Tuesday, July 26, 2011

That wasn't chicken

I'll add a few comments to Carolyn's - for full info on Tuesday - read her's. The pics are here.

Re the US Consulate - no cameras or cell phones allowed - so no pics of that event. We get MeiLi's passport back today at 4:30 - so then we are fully set to return home.

We did venture out to a shopping area off the island in the afternoon. It was closed to cars and bikes - walkers only - like in Beijing. But this is hundreds of small shops (about 10x10 ft square) - and each with it's own owner there. To me every shopping experience is frantic (you get a personal salesperson in your ear telling you to buy!buy!buy! - but this one was expecially dialed up. Difficult not to buy though - as most items are only $5 before you start bargaining.

Nice that our trip started with a cruise in Shanghai and is ending with a cruise in Guangzhou. As a matter of reference, Guangzhou's traditional English name is Canton - where "Cantoneze" comes from = both the food and the dialect. I like the food better than in the north - the climate is hotter here so they cook with less oil - the food is lighter - not that we've tried that much - kind of running out of gas on experimentation - and western food is available. Not so sure about the dialect - 9 tones instead of the 4 in Mandarin. I'm sure I would be lost.

Tuesday was also the day of "Red Couch Photos" - a Holt tradition as things come to a close - so our kid group photo and large group photos are included. I love the Mongolian emporer's hat.

Shopping




Getting ready for the red couchn photos




The kids in our group




And our group - wonderful families




Before the cruise




The boat we went out on - a "wooden" dragon boat -




Downtown and the peforming arts center









The Guangzhou tower - briefly held the record for tallest in the world
























No - she's not tired.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Love that red dress! Amy