In his continuing quest to sample all the viruses and bacteria available in China Mark woke up today with pink eye. Fortunately, we had brought eye drops in case Allie developed it, so he is using her medicine.
Today is our last day on Shamian Island—this is the location of the White Swan Hotel. In the late 19th century when the Chinese were fighting with the French and English they confined all foreigners to this little island. They even forbid them to learn Chinese, on punishment of death. So the Europeans created a little colony for themselves here. The island is still primarily French and English colonial buildings with a couple of new, large hotels. It feels like a resort community. There isn’t much traffic and the narrow streets are great for walks with a stroller. And since so many adoptive Americans come here the stores and restaurants cater to them (us). Many of the stores offer strollers for loan. It is a nice break for us after the intensity of Nanchang. Since China is experiencing a heat wave the temperatures here have been near 80. We are really enjoying walking around in t-shirts and drinking beer at an outdoor café. (Yes, we are rubbing it in for those freezing back home.)
We have ventured off the island to explore the shopping markets. Especially interesting have been the food markets with all manner of dried and fresh veggies, legumes, noodles, fish and meat displayed on the sidewalks. Mark forgot to put the battery back in the camera yesterday so we don’t have any shots of the many kinds of live and skinned animals we saw, but he has them on videotape for viewing at home.
Today we will pack and do some more shopping this morning and then have lunch with our group. We leave at 3:00 to go to the US consulate for our official swearing-in ceremony this afternoon and to receive Allie’s visa to go to the states. Then we head straight to the airport for a flight to Beijing. Tomorrow evening we head home.
Today is our last day on Shamian Island—this is the location of the White Swan Hotel. In the late 19th century when the Chinese were fighting with the French and English they confined all foreigners to this little island. They even forbid them to learn Chinese, on punishment of death. So the Europeans created a little colony for themselves here. The island is still primarily French and English colonial buildings with a couple of new, large hotels. It feels like a resort community. There isn’t much traffic and the narrow streets are great for walks with a stroller. And since so many adoptive Americans come here the stores and restaurants cater to them (us). Many of the stores offer strollers for loan. It is a nice break for us after the intensity of Nanchang. Since China is experiencing a heat wave the temperatures here have been near 80. We are really enjoying walking around in t-shirts and drinking beer at an outdoor café. (Yes, we are rubbing it in for those freezing back home.)We have ventured off the island to explore the shopping markets. Especially interesting have been the food markets with all manner of dried and fresh veggies, legumes, noodles, fish and meat displayed on the sidewalks. Mark forgot to put the battery back in the camera yesterday so we don’t have any shots of the many kinds of live and skinned animals we saw, but he has them on videotape for viewing at home.
Today we will pack and do some more shopping this morning and then have lunch with our group. We leave at 3:00 to go to the US consulate for our official swearing-in ceremony this afternoon and to receive Allie’s visa to go to the states. Then we head straight to the airport for a flight to Beijing. Tomorrow evening we head home.
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