For a family that didn't even have passports, deciding to go to China was an adventure in itself. I had to learn how to get passports and luckily Mr. Norris went to the embassy and got our Visa's for us. Aiden didn't really want to go and Cody had no idea really what he was signing on for, but by day two of the trip, both were thanking me for taking them as the experience was everything outside of their wildest imagination. The long flights and mediocre food was easily outweighed by the history and sights of China. It was interesting for me personally, a person who relies heavily on reading peoples body language for most communication, to experience a culture where the body language is all coded so differently. Cody proved to not be the best travel partner and it's hard to tell what information really got into that quick moving brain of his, but Aiden has now gotten a travel bug and is looking forward to another international trip soon.
The plane trip was just as insufferable as we imagined. Aiden had the middle seat and started to pick fights before we ever left the tarmac, of which we sat on for just under an hour. We had the ornery toddler crying right behind us and the isle across from us was the loudest family I’ve ever met. They were friendly though, as the mother began to set her daughter and Aiden up together to be lifelong friends just as we all took our sleeping pills. He may be betrothed now, I don’t know... I was sleepy. Cody did surprisingly well on the plane but someone wound his clock at landing as he started asking every question giving us a glimpse of insight into just how fast his brain processes things and how much doesn’t get in there because he goes too fast. It was through immigration and at baggage claim when I almost choked him out and forced some ADHD medication down his throat. This was about 8pm now Beijing time.
Getting on the bus took a bit longer than expected as one of our kindest and brightest of our traveling group forgot the color of his suitcase. That’s what happens when you borrow luggage of a green/blackish description from your Dad. We also had to wait for some High School Students on this leg of our trip to exchange money… even though we were specifically told not to until we got to the hotel. For this we all got to grumble sanctimoniously about how they were losing $15 for not waiting like we were told.
In true tourist fashion I was given a walk-in talkie in case we’re separated from the group. Later I would wish this was tracking device on Cody. The roulette wheel of switching channels becomes comical as this device turns into a police scanner at times, which in a communist country might not translate well. We would also discover that the people we needed to have the walkie talkies, didn’t. This is a bit of foreshadowing for day 8.
What was a moment of notice was that a Chinese celebrity of some type went walking through giving autographs and pictures taken. However, it was to be noticed that people seemed to be taking pictures of us as well. Not celebrity status clicking, but trying to be sly definite “oh you were just in my picture I was taking of the trash can” kind of clicking. It was noticable but amusing, again some foreshadowing of what will come on day 3-7 when we go into some of the smaller cities.
Finally we were off to the bus, or van rather. Mind you, there’s 33 of us in this group at this point and one tiny van. There was a shared moment of panic as we all looked at the van with no seats. Turns out, this was just the luggage van. We were firmly placed in a comfortable tourist plush bus that would become a second home for the next few days. Only bummer, no WiFi or charging plugs on this particular bus, so I was left to look after my children’s electronic entertainment with the eight devices between us, and one power pack. Oh, and one book which both children read before we would leave the city on day 2.
After we checked into our hotel where they ended up confiscating our passports in trade for room keys, it was 10pm and we decided to go get dinner. We braved the fridged cold in our sweatshirts, and found a little place who had pictures of the food on their menus and lucky for us… numbered dishes with English translations. Thank goodness for The Olympics paving the way to tourism done easy. It was pretty good food, Aiden downed four giant fried dumplings and Cody tried noodles, where I had sweet and sour pork with pineapple. This would prove to be our most successful dinner in Beijing as Cody lived on toast and watermelon for the rest of his days in Beijing until I finally broke down and got him McDonalds… but more on that later.
The next morning we ate breakfast in the hotel where cereal was mislabeled oatmeal, international cheese plate included American cheese slices still in the film wrapper, and five different types of soup, salad bars, meat pancakes, steamed buns that all looked different but tasted the same, lots of veggie dishes, and bacon. The next day they threw out some spring rolls and a few pancakes with no syrup, but all food courses here seem to just be food. Their breakfast is the same as dinner items. The spread was huge, just very little breakfast foods so it’s a difficult jump start to the tour de eating that follows.
