Another Day in China

Actually a rather uneventful day today - but of course that didn't stop us from taking alot of pictures. The perils of travelling with a Suzuki, I tell ya!

We woke up early to head to the clinic for Kiyomi's medical appointment. It was a fairly cursory exam, aimed primarily at fulfilling the requirements for Immigration Canada. We're happy to report that all seems well. Given the wailing we heard from the other girls who went ahead of us, we were expecting a full out wail from the little nipper, but she mostly just looked puzzled!

We went back to the little Szechuan restaurant we discovered last week for lunch. Let me tell you, this time, we got a lot more attention. Well, ok, not "we" per sey, so much as Kiyomi. It would seem our little girl knows how to work an audience - she was making funny faces at the tables around us and at the wait staff (she and Alex will be able to put on some pretty impressive shows in the future). So much so, that when we got up to leave, we had 3 waitresses and the hostess crowd around us in order to hold Kiyomi. All I can say is that we are in such trouble. This one may just take after her uncle Brahm with that rare ability to charm the skin off a snake!

We then wandered a large shopping mall looking for some clothes for the little nipper (a performer after all needs her wardrobe and clothes/shoes here are really inexpensive), where she drew more attention. Just call us Kiyomi's sherpas - we carry the cookies. In fact, all the babies here draw a fair bit of attention. Chinese culture really seems to embrace their children, and it is not uncommon to have people come up to you on the street to coo or hold the girls. They enjoy their smiles and are always kind and gentle with the babies.

This afternoon, we actually ventured outside on our own and explored some of the streets around our hotel. Our hotel actually sits on a major road, with large government and financial buildings all along it. Other than the occassional more traditional Chinese architectural influences, it seems like any major big city anywhere. However, the streets behind the hotel are a little more what one would expect from a more typical Chinese city - small, narrow alleyways with scads of pedestrians and bikes, and the occassional car. There were homes, small shops, litlte markets, restaurants lining the small maze of alleyways, with people hurrying here and there. It looked like some of the local vendors had just set up shop in order to catch the afterwork crowd. Also, unlike in the hotel, I was the only white face around. Interestingsly, while there were a few smiles at Kiyomi, we drew less attention.

This evening, we headed out with some of the group to a local restaurant. Our guide ordered for us and we sat at one of those huge tables with the biggets lazy susan I've ever seen. Food kept spinning around, and it was an occassional challenge to keep up. However, it was all pretty good, and amazingly cheap. A full meal, plus drinks came to a grand total of about $7 Cdn each (and this was on the expensive side for a local restaurant).

By the way, Kohji tried to post a link to video on the previous post. We're not sure if it works or not. We're having trouble accessing it, but in theory, it should be accessible. If not, just ignore it. Also, we are still getting all the comments that you're posting, so keep'em coming (and for those of you who have asked Zumu and Zufu are my crazy parents!)

Tomorrow is Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I think it will be the first time that I actually see a picture of Chairman Mao since I've been here. However, before I go, a parting shot: