This breakdown isn't irregular. In fact, I think most people could relate to spending most of their time fulfilling life's requirements and less time doing something new, unique, or outside their routine. The only difference, we can go a few steps outside our hotel to be in a different world.
When Sara Beth's parents visited us a month ago, they experienced both parts of our lives, the regular and the road. Except, the distilled ten to twenty-percent of our exploration and travel here got condensed, and they experienced a ten-day concentration of what we've discovered in and around Shaoxing.
Shanghai
Shanghai
We greeted Bill and Deb, SB's parents, with a welcome sign and Tsingtao beer. Mr. Bill finished the beer on the Maglev ride to Pudong. We didn't want to inundate them the first night, so we took them out for a Shanghai staple near the Pearl, xiao long bao (soup dumplings) at Din Tai Fong's.
Our train to Shaoxing left late the next day, so the Hortons and I toured Shanghai in the morning and afternoon. We visited the Bund, Yu Yuan Garden, and the Old French Concession.
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| Bill, Deb, and SB on the Bund |
Yu Yuan Garden was a pleasant surprise. SB nor I had visited the actual garden before. Unlike most Chinese monuments, Yu Yuan Garden maintains some of its original, ancient structure. More often than not an "old" structure in China will be a reproduction, only a few decades old. Not the garden, though.
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| Yu Yuan Gardens, Courtesy of Bill |
After Yu Yuan, we grabbed lunch at the Liquid Laundry in the French Concession before heading to the train station and onto Shaoxing. We paid the extra 90 yuan ($15 USD) for first-class tickets, because we figured Bill and Deb would need the restful trip before the busy days ahead.
Shaoxing
Prior to Bill and Deb's arrival, two people from SB's company visited site for an inspection. One of the people was Dennis, a friend we made prior to the road.
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| Dennis |
This was Dennis's first trip to China, and he was admittedly nervous. Sites here are infamous for their food, fun, and hospitality or lacks thereof. Thankfully, the crew (mostly Pat and Xiao Tom) disproved those expectation.
Dennis explored Shaoxing with us. We set out for East Lake, where Olivier and I visited during the Dragon Boat Festival.
However, we couldn't get cabs. The drivers were on strike!
We don't know why the drivers were picketing, but a city that usually has hundreds of taxis was down to a handful of scabs.
The day wasn't lost, however. We walked. The first stop on our walking tour was an ancient district near our hotel.
We don't know why the drivers were picketing, but a city that usually has hundreds of taxis was down to a handful of scabs.
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| Living on the Grand Canal, Courtesy of Bill |
People live on the canals and waterways around Shaoxing, in simple, old houses built in a traditional fashion. There are churches and other monuments in these neighborhoods, including one that informed us that Shaoxing was on the Grand Canal.
From one ancient district, we walked to another called Canqiao Alley, a World UNESCO site and home to my favorite Shaoxing pearl shop. We bought souvenirs and took pictures of the canals.
We grabbed street food for lunch and ate at Fu Shan Park. It was a short relief from the nearly two miles we walked to that point.
Before leaving Fu Shan Park, we walked around the Yue Palace. The stairs around the grounds did no favors for our already tired legs, but we hadn't even reached half-way of our walking day.
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| Deb, SB, and Bill at Yue Palace |
After Fu Shan Park and the Yue Palace, we walked to Luxun's residence for more street food and Icees. There's a side street at the residence that has a wide variety of street food to choose from, including the dreaded stinky tofu. We chose the more popular street foods, deep fried potato swirls, dumplings, and chicken.
Usually, I'd take a cab from Luxun's residence to the Holiday Inn, our hotel/home, but the cabbies were still on strike.
We walked the streets and canals, stopping at regular intervals to rest. One of our favorite stopping points was at a pond near a residential community. People fished nearby. An old man paddled around the pond cleaning it of garbage. It was peaceful, and for a moment, I forgot we were in the middle of a bustling city.
