
Donna had a friend who arranged to have an English speaking guide and a member of the staff meet us there to show us around. It was fantastic. The place was immense, with over a dozen pandas that we could see including four juveniles. Unlike the pandas I'd at the National zoo or Binder Park, there was no rush, no crowd, and no rule forbidding photographs. The park itself was immense, immaculately clean, and had modern buildings, well maintained roads, and the by far cleanest public bathrooms I’ve seen in China.
After the pandas we went to lunch, which was good because I'd been sucking Cepacols all morning and really needed something to get rid of the taste. We divided into two groups, our family that wanted spicy, pork free, heavy on the vegetables and Donna, Ray, the guide, and the driver who preferred bland dishes with pork.
We got Kung Pao chicken, garlic shrimp, beef jerky, tofu in hot sauce, and a green leafy vegetable. I also tried the fish from the other table. There was a lot of food and we shared our shrimp and chicken.
We strolled through pleasant streets lined with shops and with a beautiful stream on one side (albeit, in a concrete channel) complete with little waterfalls, a water wheel, and small sculptures.
We then walked into a park to see the Dujiangyan irrigation system. I was expecting a series of little streams and floodgates but this was on a different scale entirely. It is a World Heritage site. Built in 256 BC the system diverts 40% of really large river in the wet season and 60% in the dry season to Chengdu about 45 kilometers away. It is designed to automatically divert more when the river is low and less when it is high so that there is never flooding and never drought. It is a real feat of engineering. The initial construction took 31 years.
Once we returned Chengdu we went looking for a replacement for Zachary's backpack, which he had overweighted with school books all year and is about to lose a strap but everything we saw was to expensive. We went back to the hotel to take a break.
Dinner was a travesty. I've happily gone wherever the group decided on going without even voicing an opinion because I figure we're a hard enough group to feed but this finally got me to take a stand. We started late, Donna intercepted us on the way out to talk about the plans for tomorrow morning. Eventually she decided to join us even though she had already eaten. When I first tried to buy street food Andrea objected, saying that there are no effective food safety inspectors in China and clearly the food I wanted had been sitting out a while. From then on, I was a bit more careful about what I bought, making sure that it was heated in front of me. Apparently though the concern does not extend to sushi. Shortly after Andrea admonished me for buying lukewarm street food I pointed out that maybe letting Ari eat sushi two out of three nights was a bit risky. Tonight she and Ari dined at an expensive kaizen sushi restaurant. Joshua, Zachary, and I went across the hall to a cheap pizza buffet she or entire meal cost about as much as two pieces of sushi and everything was cooked.
Speaking of Andrea, I caught up reading her blog bozokiblog.blogspot.com and it is at times hard to believe that she is on the same vacation that I am on. I think that perhaps she read one too P. J. O'Rourk or Bill Bryson book or whoever wrote Planet China; you know the books that make fun of foreign countries for being different from home. Moreover, there are the comical descriptions of me "stoic," impatient with my kids' behavior - - pffft. In any case it is highly entertaining and I suggest that everyone read it.
While I'm riffing on Andrea, light of my life and center of my universe, I just want to let her know that now that she has posted which of my body parts got heat rash on this trip she can never again accuse me of oversharing on Facebook.
One final note: I mentioned to Andrea that I don't see a gender imbalance. I expected to see more males than females but I don't. Donna explained that that was really a rural problem and not an urban one.
The morning started at 6:45 when we woke up to eat and get on the road early to go see the pandas. We had a bus that seated 20 for the day, just for the 7 of us. Complete overkill.
I read for a bit on the bus. I'm finding that my book, The Goldfinch, drags a bit. I sucked on Cepacols to calm my throat. I dozed off and the next thing I knew we were there.
Donna had a friend who arranged to have an English speaking guide and a member of the staff meet us there to show us around. It was fantastic. The place was immense, with over a dozen pandas that we could see including four juveniles. Unlike the pandas I'd at the National zoo or Binder Park, there was no rush, no crowd, and no rule forbidding photographs. The park itself was immense, immaculately clean, and had modern buildings, well maintained roads, and the by far cleanest public bathrooms I’ve seen in China.
After the pandas we went to lunch, which was good because I'd been sucking Cepacols all morning and really needed something to get rid of the taste. We divided into two groups, our family that wanted spicy, pork free, heavy on the vegetables and Donna, Ray, the guide, and the driver who preferred bland dishes with pork.
We got Kung Pao chicken, garlic shrimp, beef jerky, tofu in hot sauce, and a green leafy vegetable. I also tried the fish from the other table. There was a lot of food and we shared our shrimp and chicken.
We strolled through pleasant streets lined with shops and with a beautiful stream on one side (albeit, in a concrete channel) complete with little waterfalls, a water wheel, and small sculptures.
