Our group went to the Chen's Ancestral Lineage Hall today (that's a group shot). It was really hot and humid. However, tomorrow is supposed to be hotter - the high for tomorrow and Saturday is 100. We have never been in a place where the temperature and the heat index are 13 degrees apart. Bob does such a great job bargaining for good prices that our group coordinator calls him over if anyone wants to buy anything. His sense of humor does wonders! It was amazing to see all the different carvings of wood, ivory and wood. Such detail!
After the sightseeing we went pearl and jade shopping. Nobody has clued me into the fact that when Chinese sell Jade bracelts, they are meant to pretty much stay on for life. Not my cup of tea! It took a lot of time to find a bracelet we could afford and that I could actually get off of my arm again! They used a plastic bag to slip it on and soap to slip it off. At one point they had one on each arm having me look at it and Bob was quite concerned he just bought two of them - fearing that they would never come off again. They just couldn't understand the crazy Americans who want big bracelets. Our CHI guide has one on that she bought 5 years ago. Her hand was bruised fior 4 days after they put it on her. She tried taking it off a few days later and realized it is there forever.
After we had finished jade shopping, Haddie had a complete blowout. Rebecca (CHI Coordinator) found a corner of a shop that would allow us to change her. It took the two of us - 8 wipes and a complete change of clothes for her. When we were finishing up, the shop keepers lit a couple of incense sticks and placed them over where we were. We didn't blame them a bit!
This evening we went with part of our group to a seafood restaurant. It gets no fresher than this! The guys went downstairs (we had a private room upstairs) to choose our cuisine for the evening. They accomplished this by pointing to pictures they had lined up. At times the waiter would say, "That is not good for Americans! American stomachs don't like that." We ended up with a couple of beef dishes, a pork dish, and an octopus dish. When they pointed to the picture and asked what that was, the waiter replied, " You know - the seafood that has 8 legs!" They also "splurged" and ordered us alligator. That was quite interesting! Bob says it tastes like chicken! Just don't eat the skin- has a strong taste. We didn't order any other seafood but if we had - you pick out the fish you want from the very fresh variety in front of the store. We sent a couple of those picures earlier. It was a fun evening - but I (Colette) did come back to the room and ate some oatmeal!
Tomorrow is the zoo and a trip to Haddie's finding spot. Chat with you then!
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