Final Day in China

The day started off with noodles for breakfast.  (I can't wait to get back to our green smoothies!)  We then moved on to an adventurous day with a guide we hired to take us to do some shopping around the city for $5 an hour.  He was the most friendly, excited, energetic Chinese we have met.  He was a kick.  We learned a lot about the Chinese culture and enjoyed our time with him.  He also insisted on carrying our items or pushing ChunMing in the stroller. 



With our guide Jordon

He started us out on the metro which took us to another part of Guangzhou city.  We wished we had tried the metro earlier in our trip because it seemed pretty user friendly, not like some I have been on in the states.

We had a tour of the real China, which was completely fascinating; walking through the back streets and getting a glimpse of daily life for the Middle Class to Poor Chinese citizens.

Besides the fact that it is quiet, here is a typical street we walked today.  Almost all of the apartment building's bottom floors are used as homes and to sell services or goods.  There was a lot of activity with buying, selling, laughing, playing, eating, sleeping, watching tv, etc.  You name it; we saw it.

As we look back at our photos taken, they don't do our day  justice, but will have to do.  One would have to breath in the sites to appreciate the complete experience.

Here is a typical apartment for someone in the "poor" category

typical middle class apartment

woman washing laundry

 Laundry hanging outside of the apartments is a common sight, even in the more expensive parts of the city.  Many do not have washing machines, but even those that do are lacking dryers. 


I wish I had a better picture of this scene.  Surrounded by apartment buildings, we ran into this courtyard. Some women were exercising together, men were playing majhong, and kids running to and fro; it was a social hub.

Our guide was great to explain what we saw and what we didn't see.  We aren't sure if it is because of the specific area we were visiting, or that our guide was super friendly, or that the people were used to seeing him bring Americans through, but in all of the staring we received more smiles and polite nods than at any other point in our visit here.




This flower is called an egg flower for obvious reasons. 
What you can't tell by the photo is that it has a nice fragrance as well.

A gentleman was selling both fresh and dried flowers, which is used to make teas and soups.  With a kind and gentle smile, he handed me a flower to keep.

All of these dried goods were flowers

We saw a lot of dried herbs, fruits, and vegetables.  They use them for many purposes.  We also saw a lot of interesting animals for sale.  Chicken feet are eaten a lot in this area.  In fact, we were told by several people that the Chinese purchase mass quantities of them from the states for cheap, "because they don't know how good they are."  hmmmm, I say let them think they have the better of us.

Pigeons and chickens

ChunMing was interested in the many turtles we saw for sale.

We have never seen black chickens before.  On the outside their feathers are white like other chickens, but when plucked, you see their black skin. 

You can't tell in this photo, but the lady that is checking out the baby chickens for sale, has two live ducks in her red plastic bag, ready to take home to eat.

ChunMing and our guide

It wasn't as hot as it has been because it rained off and on, but it was still pretty hot.  We found this ice cream freezer full of treats and took advantage. 

The sign on the cherries states that they came directly from the United States.
 We also found Red Delicious apples that said the same.

We saw a lot of fruit for sale; some of it was new to us.  The Longan fruit which they call Dragon Eyes, was everywhere.  It looks like a dried grape.  They call them Dragon Eyes because they resemble an eyeball once you break open the outer layer.  They remind me of a peeled grape. 

I wanted to get a close up of this woman working in her garden, but ChunMing was impatient at this moment.  It was a lovely scene as she was surrounded by a beautifully maintained garden, right in the middle of the city.

After walking the streets, our guide took us to an outdoor market.  It was awesome.  It seemed everywhere you looked there was a story.  I wanted to take time to capture each with my camera, but I didn't have the time or ability with our borrowed point and shoot.

Our guide was desperately trying to show me this fruit in David's hand that resembled a lemon, but I was more interested in the woman behind him.  She was carrying vegetables from a nearby garden. 

This cute girl looked to be about 10 years old.  I am not even sure what she was selling, but she had been very interested in us. Unlike most of the other people here in China, she was trying to not be obvious in her curiosity.

Most of the babies do not wear diapers here.  They believe it is bad for their skin.  This little guy was no exception.  He had been laughing moments before.

There was a 5 or so foot walkway with goods on the right and the left.
 I mostly saw vegetables, but there were also a lot of clothing and shoes.

