Sunday West Lake To Shanghai

It was another hot day 43 °C (109 F). we packed and then walked to the West Lake English Corner. During my 2 years in Hangzhou, going to the English Corner was something that I did almost every Sunday.  I would take the hour long bus ride to Hangzhou, walk the 2 miles to the park, talk to a wide variety of interesting people and then treat myself to lunch at McDonalds and a short shopping trip to Walmart (Chinese style).  The English corner was where I first met Penny, so it has a lot of good memories - hamburgers, french fries, real chocolate sundaes and a great friend. Usually 50-100 people would show up and they had a wide spectrum of topics to discuss - from difficult political questions all the way down to what my favorite color was. Always interesting!

Things have changed a lot. There were very few people at the park (10-15( and the questions were very bland. Frankly, I was sort of glad that they avoided asking e any embarrassing political questions and relieved that the South Seas was never mentioned. Americans are not China's favorite people right now.

Sadly, there were not many children, which were always my favorite.  After about an hour, we walked back to our hotel, cooled off and then started out journey to Shanghai. We took a taxi to the fast train station and had a disappointing lunch at a Taiwanese fast food place.  We caught the next bullet train 300+ km/hr (199 mph). In Shanghai, we rode the metro to the end of the line then got the hotel shuttle to finish up our 100 mile journey in under 6 hours. Traveling in China is never easy or efficient. 

We checked into the Shanghai Disney Toy Story Hotel. Very cute and reasonably priced!

We went to the Disneytown for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Disneytown,  right outside the park's main gate, is really a bunch of stores that let you buy Disney stuff while being relatively close to the Magic Kingdom without actually buying a ticket to go in. We found lots of "Hidden Mickeys" - can you find the one below?

Day 10 & 11 Xiasha and Hangzhou

Another day over 100°.  We took the metro to Xiasha and when we came out - we had no idea where we were due to all the new buildings in the area. We called a DiDi car to take us to our old university. I was hoping to see some of the people I knew from the Foreign Affairs Office but summer hours meant they were on vacation. We walked around campus and noticed some brand new buildings and the wonderful fact that they had added AC and Heat to the classrooms and the dorm rooms. (It was always weird teaching in a winter coat and gloves).

left over bikes -- 

I found a 10 year old poster with Nathan Stillwell's photo on it. Nathan and his wife Elizabeth were two of the foreign teachers that helped me adjust when I first came to China.  I still remember how wonderful they were - I am glad that ZUFE remembers him too. 

We took my old favorite B1 bus back to Hangzhou and shopped in the silk market and had a delicious noodle bowl for lunch. 

Dinner that night with Penny's sister and cousin at a good Chinese restaurant. when you order you don't order a meal - you order dishes.  Menus look like this:

Day 9 - Hangzhou

We bought bus tickets for an about a dollar to Hangzhou, we arrived safely and with no police involvement. Penny's friend had offered a free place for us to stay but after the gas station incident and the police visit to Penny's house we decided to go the hotel route this time.  The hotel registers you with the government which saved us from having to wait in a long line at the police station.  Again lots of security present. SWAT guy was stationed at our elevations 24/7 with a fingerprint scanner. Photo below is change of shift for some of the street security.

The hotel was located fairly close (about a mile) to the famous West Lake and a metro stop and even had a very soft mattress. The only drawback was that it was so hot - no more mountain breezes or cool streams to cool things down just a little. All 3 days were 100° or higher.  A lot of sweating on my part and it wasn't lady-like at all. We walked to the nearest massage place - I got a good focused masseuse but Penny got a lazy guy that was whining all the time. Second time I went back I got the lazy one- didn't return for a third.

That evening we finally joined up with Penny's friend and her husband for a hot pot dinner in the QianJiang New District of Hangzhou. The restaurant had AC but with 4 small fires under the individual hot pots I didn't get to dry off much - I am just glad the beer has lots of water in it.

Besides increased security, internet blocking, and travel monitoring, one of the biggest differences between Hangzhou of '06 and '08 is how modern the buildings have gotten, especially in this newer part of town.  The shapes .....