We then walked into a park to see the Dujiangyan irrigation system. I was expecting a series of little streams and floodgates but this was on a different scale entirely. It is a World Heritage site. Built in 256 BC the system diverts 40% of really large river in the wet season and 60% in the dry season to Chengdu about 45 kilometers away. It is designed to automatically divert more when the river is low and less when it is high so that there is never flooding and never drought. It is a real feat of engineering. The initial construction took 31 years.
Once we returned Chengdu we went looking for a replacement for Zachary's backpack, which he had overweighted with school books all year and is about to lose a strap but everything we saw was to expensive. We went back to the hotel to take a break.
Dinner was a travesty. I've happily gone wherever the group decided on going without even voicing an opinion because I figure we're a hard enough group to feed but this finally got me to take a stand. We started late, Donna intercepted us on the way out to talk about the plans for tomorrow morning. Eventually she decided to join us even though she had already eaten. When I first tried to buy street food Andrea objected, saying that there are no effective food safety inspectors in China and clearly the food I wanted had been sitting out a while. From then on, I was a bit more careful about what I bought, making sure that it was heated in front of me. Apparently though the concern does not extend to sushi. Shortly after Andrea admonished me for buying lukewarm street food I pointed out that maybe letting Ari eat sushi two out of three nights was a bit risky. Tonight she and Ari dined at an expensive kaizen sushi restaurant. Joshua, Zachary, and I went across the hall to a cheap pizza buffet she or entire meal cost about as much as two pieces of sushi and everything was cooked.
Speaking of Andrea, I caught up reading her blog bozokiblog.blogspot.com and it is at times hard to believe that she is on the same vacation that I am on. I think that perhaps she read one too P. J. O'Rourk or Bill Bryson book or whoever wrote Planet China; you know the books that make fun of foreign countries for being different from home. Moreover, there are the comical descriptions of me "stoic," impatient with my kids' behavior - - pffft. In any case it is highly entertaining and I suggest that everyone read it.
While I'm riffing on Andrea, light of my life and center of my universe, I just want to let her know that now that she has posted which of my body parts got heat rash on this trip she can never again accuse me of oversharing on Facebook.
One final note: I mentioned to Andrea that I don't see a gender imbalance. I expected to see more males than females but I don't. Donna explained that that was really a rural problem and not an urban one.
Chengdu, Zachary's Birthday: Day 15
We started the day on the sleeper train from Xian which led to an early awakening as the train came alive. Joshua woke up argumentative, complaining about Zachary waking him up. I put a quick stop to the arguments. A Chinese woman from the next set of bunks gave Zachary a nice handmade birthday card.
Emerging from the station at Chengdu we stood in a taxi line for 20 minutes. The plan was to take two cabs to the hotel. The first cab we tried refused to take us and the driver just didn't answer when asked why. I assumed that it was because of the huge amount of luggage. A second driver also refused us but explained that there was construction and traffic jams between the station and the hotel and so he didn't want to do it. He suggested that the subway would be much quicker. So we took the subway. It was clean and modern.
We got off in a station connected to a very upscale shopping mall. The mall had Gucci, Prada, Marc Jacob's, etc. A helpful doorman who we asked for directions walked us to an exit and gave us directions; turned out to be the wrong exit and incorrect directions but eventually we found the hotel, which was very nice. It had something I'd never seen before, in addition to the usual toiletries in the bathroom there was a condom.
We rested, showered, and changed after our long train ride and then went to lunch. It took a while to find a place acceptable to everyone. Our first try, some sort of cafeteria, had too few vegetarian and non-pork options. We eventually settled on a small restaurant where we had noodles, fried rice, and a build your own vegetable soup. It was delicious but I'm sure that there was 5 grams of sodium in my meal. Lunch for 7 cost 40 Yuan ($6US). Admittedly, the kids ate little but it was still a bargain.
Donna had a fancy birthday cake delivered to the hotel for Zachary and after lunch we sang happy birthday, gave him the one small present we had brought from the U. S, and had the cake. It had a candy dog on it because he was born in the year of the dog. Ari was tickled that he'd be able to say that he had eaten dog in China.
After lunch we went to look for a toy store so that Zachary could choose a birthday present. It was a travesty. We started in a fancy shopping district, which had ice cream that cost more than lunch. It had cute little brick pedestrian streets with interesting art on the walls and upscale shops but no toy store. So we used Google maps and navigated to a toy store that wasn't there. We set of again. After what seemed like a ten mile hike in 95 degree heat we found a small toy store. Zachary bought a knock off Lego set. Even Zachary had been ready to give up and wait until another day but Andrea was dead set on getting him a gift and the difficulty of China is no match for her strong will.
We returned to the fancy shopping district, watched street performers, took some pictures with Chinese natives that wanted a photo with real white people, and found a restaurant that turned out to be too expensive. Before we could leave, Ray knocked a really hot cup of tea into Zachary's lap. After applying ice we moved to a restaurant where we could keep the cost to about $7/person if we were careful about what we ordered and had BiBimBop for dinner. Zachary and Ari had beef pizza. We supplemented with a bit of street food: fried potato on a stick (and fried squid for Ray) and some green tea sesame buns for me and Andrea.
