The B Family Adventures: April 2012

Molotov Cocktail

Consider the number of smokers in China
Think about a Molotov cocktail
Think about this driver smoking while driving...

This genius decided to carry gasoline in two five gallon water cooler bottles in his open trunk… the choice to use the open trunk was probably due to the fact that he did not have lids for the bottles and fumes were coming out of the towels that he had shoved into the bottles as makeshift stoppers.

It is not the best picture, but I was telling my driver to get away from the guy, not get me in closer for a better picture.

Hangzhou & Wuzhen

Andrew joined me in Hangzhou while I was there with my friend Ashley. While in Hangzhou we decided to visit Wuzhen, which according to our Lonely Planet guide was a worthwhile day trip from Hangzhou. Wuzhen is a restored and resurrected water town which has been around since the late Tang dynasty, which ended in 907.

Feeling adventurous we dared the Chinese public transportation system. There were a few minutes where we weren't exactly sure where we would end up since our Chinese lessons aren't going as well as they should be, the signs are not in English at the bus station and no one seems to speak English. Andrew had a little more interesting ride than I since a screw or two was loose in his seat and he slid from right to left on the metal track it was attached to around every corner. These weren't five star buses, by any stretch of the imagination, but we arrived safe & sound.

After our day in Wuzhen we spent the rest of Sunday walking around West Lake, which is Hangzhou's main attraction and doing some shopping on silk street. The weather was beautiful. We had a great time in Hangzhou, it tops one of our favorite Chinese destinations.

Andrew eating a hot dog on a stick. I didn't try it, it smelt like plastic.

Wuzhen

Wuzhen still makes blue cloth as they did during the Tang dynasty by extracting indigo from pants.
Here the dyed cloth is drying.

They make their own rice wine a.k.a. baijiu.

This is what Andrew thought of the rice wine.

A pig's face for sale on the sidewalk.

The spicy fried tofu & the vendor we purchased it from.

Beautiful West Lake in Hangzhou

For some reason I was very popular in Hangzhou.
This is one of the Chinese girls who asked to take a photo with me.

Friends are the Best

My good friends Ashley and Jessica visited China last week. I was very much looking forward to showing them China, the place we call home. It was a whirlwind tour; Jessica was here for seven days and Ashley nine. They flew into Beijing, where we spent two days visiting Snack Street, (where they serve everything and anything you can think of on a stick), Forbidden City, Pearl Market and the Temple of Heaven. After Beijing we flew to Dalian, from Dalian we traveled to Dandong for the day to see the Great Wall. After two days in Dalian where we visited Er Qi to have tailor clothes, duvet and three duvet covers made, a trip to the orphanage where I volunteer, shopping and a trip to the naked spa, Jessica returned home and Ashley and I traveled to Hangzhou, which is a popular tourist destination among the Chinese, they call it heaven on Earth.

Jessica and Ashley quickly noticed really how different China is to the U.S. (it really only takes a minute) and agreed that you can't explain it you just have to experience it. They said China doesn't top the list of their favorite places they've traveled, but that they are glad they had the experience. I guess a place where you quickly discuss what you like least versus what you like the most isn't the top of the list of "my favorite places." Not surprisingly, squatty potties, all the people hawking loogies, and the urine scent at the naked spa when we got body scrubs topped the list for them.

It was really great to have Ashley and Jessica here. Hopefully they'll visit us where ever we go next.