Our first full day in Beijing started with a tour of the Summer Palace where we learned all about the Powerful Lady, who ran China by telling her 8 year old son what to rule through a curtain behind his throne. He died of measles or something, and she appointed her nephew of age 6. When he got uppity at age 23 and wanted to rule, she made him build her the Summer Palace, which was beautiful and feminine and she lived there and turned out rules from there for a long while. But when the nephew tried to seize power again, she locked him in the Summer Palace as a prisoner until he was killed. Then she appointed a three year old nephew Emperor, ready to rule the same way again, but she died the next day thus ending the Dynasty’s. I found this fascinating and now understand why they called her the smart powerful lady. She had all kinds of other nicknames too, most beautiful and lovely… but our guide said she wasn’t really all that pretty, just smart. Oh, and the Eunuch’s stories… cut off their penis at a chance to live a better life… wow. One of her favorite eunuch she built a house right behind hers. They suspected he wasn’t really a eunuch and they were lovers, so later they dug up his body to check, but found he really was a eunuch. Learn that lesson men, you can gain power by showing talents in other ways.
Summer Palace was cold as anything but beautiful. The manmade lake dropped the temperature about 10 degrees and only Cody had a coat. This meant I needed to be brave and buy stuff. I started slow with hot coco, where is the first time I saw people grabbing hot dogs on a stick over my shoulder as we shivered trying to thaw our finger tips. Next, we needed a scarf. Found a shop and picked scarves for 23 and 28 yen. I had no idea what denomination in my purse was going to cover that so I freaked out and gave my card. The card machine however was out back, through an alley in another closed up tea room yard. She knocked on the window where a man ran my card. There were no numbers on the receipt however and Aiden and I swore we heard her say 200. So I might have paid $33 for two scarves instead of $8, but I’ll never know until I get home and check our statement. Regardless, the warm scarf made the palace and the rest of the trip much more bearable, so money well spent.
We saw the ivory ship but I realized the time and sent us back. Right then, the walkie sounds our name. Greg, formally known as Mr. Norris, booms with the intimidating “Trammell” over the walkie talkie. Cody is now going bonkers with taking pictures with his camera and Aiden and I suddenly share a panic stricken look. Uncle Greg lets us know they are waiting but no rush, we’re on vacation. Cool. But we start stepping quickly as to not make everyone wait… until, I saw it. This group of middle aged women wearing matching hats that looked like something from the USO, break out in what I can only describe as a Chinese flash mob to traditional music. I had to stop and take a video. I mean when in my life will I see this again! The boys however were not amused and dusted my butt. I had to run a bit to catch up… which if you have ever had the honor of seeing me run you know it’s a sight. I look like a boob pac-man. The Chinese tourists were equally as amazed to see the fat American running and didn’t know how to react, but many cameras came out to document the event. Finally I yelled to the boys to get them to stop which seemed equally horrific to all onlookers. Almost as bad as yelling at Cody the first time I lost him, in the lobby… because he was asking anyone who worked there if he could have a rock from the water garden. My voice really echoed in a big hotel lobby and all eyes were on me. I just pointed at Cody in an attempt to say… it’s him! Not me! And we again ran… boob Pac-Man style to the bus. This days theme quickly turned into our whole group constantly asking me “Where’s Cody?” because they knew the chances he ran off were very good.
Now we went into old Beijing which was a lot different from anything we experienced so far on the trip. This is where we realized we were visiting the richest most modern parts of China, and this was real world China. Roads were very narrow and houses were considered big at 200 sq feet. People were cooking in tiny closets as you walked by, and power boxes tell you how many families live in a structure, most had four but as many as eight. We were invited into one of the larger homes where she cooked lunch for us. Cabbage, pork meat lumps, and wonton chips. Easily yummy but a far cry for Cody approved nourishment, but he was still a trooper. He tried some here and there but was excited to see a KFC, which we never partook of in Beijing. The street vendors here were intense. I ended up buying three fans for $5. I wanted the chopsticks too but they practically assaulted me and I still didn’t know what in my purse equaled what in USD. This is where I learned 30 equals 5. Now, most people can do an easy divide by 6 in their head… but anyone who knows me or plays D&D with me knows I can’t math under pressure. These street vendors were my own private hell and I seemed to be a beloved target for them. We took rickshaws (on bikes not traditional run you in a wheelbarrow style) through the town and the vendors would ride along beside us selling 5 toiletry bags for $1.
