Soft as Silk

We are waiting for Kristen's passport to be ready for Friday, so more sightseeing time. It would have been nice to be able to visit Kristen's orphanage, but hers is so rural, it would take a 3 day visit from Changsha. So Thursday morning, we went to see some Chinese Embroidery, a very long established art form in China. Very impressive, each piece taking up to 2 years to do (depending on size)! Seeing it up close, you could really see the texture of the picture, and see how much detail is put into it. When I photographed some of the pieces, there was a 3D element, not sure if posting the pictures will reveal this. Aidan found a beautiful blue traditional silk jacket that he really wanted to purchase, but being a little large in size, and expensive, we chose to wait until we get to Beijing to look for better deals. There was also a tea shop in the back, where we enjoyed a very expensive chinese tea, that apparently "keeps you young"! Is this the ancient Chinese secret to why Chinese people look so young!? I need some of that!



Sculptures along pedestrian street



Did some department store shopping after that, looking for deals, but apparently most of the deals will be in Beijing. After lunch and settling Kristen in for a nap back at the hotel with 'the boys', Lily took me out again to check out the "pedestrian street". First of all, the taxi ride itself was an experience on its own. So far, we've been travelling in a van, the driver is actually a 'relatively' more careful driver. The taxi drivers are another story! Let's just say I could not look down for even a second if I didn't want to feel car sick (and I don't get car sick easily), but he was weaving sideways, in and out, making his own lane between lanes... honking at pedestrians to get out of the way, almost running them over. Lily tells me that "Chinese drivers" can drive anywhere in the world, not because their license is good in other countries, but that they have such good reflexes from driving around here, that they could drive say in New York City! Whereas, us very safety conscious Canadians, child car seats and seatbelts are mandatory, we could never drive here without having a panic attack!

The pedestrian street, is named that because only pedestrians are allowed on it, thank goodness! You really have to be alert walking the streets in a city in China! On the pedestrian street, no worries about being run over. Not even mopeds allowed! (On the sidewalks elsewhere, mopeds are everywhere!). I didn't get into the shopping as much as I was more interested to see this street. It was 35 and muggy, I appreciated Lily's company, she got me around in terms of language, but I was glad to return to the hotel, to Kristen and air conditioning! Oh, did I mention I can't even try to fake my Mandarin here? They speak "Changsha dialect" (actually sounds a little Japanese to me), so I pretty much gave up on trying to practice any Chinese. When approached in their dialect, I start speaking in Cantonese, just in case they might understand Cantonese, but they just stare at me blankly... so I'm back to just saying in English now, "sorry I don't speak Chinese". Even Lily does not use her Mandarin here, she has switched over to the Changsha dialect. I do not think Changsha receives as many tourists as say Beijing. When we were at Yuelu Mountain yesterday, I didn't post this picture, but Jim (our travel companion), and Roger BECAME the tourist attraction. They being "foreigners" or as the translation goes "big nose people" ("high noses"), each with a baby in a carrier, received many curious eyes, and smiles. People would approach, cooing at the babies, and then take a picture of them! So I took a picture of the locals taking a picture of Jim and Roger!

Tomorrow will be our last day here in Changsha, a hang out day, pick up Kristen's passport and then pack to leave for Beijing Sat. morning! We are very excited as we will be joined by very good Cobourg friends Susie and son Magnus in Beijing to do some sight seeing. They had visited Susie's sister in Tokyo this past week, sounds like they've had some adventures too, and we will meet at the airport, assuming no quarantining! Sharing in our excitement, having them along, will make the trip that much more memorable. And to all our good friends and family back home who have been so very helpful and supportive, thanks for sharing in our excitement, we are very grateful!