After dinner we returned to the fancy restaurant to see a performance, sort of Szechuan vaudeville. The costumes were great, some of the skits amusing, and the mask changing, where the performers change masks nearly instantly was really cool.
On the way home the kids got donuts and I got a frozen yogurt, which was literally a container of yogurt poured onto a cold metal plate and frozen on the spot. They added mango, mixed it up, scraped the yogurt off of the cold surface and put it in a cup. It was delicious.
We got an early night because tomorrow we're headed to see the pandas and we want to get there while they are still active. Often in the heat the Pandas head inside for an early siesta. I don't blame them.
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Xian
Day 14
We were supposed to see the terra cotta warriors today but last night our flight was delayed until 1:20AM, didn't board until after that, then we had the flight itself and a long ride from the airport to the hotel, so by the time we checked in it was 4:30 in the morning. Nobody was feeling ready for a two hour trip in each direction. Instead we slept in.
Ray and Donna had seen the Warriors the day before and showed us pictures. I was disappointed but Andrea had wanted to cut the warriors from the itinerary anyway. In fact, it was the only item on the trip that I had insisting on. Andrea joked that as long as we'd seen the pictures we could pretend that we've seen it.
Andrea and I woke up to people being noisy in the hallway outside our hotel room at 9:00AM, giving me a luxurious four and a half hours of sleep. The Chinese often see people behaving boisterously and say "they are free." I heard it about the rowdy audience at the Guangzhou Opera House and several times about my own children as they sang, danced, and kibitzed. I have resisted any temptation to discuss the difference between the ability to be loud and real freedom.
We dressed, tried to wake the kids, managed to get Zachary, and met Donna and Ray in the lobby. We ate next door: black rice porridge, a scallion crepe filed with undercooked shredded potato and another crepe with leek and egg. Zachary got scallion pancakes but took two third of it to his brothers.
After breakfast we toured the Wild Goose Pagoda compound, which had a working Buddhist monastery, and a variety of Buddhist and Taoist shrines, including one that depicted Budas life carved in jade on three walls and buildings with large golden statues of Buda, his disciples, and the Taoist god of money. It was an odd juxtaposition, Buda calling greed one of the three evils in a story carved in jade and a God of money and fortune to worship just across the courtyard.
The legend behind the Pagoda was that there are two groups of Buddhists, one that ate meat and another that was vegetarian. The meat eaters saw a flock of geese overhead, thought about how they had no meat, asked God for meat, and one of the geese immediately fell out of the sky with a broken wing. This made the group that age meat decide to become vegetarians too.
After the temple we ate lobby in a food court. I ordered nothing, just having the kids leftover green beans, dumplings, and red bean smoothie.
We went back to the hotel where Andrea and Donna exercised while the kids played video games at the mall. Li Feng, Evan, and I hung in the room and I caught posting to this blog up to yesterday.
After the kids returned we checked out, jammed ourselves and our suitcases into a van, and headed for the train station. We bought dinner from street vendors. Joshua was very happy with his fried vegetable sandwich, which he declared the best sandwich he had eaten in his entire life.
We're taking the sleeper train to Chengdu. Each car has three levels of thin bunks. There was much discussion amongst members of my family about the frequency with which the bedding was laundered and the provenance of various stains. Lights out is 10pm.
Everything we asked of the kids was an argument this evening. Joshua was apoplectic when Andrea said no to a second sandwich, Ari would not take no for an answer when told not to go into the station without us or when told not to climb on the luggage racks in the train. Joshua would not defer plugging his phone in to charge until after helping get the luggage up. They wouldn't calm down and stop being giddy which made the evening very hard.
Lights out was at 10 pm and with earplugs I fell asleep almost instantly, once Joshua stopped fussing with his cell charger. I woke at 4am, nose stuffed, and lay in bed for a while thinking about photoshoots before finishing this entry and reading a bit more of The Goldfinch. I went back to sleep around 5 until the noises of people waking up woke me again at 6:20AM.
Fenghuang
Day 13
We arrived in Fenghuang last night. After a few attempts to find our hotel, which included the driver going through a night market and then backing out of the dead end we hit, we finally arrived at a parking lot, got out of the van, and began dragging our luggage through a maze of market stalls, narrow alleys, and stone paths to get the rest of the way. The town uses a sewage system that I'm sure would not be allowed in any western country and you can really smell it in places.
The hotel's small front garden and lobby merge into each other almost seamlessly. It is beautiful, with ponds and a small waterfall, hanging basket chairs, and a friendly large golden furred dog, that was not too bright. He and Evan were scared of each other and so he tried to hide under a chair, didnt quite fit and got stuck for a minute.