We continued onto Tie Ni Men Square (three words we were taught by our guide) which was heavily armed with police. Our guide, Nancy she let us call her because we can’t pronounce her real name that means little boat, advised us not to ask questions in the square and not to express political opinions, but to wait till we’re back on the bus. Later she explained she’s never seen the famous picture of Tank Man, as it’s banned and the government would stop any image we tried to send her, as the internet is all government controlled as is 80% of the businesses and housing market. She said that one government party is good for so many people and when they opened the boarders to learn from western culture they grew too fast and many people didn’t understand a lot of things. The students’ protest she said was 300 people killed and it was a great disaster but it had to happen. The government tried to invite three students in to negotiate and they were told to get all the protesters out. But instead they brought in more. She said she had a month off school because all the buses were there making a blockade. That is until the tanks rolled in. But the students had knives and tried to fight back so that’s why the police had to kill them. She said that people who were there said it seemed like more than 300, but that’s what she was told and any discussion usually will draw attention and get you in trouble.
After that we walked over to the Forbidden City, where the emperors lived. Women were only allowed in certain houses for the pleasure and disposal of the emperor, the house of harmony. But high ranking officials lived there too and there was a special house where daughters of the Emperor would select a husband. Princesses wouldn’t stay with her husband every night, only nights she put out the red lantern, birthing the first red light district.
This was the second place, fourth time that morning we lost Cody. Aiden was faithfully glued to my side but Cody was wild to wander, and this place was huge. Greg said, let him get lost. Done and done… but it was Aiden and I that got turned around and had to be guided back via walkie talkie. Now here I will say it was still slightly funny to get lost in an enclosed place where we knew there was a solid chance of being found. Keep that in mind when we get to Shanghai.
Here we saw more rock formations which mean power and learned the number of water dragons on the roof tells how powerful the people who live there. Emperor has 11, heads of state 10, Empress 9, princess 7, unic 5, cooks 3… that’s all I remember. We saw the Powerful Lady’s home here where she birthed the Emperors only son. Dragon statues mean power, holding a ball in their hand. Stags mean long life, Turtles also mean long life. Emperor has a lot of turtles with dragon heads. Empress had dragons, herons and stags. The Powerful Lady liked her statues as there were many more here at her house just like at the Summer Palace.
Now its dinner time, and we are super jet lagged. But it’s Peking Duck night! We go to a restaurant we saw earlier where there’s a cartoon duck statue with a chef hat. Cute, but as Aiden pointed out kind of weird because he’s cooking his own kind. Cannibal duck.
We can only assume he wasn’t eating his own cooking. This was the least impressive of meals we had so far, but fun to see sprite and coke written in Chinese. As it was, this turned out to be the downhill slide of the quality of food. The tour tended to set us up with all preselected cheap dishes that had us craving cheese and Burger King, but we didn’t partake of until Thanksgiving at KFC because that just seemed funny.
Last out of this long day we went to a grocery store. We were only partially successfully here because we failed to weigh and tag our candy and bananas. But we did gather gloves which were another grateful warm purchase and Chinese Doritos, Oreos and other junk food. By the way, coke light is Coke Zero. No diet soda to be found anywhere in China. Not even in the airports.
We crashed out at 8pm, jet lagged beyond anything which seemed to be leading to our new sleeping pattern on 8-midnight, 3-6am, which is when I’m typing these narratives all on my phone. Impressive as that is I’m begging forgiveness from grammar Nazi’s, sorry Dan.
Next day seemed at bit more leisurely, as we had a longer drive to the Great Wall where we had two hours of free time. It’s now that I must mention, at 3am, I broke my toe. Not an important toe, second from the pinky… but enough to cause great discomfort and know walking the wall would be difficult. How you ask? When I woke up and went to the bathroom, the arrangement of the bathroom required a door stop for the shower, right in front of the toilet. When you use the facility and step forward to pull up your pajama pants, you kick it quite sternly. It turned a funny color and leaned to the right like it was bending its little head to whisper a secret to my middle toe. The secret was, that was a stupid place for a door stop.
It was yapping to me when we arrived to the wall, but the cold and sites took my mind off the pain just fine. When we got to the wall… more vendors!
This time Greg bought a hat, so that gave me a baseline of how much to pay. I got two hats and an additional scarf for Aiden for 70rbm. Yeah! Just call me Barter Mama! I felt good… until later I straight up forgot to barter and paid $86 for a chess set Aiden was drooling over. That’s ok, I got super secret prices on jade earrings later (yeah, sure) and managers special on a money cat and fat panda. All and all, I was getting better at bartering.