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| Photo Courtesy of Dennis |
When we got back to the hotel, we crashed and met up later for Happy Hour drinks. We kept it an early night, again.
The next day, we made it to East Lake. The taxi drivers were no longer on strike!
East Lake was as beautiful as I remembered. It wasn't, however, as easy to climb the bluff as I remembered.
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| The Bluff, Courtesy of Dennis |
After the walk from the day before, the climb was rough. The stairs looked steeper and less-even, the weather felt warmer, and there must have been more people. The view from the top, still as beautiful and clear. It's too bad we were exhausted to fully enjoy it.
We got ice cream after the descent, which helped lift our spirits. The walk along the canals and bridges back to the entrance/exit gate was much nicer and flatter.
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| Boat on Easy Lake Canal, Courtesy of Bill |
That afternoon, we rested. In the evening, we went to the huang jiu distillery and a bedding store to buy fabric for Deb and Dennis's Mom.
Unfortunately, SB had to work the next day, so we recovered before heading to-
Beijing
The trip was last minute and quick. Bill and Deb, figuring they'd probably never come back to China, wanted to see Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City (a.k.a. The People's Palace), and the Great Wall.
We took an early flight and made it to our hotel in Beijing by the late morning.
The first stop on our trip was Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We got turned around in our directions and ended up finding a side entrance to the Forbidden City, which would turn out to be our biggest mistake and greatest stroke of luck.
The Forbidden City is HUGE. There's so much to see, and most of what's inside is iconic, the large courtyards, long palaces, the metal lions, and the gardens in the back.
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| SB with a Mama Lion |
It's easy to walk through the Forbidden City, because the crowds are funneled in a straight line from south to north. The problem, however, is that there are no side exits. We didn't eat lunch before entering, and half-way through, I got hungry.
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| The Forbidden City a.k.a. The People's Palace |
After lunch, we wanted to see Tiananmen Square, which is directly south of the Forbidden City's entrance. When we got to the side entrance, we discovered that people weren't allowed through to Tiananmen Square! Our two options, at the time, were to walk through the Forbidden City, again, or find an alternate route.
We chose the latter and headed out the side entrance. Opposite the entrance, however, was a ticket office for what looked like a park. One sign said it was a 15 minute walk through the park to Tiananmen Square. Not wanting to blaze a new trail, we bought tickets and walked through.
Tiananmen Square feels as big as it's described. The public space is enormous and full of pomp.
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| SB in Tiananmen Square by the Forbidden City entrance |
It's an awe-inspiring place, especially when one recognizes it as the seat of China's power. I imagine it's the same as when people see the National Mall in Washington D.C. for the first time. When people say "Beijing" or "the Party" to reference Sino foreign relations or international current events, Tiananmen Square will always flash in my mind as that entity.
Daylight waned while we were taking in the square, so we headed for the exit. As we walked through the exit, we noticed the official entrance to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, the one we should've taken from the beginning. It was PACKED! The line wove around turnstiles and scansions. There was a constant flood of people queuing up, and the line looked like it was going nowhere.
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| The National Museum at Tiananmen Square |
If you visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, go through the north entrance of the Worker's Park, visit the square first, and then finish with the palace. Oh, and eat lunch beforehand.
The next morning, we met our driver for the trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. We organized the trip through our hotel's concierge, and they hooked us up with Li.
Li spoke very good English and drove us to Mutianyu in his car, which looked like an old cab repurposed for day trips. He was very chatty and had many humorous takes on Chinese culture and relationships in general.
"You, sir, are a tiger," Li said to us, "and your wife's a dragon. You're ok. Dragon girl, ok. My wife is an ox, and I'm an ox. Usually, it's ok, but it doesn't matter, because she's always the boss. Wife, always the boss!"
He's right.
