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Published: March 16th 2012
Luoyang Street View
Tall structure in background is a police building.Our mission today is to visit Old Town Luoyang with our interpreter, Melody. But first a massage is in order. Julie finds the Massage Hospital while I sleep in (yeah!). Once we are finishing being leisurely, its off to lunch. Our interpreter takes us to a cluster of restaurants. We are wary since it looks like 'street meat' places. We explain we are worried about getting sick, so she takes us to a Muslim noodle and rice restaurant. I had a yummy beef noodle soup and a strange tasting soda called Vibrate. After lunch it was off for ice cream at McDonald's and then a trip to the post office.
The post office was actually a combination post office and bank. There were only two desks open. This place, more than most, folks pushed right in front of you while waiting in your line. Also the employee is helping at least three people at the same time. The conversation gets confusing since we don't know if she is addressing us, or the 5 other people crammed around. Hope you get the cards USA family!
Finally we cab it to Old Town. At first Old Town looks like the rest
Luoyang Street View
McDonald's...but this one only sells ice cream. of Luoyang with small shops, street vendors and hustling people. Then we turn the corner and see a giant castle structure. Our interpreter tells us its about 20 years old. It seems that around here maintenance is optional. They just tear down structures after 10-20 years and rebuild.
Once inside, we find shops with beautiful paintings, ceramics and sculptures as well as store with necessities. The streets are small like alleys and are busy with bikes and people. We investigate all of these shops, as a good tourist should. It isn't until we find an inside mall of vendors that we find jade jewelry vendors. Thanks to the haggling skills of our interpreter, we exit the mall with some treasures. We will probably never know if the jade is real, but who cares it looks nice.
Once outside, we head towards a more upscale intersection of streets with fancier stores and loud, wait I mean LOUD, music and barking of products. We the weary tourists decide that the shopping excursion is complete.
After meeting up with Julie's son (and a required baby visit), we head to a fancy neighborhood where several luxury high-rises have recently been built.
We go into a shopping mall that is just like any upscale USA mall with the youngsters congregating to strut their stuff. Dinner is served and mine is an interesting tomato-based broth with noodles and veggies.
Up next, a trip to the zoo.
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Maya
non-member comment
Fascinating. This is great! I feel like I'm there!