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Herbs on my face!
Chinese herbal face mask.. Lets see your magic! Today was extremely hot, but very productive! I woke up early, its impossible to sleep in with the drill hammer going off next door
at 7 am. My new friend Jasmine had returned from her friends wedding and her and I were to go shopping! Its so much better shopping with a native, having someone to translate makes a world of a difference. Our first stop was the local herbal shop. They had free herbal tea to drink while you looked around and waited for orders. Jasmine and i looked around at all the different herbal medicines you could buy. She showed me the ones for cleansing your liver, headaches, flu, dizziness, toothache, and get this.. Wetting the bed! They had medicine for everything. I ended up getting a bunch of liver cleanser, a few pimple masks, and some lotus flower tea. We then went to the bronze house in wushan square, and she told me about some traditional artifacts and traditional chinese customs. She was so sweet and loved telling me all the details of why chinese people act and think the way they do. Afterward we walked to the lake to a herbal restaurant where we ate delicious chinese traditional dishes
Shine cafe
Just doing some homework at shine cafe, i like to watch people pass down in dajing alley that were infused with herbs. It was so nice and refreshing, one of my favorite meals in china (out of many ^_^) !! She had to leave to catch her plane back home, so we took a few pictures and said our goodbyes. I was sad to see her go. Next i was on a mission to get my bike, it needed rescuing lol. I had locked it to a fence all the way on the other side of the lake on monday (by zhejiang campus) on monday when i got caught in a down pour. I didnt want to get drenched in the acid rain, so I decided to leave it and catch the bus home. It was already
2 pm by this point so it was hot, over 90 degrees with humidity. I put on some screen but left my umbrella. All the chinese girls always use an umbrella, rain or shine. White fair skin is considered beautiful, they never want to be tan. Being "tan" is considered ugly! They have "whitening" masks and lotion to make their skin go from "yellow" to "white". Coming from Washington i was so pasty white, i am glad to get some color.
Brass art
There was a house full of brass! This is just one picture of many I was the only girl without an umbrella yesterday! Even though it was really hot without one, the heat still feels really nice. On my way i walked for about an hour, caught a random bus for a few minutes, then got off and walked another hour. On my way i passed a local middle school getting out of class for the day. I really enjoyed watching the parents and grandparents picking their kids up from school. They were so proud, caring their kids backpacks and listening to how their day was and what pictures they drew and what they learned. They had taken over the whole block, i slowly strolled through, taking my time, "eavesdropping" i guess one would say. I couldnt stop smiling, the kids were so cute! Jumping from one white line to the next in the crosswalks, counting their hops and watching for cars, and little groups of boys practicing their kung fu on each other. It was adorable. I then saw a sad boy, sitting by himself on the corner of the block. He looked to be over weight, which is rare in china, most all the kids are very slender, and he was just staring at the ground in a sad trance. It made me so sad, was he being teased? Was he just sad because his ride wasnt there yet? I felt so compelled to go up to him and just say hi, and ask him how his day was, just like how all the other parents were asking their kids. I know in china you are supposed to mind your own business, i was told you can be scolded for intervening, i slowly walked by the kid, hoping to catch his attention. He looked up for just a moment just as i was about to pass him, and i just gave him a big smile. He was taken off guard at first, but then he just smiled back. I saw him watch me as i kept walking away. He was probably wondering why some random foreign stranger just smiled at him, haha but i hope it took his mind off of whatever was making him sad. Sometimes a simple thing like a smile can go a long way in someones day. Anyways, besides the delicious meal i had for lunch, seeing all those kids was the highlight of my day. I walked a few more blocks and saw my bike! I was glad it was still there, even if it was gone i wouldnt have cared, i am going to give it away when i leave hangzhou anyways. I do love my purple bike though, i think i might keep the bell just for the memory. So a rode around town for a bit, it was still really hot though so i made my way back home. It was so nice getting in a cold shower and relaxing after being in the heat all day. I had been fighting a headache ever since i got my bike, i think i have been slacking on drinking water lately.. I made some tea and drank as much water as i could stomach. I was hungry again so i ventured around the block until i found a restaurant that looked decent. I had some chinese salad and fried taro, it was yummy, and then i had chinese dessert from a famous dessert shop called Honeymoon Desserts. It was interesting! It was like a soupy thing with seeds that was sweet like melted ice cream with different fruit. And on the side it was a banana covered in whip cream that was wrapped up like a burrito in a yellow rice paper like thing. It was tasty! I ended the night with a headache so i went to bed early. Tomorrow i am going to play traveling tetris and make sure all my gifts i bought will fit in my bag!!
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Max Yanez
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Melbourne travel advice
Nice blog.... like your writing .