view of central Shenzhen from hotel window (Shenzhen is just massive);
Alex and Peter over lunch; Shenzhen traffic; the perfect end to the day.
I knew it was going to be a good day when I saw the breakfast buffet at
the hotel. The Chinese are not big on breakfast, and so finding a
breakfast place outside of your hotel is near impossible in Shenzhen.
So, most travelers who are used to a breakfast of some sort head to the
hotel buffets, and our hotel did not disappoint. First off, we ate in
the executive lounge with 23rd floor panoramic views of Hong Kong and
Shenzhen. And secondly (and maybe most importantly), they had a cheese
buffet. Oh, they had blueberry pancakes, "American" breakfast cereals,
pastries of every variety, an omelet bar, fresh fruit galore, but
people... cheese. I love cheese, and I was silent for long stretches of
time filling up on cheesegloriouscheese.
After breakfast, some errand running and some relaxing, we headed down
to Bret's work to hook up with some of his Chinese counterparts for a
traditional Chinese lunch. Walking the two blocks to the restaurant was
the hottest experience of my life. Every inch of me was wet, and I've
got a lot of inches. And of course, the drink of choice is hot tea, so
I'm sure that made things better.
It's important to note that all of Bret's coworkers (we went out with
four of them in total) speak English. Now one of them speaks near
perfect (and very understandable English), as he went to school in the
UK, and the rest of them speak with varying degrees of skill. I, of
course, am impressed as my Mandarin is limited to "hi," "hi, how are
you?," and "thank you."
But, as we sat down for lunch, letting our fluent guide order for us, I
sat down next to Vicky who had the most limited English of all. I tell
you this because as the food started arriving (it's all on a large
lazy-susan, and you just pick out bite by bite with your chopsticks), I
had to ask Vicky as to the contents of each bowl.
The tofu came first, and it was the best tofu I've ever had. But, I
don't know if that's saying a lot as I really don't eat tofu. Then came
something with red peppers all over it, some kind of meat dish. When I
inquired about the dish, Vicky thought about the English translation
before saying, "It's foot of pig." I was sure I had not heard
correctly, so I waited a few minutes, let more dishes arrive before
asking again, to which the entire group concurred: foot of pig.
Now, I'm trying it all, and foot of pig is no exception. I wouldn't say
that foot of pig is going to be a Sunday night staple in the Hawkins'
home, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. I actually liked it
better than the duck and dried/pickled seaweed, but it ranked lower than
the veggies, the noodles or the fish. Everything takes so much work
though, so you end up eating a lot less, just out of sheer exhaustion.
For example, the fish. I was in a large, soupy bowl, and you had to
kind of stab it to get a piece, which isn't necessarily easy with
chopsticks. Then, you have to kind of skin it (all with chopsticks),
and then, as you eat it, you have to pull out all the tiny bones. I
call it the Chinese diet, and I think I should bring it back to the U.S.
in an official capacity.
Okay, all that to say that I had my first experience with a food I was
deeply unsure about, and in the end, I was glad I tried it as my fears
were unfounded.
After lunch, we asked Alex, the best English speaker of all, about a
local foot massage, and he took us to a massage place just around the
corner. I will let Bret blog about that experience, but let's just say
that we paid five dollars for 90 minutes, and every minute was
memorable.
After lunch, we did some shopping in the local markets. I bought a new
bag, purse thingy (5 dollars) and some really, really cute clothes for
Grace (about 7 dollars each). I'm not a big shopper, and I purposed
before coming over here that I would buy Grace a few key items from
China (porcelain from her home province, a jade bracelet, some pearls)
and a few key items for family at home (namely Grant), but that I would
limit my shopping otherwise.
But, as I started shopping yesterday, I realized that the female
shopping gene that has been latent for so long has surfaced. I'm glad
using ATMs in China is painless, and I'm glad I can buy a new suitcase
before we head home.
After an afternoon dip in the pool (which decrankified me), we headed up
to a restaurant near the train station. There are no words to describe
the cab rides in China. I actually do very well flying right by huge
buses or making right turns in front of four lanes of traffic from the
left turn lane. The only part that really gets me is when the cab
driver wants to pass somebody and uses the other side of the road (yes,
the side reserved for oncoming traffic) for his maneuvering. It's like
playing chicken with a bus, as the driver accelerates straight at the
bus, only to dive over in front of the car he was trying to pass at the
very last second. I mean: very last second. That's the only move that
stirs a response in me.
After eating at a British pub (yes, after foot of pig I was ready for
something less adventurous), we headed to the world famous Lo Wu
Commercial City. Imagine a six story mall, and every story has hundreds
of closet sized shops, each selling the exact same thing: purses, shoes,
medicines, wallets, watches, sunglasses, pearls. And every shop keeper
is out in the aisle talking to you the whole time: "you look outside,
try inside," "come in, come in; I make you deal." I have developed a
hierarchy of how I deal with this aggressive form of salesmanship:
1. If you don't talk to me at all, letting me just look in your window,
I'll most likely come in and buy something.
2. If you talk to me incessantly, I'm not coming in to your store, and
I'm not buying anything.
3. If you touch me by grabbing my arm or such, I'm not only not coming
into your store, but I might hurt you.
I don't mind if you want to talk to me, pressure me, follow me around
the mall for several floors before I finally convince you that I do not
want a Prada knockoff, but I do mind when you start grabbing at my arm
or try to push me into your store. I'm a big girl, and I can push back.
Okay, enough said (understatement). We travel today via a 12 hour train
ride to Nanchang, the capital of the Jiangxi province, home to our sweet
baby girl. While we are enjoying our many China adventures, we, of
course, are most excited for the biggest China adventure of all: Grace
MinWei.
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