China Trip: In around Wuhan

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The weather is quite warm here at around 17-23 degrees but the first 5 days were rainy. We spent a lot of time eating as usual since Catherine's mom loves cooking and seems to have an unlimited amount of recipes. We visited her sister's newly built apartment. It has a very modern chic design including mult-level ceilings, spotlights and an impressive chandalier that flashes with different color LED lights.

Shopping was also top on the list of things to do and in Wuhan there seems to be an endless number of choices. There's one cellular store that's about as big as a grocery store, a mall so big it takes more than a day to see all the shops and the variety is just stunning. Back in Canada there may be a lot of stores too but they often sell very similar or the same items but here there is so many choices for anything you might want to buy.

When walking down the busy streets or through crowded stores we were constantly bombarded by in-your-face advertising. Employees often yell out prices and tell what's on sale to get your attention. Electronic type stores have particularly aggressive sales tactics. If you even glance toward a product they will start their marketing talk and try to keep your attention. Since this happens so often it's not considered rude at all to ignore them. While we were in the Carrefore store which is like a Wal-mart, we encountered 4 employees with microphones all chanting in unison trying to sell some clothes. It was so loud and annoying i practically had to run out of the area. But chinese are so used to the noise it didn't seem to bother anyone else.

One thing I noticed since last time we were here is how the city is becoming even more crowded if that is even possible. Although it takes a while to become comfortable with it, pushing your way through crowds is a necessity if you want to get anywhere and is not considered rude, you just have to do it. But its getting so bad that it's difficult to stop and actually look at stuff you might want to buy since the stores are so jammed. It's definitely not the place to be if you want privacy. On the positive side, it's a very exciting place. There is a big nightlife and in the evening the streets take on a whole new look. The glitzy lights of all the stores come on and even many office towers are decorated with fancy light shows. There are all kinds of huge, luxury restaurants with private rooms and TV's, kareoke shops, clubs, bars, internet/gaming cafe's etc.

I'm pretty wiped after a day of running around the city but we had a good time. I'll write another update soon.

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