So there was a camel by the Great Wall, and then we walked on the ocean...

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Ni hao!!

Sorry for the slight lapse in updating.. life got busy! The last time I posted was in the middle of my spring break, which was a few days into Chinese New Year/Spring Festival. Spring Festival lasts 15 days, and lots of days are important. I would elaborate on what they are but I don't remember everything exactly... so I'll just tell you what happened and there's always Wikipedia if you are interested!
On Wednesday, two of my apartmentmates and I took a fast train to our teacher's hometown, Suizhong. It's northeast of Beijing, pretty near the coast. Li Laoshi's family met us at the train station and drove us to their apartment, which at the time seemed like a 15 minute drive, but was actually just around the corner, as we later found out. I expected Suizhong to be freezing and actually a small town, like Purcellville or something, but it was neither. It was about the same temperature as Beijing, but thankfully not subarctic, and was actually fairly sizable... Wikipedia says it has a population of 630,000 (and is the home of the first Chinese citizen to go into space, apparently). That night we ate home-cooked jiaozi (dumplings) and some delicious vegetable dishes and met some family friends. Everyone we met was very nice, but it was disconcerting when every single person we met either got right in our faces and said, in Chinese, "Her skin is so white! Hmm.. Her hair is so light! Her teeth are so white!" or, huddled in groups five feet away from us, whispering to each other, "Are they foreigners (laowai)? Look how white their skin is! Look how big their eyes are!" This would be accompanied by the requisite pointing and staring. I think for some people we might have been the first foreigners they'd seen.

*** To Be Continued ***

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Photos

At a Relative's Home
We were invited to Li Laoshi's relative's house after having hot pot with all of her father's relatives, and before going to karaoke. Note the cute plastic cup holders for tea!

With Li Laoshi and her Mom
We finally got a picture with Li Laoshi and her mom! This is at night in front of ... some building.

The Streets of Suizhong
Three-wheeled vehicles are quite popular, whether of the motorbike or truck variety! Also, look how clear, blue, and pristine the skies are...

An Example of Traffic
On our way to Li Laoshi's uncle's town, we happened upon the Great Wall, and also this traffic! They have three-wheeled cars, buses, and lots of motorcycles on the road. The don't cross the double yellow line rule isn't as stringently followed.. which makes for some interesting traffic encounters... but everyone pays attention and I haven't witnessed any accidents yet!

On the Camel at the Great Wall!
The ocean is frozen! That's the Great Wall! I'm on a huge stinky camel!

We're walking on Water! [Water that is actually ice, technically]
It was so exciting-- the whole ocean was frozen! And if you look closely, you can see the Great Wall in the background.

Some More Great Wall Scenery
We decided to hike a little up the sand dunes!

The Entrance to Qianmen
Look at the dragons! Look at all of the costumed performers! And all of the red lanterns!

The Year of the Tiger!
There are variations of cute tigers everywhere! Also, SO many red lanterns!!

Crazy Lions
The guys who were lions were really athletic!

Some Spunky Ladies
These women were portraying.... something. I'm not sure what. But I liked the one in the middle!

The Lion Tamer at Work!
The four lions were after the ball that the trainer was holding. They were pretty lion-like!

The Empress?
You can't really see her, but I think the woman inside the cart thing was supposed to be maybe an empress?

More Lions and Dragons! And McDonalds, of course!
These lion guys were pretty impressive!

I wish I knew what this meant..
Some interesting- and Year of the Tiger-themed- window dressing at Espirit.

First Steps on the Great Wall!
Look how far it stretches! I cannot imagine building this.

As it Began to Snow
These mountains looked pretty tricky. The Great Wall would be the icing on the cake to convince me that invading just wasn't worth it.

Little Outpost!
This picture mostly serves as a reference for the next picture. But it's cute, kind of cozy, I guess!

View From the Outpost
So Pretty!

Roommates on the Great Wall!
Yay!

Peacock in the Old Summer Palace
I thought this was so pretty! It was the first thing I saw once we stepped over the gate.

Comments

[anonymous]

gong xi fa cai means "happy new year" :) Apparently a british man 26 years to walk the entire great wall...this is what a tour guy once told me when I last visited. and apparnelty the ball that dragon is after represents the "sun" or the "pearl of wisdom" which is representing how the lion is always pursuing wisdom.