I had lots of time to barter because Aiden and I took the easy side of the Wall, and trusted Cody to stay with the group who went the hard side. He wanted better pictures of course and he promised to stay with an adult at all times. Aiden and I went two towers and decided that was enough. The grade of the walk was like walking up a steep roof and while the wall is only about 200 feet the mountain it’s on seemed much higher. We opted to sit at the bottom for a bit and let people take “sneaky pictures” of us. We’d catch them and smile, but that opened the flood gate got everyone to come take pictures with us. One darling little girl practiced her English with us to everyone’s delight including ours. But when mom shoved her at us for a picture we suddenly felt like a Barney character as the girl started crying. But with a kind gesture letting her know we wouldn’t bite, she posed like a super model. There was about eight groups of people who were brave enough to come take our pictures. This is when we decided we just had to embrace the spectacle.
Aiden and I went back to the coffee shop and waited for the rest of our group. Jessie came, I asked, did you see Cody? He said, I had him for a while but gave him to Greg. But when Greg arrived, he said he handed him off to Sandra. But where was Sandra? Everyone was looking at me like I was about to flip out, especially when we realized they had no walkie talkie. Everyone seemed to have sightings of Cody but no Cody. Greg went out on search party mode and in a few moments called to say recon was successful and to get on the bus. I had to down Codys hot coco I had gotten him as it went cold… darn. Turned out Sandra has ADD and Cody has ADHD so the two of them chatted their way right past the exit to the wall. Lucky they didn’t pass into Mongolia, but Cody had found a soul mate as Sandra spoke Cody.
We went to the Jade Factory for lunch and shopping. Totally set up for tourist but I very much appreciated the artistry of jade cutting and master paintings with jade dust. They had stuff on promotion which made haggling easier. Then we went to the Olympic Village for a short time where Sandra’s oh, what’s that shiny …. found a great store with great tea pot sets. Once again, yeah Sandra!
Tomorrow we’d fly to Shanghai, and its 3am now so time for my sleep.
Today we are on our way to Shuzou where the women set the standard for beauty. Where over 70 lbs is considered fat and the Emperors would come to choose his concubines. I’m sure I’m going to feel right at home. It was a two hour flight and a one and a half hour bus ride. No worries though, the full body pat down through security left me feeling both violated and refreshed. Never thought I’d welcome a Starbucks real breakfast sandwich so much. Needed a little home comfort food to battle this miserable cold I have contracted. It was very odd shuffling from security gate to gate only to board to get on a bus to go to another gate to get on the plane. At least they had the equivalent to a Wii Kinect at the gate to entertain Cody while we hit the Starbucks.
Well the day did not go as planned. Unfortunately Cody wanted to stay in the hotel and play electronics while Aiden and I wanted to go to the mall for shopping and lunch. Cody with his propensity for getting lost and wandering could not be trusted to leave at the hotel in a foreign country alone, and was told he had to come with us. This event has now earned Cody the name of “Emperor” because he threw a giant tantrum where the entire kingdom tried to make him happy. When he started kicking rocks into cars, I had to stay behind with him and Aiden bravely went on with the group. I gave Joy money for him and was proud he went to be bold. However I couldn’t take Cody back to our room because that would be giving him exactly what he wanted. So we came back and got his notepad and pencil so he could write apology notes and went to Starbucks. That did not go as planned as he continued his tyrannical fit there for an hour. Finally I called mercy on the poor Chinese onlookers and came back and told Cody to take a shower. I then gathered all his electronics and pens and put them in my forbidden suitcase. Tomorrow’s 4 hour bus trip with Cody is going to be a great success I’m sure as he will only have his notepad and a book he already read for entertainment.
When Aiden returned and told us how there was everything he wanted to buy but was too chicken to ask for anything, Cody finally started to realize what he’d done. Aiden also said the other kids kept saying things like “I’m a problem child but at least I’m no Cody”. Great, my kid is a new low bar of a cautionary tale. We were all feeling great at this point and a cab to the airport was looking like a good option.
