It's been over a year since I wrote my very first blog. I'm actually amazed that I have stuck with it. My few but very loyal fans have kept me motivated with their feedback and encouragement. I am really glad I have this chronicle of the past year. Had to blog about the last couple days while it's fresh. Such good stuff. The first tidbit relates to China time. It's that phrase we who live in China hear and use but I have never before had such a classic example, so I must share. Monday, I went in search of supplies [View Full Entry]

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Emily and I spent Friday afternoon through Saturday evening on an overnight Girl Scout adventure. In all, something like 200 people participated over the course of the weekend. It was an extremely well organized event with some amazing volunteer super moms getting this major event planned and executed. I want to put my praise and gratitude out there before I describe the highs and a few lows of the weekend. I am not a big fan of real camping. I am a fan of the log cabin with wi-fi and jacuzzi tubs. Rustic on the outside, not rustic on the inside. [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009 First, let me say that today was not my first time buying tea in China. Really. That's just silly. But today was a big day for me. I went to this tea market I've been wanting to visit for many months. Not sure why it took me so long, but regardless, today was the big day. I went for a walk that landed me at this market and as I walked through it, I had no idea how or where to begin. When I say tea market, I mean a series of streets and buildings fully devoted [View Full Entry]

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Day 2 Sunday morning we woke up early. There were actual roosters crowing, and crowing, and crowing. We had a couple hours before breakfast, so we decided to go for a walk. The kids grabbed their binoculars (best purchase ever--yay me). We ran into the young girl, Hu Yan, whom we had met the day before and she came with us to find the waterfall. We followed the water and eventually came to a large waterfall. It was about a 15 minute walk mostly downhill and on our way we passed these guys that offer rides in chairs they carry on [View Full Entry]

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Part 1 of our Moganshan Mountain Adventure I have been eager to visit Moganshan, about 3 hours southwest of Shanghai, since I first read about it. I've also heard stories from other friends who have visited the area at all times of the year and came back with rave reviews. Moganshan used to be the summer retreat for foreigners and missionaries in Shanghai. We have been making our way through our "must do" list and after this trip, we have a "must do again" list. It was just fantastic. I think we all agree that it was one of our best [View Full Entry]

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On Monday morning, I took the train with Mark to Suzhou. For the record, Suzhou is pronounced "sue-jo". He was going there for work, so we said goodbye at the train station and he went to his meeting and I got in line for a taxi. I had copied the pages from our travel book to avoid carrying the whole big book, and had a tiny map of the city and the highlights for tourists. I decided to go to the furthest spot and work my way back toward the train station. Another city that claims to being the Venice of [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, was hot--as hot as it has been here since last year--and we were not really prepared to be that hot. We didn't carry water with us, we didn't have sunscreen. We just hopped on a train Saturday to seek out a new park we picked by pointing at a map and then there we were. Walking around in the blazing sun and noticing nobody else was out there with us. Chinese people tend to avoid the sun, not worship it like Westerners often do. If you go to a park on a sunny day, the open fields are empty due [View Full Entry]

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Another national holiday. Really? We have been on the go a lot this year, and it's been wonderful to see and explore. This weekend, after some debate, we decided to stay in town and do day trips. It's just a 3 day weekend with Friday, May 1 being Labor Day here in China. As with all holidays, the trains are packed and often sold out and the flights are full and expensive, so we opted for a less expensive excursion. Friday I had been wanting to visit a water town--often called the Venice of China--since we arrived last summer. We missed [View Full Entry]

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After months of resisting the pull of the fabric market, I finally went. And it was so much fun I am afraid I will become an addict. I went back today to pick up my items and managed to get out of there without buying more. Because if I buy more, then the cycle begins and I fear it might not end. Now, I'm sure, Mark fears this too. First of all, I should credit my lovely fabric market tour guide, Joanna. She invited me to come with her and her mum, Anne (I like to call her a mum not [View Full Entry]

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I often wonder if I'm just about out of stories. Just when I think I am about to go into reruns, we have a new experience, see something blog-worthy, and so for now I'm still in business. If you want to follow my other blog I'm writing for City Weekend, you can check my profile on CW and see my latest stories. Last week I wrote about the previous weekend's activities and never did make a posting on this blog...so check it out if you are interested in knowing ALL we have been up to. My profile. I spent a lot [View Full Entry]

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