Andrea and the kids were put off by the horrible stench in the stairwell and the insects buzzing around the hallway light. I calmed the kids and got them settled into their room, which was perfectly nice inside when Andrea joined me and declared, "I can't sleep here. I'm going to get bedbug bites." I calmed her too and then struggled to figure it how to turn off the TV. Since I couldn't turn it off with the remote I ended up finding the power switch on the actual TV. By the time we turned in for the night I was so keyed up that it took me a while to fall asleep but I slept well, only waking when Andrea got up around eight.
We packed up and went walking. We ate breakfast from a cross between a street food vendor and a restaurant. I had some rice noodles, fried tofu, little balls stuffed with black sesame, and I even tried some of Li Feng's stinky tofu. It was not as bad as it sounds; tasted like a charcoal briquette.
The city is quaint, lots of old buildings around a river with pretty bridges and boats that you can hire. The place is a tourist trap, with a million opportunities to get your photo taken in native costume or buy a souvenir. I noticed small brass Eifel towers for sale and asked about them. They "are for the people who can not go all the way to Paris."
Parts of the wall that once surrounded the city to defend the indigenous Miao against the Han still stand, though most of it was dismantled during WWII when they determined that walled cities are too hard to evacuate, were too easy to bomb, and were to hard to retake once occupied by the enemy. We passed one establishment that had half a dozen signs saying that Japanese people would not be allowed, in English, Chinese, and Japanese.
We ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant: two kinds of greens, spicy cucumber, and a fish hot pot. The fish was pretty full of bones and hard to eat so I tried to stuff myself with vegetables, failed, and supplemented with frozen yogurt, which was fine until my blood sugar plummeted, so now I am starving. I'm sure I'll end up eating far too many of the walnut cakes that we bought. They were made on a small machine. A person puts a few small pieces of walnut in a mold which then moves along, has a squirt of batter sprayed in each half, has a bit of filling squirted in, is flipped closed, cooks for a bit, is moved up a row and heads in the opposite direction, is flipped over to finish cooking, and is finally unloaded by hand by the person who puts in more nuts and the process repeats.
I've tried to limit my pauses for picture taking because Andrea is impatient and complains or more often just forges ahead without me and I'm tired of running to catch up. Now, however, she's complaining that I'm taking pictures of all the same things that she is. She just started a blog to try to be more like me and I'm sure that I'll blog a lot of the same topics that she does. You can check her blog out at bozokiblog.blogspot.com
Li Feng decided that we should take the train back, because last night's van ride was so uncomfortable. Perhaps it is my aching back, the sore throat that is back now that my Naproxin has worn off, or my general tiredness from trying to get Andrea to be less upset about her inability to communicate and to get the boys to stop complaining about everything but comfortable is one of the last words I'd use to describe these seats or this train in general.
We were met at the station by another van because the one with our luggage wasnt there yet. We went to dinner at a Korean BBQ. After dinner we went to the airport where I'm writing this now. Flights are being delayed and canceled because of heavy rain. Our flight is supposed to leave at 1:20AM now but Andrea is betting that it will be canceled. I am trying to ignore my hunger and the sore throat that has morphed into a stuffed nose, sneezes, and burning eyes. Strike that; I gave in and binged on pistachios, walnut cakes, and caramel corn.
Tianmen Mountain
Day 12
We got out of the hotel a bit later than we intended to because Andrea had some stomach pain. We headed to a cable car ride that took us to the top. Each gondola seated eight and the ride was really long. Andrea read somewhere that the ride was 4 miles but it didn't seem that far. The line to get on the cable car was undoubtedly that long, however. I've seen lines for popular Disney attractions that were shorter.
The scenery was impressive, we walked along paths that wound along the sides of the steepest cliffs I've ever seen. We took a chair lift from one peak to another, watching the forest pass below. We ate at the top of the second peak. We got boiled corn this time and it was slightly less like a pencil eraser in texture than the roast corn was but it had the same taste. I honestly have no idea how they can do that to corn. Andrea thinks they grow it that way.
The entire day I have had a low grade store throat and headache but I refuse to let it affect me.
We came down by a combination of escalators and busses, but Ari and I climbed down 800 steps in the middle. The bus was cool, winding through a copious number of switchbacks on the side of the mountain. I dozed a bit, not much because of my back pain, and Andrea slept on my shoulder.
We got back in the van to head to the next city. It's a four hour drive and is already 6:30 so Andrea and Li Feng went to a grocery store and bought a variety of fruit, bread, marinated eggs, cucumber, milk, beef jerky, peanut butter, rice pudding, sausage, desserts, and a bag of chopsticks. We ate while traveling.
Andrea was horrified to learn that the long drive was only about 100 miles but we had to take local roads, full of goats, dogs, pedestrians, three wheeled vehicles, and other obstacles including a couple of places where the road was dug up and we had to go over dirt as rutted as anything I've seen in Guatemala, which had the worst roads I've seen so far.
After dinner Evan had a huge tantrum and Joshua freaked out over it. Between Joshua always being upset with Evan and Andrea frustrated with the lack of translation and difficulty communicating I am constantly worried that we're going to insult Li Feng who has meticulously planned this part of the trip, bends over backwards to make sure that we are comfortable and carries Evan up and down mountains or through hot cities for hours every day. For all their complaints, Evan is a trooper, napping in little bits and pieces while in a car or being carried and we can't be a picnic with our picky eating and the kids constant complaints.