 Representing the The Sun 

The Moon

Hangzhou's QianJiang New City - "Bund Wanna Be"

We hopped into our hosts' FIRST generation -(2005) Honda Fit. You don't see many old cars in China. The most common being the VW brand - but I was surprised to see a lot of new larger Buicks, and the smaller models of Chevys and Fords. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/motoring/2014-03/26/content_17376010.htm  Car prices here are comparable but the license plate and taxes can increase the prices by 50%.  

We rode back to the older part of Hangzhou and around West Lake. A lot of roads were blocked off due to dignitaries in town. They must have been really big-wigs  because they were riding around in the Rare Chinese luxury car called the HongQi (meaning red flag)

Tomorrow is a trip down memory lane...... a visit to ZUFE, the university where I taught and where Penny attended.

Travel and Visit Day

It was time to leave Penny's family home and head to Hangzhou. Even though we couldn't communicate thru words - I really liked Penny's mom, grandma and dad. They are happy, loving, and hardworking people.  The extended family is physically close by and the emotional and material support they provide each other is very evident and enviable. 

On the way out of town we stopped at the local police station and picked up my registration papers for THAT part of Hangzhou. 

We drove through some more beautiful country and stopped for a night in FuYang at Penny's aunt apartment. We had dinner at a fancy restaurant that has single rooms for your party. The room even had its own bathroom. Enough dishes for an army which was appropriate because our hostess brought her best friends family whose son is now attending the same military university that I taught at in 2011. I provided a chance for the soldier/student to practice his English.  Interesting tidbit I learned .....He told me that most of the soldiers do not wear their uniforms off duty because if they happen upon an disturbance or problem they are required by their service to act. 
There is always lots of toasting at these kinds of dinners, I am just lucky that the beer is a lot weaker over here so I can keep up with the locals. I just have to make sure they stick to beer and not the moonshine stuff that Penny's father makes from berries. (Penny's mom, and maternal grandma drink at least 3 oz. of that strong stuff @ every meal- Penny and her sister did not inherit that talent.) 
After dinner, we had a lovely visit with Tony, one of her BFF's from high school. Tony, who works at a bank, was able to give us the new and rare 10 yuan coins that have just come out. 

Family Dinner, Frozen Vegetable Popsicles, and the Police Visit.

Last night we had a big family dinner with Penny's Mother's side of the family. She has 5 sisters and her mom is still very active. (I am thinking the moonshine stuff Penny's dad makes is keeping her so well preserved). We killed, plucked and cooked a family goose for our loud and happy meal. It was the big one on the right. And yes - I helped pluck...

A quiet early morning at the Peng house - for a short time. It was laundry day and Penny's Mom had finished the soap cycle in the outside sink and you do the rinse cycle in the creek. Don't feel sorry for them, this provides the village women with an opportunity to gossip. I decided to follow Chinese tradition and walked down to the creek with grandma in my PJs - which was sort of liberating. While visiting you rinse, beat, wring and repeat in the cool mountain stream and shade under the bridge. 

Later that morning, thankfully after showering and dressing, a police car pulls up and 4 well built policemen get out. Their manner was very brusk and they wanted to know why I had not been registered in Hangzhou . Even though this village is called PengJa and a 3 hr bus ride from Hangzhou -  this area is still considered part of Hangzhou. The police examined my passport and papers and well as Penny's ID card. They took photos and typed stuff into their phones as Penny's Mom was plying them with tea, corn and watermelon. We are pretty sure they registered for us. In hindsight, we should have taken photos with them, but we were too nervous. Twenty minutes later they left with watermelon in their hands and Penny's cell phone number. I am sure the village is buzzing with the gossip of the police visiting the house. 

We had no more incidents with the police in PengJa or the rest of China. In total, I had 4 direct interactions with the police in a two week period, not counting the times the police seemed to hang around in the same area wherever I was. It might just be preparation for Hangzhou's G20 but I don't remember being so monitored during my '06 and '08 teaching years. Things here have changed......

Afterwards, we walked to the little store in the village to get some bottled water and some cold treats. The frozen treats look like a popsicle and have a surprisingly sweet taste except for the weird lumps. They are made from beans - either green or red. I know it is hard to imagine, but I actually enjoyed eating a frozen vegetable. 

