China - Part II

Here's Part II of our trip to China this past summer. Spring semester has started, so time to finish this up before I abandon the blog until at least summer. 

Wuhan to Yichun City/Wanzai County

Slept in just a little and ate breakfast, some people from different countries in hotel dining room today and yesterday for “textiles in developing countries” conference and another conference that I don’t remember what it was. Hubby talked in Spanish to a lady from Venezuela, and many people from Africa also in dining room. Walked along main road near hotel to find dress shops for Little Sisters. Back to hotel and met guide and driver. Really glad we didn’t have more than 2 suitcases for our family as it was enough to juggle those plus backpacks plus kids! 

30 minute drive to train station, waited for train and watched. Crowds of people everywhere. Approximately three hour train ride this time through a very green landscape – more hills and less flat, went through some long tunnels, ears popping in them (must be really long when you are in them for 45-60 seconds at 150 mph). Saw more rice fields and some water buffalo. Also started seeing more rock/cinder block/hill monuments decorated with flowers, burial sites for family members (maybe just didn’t see them on the first train?). Ate more noodles and enjoyed the views. Met our guide outside the gate at the train station. Walked down to parking area and discovered the Jianxi Province Toot – horn taps that usually meant, “I’m here/Look out” rather than the Wuhan blast of irritation (although those occur here, too). Yichun City smallest city we had been in yet other than Xiaogan – 2 million. School was getting out as we were driving through the city. School kids in uniforms, many walking or bicycling home. Scary watching them cross busy, busy multi-lane streets by themselves with no crosswalks (as young as 6 or 8 years old, it looked like). Some parents on scooters taking kids home. Scooters here all have shades over the top to keep off rain/sun. More helmets here too. Lanes DON’T matter – drive where you please, for the most part! And definitely no turn lanes/turn signals. Many houses with shops underneath, with the ubiquitous laundry hanging over the balcony or from hangers in front of the house/shop. Arrived in Wanzai and checked in at hotel. More smoking in the lobby and elevators. Hotel room looks out over cinder block apartments with dirt/gravel streets. Fun to watch children playing in the evenings – soccer, running, bunches of boys getting their energy out. 

Had supper with our guide, representatives from the Volunteer Association, and a family - noisy and fun and wonderfully confusing! Nifty hot water dish sterilizing machines at the tables. The Boy figured out how to use it even though all the buttons were in Chinese. Sat at a table with an adorable baby who waved at us and said “Zaijian” partway through dinner (“Goodbye”). Our guide helped translate for us and explained what we were eating. Little girls about our daughter's age – got frustrated that she didn’t know what they were instructing her to do, but eventually resorted to all of them running around the circular table screaming – no translation needed. Ate VERY spicy whole fish soup, steamed egg dish, vegetable dishes, food more spicy here. Everything very delicious, so many dishes. Back to the hotel and used our limited Chinese skills to request a couple more towels (incorrect grammar, but managed), then made up the little couch for BabE and roll-away for The Boy. Started some laundry in the bathtub and on the clothesline over the tub so it would dry in the humidity before leaving in 2 days. Getting the China routine down – boil water, cool water, find all the water bottles, laundry, set out cups for toothbrushing. Had tea with everyone in our room and visited - so much to think about and reflect on.  Hard to sleep, plus BabE decided she didn’t want to sleep in her own bed and decided to be horizontal in ours!

 Rice fields - view from train

Wanzai - Day 2

Up early and breakfast in the hotel dining room. Had sweet potato noodles/egg/broth bowl – tasty. Kids dying for the fresh peaches, took a couple and tried to wash - maybe not a great decision. Matt ill this morning, nursed him up with first aid kit and emergency prescriptions. In vans to visit Older Little Sister's orphanage. Volunteer Association men accompanied as well as a couple other people – not sure who everyone was, felt like a big entourage. Many details and things happened - but is her story to tell. Gatekeeper set off firecrackers at gate in her honor, and a big welcome sign at gate. Rainy that day, so limited pictures taken at gates/outdoors. Pretty grounds – very green. Took a couple more photos outside orphanage and then went to city park where there was a bunch of statues showing how firecrackers are made. Major industry in Wanzai is firecrackers. Many adults told of helping with steps of firecracker production at home to make extra money. Now required that this is done in factories. Pretty park with flowers, very green/lush (all of Jianxi province – looked like Georgia or Mississippi with Magnolias, peanuts, sweet potatoes, cotton, rice). Some people fishing in area ponds/small lakes. Back to vans and then to restaurant – amazing how the drivers fit vehicles into tiny lanes and little alley parking places. How do the cars get back out? No idea. Big lunch with several dishes, all delicious - fungus, fish soup, vegetables, lotus root. After lunch, back to hotel and short rest. Took a walk and went shopping – the ladies found dresses and shoes. Paw Patrol sandals for BabE at clothing store – only about $2. Many shops, and lots of staring – didn’t see any foreigners in Jianxi province at all. Intermittent rain showers in the afternoon, a lot of humidity and clouds hanging over the hills. Back to hotel in the late afternoon/evening and went to hotel restaurant with our guide for supper. She helped us order off the big-pictures menu– vinegar/shredded potatoes (like had in BJ), seafood pancake things, mushrooms & beef, noodles (the waitress “fluffed” them and served them so skillfully, while we Americans struggled to even get them in our mouths). Fresh peanuts and fruits for appetizers. Had two of our own waitresses in our private dining room, very well cared for during meal. Overall fatigue starting to set in but still not wanting to miss anything – so much to take in! Early to bed with an early departure tomorrow, worked on packing and prep for the next day - laundry was mostly dry!

