PICTURES:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhui_02/sets/72157606362249789/
yes... that's an octopus in my mouth.... mmmmmm
After India our next stop was China! We spent the first few days in Shanghai... recovering from our mysterious Indian stomach ailment and cooking at Steph's uncle's apartment. When we did leave the apartment, we spent most of our time wandering around the city and eating everything in sight. I think that Shanghai must have the best street food ever... Xiao Long Bao (dumplings), Sheng Jian Bao (more dumplings), and the Xinjiang style BBQ meat (see the above pix)... mmmmmmmmmm. When we weren't eating, we spent most of our time walking around the city and noticing that Shanghai has turned into a very interesting place. Having been several times over the past 10 years, I can definitely see how the city and the country is changing. There is a new shopping mall on every corner, high rises everywhere, tons of expats, and loads of non-chinese restaurants. 8 years ago when I lived in Beijing I could count the coffee shops on one hand... now there is a starbucks, illy, or costa coffee on every corner (and yes... they are American prices too). It sounds cheezy to say, but its so interesting watching a nation like China (or at least part of China) go through such a drastic economic change. My favorite scene was downtown on Nanjing Lu during a random workday when we saw a live band playing and a bunch of old couples dancing the afternoon away. One woman was particularly funny... she was soooooooo into it. Even though her husband didn't look so happy... she had this loook on her face that just said, "look at me... I'm fabulous." She kinda looked like an Chinese shirley temple... with curly bob haircut and she bounced around with a cheezy, showbiz smile tatooed on her face.
After Shanghai we went to Hangzhou and Suzhou. Hangzhou is famous for the West Lake (but not westlake soup) and the tea houses... so we spent most of our afternoon at these traditional tea houses where for $5-$10 you could get some tea and have a little buffet lunch. The tea was excellent and the vibe was really cool. Each table has a separate little booth and you just sit, relax, and drink tea all afternoon... very cool. I felt like an old chinese philosopher just sitting and drinking tea all afternoon while pondering life. The only think missing was my long wispy beard.
Suzhou is famous for the waterways (think mini Chinese Venice) and the gardens. We went to one garden called the "lingering garden" and we spent a couple of hours just lingering... even though it was like 100 degrees.
The one thing that you do notice in all Chinese cities is the Olympics and the Olympic propaganda. The entire country is mad with Olympic fever... and if you watch TV every night you would think that swimming, gymnastics, and womens volleyball are the 3 biggest olympic sports. And of course the country is in love with Yao and Yi (the other chinese NBA player) and their faces (especially Yi) are plastered all over buildings. By then end of my China stay I started thinking, "hey... that Yi guy is kinda cute". Total brainwashing...
After Suzhou we were off to Hong Kong were we spent more time.... EATING. I must have lost 5-10 pounds through heat and diarrhea in India and gained about 10-15 from fat and sugar in China. But it was mmm mmmm mmmm good.
The best part of our China trip was spending time with family. In Shanghai and Hanghzhou we spent most of our time with Steph's aunts, friend and cousin, and my cousin. In Hong Kong we were with my family the entire time. I was especially happy to see my THREE new nieces, who I nicknamed rambutan, lychee, and longan (lychee and longan are twins... but don't look the same... get it.. .almost the same but not really?).
The crazy part was that we actually had two conversations (one with Steph's aunt and one with my aunt) about the cultural revolution. Aside from meeting a holocaust survivor, I think that hearing about the cultural revolution is the most significant event a person could hear about first hand. I can't believe that we got to hear stories from two separate people... and both were just spur of the moment conversations that started as we talked about Shanghai, Hong Kong etc. What an amazing experience.
Well... like I said, I hope this post wasn't too boring. Next Stop: Thailand
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