I began to read The Goldfinch as we drove through rural China, my throat burning, and Andrea on her laptop working.
Zhangjiajie
Day 11
I had trouble falling asleep after all the excitement last night and woke up again at 6:40 to pouring rain. We ate breakfast at the hotel buffet. There were some sort of sunflower seed cookies that I loved. Tomorrow I'm bringing bottled water with me.
The kids slept until we woke them at 8:00 but remained in bed until 8:30 when I read them the riot act and even then they took their time getting ready.
Li Feng made some calls and found somebody who was willing to pick up the laundry, do it, and return it to the hotel for $50. Andrea was pretty upset at the expense but I pointed out that some things have been less expensive than we thought they would be, especially food, so it will all even out in the end.
I'm not sure what time we finally left the hotel but it was far later than usual. As soon as we set foot outdoors we were accosted by vendors selling cheap rain ponchos and umbrellas. I bought 6 of the ponchos for under $5 and Andrea bought Zachary a new umbrella.
The ponchos were so thin that they began falling apart immediately. Zach's had a hole in minutes. Only 4 of the 6 lasted the day. So much here is disposable and wasteful. The Chinese go through an incredible amount of plastic; they buy bottled water because they don't trust the trap water, for example. And, there is so much litter it's horrific. It covers the streets and is washed into the rivers. I saw hundreds of discarded items today alone, much of it discarded cheap rainwear, including plastic ponchos just like ours and shoe covers made of the same material which we declined to buy even though they were offered.
We headed or to the park, which had an entrance within walking distance. We entered via a gondola on a lift, just like a ski lift although nobody could ski these vertical slopes even if there was snow. We ascended through the rain and cloud catching fuzzy glimpses of the spectacular landscape. Sandstone columns rose hundreds of meters straight up. We spent the day going from overlook to overlook, traveling by a set of free busses in the park, hiking at each stop. There were places where the land looked through a cloud and it was hard to believe that you weren't looking at an island floating in a pool. The weather was less than ideal. The kids whined.
We ate street food at stalls along the road at lunch time because Andrea was hungry and wanted to try things. We got four ears of roasted corn that were a marvel. They not only managed to get it to the texture of pencil eraser they got the flavor too. I gamely ate mine as Andrea tried to convince Zachary to keep eating his, telling him that the texture was intentional and that they got the flavor by caramelizing the corn, even making a couple of supportive comments about how much I love roasted corn, though I didn't mention this one's peculiarities. We also got some sort of steamed mochi ball wrapped in a leaf filed with a peanut sesame mixture. Andrea took one bite and let me have the rest. Zachary and I got red bean buns. They were died out, hard on the bottom and crusty on the top. I gamely ate as Zachary extolled it's virtues while Andrea tried barbecued fish on a stick (they put anything on a stick, including whole fish) and declared it so salty as to be inedible. Far and away the worst meal that I have had in China.
We kept trekking. I tried to get some photos through the fog. I miss doing serious photography something fierce. Every time I take a shot I fall behind and Andrea is always ahead anyway. I've had to yell for her several times when she got ahead of not just me but the guide and gone the wrong way.
Just as it was starting to clear a bit Andrea declared that she was done. I went to take a few shots from one last overlook and as soon as I was within 20 feet she took off, kids in tow to get in line. I just couldn't face running after her one more time and of course the consequence was that a Chinese couple got between me and the group. Zachary desperately wanted me to join the group but I refused to push my way through once again to catch up to my wife.
We rode a glass elevator down the side of a 326 meter vertical mountain. They let people in in groups of about 20 but only about half get to stand right next to the window so people ran and pushed. Some guy behind me tried to push me aside and I was having none of it. I body blocked him and then got squarely in front of him, incensed at his rudeness. When I got in the guide, who had saved a window spot on the side, switched with me. Half way down Andrea said "that guy just pushed his way right in," and I noticed that Mr. pushy had forced himself in between two of my kids.
Li Feng, the guide and I, took a monorail ride around the valley and then followed Andrea and the kids home.
After a little downtime, we headed out for dinner. The kids really wanted American food so we found a place called Cat cafe. Li Feng, Evan, and our guide split off to eat Chinese. We had pizza (no sauce; not our choice, fruit on the side; that was our choice) and pumpkin chicken rice. It was my second last favorite meal in China. On our way home we passed a place that did foot rubs and back massage. I would have loved a back rub since the time I spend hunched over a screen leaves me with a near constant pain in my back but Andrea was dead set on using the first place we had seen that morning which only did feet (for reasons not entirely clear to me) so I went home and when she and Zachary finished we sorted the clean laundry and packed. I slept really soundly but woke up at 6:40 and was just awake for the day despite my best efforts to go back to sleep.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Milk Fragrant Purple potato mud
Day 10 I woke at 5 because a couple of cars decided to have a honking competition outside the hotel, went back to sleep, woke at 5:30 because Andrea decided it was too bright and got up to close the curtains, went back to sleep, woke at 6:30 because the tour was leaving at 7:30 to try to avoid G20 traffic so they put in a wake up call for the whole group even though we are leaving the tour today. I had trouble getting back to sleep.