 

Beautiful ladies!

 Umbrellas in the park

 

 Firecracker statues

 

Playing games in a shop

 

Getting a ride

 

 

Ordering supper

Wanzai/Yichun City to Shanghai

 

Up very early to meet our guide in hotel lobby for check-out and early van ride to train station. Got everything all packed up, except ditched Hubby’s extra pair of sneakers (they were destined for being left toward the end of the trip) in favor of collected treasures and treats. Hotel staff phoned down to front desk to ask why we were leaving shoes! Hotel dining staff and guide kind enough to pack a breakfast for us – fruit and pastries (“furry” orange cake and green cake). BabE eating a lot of fresh, unpeeled cherry tomatoes and me wondering if she will survive it or not… To be determined… Checked out of hotel and about an hour long drive from Wanzai to Yichun City. Very interesting to watch the area “waking up”. Not many people about at 0600 in Wanzai except some construction workers on scooters heading to work. Begin to see more and more people heading to work, women out in gardens/fields getting in vegetables for meals, and then more factory workers bicycling/scootering to work, and then more parents taking children to school. Saw one little boy about 7 years old or so leaning against his dad and taking a nap riding on a scooter, and another little boy sitting cross-legged on the back of the scooter eating dumplings with chopsticks out of a take-out box. But looks like majority of older children walk or bicycle themselves to school. Some office workers, but majority of commuters looked to be construction and factory workers. Bumpy roads, lots of road construction. Most roads didn’t have lanes and those that did were completely ignored.

Arrived at train station and cleared security, tickets. Guide’s train was cancelled so she had to change her ticket to ride on ours – she lived in Nanchang (same city as where Mom and Dad met and stayed with Older Little Sister during her adoption). Many travelers at this station carrying boxes with rope to carry, water bottles cut open at the top to carry a couple dozen eggs, and string bags of vegetables. The lady sitting near us had a couple cobs of corn in a grocery bag to eat for her lunch. Used our last squatty potties – not so bad, really. Had to bribe BabE a couple times to get her to use them when needed. 4 1/2 hour long train ride to Shanghai. More tunnels, rice fields, water buffalo. Buildings in mid-south China appear more well-kept than some of the shanties in northern China, from what we saw from the train. Lots of purple and blue tile roofs, white two-three story homes. Mix of cities, small towns, farms along the way. Crossed big river near Nanchang, again saw many high-rises being constructed (“they grow like bamboo shoots”, according to our guide). Ate noodle cups on train again and snacks. 20 minute stop at city stop where route took a turn. Train stewardess tried to explain that we had to turn the seats in the train but we didn’t understand, so other passengers showed us how they pushed a lever at the base of the rows of seats to turn them 180*, since the direction of the train was changing – nifty. Businessmen came onto train at part-way stop – chattering 90 miles an hour at top volume into two different cell phones. More canals and TONS of buildings as we get nearer Shanghai. End of the route at Shanghai, collected all our suitcases and made it through the crush of people into the station. Hongquiao train station – big hub. Right next to Hongquiao airport – for domestic China flights, lots of airplanes in and out while we were arriving. HUGE train station, looked like an airport on the inside with lots of shops, gates, etc. So many people! All well-dressed and definitely a big city feel. Almost didn’t feel like we were in China anymore. My opinion – I am a Wanzai-type person, not a Shanghai-type person – at least in terms of where I felt a connection and a sense of understanding the way of life...

Loaded into van and drove to hotel – about 45-60  minutes. So many big buildings and so many cars. Big multi-level freeways. High-rises with laundry (do they ever drop their laundry down 50 floors? How do you get it back?) Drove through the Bund area and to hotel – wow, so fancy! Two towers, big atrium, water features in lobby. Tried to figure out how much to tip a valet in yuan, went up to rooms in big glass-backed elevator (vertigo!). Huge glass windows with view of the entire Bund and financial districts – crazy architecture buildings, and Pearl Tower (a TV tower in a unique shape). Kids had fun sliding the huge mirrored dividers around the sink/bathroom area and exploring their own connecting room. Started a pot of water boiling and tried to organize suitcases a little for airplane trip. Oatmeal packets didn’t make the cut for the return trip but the peanut butter did – will eat world traveling PB back home. Ended up using almost everything we brought, at least to some extent – minimal items that ended up being extraneous, which was good!