These are typical baskets that are used to carry their goods

This woman had these four Styrofoam boxes strapped to her back.  She looked to be in her 60's.

Our guide explained that when the men are 55 and the women are 50, the government will give them money to retire.  They get around the same amount each month that they earned when they worked, so most will take advantage of the opportunity.  This opens jobs for the younger generation and provides individuals that are more knowledgeable with computers. 

Corn is grown and used a lot here in China.  We saw many corn fields and there was corn in almost every meal in some form or another.  Even Subway offers corn as an optional sandwich addition.

These ladies were selling duck eggs that were covered in mud  and or salt as a way to preserve their freshness

I felt like I was invading people's privacy by taking photos of them.  Although our guide kept reassuring me it was fine as long as we were with him, I did decide to ask a woman before snapping a shot.  She gave me an embarrassed smile, stood up and waved her arms in front of her face as to tell me not to get her in the photo.  The ladies in the above photo on the other hand, seemed to welcome a picture.

The craziest experience of the day was at the indoor market.  There were meats and body parts I didn't even know existed, let alone people ate.  It was very crowded and we had ChunMing in a stroller, so it was difficult to maneuver through the tiny walkways; therefore, I didn't get but a few photographs.  Not being a meat eater, I was mildly affected by the sights.  The floor was full of fluids and the building full of flies. I could only imagine what was on the bottom of my long skirt and all over my shoes. We were literally walking around puddles of fluids.  I did fine until the last isle when the smells, which were intensified by the heat, overcame me.  It was all I could do to hold it together until we got back outside of the building.  

They were skinning, gutting, and chopping up the animals all around us

This was the front of the building where the fruits and vegetables were sold

These chickens were opened up so you could see what you were getting on the inside. 

You can't see it in this picture, but this lady is a mess from skinning large frogs.  You tell her how many and she skins them and puts them in a bag for you right then and there.  yum. fresh!

Just before exiting the building the guide asked if we wanted to see the dog, but we passed on that.

Following this adventure, the guide took us to get some lunch.  When he told us that we would like it because it was authentic, we both felt a bit uneasy.  We were so grateful that the food ended up being fried rice and noodles.  Whew!  Lucky break. 

The employees or owners, I don't know which, stayed quite close and watched our every move the entire meal.

Our guide's energetic and dramatic personality often had ChunMing laughing.  He really liked our guide.  In fact, at one point, he shocked both David and I and pushed David aside as to hold his hand.

This gentleman was a pharmacist of sorts.  He had products that he claimed could cure many ills. 

We ran across several "academies" where the locals could gather to worship, relax, and play games.  It was lunch time and there were many groups gathered around socializing.  It felt more like an enclosed courtyard.

We visited a Buddhist Temple that was over a thousand years old.  The main building was a pagoda that was leaning.  The property was beautifully maintained and one of the caretakers told us that ChunMing would be lucky because we brought him there, and that we would be blessed.  There were many different statues of Buddha, but the most grand were in a large room where individuals were praying, so I didn't take a photo as to not disturb them.  This one above is made of white Jade. 

For the shopping part of our day, the guide, who recently closed up a store, brought us to his home to purchase goods he now sold out of his home.  We were disappointed that he took advantage of the opportunity, but satisfied with what we found.  We didn't feel that we got any good deals, but wanted to bring some gifts home, so we swallowed the bullet.  In our entire visit, we didn't come across much in the way of inexpensive though. 

It was a great way to end our trip to China.  Our experience enlightened us to the Chinese culture in a way the typical tourists spots couldn't. ChunMing did a fabulous job and seemed to enjoy the time as well. 

Since ChunMing got along so well with the guide, we asked if he wouldn't mind telling him about his name; that Momma and Baba added the American name, Elisha, to ChunMing.  He told him that he could choose to continue to be called ChunMing or use Elisha.  I wish I had a video of the exchange.  ChunMing laughed and laughed and told our guide that he liked it.  Each time he heard the name "Elisha" he would laugh.  We aren't sure what that means, but will continue to call him ChunMing until he says differently. :)

In the morning we leave for the Guangzhou airport.  We fly to Beijing and then off to Seattle.  Here we come kids!