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| Hortons on the Great Wall |
There are many places to see the Great Wall, but one of the best places is Mutianyu. It's outside Beijing and more difficult to reach, so it's not over-crowded. The section of wall at Mutianyu also has more guard towers, sharper peaks, and the wall snakes across mountainous terrain. It was very picturesque.
We took a cable car to the wall and climbed to a few of the towers.
Mao said that you're not a man until you've touched the Great Wall, so I was happy to finally have escaped puberty at 28 years-old.
The Great Wall was incredible, but like I mentioned with Yu Yuan Gardens, most of the wall accessible by tourists is new-ancient, reproduced. The truly ancient parts are restricted to tourists. Either way, it was still worth the trip to check off our China list.
Back to Shaoxing
We went straight to the airport after the Great Wall and back to Shaoxing. SB worked the next day, her parents' last day in China, so we enjoyed a day-in-the-life of a road spouse. Deb, even managed to go out on her own and get her nails done at a local salon.
Bill and Deb took a car back to Shanghai the next day, and the long flight back to the U.S.
SB and I really enjoyed Bill and Deb's visit. It showed us how much we've adjusted to and learned about life in Shaoxing to share with visitors like them. We've had a lot of friends also come to Shaoxing. Each visit makes this place feel like home, one we know and can share. On the flip side, her parents' visit also made us realize how much we miss the rest of our families and look forward to seeing them soon.
Halloween
Bill and Deb weren't gone long before the road pulled us back into its madness, this time in the guise of Halloween.
A group of roadies, also stationed in China, flew into Shanghai for the holiday. Amongst them were two long-time friends from our pre-road days, Alex and Mark.
Xiao Tom organized a group costume. We went as the X-Men: Mark as Professor Xavier, Alex as Wolverine, Xiao Tom as Gambit, Sara Beth as Storm, Pat as Deadpool, and I as Quicksilver.
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| Alex (Wolverine), Xiao Tom (Gambit), SB (Storm), Pat (Deadpool), Me (Quicksilver), and Mark (Professor Xavier), Photo Courtesy of Pat |
One important component of both SB's and my costume was white/silver hair dye. We couldn't find any, even in Shanghai, so SB put white acrylic paint in her hair. I opted for a less noticeable silver glitter.
Xiao Tom had Gambit's famous trench coat made by a Shanghai tailor.
Pat made his Deadpool mask from a red ski cap and pant patches.
Alex, however, won Halloween. He fashioned his Wolverine claws using cardboard scraps and duct tape in a matter of an hour or two. His costume was great!
Mark came ready with the bald head and look of professorial intelligence (we couldn't find a wheelchair).
Despite having such nice, sweded costumes, we didn't make it out. We partied in a hotel suite the guys rented and then went to a nearby bar, where we were the only ones dressed for Halloween.
It was a great weekend and one our more memorable holidays.
Despite having such nice, sweded costumes, we didn't make it out. We partied in a hotel suite the guys rented and then went to a nearby bar, where we were the only ones dressed for Halloween.
It was a great weekend and one our more memorable holidays.
The Future
It's been a tough week here at Holiday Inn Shaoxing. Fiona, the happy Happy Hour hostess, left the hotel to move with her boyfriend to Qingdao and teach young children. She was funny and patient at her work, so I think she has the gifts to be a great teacher.
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| Pat, SB, Fiona, Me, and Xiao Tom on Fiona's Last Day |
We head to Hong Kong tomorrow so SB can pick up her Chinese work permit. It'll be a longer trip than our first visit, so I hope the added time gives HK plenty of opportunity to change my negative opinion of it. We'll see.
By the time we get back, though, there's a high probability Xiao Tom won't be here. He graduated from the SB Training Regimen and is headed off on his own road career of fun and mischief. It's been a blast being here with him, and we'll miss his antics (and pranking his room).
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| SB and Pat pranking Xiao Tom's room |
Fall finally made it to Shaoxing. It's getting colder and change is happening. This assignment is reaching the twilight stages (barring any major setbacks), and we don't know what will happen after this.
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