At 7:00 Andrea woke up and we decided to go down to breakfast. The buffet was the biggest yet. There was something that they called pumpkin pie that was never served at any Thanksgiving table; glutinous orange squares. We both liked the "milk fragrant purple potato mud," purple mashed potato with a touch of vegetables and a thin cheese topping. The mung bean buns were particularly good.
We sat with a woman who we befriended on the tour, an endocrinologist from Redwood city and her nine year old daughter. Zach spent a lot of the bus ride playing with her and she was disappointed not to be able to say goodbye to him because we were letting him sleep as long as we could. After breakfast we checked out and boarded a van that Li Feng hired for the morning. We drove through horrible traffic, with pedestrians, cyclists, and small three wheeled vehicles in the road, several coming right at us in the wrong direction on our side of the road. Drivers play chicken all of the time, forcing themselves into adjacent lanes and honking often. We arrived at the morning's destination, a large market area that had hundreds of stores selling silk. Some of the silk was clearly fake, fabric in a bag that said 100% silk in big letters that had a small tag sewn to the cloth inside that read 100% rayon. Others are the real deal. Li Feng coached Andrea in the art of negotiation, explaining that we should pay about half of the sticker price. Andrea had no trouble knocking more than half off the price of everything she bought.
I thought that this activity was designed primarily for somebody other than me and the boys but Zachary found a replacement for the blankie that he was given at birth by Sparrow Hospital and loved until it was lost on a trip years ago and Joshua bought a fan. I thought that I could do some cool things with a model and some of the fabrics and started to say so to Andrea but only got a far as "You know some of these..." before she cut me off with "yeah, there was one back there that was really cool. It had a whole tree pattern on it..." I let it go.
Laden with silks and other pretty baubles we hopped back into the van and headed to the airport in traffic that was surprisingly light. The airport security was efficient and caught every water bottle we had missed in our backpacks and the can of insect repellant we had goofed and not packed in a checked bag.
The plane was delayed, as was our last flight; apparently most domestic flights in China are. We ate shrimp dumplings, cucumbers, and plums while we waited. This plane flight reminds me that on our last flight Andrea showed me an email that she got saying that she had been promoted to professor. I didn't want to steal her thunder but she isn't one to toot her own horn, so I'll do it for her because I am immensely proud of her.
We landed in Zhangjiajie, were met at the airport by a guide, and had our usual exciting ride to the hotel. This is where Avatar was filmed and even from the van the scenery was amazing, lush green mountains, trees clinging to their steep slopes, disappearing into the clouds. In a way it reminds me of Sedona, a landscape so beautiful that it is surreal. Since we've been going to Sedona for years it is full of happy memories for me.
We checked in and headed to dinner. We had beef in a wok, kept warm on the table by a small fire, peanuts, cucumber, green beans, eggplant, and some pickled vegetables (radishes and a local bean). Unfortunately, the beef dish had chunks of beef fat that we picked out as we ate. After dinner we strolled along the street, stopping in shops to buy fruit, a razor, and nail clippers. We approached what looked like a pet shop with rabbits, birds, and a huge rodent that I didn't recognize in cages and frogs, snakes, turtles, and fish in plastic tubs. It turned out to be a restaurant and the "pets" were the food. I wanted to look at the rodent but Andrea and Joshua were really upset so we hustled past. WeÕve since seen lots of restaurants using the same technique of displaying their ingredients including snails, clams, crayfish, crabs, and vegetables. We were getting desperate for laundry but Li Feng and the guide both told us that there was no such thing as a laundromat in China. The hotels charge by the piece of clothing and 10 days of laundry for five people at hotel prices would be over $100 US so we bought some detergent, deciding that we'd just do it in the sink and let it air dry.
Andrea went first and carefully instructed the kids on what to do. While I started my laundry she went to the next room to help Zachary with his because he was having difficulties. I got a sink full washed and decided to rinse and wring in a few batches. After rinsing the first batch, I set about trying to wring them out. I took one shirt wrung it but wanted to get more water out. I pressed it up against the sink and applied pressure. I was completely shocked when the entire porcelain sink fell out of the counter and smashed on the floor with a loud crash, scattering pieces everywhere. I was mortified, beyond upset, so I went and got Andrea who went and got Li Feng, who went and got the guide, who went and got somebody from hotel reception, who went and got the hotel manager, who went and got a maintenance man and two maids and then moved us one room over. I don't think I've been so embarrassed since Joshua poked an obese guy in the belly, looked up at him, and shouted "Dad, you lied to me. You told me that men couldn't get pregnant." at the age of five. I finished doing that sink full of laundry in the new room. I Google mapped "laundry near me" on my cell, which is currently getting data and found half a dozen places. Li Feng is going to call them in the morning.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
West Lake, New friends, amusement park
Day 9
We woke up and went to a hotel breakfast that was traditional Chinese. We tried a rice cake bun shaped like a star that was great. I've also been able to try a lot of new fruit, there was one that looked like a fuzzy dark red golf ball that we bought from a street vendor that was fantastic it tasted sort of like a cross between cherry and raspberry. This morning I tried longanberries (not to my taste) and some grape shaped dried red fruit that I liked.