Tonight's dinner is for Penny's dad's side of the family. It won't be as big as he only had 4 sisters - most of whom live in this same village. Penny's parents were born during the time when Mao was reminding his people that it was their duty to have lots of children to make China strong.  

Penny's House

Penny PENG's village is called PengJa, which sort of let's you know how high up on the social scale they are. (Ja means home). They built the new house about 5 years ago. It is 3 stories with the oldest living downstairs. As per tradition her 95 year old paternal grandma lives in the only downstairs bedroom. She is deaf and needs a little help but is aware of her surroundings.  Penny's mom is her caregiver. The 2 daughters have not decided how they want in their bedrooms designed on the second floor so they are still cement floors and bare cement walls. The unfinished third floor is for any of their grandchildren. When totally finished it will have 6 bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Her father owns a bus company and still drives a set 45 minute route and her mom is retired. I really wouldn't call her retired, she loves to garden and they have a pig, chickens and 2 ducks (as of today). And she is a great cook

 The new kitchen has a gas stove but Penny's Mom still uses the fire fed wok to cook her many varieties of dishes.

 

You use one bowl to eat and drink from so of course the beer was the first course. She put all the courses in the middle of the table and you get your bite, eat it, the get another bite from another dish, if there are bones in the piece of meat you lay them on the table. Rice is usually the last course and you get up and go to the rice cooker and serve yourself. Very efficient and builds great immune systems. I know all this sounds strange after reading, but I have had the best food here and very little stomach problems if I stick to my rules : it's ok if it's cooked. Fruit or raw vegetables need to be peeled and water needs to be bottled or boiled. (That means no salads and No opening your mouth in the shower!  ) 

To get ready for the 2 big family gatherings, we went into a slightly larger village to visit the farmers market and get some chickens and fish - the population here has definitely not seen many foreigners. It reminded me of Cuba with dogs running around, gutting occurring on the floor, and the freshest looking vegetables that would even encourage me to eat them.  The town had been spruced up for the G20 even though the foreigners are very unlikely to drive thru this remote but beautiful area. Roads were newly paved and store front signs were all new and coordinated. Blue skies and a natural spring is located in this area.

Naps after lunch  - what a nice tradition! 

Day 3 - Moving Day

Penny's father and cousin drove down to help load up penny's apartment  - into her cousins small new car - of course it didn't fit. Several boxes were mailed. Penny and I shared the back seat with the turtle tank, a small suitcase, our backpacks, purses  and the cat in a steam iron box. (Chinese knockoff version of a Cat Carrier?)

It was only a 2-3 hr drive that ended up being a  5 hr drive with lunch, a rest stop and a memorable gas stop.  Lunch was at one of those restaurants that was bridged over the interstate. For 20 yuan (3 dollars) you got the normal staple of watermelon, rice and the watery soup as well as your pick of 2 meat dishes and 3 vegetable dishes. It was ok cafeteria food. The reason I mentioned the restaurant was over the interstate was - we exited down the wrong side and of course couldn't find our car. 20 minutes later we are back on the road again.

Close to our final destination we stop for gas. There are not gas stations on every corner there are usually one or two per city and all government owned and price controlled. The attendants are women and they pump your gas. I made the mistake of maneuvering myself out of the back seat and all of a sudden Penny is frantically telling me to get back into the car. They make us pull away from the pump. We wait and then are directed to another pump, more talking and we were moved away again but told to wait. Penny told me to get my registration papers out. Police came and he looked at my passport and visa and Kunshan registration papers. I don't think he understood anything on the paper or visa but I kept smiling and he finally said 'ok ok'.  We got gas but with a lot more yelling. Worse case scenario is that we would have had to go to the local police station and register me in their town so we could buy gas. This was most likely related to the fact that G20 is coming to nearby Hangzhou in September. Lesson learned ? - don't travel with an American looking foreigner in the car.

Day 2

In the U.S. we are giving up cursive writing in the school but here the people are being encouraged to embrace their unique national language. One way is to take classes in Chinese character calligraphy. Penny was raised in a small town so did not have the opportunity to learn it as a child so she decided to take a class offered in Kunshan. I joined her last night for her last class. It is very rigid in technique but very artistic in the product. You sit using the exact same keyboard typing position I spent years nagging little six graders about. I could do that part. I could even hold the brush correctly but I sucked at mastering the brush strokes. To me it seemed almost mathematical with the art part blooming way after mastery. 