I managed to scrape up some dignity, feed the Emperor some Burger King, and we set out to the night garden tour. This was a huge home where they tour you through the garden at night and actors and musicians put on skits in different areas of the garden and grand rooms. The costumes were interesting and music very twangy with nasal sounding singing but the Chinese find this sound soft and peaceful. It was an adventure in hailing cabs and keeping warm but it was a good attraction to experience. Especially since I was still licking my own wounded ego from earlier events in the day, it took a little bravery to emerge again knowing my parenting tactics were now on display for comment and judgment. No one really talked me to that night. Aiden and I didn’t eat, so ended up skipping dinner as the rest of the group had eaten at the market, so we ate snack cakes and Doritos back in the room just before bed.
The next morning everyone is much better rested. Cody handed out green tea cakes and an apology to everyone on the bus and we are back in business. Of course, I bought those for Joey… but I’ll pick up some more in Shanghi, or at least I would try. Ended up I never found them again. We headed to the Lingering Garden where we were supposed to spend 45 minutes and indeed lingered for an hour longer. While taking a bazillion pictures, this man came up and introduced himself. I noticed he was looking at us, but we are starting to get used to the stares. But he grabbed Cody and asked if he could have a picture. Not just any picture, but he set up the frame quite extensively to ensure he was getting a picturesque shot that looked friendly. He then asked if I had WeChat which is the Chinese Facebook and payment system. I do have it set up because I read that I might need it, but I explained I was unsuccessful so far in getting it to work. He grabbed my phone, connected me to his personal WiFi, added himself to my contacts and sent me the pictures he took. His English name is Clive and he’s my first Chinese wechat friend. Well, any friend on wechat as of now. Then off he went. The kids and I just looked at each other and said… so that happened.
We then hit a Shan Tang street for shopping. I’m now up to four tea sets and now officially need to buy a bag to get stuff back home. The experience was very pleasant and the kids have asked for their own money to try shopping. I am still the better barterer, which is to say they didn’t even try.
Lunch was lovely, another tourist Palace that serves large groups with the local cuisine of sweet food like their language and people. The beer at lunch was helpful as we considered turning our bus into a party bus but this idea eventually fell flat as we got more and more road weary. We settle in for the long four hour ride to Hangzhou.
The bus ride was pretty unexceptional with some of the highlights including a open air truck three flights high full of live pigs, a giant red ant on the side of a building as a 3D logo for a Chinese IKEA, and seeing the three to five story houses in the area that belong to farmers, but are being bought up by the government to make factories for rabbit hair and wool weaving and knitting. Apparently the farmers love this because family farming is out and being commercialized so they rent their farms to big companies and go do something else. Or the government buys their homes and they are allowed to buy the equivalent for half market value. They turn into real estate moguls in five years because the value of housing here is increasing so fast. The houses turn factories are all very big and usually have identical houses in a row. That’s because if a family has a son, they build him an identical house next door when he gets married. He can inherit the house, girls cannot. In the bigger cities girls are allowed to inherit but not in the farming villages. It’s interesting that there are different rules for different areas. But this is why it was so important for your one child to be a boy, so your family's wealth could continue. Even though the one child policy ended last year it’s the economics of the gender and property laws that drive the death tolls of baby girls as well. Things here in China change very quickly though. There are generation gaps that skip over 100 years at a time rather than 10, and we get mad when grandma won’t use a cell phone.
Hangzhou was rainy when we arrived so we opted for dinner at a hot pot across the street. Most of us hadn’t done a hot pot before and ordering without our tour guide Iris was interesting. We almost ordered cow aorta because Google translated it to “large insect under the School,” but Iris arrived and saved us from that fate. With a full belly and Cody still full from McDonalds from a rest stop, we repacked our bags and hung out in the room. It wasn’t a terribly restful rainy night as my body will still only accept sleep from 9pm to 1am. But the pressure in my sinuses left me agonizing for all the rest of the morning hours. I take solace that the boys slept well.
The morning walk around the beautiful West Lake was a lovely start. Even lacking the lotus blossoms it was perfect weather. Cody chased stray cats to get pictures as Aiden struggled to learn how to talk to people. There was a stage built under part of the lake for night performances but it looked like birds were standing on water before we knew it was there. Jesus birds. The other part there was pavilions where people would sing or bring out their instruments to hear the sound echo around. Some would sing and others would join together in some bizarre Jam session of the Middle Ages.