After breakfast Li Feng, Evan, and I went for a walk along the canal. It was a lot less crowded and the weather was less unpleasant. The last couple of days have been in the mid 90s and humid but at 8AM it took me at least 5 minutes to start pouring sweat.
We got back on our bus and headed to a tea plantation where they demonstrated tea making and packaging and fed us an enormous lunch. A few of the dishes are things I am beginning to think of as typical: eggs with tomato, mushrooms, pork. There were also half a dozen new dishes to try, including new dishes with chicken and fish.
After the tea Plantation lunch we went to a Chinese amusement park that had various recreations of rich men's houses and themed attractions that fell sort of flat. The haunted houses were walked, single file, but so poorly lit that we had trouble seeing our way and eventually the Chinese people around us used their phones as a flashlights which improved it greatly. It claimed to be the most popular such park in China with 7 million visitors a year. The heat was intense, about 100 degrees. I bought a mung bean and green tea popsicle.
Fortunately we were befriended by six Chinese people about Joshua's age who explained things, like the red ribbons hung on bridges that symbolized wishes of couples. Hanging out with them turned what would have been an awful hot day into a great one. I had a great time inappropriately teasing the young women who asked to take pictures with us until Andrea made me quit. We did take some nice pictures and they promised to email them to me and to friend me on Facebook.
After the amusement park we went to West Lake (there are 800 West Lakes in China but this is the most famous). We rode around the lake in a boat, seeing the town on one side and the mountains on the others, thethree lucky stones featured on the back of a one Yuan bill, and the three famous causeways built about a thousand years ago. We were then given an opportunity to walk along one of the causeways but even though the temperature had dropped to 99 (feels like 124, according to Google) Andrea, Zachary and I sat on a bench and watched the world go by.
We picked a particularly hot year to visit according to or if our new Chinese acquaintances. I am trying not to take it personally that Andrea said things in the heart of the day like "I can't stand to touch you."
On the way back to the bus Ari adjudication for a huge mango and ice cream concoction. I bought two. Neither got finished but they are delicious and helped us cool off.
We checked into the hotel in Hangzhou and went to look for dinner. We ran into four of our new friends in the elevator and they joined us. We ate at the closest reasonably priced restaurant that we could find. Our friends helped us order and when we finished the waitress declared that we had not ordered enough for nine people. We said that they should choose dishes and after some debate they ordered a couple.
We've noticed a few things about Chinese restaurants. First, there is always good leftover, a lot of food, enough to feed another 4 or 5 people. Second, no matter what you order, they always fail to bring something. Today it was a vegetable dish that I asked for, yesterday it was bottled water that we asked for three times, the day before that it was a fruit salad. Third, they often wrap each place seeing in shrink wrap. Fourth, they serve a lot of boiled water and a lot of tea at every meal and the Chinese people drink very little of either.
After dinner, Joshua headed off with our new friends and Andrea and I went back to the hotel.
Lingering Garden and Wuzhen
Day 8
When Andrea finally woke up (or actually was women by the phone) we got ready for the day. The hotel had a razor that I used to shave for the first time since we got here. We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant which had a huge assortment of cuisine, Japanese, Chinese, and traditional western breakfasts. Andrea and I tried something called sago lamp that was like sold tapioca disks with red bean filling which Andrea loved.
We then boarded the bus and headed to the Lingering garden which was a private garden of a rich family and their living quarters. The gardens are beautiful with lid of rocks from a lake 60kms away. The taller, thinner, and more filed with holes the more prestigious it was considered. The garden also had bamboo, the oldest ginkgo tree in China (600 years) and a bonsai garden tended by 18 gardeners. It was beautiful.
The original owner of the house had 5 wives and 11 children. If any were half as good as mine then he was a very lucky man.
We tagged along with an English speaking guides for group and the kids actually learned a bit. Andrea and I had a rare moment of disagreement about enforcing good behavior. It is a good thing that child rearing differences don't count as arguments of we'd be up to six.
After the gardens we went to lunch. I particularly liked the greens, bamboo shots, mushrooms, and eggs with tomato. There was a delicious fish in sweet and sour sauce but it was deep fried so I ate little of it. The fish was sliced so that pieces protruded, battered, and fried whole so that you could pull off pieces with your chopsticks.
Street lunch most of the group went boating but we stayed behind and had coffee, bubble tea, and browsed the small shops.