I spent 3 years in China and never tried "milk tea" it just sounded gross and had a grayish color and had weird slimy black balls floating around you sucked up through your fat straw. Last month, when I took Zac, Katrina and the girls out for supper at Pho #1, they asked for bubble tea and were so excited when they had it. I finally got the guts to try it. Pretty darn good except it pissed me off that I was too stupid to try it earlier. In China they were usually sold from really small stalls in thin plastic cups with plastic seals and big fat straws. Last night we went to a really fancy Milk tea bar - "Gong Cha"  sort of like a Milk Tea Starbucks with cushy chairs and wifi. Really delicious and I got a strange pleasure out of chewing the gummy tapioca balls. 

Tomorrow we finish packing up Penny's apartment and going to her parents house in a town outside of Hangzhou. 

One More Time

NOTE：No photos as of today - I took them - but Blogger, as well as Google, Facebook, and probably a bunch of other stuff is blocked in China. Using one of the Duke University computers I have been able to get the text loaded up --- but haven't figured out how to do the photos. I will put them in as soon as I get home.

Tuesday night has now turned into a giant blur, but I will document as much as I remember. Monday was a Long, long day. After a 6 hr layover in Detroit ( in the nice Delta Sky Lounge) I hopped onto my 14 hr flight into Shanghai. Immigration lines were not too long but it was a challenge finding Penny in the sea of hundreds of other dark haired people. The diversity in the U.S. makes locating a person in a crowd so much easier. We used DiDi ( pronounced deedee ) which is the Chinese knockoff version of Uber to get to Penny's apartment which is about 90 minutes from the Pudong airport. He was a great driver (fast but stayed in the lines) except the car quit in the middle of a busy intersection. A lot of honking and a little pushing was involved. My reward for traveling that far was a trip to a nearby foot massage place.

Today we spent registering and acclimating me to Kunshan. For breakfast, we walked about a mile to a little apartment complex with a shopping village. It was actually about a block "as the crow flies" but everything here is gated with limited access. You never get to take short cuts. Security guards at each gate - that profession must have a lot of job security here in China. I made Penny take me to Duke Kunshan University by bus so I could learn how to get back by myself in the afternoon. (Bus 22 - get off one stop after the Party School - not that kind of party - the government party).

We toured her office area and part of the small and very modern campus (lots of Gold certified LEEDS buildings). Each building had key card access and of course a security guard. Next chore was going to the local police station to register. Since I am not with a tour group I am SUPPOSE to register in every new city I go to.

After lunch at the schools cafeteria - garlic shoots with duck and a noodle bowl - I left Penny and walked to the bus stop for my first Kunshan solo ride. After successfully finding my way back to our breakfast street food area, I went to the local supermarket and tried to find all my favorite snack foods, I found a couple of my favorites, milk peanuts and the tiny pineapple jello cups. They are so small you just slurp them down. Yummy!

Back to Penny's 16th floor apartment to cool off in my underwear and take just a short nap - oops 4 hrs later I woke up from a hard sleep - hopefully it won't screw up my time change adjustments.
Boy working on this blog is sort of like trying to walk to the 2 block away store and it takes 40 minutes and a more than a mile of sweaty walking. No short cut - it has taken me more than an hour to copy and paste just the text from my ipad to Penny's Duke Windows computer and I know a lot of tricks .....Part of the problem is that the keyboard will randomly start translating my English into Chinese characters. I haven't figured out how to get the photos transferred yet. Looks like this might be the last one until l get home -- no more VPN after Friday - not sure if the providence of Zhejiang (where we are going next)  is as tough with their internet filtering.

US National Park Tour

Finally - we are doing some traveling in the US. Almost the same time zone, flights less than 7 hours, no language problems, no pictures of strange famous people on the money and no mind boggling exchange rates to figure out. Have you ever noticed that it is so much easier to spend money from other countries. Is it real? 'Their' money is usually very colorful, sort of like a cartoon or monopoly money.