Did some dinner option exploration and settled on one of the hotel restaurants, made a reservation. Went on walk around Bund and stared at huge buildings. MANY people getting wedding photos taken. Some in white dresses, others in red (all very fancy), saw one man in a peacock-print tuxedo, and another in a shorts tuxedo. Hot/sunny but not miserable – cool breeze off the river. Many barges along the river, heading to and from the port. The Boy got a warning whistle from a guard for reclining on a monument. Getting pretty tired/grumpy with children, but trying to stay positive! Walked back to hotel, stopped at Family Mart and found some snack gifts and Chinese drinks and snacks for our evening party. Freshened up a little, met down at restaurant. Ate mushroom soup, spring rolls, noodles, bamboo-leaf wrapped pork/rice things, and vegetables, rice. Open kitchen, could watch cooking and kids thought it was fun when the chefs made fires.

Up to 32^nd floor to see the view and all the lights. Then down to one of our 14^th floor rooms for a little last-night party. Talked about our favorite and least favorite things about China. Fun to hear the kids’ perspectives and process through all we saw and did. Got kids to bed – so tired. Took a short walk with H out to see the lights along the Bund. Almost every big building covered with lights – some with entire building light displays/pictures. All the lights turned out at 2300 – like someone hit a big switch over the area – crazy. Our hotel had some little sparkly lights that winked on and off – neat. None of the hotels had a 4^th floor – number 4 bad luck. Fell into bed – so tired. 

 

Familiar farming sights. Very few tractors (and the ones we saw were very small and old).

Shanghai high rises

 No sitting on the monuments.

 Shanghai skyline

 Fancy photos

 Skyline lit up

 View from our hotel window

Shanghai to Home

 

Up early to finish packing - suitcases ready to go. Breakfast in the hotel, AMAZING! Huge selection of European, American, and Chinese foods – too much to choose from, but tried a little of many things – little dried fish with the head on (Hubby didn’t appreciate me munching on it while he was sipping his coffee), little fresh-made yogurt jars with fruit, roasted pumpkin (so good), eggplant, pear tart, and the best coffee. Lots of tourists from all over the world in hotel, as well as executives conducting breakfast interviews, and some Chinese (they were all eating noodle bowls – I felt guilty, but not quite enough to put down the bacon – I did eat a fish with the head on it, after all).

Met our guide in lobby at 0900 and waited for our Shanghai Uber to arrive. Girls and BabE stayed behind to finish packing, watch a little Chinese TV (soccer and Paw Patrol), explore the hotel. Went to Shanghai Museum – felt like we were driving in circles, so disorienting when completely surrounded by so many buildings and so much traffic. Shanghai Museum really neat. 4 floors of artifacts – furniture, money, art, porcelain, etc. Dad made it through the whole museum, I dawdled a little more in art and porcelain. Miscommunication with husband about where I was – sorry, hubby - I learned about porcelain and he searched for me. So very sorry - really. Purchased some gifts at gift shops. Took Shanghai subway back to close to hotel - multiple levels and lines, so confusing, glad guide was there. Walked rest of way to hotel, got close-up looks at bamboo scaffolding (looks sketchy from a distance but pretty sturdy close-up), shops selling plumbing and electrical fixtures. Stores not so clustered together by type as they were in Wuhan – all the stores selling musical instruments in one place, building supplies in another, etc. Walked fast and made in back only about 10 minutes late. 

 Scene from drive to Shanghai Museum

Shanghai Museum

Loaded up suitcases into van and off to the airport. Crossed Yangtze River on huge suspension bridge with a spiral approach. Interesting to see more of the city as we drove. Saw the Mag-Lev train – made my day! Holy does it go fast. Drove to Pudong airport on the coast of the East China Sea. Could see more factories and shipping areas closer to airport and port. Could also see big freighters off in the distance in the sea. Unloaded at airport and muddled our way through security – my bag got searched again. We had learned our lesson from the Wuhan train station, however, and buried our Leathermans in the middle of the suitcases in piles of underwear where the x-rays didn’t find them. Long lines, cleared customs. Ate lunch in the airport – noodles, meat, rice – good. Loaded up onto another Dreamliner and settled in. Hubby and Sister watched over BabE on this flight so I managed to finish my book and watch “Darkest Hour” – thanks, y'all. Kids managed to sleep a little – hubby and I not so much, but made it anyway. Flight attendants good about letting people move around and stretch, or hang out in the mid-ship galley area for awhile. Kids happy about screens. Left Shanghai at 1615 on Friday, arrived in Chicago at 1645 on Friday – got our day back! GI upset finally hit the girls - cherry tomatoes? Cleared customs, got suitcases. Trains down in Chicago so got on buses to get to correct terminal. Strange to not see high-rises and to hear everyone speaking English. Cleared security again. Rested and waited for the last airplane home – able to see thunderstorm clouds and lightning in the distance from the plane windows most of the way home. All of our luggage arrived with us! Brother and friends brought cars to us. Strange drive home with NO cars on the road, NO high-rises, NO honking, NO people… disorienting couple days back in our tiny, rural hamlet. So happy to get in bed and sleep! What an amazing journey – one we will never forget.

  

Photo credits: my awesome hubby, and a few cell phone shots of my own