Outside the noodle house with Tian, same age as Lili, from Toronto and she has the same Chinese name of Qi, different meanings though.
The Artisan Village
First glimps of what is to come ;)
Lili, Me and Nicola (from Australia)
For new comers, this is a squat pot, and it's a very, very nice and clean one. It's easy to miss the pot apparently, there is often lots of pee on the floor around the pots and the smell comes from the waste baskets, the toilet paper isn't put into the system but thrown away instead. There is your lesson for the day. Happy to educate.
We weren't allowed to take photos of the Kung Fu show but this little guy was posed in the lobby.
Temple of Heaven was fun, not too hot. The ladies in the park were dancing while balancing balls on paddles. The most graceful thing I've ever seen. After that we did the Pearl Market. We had one hour, Lili and I got a few things and had time for fries at McDonalds, always a fun time in China.
Lunch was at a noodle house (1863), after about 20 appetizers they finally brought the noodles. They were a huge hit. I'm impressed watching Lili's bravery with the food. We've had all Chinese. I thought Lili would be wanting western food by now. The Chinese food we've been served has been fabulous.
Mom and Eric, I know how you worry about my chrones...no issues at all. Go figure. Maybe I need all Chinese and tons more oil at home. I'm knocking on wood right now.
We went to a craftsman area and watched a variety show including Peking Opera. It was amazing, and all of the actors were seniors which was pretty cool. Then we all got to do crafts. There were four different ones, Lili chose to paint an opera mask, so I joined her. It was relaxing and air conditioned.
Then dinner which was also great food and finally a Kung Fu show that was truely incredible. Lili was on the edge of her seat. She wants to take Kung Fu lessons now.
Today makes up for yesterday.
I'm attempting to type this on my phone on the way back to the hotel so that we can just crash when we get back. Pictures to follow another time.
Observations - traffic is considerably worse, what used to take 15mins is now an hour. Parking a giant bus takes time, we have three in our group so need a lot of space. Lili and I have been counting dogs, we're at 24 since Sat. There are hardly any bikes anymore. The govt. dropped the subway to 2yuan so that the locals would use it more. Getting taxis is much harder. Lili and I have totally mastered the squattie pots. With such a huge group it helps to be able to jump the line while everyone waits for the western toilets. Bringing our own toilet paper has turned out to be a wise move. There have been just over 110'000 children adopted to foreigners since 1991.
Tomorrow, Great Wall, jade factory, lunch, real Peking Opera. Kids get to interact with the actors and have the face paint done. How cool is that? Then dinner and ending with the acrobats.