I'm a visual person (hence I favor Apple/Mac OS) and love maps - behold our trip map.  Please note we start in Bozeman and don't get to go to Glacier National Park or Great Falls. For you 'list' people (Windows.....) below is our itinerary.

Itinerary
Day 1 - flights to Bozeman Montana
We planned on having a late lunch at John Bozeman's Bistro which was recommended by Bob G and his brothers who used to fish in this area before then the Yellowstone Park big 1988 fires.
We had no problems with flights or luggage - we flew United Airlines  a rarity for us living in the land of the Delta/Atlanta hub. Delta definitely wins when comparing seats, service and bathrooms, but United won with their waffle cookie. Tracy, our Vantage guide, was waiting patiently at the beautiful and very quiet and civilized Bozeman Airport with our room keys and instructions for the day.

The Hilton room is wonderful and so much better than last nights tiled floor Red Roof Inn. We caught the local free Streamline bus into the town and had a wonderful lunch at John Bozeman's Bistro followed with a lot of needed walking and unnecessary (but we still did it) shopping.  

Day 2 & 3- Yellowstone- Wyoming
Mammoth Hot Springs, the Brink of the Falls where the river plunges 300 feet into Yellowstone Canyon, and Dragon Mouth Springs. Firehole Canyon, Fountain Paint Pots, and Middle Geyser Basin. The highlight, of course, is Old Faithful.

Wow Again - I said the same thing for the man-made Taj Mahal. Now it is oft repeated for many nature-made wonders. (And thankfully preserved by the NPS) It was a spectacular day with lots of sights and good weather. Left Bozeman at 8 and started the drive across the Wyoming border to Yellowstone. Most of time was spent on the bus but we had many photo-ops and bathroom stops. Mammoth Hot Springs gave us some needed movement and exercise.

Day 3 

We supposedly we're going on a short bus ride to see the rest of the sites in the area around old faithful. We got caught in Yellowstone's version of a hurricane evacuation-like traffic jam caused by a bison herd in the road - not weather.

After a hour or more delay we finally got to the Fountain Paint Pot area. Lots of colors and contrast with the stormy weather that was in our future. 

At the Old Faithful Lodge, we had a yummy Bison burger and a huckleberry Sunday for desert, then a very wet and chilly walk back to our Snow Lodge room. Marcia is braving the cold and rain to see the 2:45 Old Faithful eruption, the rest of us are drying our pants.

We finished our afternoon with a guided tour of Old Faithful Lodge. The speaker was so informative and had a great 'teaching' voice. One of the neat antidotes was about the bent wood that was harvested for the lodge. The tree lived thru some a stress that caused the bent deformity. 

We topped off the afternoon with another Old Faithful eruption! Cocktail time!

Day 4 - Jackson Hole, Wyoming
 Lewis Canyon, Grand Teton National Park,  Mt. Moran Lookout and Jenny Lake Loop.

Left early in the morning for our bus ride to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Of course we made a couple of stops on the way. First one, in the rain, was West Thumb Geyser Basin. 

Showing our colors !

This spot was on the edge of the lake where Indians used to fish and then hang their catch into the hot hole to cook it. First fast food ? 

Lunch at the famous Jackson Lodge with one of our first rain free views of the Grand Tetons.

After a few more stops we arrived into Jackson Hole around 4. We threw our bags into the room and jumped onto their free bus into town. We took the obligatory photo in front of the arches made out of elk horns. ( The Boy Scouts were having their annual sale of horns that weekend in which they made $20,000 last year - wish we could have caught that event.) 

We had a great dinner at a restaurant that Margie's son recommend -Bubbas Bar-B-Q. Delicious but very messy ribs. Bubba's was a hangout for the locals - very interesting for people watching - lots of fringe.

Day 5 and; 6- Salt Lake City, Utah
Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Temple Square 

Salt Lake City is not really a national park, but we learned a lot about the Morman faith, heard the choir and made the use of their Family Search Center. My favorite part was seeing Ally's (my current convention center boss)  Salt Palace CC where she worked as their manager and eating a meal with Steve, her very handsome and interesting son. He provided us with lots of answers to our Mormon questions that we were too embarrassed to ask the missionary Mormon girls.  It was interesting to hear about Steve, being non - Mormon, living in a Mormon community. Salt Lake has some strange alcohol regulations - like you can't have another drink brought to your table until you finish your current drink. 