The entire day the weather ranged from pouring rain to drizzle. I didn't take a single photo but Joshua took a lot of video.
OK, I need to amend the last paragraph because I wrote that on the very long bus ride to Wuzhen and I ended up taking lots of pictures. Wuzhen was a huge place, full of cobblestone streets alongside canals. There were restaurants, shops, and artisans that demonstrated how things were made hundreds of years ago. They made silk and dyed fabric. Singers sung traditional songs as we ate dinner. We walked and browse the shops, taking in the sights, masking or way through the crowd to the far end of the village where we boarded a traditional Chinese boat and were propelled by a man in the back, pushing a huge rudder like thing back and forth, to our hotel. We all agreed that it was one of the most beautiful places Wed ever visited.
Our hotel is worth some comment. Each room is laid out with an ante chamber and a long hallway off of which the kids a bathroom and two bedrooms. They have is two key cards each of which opened the main for and one of the two bedrooms, allowing them to rent the room as a double or two singles. The accommodations are nice, but the A/C didn't work in our first room forcing us to move to a new room. The little toiletries were cute and included a wooden comb and a sewing of in a small decorative wooden case, which was a nice touch.
I went to sleep at 11am slept very soundly all night.
I can no longer get my VPN to work at all which leaves me with access to Facebook and blogger only from my cell, on which restrictions are relaxed because I have a foreign sim card. However, the cell only had 2G, which along with slow Chinese Internet is so painful to use that it's hardly worth it. We could upgrade to 3G for $25 a week per line or to 4G for $50 but we've decided that is just too expensive.
Day 7
Andrea and I woke at 5:30. Since the alarm was set for 6 anyway I declared that it was hardly worth going back to sleep but Andrea replied "yes it is," rolled over and went to sleep. I decided to get outof bed and read a bit The Art Thief, a novel I bought on Kindle long ago but never got around to reading.
We got packed up and left the hotel by 6:30, reversing the long walk through the old city with luggage and the van ride from a couple of days ago. Our plane ride was uneventful but long. I finished The Art Thief on the plane. It was a rollicking page Turner but several things bothered me about it, ranging from being excessively predictable in places to a piece of plot that just made no sense. We landed, and went to the hotel by bus. We're staying at the crown Plaza and the contrast with our last hotel couldn't be more stark. You could fit the entirety of the last place in the lobby with room to spare.
We ate a snack from the convenience store across the street and went into town. We stopped the old Temple (now a shopping area) and Amy go to the teahouse on the top floor of one of the buildings where we fit great views of the whole cut. Then we walked to the riverfront before eating dinner at a take out sushi place. I'd talk more about dinner but I don't want to increase the argument count to 6.
The city is bustling. The skyline is very impressive and many of the skyscrapers have interesting shapes. The city is much more cosmopolitan. I saw more noon Chinese in a few hours than I've seen in the entire time since Hong Kong. Nobody asks to take their picture with us although a couple of teenage girls practice their English on me before giving and running away.
We took a taxi back to the hotel and I struggled with the Internet for half an hour but the firewall is completely uncooperative. I went to sleep, exhausted around 11am woke at 4:30. Andrea wood briefly at 5:15 but even though I offered to entertain her she went right back to sleep.
A couple of notes:
Andrea is threatening to start annotating this blog with this that she thinks that I have been wrong about. She claims that we've had more than 5 arguments. If argue it but I doubt it is worth having argument number six over.
I haven't yet posted any pictures, partly because of the intent speed, or lack thereof but also because I have limited ability to edit. I've been shooting mostly snapshots of the family. I figure that there are plenty of great skyline pictures in the world taken with the best equipment, so what's the point of me adding ones taken in a rush, with a small handheld camera and every time I stop to take one the group charges ahead. I would love to take a trip with equipment and time to shoot one day. I'm still getting some interesting shots, especially textures that I might be able to use in composites some day.
I feel like I'm not doing as good a job on this blog as I did on past trips, perhaps because in an effort not to embarrass sensitive teens I'm omitting much of the family dynamics, perhaps because of the jet lag, or maybe it is just the difficulty of writing and editing on a tablet. I did not want to lug my heavy laptop, risk breaking it, have it infected with mallard, etc. I thought about buying a really lightweight alternative like a Surface but couldn't justify the expense, so I'm stuck on an android tablet.
There are many choices to be made when planning a vacation. I prefer to stay in one place for a long time, to get to know people and see how they live. Andrea prefers to move. She wants to see all the sights. Since she and Donna planned this trip it is definitely more of a see everything itinerary. In the past we've done mixture, like our trip to Greece when we spent two weeks seeing many of the major sites and then two weeks living with a family on the sleepy little island of Kalymnos.
Another choice is between major cities, small towns, and rural areas. Andrea and Joshua want to be in big cities but Donna and Li Feng planned more small town days. When you live in Beijing I guess that big city sites just aren't as exciting as they are coming from Okemos.
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