From there we went to the Linglin temple where Cody seemed to eat up the Buddhist rituals, being so careful to try to do them all right. We prayed with the incense, stepped into the temples with men left foot over the threshold first, women right. Made a wish and tossed a coin into a big pot sculpture, that you only get 3 tries to make it in… Cody got it first try, me, second… Aiden had to walk away coin in hand. We saw another sculpture where people just touched each post and pet the artwork. Cody and I followed suit and got some funny looks.
Before that however, we hiked up the stone stairs on the floating hill. There were beautiful carvings and slippery stone steps. Greg was a bit ahead of us on the way down and took a spill causing some panic for two gals watching him almost tumble off the edge of what had to be a 200 ft fall. Aiden of course laughed and Greg was calling him a sociopath for it. Thirty seconds later Aiden slips on the exact same rock, I panic and scream. He saved himself and gets up, and I yelled Karma! Instant Karma! But that was one adrenaline rush I could have lived without.
At lunch we found caramelized deep fried pineapple. So delicious we ordered a second plate as it was about the only thing worth eating on the table, and we were all so sick of rice and surprised at the lack of soy sauce. It’s probably what will hold Cody over until we eat out Kentucky Fried Chicken Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow. Now we ride another 4 hours to Nanjing, where we do a night market and Confucius temple.
When we arrived in Nanjing, it’s already dark and the night market is a buzz. We were on our own for dinner after visiting the Confucius temple, which means we got two more teapots and a juice. Many of us started discussing how we are looking forward to KFC Thanksgiving tomorrow, and what we will choose for our first meals back home. Even Mexican Food is sounding appealing. I have a deep longing for cheese at this point which is even making the american oil slices back at the first hotel on the “International Cheese Plate” sound good.
They boys are now feeling minor celebrity status as the locals love taking their picture. In one of the shops however, this woman came up and started petting Codys cheek. He’s a good sport but even in a foreign country, getting pet is just weird. Aiden also got mobbed and as soon as they see he’s willing to give a picture, they start lining up to get a selfie with the blue eyed dyed hair child. Later we asked our guide, what is with the petting of my kid? She laughed and didn’t answer. I said ok, let me ask this a different way. “What am I supposed to do when they are petting him, pet them back?” This put both our guides, Iris and Lily in hysterical belly laughing. They explained, that’s what they do to children to say they are so adorable. Adults don’t really show affection to each other. Even the idea of me hugging them seemed to be hilarious. Our hotel seems to be an hour from the buzz of the city but Nanjing is very large, but they don’t get nearly the tourist traffic as other cities so we are looked at constantly like we are martians from Neptune.
The general consensus of the morning was this hotel was not our favorite. They tend to spend a lot of money on grand lobbies, and use box springs as mattresses. “Like sleeping on a table,” as one of the high schoolers put it. This hotel had a few quirks however like open windows, no heat, fighting staff in the restaurant and huge windows that separated the bathroom toilet and sleeping area. Oddly, it was the first night I slept all the way through the night.
After breakfast we left and went to the Ling temple which was walking distance to the Nanjing city wall, or part of the ⅓ that still exists. As it turns out, despite all the construction, Nanjing is not heavily invested into because it was the capital city for the republic of China. After 1949 it’s the communist took control and ignore the city hoping people will forget the history.
For lunch we went to the Dr. Sun Yet Sen Mausoleum. Everything here was extremely symbolic down to the thickness in 392 steps and amount of platforms representing five different types of rites, which our guide Lily had to explain more because at first we thought she said five different types of rice. This was the same guide who told us to be careful of the way we were pronouncing Ni Hao, because run together it means pee. That explains some of the giggles. Lunch was on the courtyard where the favorite for Cody was more watermelon, and Aiden and I enjoyed chicken on a stick. Yes, it tasted like chicken. The chicken sandwich and hamburger however met an early grave in the trash and we all are realizing how much we miss cheese.
This area, there are not as many western tourist and wow we were popular, especially Cody. This one darling girl tapped Cody on the shoulder and said, “You are very handsome. I like you’re eyes.” Cody said thank you with his chocolate covered face from his second ice cream of the day as the girl ran back to her group of giggling friends. The pictures didn’t stop and people started tugging and groping at Cody to take pictures or just hug and pat him. I really should put Cody into a Nanjing modeling agency because he had fans here for sure.
