China arrival

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Hong Kong was a hoot. The mountains were shrouded in mist, so no tram up to the top, but I had a great time on "Hollywood Street"--the antique area. I was so thankful that everyone spoke English. Decided to stop in at a restaurant that was wholly occupied with locals, and ran into the first language problem. Nothing was is English, and the wait staff was confused as to what I was saying, and I had to fill out an order form. My neighbors had a great looking hot pot, so I just gestured for them to order the same thing for me. They left shortly, and another couple sat down. As I was finishing the delicious soup, the girl leaned over to me and said, "Why are you eating here?" I told her it was because the place was full with locals, and no white people. I thought her partner was going to choke.

This was merely a foretaste of what I ran into in Shenyang. I never had a clue what I was ordering, and the wait-staff never stopped laughing in any restaurant I went into. Let me just say, when you use the "close-your-eyes-and-let-the-magic-finger-point-to-anything-on-the-menu" method, you had better be hungry. I have had plates served that could easily feed a family of 5...and that was just the appetizer. Needless to say, I have gained a few pounds.

I arrived in Shenyang a couple of days early to get over jet lag, and get some of the desert out of my clothes. As for the latter, I shouldn't have bothered. In April, the dust from the Gobi desert blows into this area of China. There were lots of people wearing surgical masks while walking on the street. But I did have a great time going to the local markets and finding 3 kinds of strawberries (each sweeter and lighter textured than I'd ever had), mounds of fresh pineapple (all sculpted in varying designs), 3 kinds of cherry tomatoes, and at least 7 different kinds of mushrooms (which unfortunately I didn't get to experiment with). This area is obviously a good farming region.

Shenyang has the original Imperial Palace of the Qing dynasty--my first taste of Imperial Chinese architecture. One certainly can't call it simple. The Forbidden City in Beijing is larger and lasted for a longer time, but this place is really impressive. I was the only white person there, and so many people just stopped dead in their tracks and stared. Not a lot of foreigners go there. I certainly had never heard of it. Surprizing that a city of 7 million can be so unknown.

My favorite moment..............I had just arrived and checked into the hotel, and needed water. So I stopped into a little shop around the corner. The door shut behind me, and as all sound stopped in the store, the owner brightened up and said "Hehrrrrrrrrrroh"--- hello with such a long sounding "R" that it sounded like he came directly from Central Casting. It was so unexpected, I burst into laughter. And he started laughing at me, and then his wife and the other customers started laughing. This lasted for what seemed like an eternity, with his never knowing why I was laughing so hard. Needless to say, I stopped in there several times a day, even when I didn't need to buy anything, just so I could hear it again, and we could all laugh again.

Having trouble uploading photos: they will get on later.

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