Day 7 Moab Utah

Red Rock country

It was a purple day today in front of Balanced rock. 

Surprising bits of color in such a desert environment. 

Kate Galland, Paula's sister-in-law, joined our group in her RV Cat Carrier. She messed up most of our group photos because she didn't follow Paula's color coordinating mandate but it was great having her with us for a few days. 


Day 8 -Monument Valley, Arizona
Arches National Park -  Balanced Rock and Parade of Elephants Arch.  Monument Valley

Started out the day with a visit to an Indian Hogan. It was beautiful as well as very functional in this climate of extremes. Only wasteful thing was that when someone died they used the whole structure as the coffin. 

Day 9 and 10 -Grand Canyon, Arizona

A flight over the Grand Canyon was one of the highlights today. The rest of our highlights included  walking the rim and listening to a NPS ranger geology lecture overlooking the rim. I took way too many photos - it was because my brain kept telling me I could capture it in a photo but Mother Nature proved again and again that it was impossible.

We topped off the evening with another beautiful sunset and then a very leisurely dinner in El Tovar.

Day 11 and 12 Bryce Canyon, Utah
Rainbow Point, Fairyland, and Natural Bridge in Bryce Canyon National Park

Early start to the day - breakfast at the Grand Canyon was impossible to get this morning. The line was too long, but which was no big sacrifice  because it was a duplicate of yesterday's very lukewarm "school cafeteria-like" fare. 

First stop was Glen Canyon Dam and then a very bland no-frill lunch at a beautiful park restaurant whose appearance gave the impression that the food would have a lot of frills. I have to confess the desert made up for the lack of flavor of the meal.

This "salt and pepper shaker" stop gave us a preview of what Bryce national Park would provide us in scenery.  The hills and high altitude of almost 9000 ft gave this "sea level / flat lander a huffing hard time but I doubt I have ever slept as well as the two nights in their rustic lodge. The rich colors of the hills changed hourly with the sun and the shapes the wind and rain had produced over the centuries were very unique. 

Our group photo of the day and if you haven't figured it out - we sort of color coordinated our days - royal blue, purple, red and pink.

My favorite photo of the canyon 

Breakfast was good in the lodge but dinner was impossible to get in without a long wait so both times we went to the local pizza joint. The last night we had extras with us - Kate and her friend Cindy, Bart our group daredevil and "photo stager" as well as our great bus driver Ryan. We were later told that our teacher voices carried quite a distance in the quiet park. Oops - It might have been the beer and wine. 

 

One last cold and very early sunrise photo before our bus pulled out for our last national park. 

Day 13-15 Zion Canyon and Las Vegas, Nevada

Left Bryce Canyon and headed towards Las Vegas by way of Zion National Park. They are noted for their "checkerboard mountains" and mountain goats. We saw both.

Thankfully, it was finally getting warm.We took a one last high altitude/hilly walk to a sets of falls and "emerald pools" which some of us made and a few others quit a short distance from the destination.  We had lunch in the park's lodge and arrived in hot ( as in temperature) Las Vegas by 4 ish. We had a group farewell dinner then off to our first show.

Our last day in Las Vegas, we had a leisurely start - breakfast buffet, then lots of walking up and down the strip. Our iWatches clocked us doing anywhere between 7 to 9 miles depending on whose you looked at.  (I preferred mine - it said 9 miles) 

We showered, dressed and took taxis to our last show - Terry Fator, the guy that won Americas got Talent in 2007. Hilarious!! Next day we left early for the airport and had a nice brunch in the airport. 

TSA got us thru quickly. After a couple of bumpy but on time flights, we arrived home at 1:30 am.

This Vantage trip was physically challenging because of the high altitude and hills - hard to pack for because of the extreme weather differences - a pain in the butt because of the packing and repacking due to the different locations - frustrating because of lack of cell service or reliable internet - BUT so worth it because of the NPS scenery.  Many kudos to Tracy, our Vantage guide, with her bus seat rotation chart, leftside/rightside debarking, and her commentary which made the trip efficient, informative and pleasant.