Day 2

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Day 2 was a bit more low-key as we settled into the routine of the Advocacy Institute with work on debate and some more background on specific issues of sustainability concerning tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Tomorrow we will experience some of these issues first-hand with a trip to the Hakka Tulou up in the mountains (My understanding of the local geography is muddled enough that that's about the best I can do for you at this point ) Some highlights of the day, though:

Parasols are very popular here, with many women carrying them whether they need it or not, sun or shade. They're also very ornate with lots of fancy fabrics, lace, and somebody went crazy with a bedazzler on many of them. In our ongoing attempts to pass for locals, Girouard and I decided to seek out parasols. Unfortunately, the vendor we found selling them wanted 39RMB and would not negotiate at all with Chris, which is the surest way to offend his principles, so he did not get a parasol. That did not stop him from getting a feel for the parasol lifestyle with his umbrella:



In the evening, we took a stroll through the lower gardens of the Nanputuo Temple to check out the lotus. The ponds were pretty vast with all colors of lotus, fish and turtles. I saw this bird walking on the plans and fishing, and ended up following him around taking pictures, which got me some serious ridicule from Lin and Chris. The running comment now is that I'm much more interested in pictures of animals and bugs than I am people. Anyway, here's one of my shots of the bird:



Bird photography always works up a hunger, so Lin found us a little restaurant serving handmade dumplings and noodles, so we sampled yet another style of cuisine:



Finally, a shout-out to my Grandma Joyce. Before I left, she inquired about the kinds of natural disasters we might encounter. I can't honestly say I've encountered one yet, but I did find this sign in the bathroom at the noodle place to be a somber warning, even if it's a result of translation error:

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