In Shanghi we are all so much happier with the hotel. And it’s walking distance to Starbucks and of course the place we had our Thanksgiving dinner, KFC. There was a massage place too but the kids wanted to come back and try to watch a movie, and Sandra generously offered to walk them all back. The massage place had an hour wait however so we opted to get Starbucks desserts and I’d take them to the boys. When I got here however, they were nowhere to be found. Turns out they had missed the turn and gotten lost. They eventually found a police station, who directed them to get a cab. Finally they got a cab that took them the entire one block but it was the opposite entrance of the hotel so visually it was a trick. Luckily I already had a heads up that Cody was a bit shaken so I had a hot bath already going for him when he walked in. Aiden said now more than ever he’s going to stick with me. Like Gorilla glue he said.
The next morning, the boys getting lost was all they could talk about at breakfast. They were all a bit amazed I wasn’t freaking out, and I noticed that Karen, the Mom of Matthew the other boy who was lost with them was refusing to speak to Sandra anymore. Cody loved Sandra though, and was quick to explain how it wasn’t her fault. Aiden however, was insistent it was her fault as he and Matthew kept telling her they missed the turn and she refused to listen to them even after they were lost in sketchy alley ways and walking over the same bridge three times. I tried to just look at it as an adventure, and even as upset as Cody was when they were lost he was quick to forgive. We tried to laugh about it, until I found out later that morning; Shanghai translates into “taken.” Seriously, my kids were lost in a city literally named “taken.”
The day in Shanghai was one of the busiest with shopping galore and lots of walking. First we hit a museum with lots of artifacts and a cool tea room, but we only got an hour there. Then we hit the temple market and Yuyuan Garden for more shopping and ate dairy queen ice cream for lunch. When we stopped to eat our lunch people realized we were American and the pictures started again, but still not as bad as when we caused a scene at the mausoleum where they almost carried Cody away. It was when we went to the Bund and were walking with Phill that we felt the weight of being a light haired, light eyed American, but with a black man... oh the cameras were clicking. We were trying to take our own tourist pictures and people would jump in our pictures with us.
This type of thing is funny, until it’s not I guess but we all had to stir up just a bit more patience because it wasn’t stopping. After the Bund, we hit Nanjing road which was the equivalent to Rodeo Drive shopping in Hollywood. Here is where we could have gotten fake Rolex watches and knock off brand bags, but you had to go down dark alley ways to get them and it was a high risk of getting robbed. We had enough risks this trip, so we decided to skip that type of shopping and stuck to the well lit higher priced stores.
Dinner that night was at a rather non-descript restaurant in which we all were elated when we realized this was our last Chinese food dinner until we decided to order from a restaurant at home. We drank the ceremonial one bottle of beer, one bottle of sprite and one bottle of coke for the entire table that had been served at every meal. I enjoyed the lemon chicken that was the first colorful food we had seen in days but I was alone in that as everyone else was talking about Chipotle.
After dinner we all took our achy feet and headed to the circus world show. We had VIP seats and the show was fabulous in a very entertaining circ de soli style show. We were in the very center section and I felt like the performers were looking right at me every time they prompted for applause, which was well earned.
The funny thing was on the way into the show, we were approached by vendors, and we recognized one! There was an old lady making deals on panda and wolf hats, of which everyone on our bus bought some, 2 for 30rbs or $5. This same lady was in front of the show 9 hours later with the same goods for sale. She didn’t seem to recognize us however, as we all look alike.
We had to stay up late repacking out bags as we had to wake up at 4:15am the next morning to get to the airport. It was a feat indeed, even with a new suitcase to get everything inside. Our sleep schedules had only been adjusted for two days and now we were on our way back, but we were so grateful for our time in China, but really looking forward to coming home.
So long before the photo booth moment, I suppose I should point out the elephant in the room. Yes, I was the little marshmallow floating around in this bus full of hot chocolate. Not only was everyone drop dead beautiful on this bus, but I was the only white person on this adventure. It didn't bother me any however, but I could tell that everyone noticed and it wasn't until they could read that I was just fine with it that we were able to really get down and party. To be honest, I felt right at home but there was no getting around the differences between us, (especially with the current political situations). I was comfortable like me of days back in Oakland which were quite ordinary and the color of my skin was noticed but not a problem, unlike my time in Jamaica as and eight year old with cornrows... that was not so comfortable. So the party took off from there. (BTW, an eight year old white girl with cornrows was a great idea of a mother high off her heels, but incredibly offensive to everyone else and uncomfortable when my scalp got sun burnt.)
