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This is one entry I probably shouldn't publish but what the heck! I spent the day recovering from a night out on the town experiencing some of Wuhan's nightlife for the first time since we have been here. The place never sleeps as far as I can tell so far!
We spent the day walking along one of the main streets fairly close to where we live. I'm sure we walked several miles and the new dinner plate sized blister on my foot that I am still nursing is the proof. As we settled down to a quiet night at home, one of our new friends called us up and invited us over for a few drinks on her balcony. That is how it started. She has been here for several years now and has a pretty good grasp of the language so can carry on a conversation with most people she runs into. We hailed a cab to go to a nearby market/food street and she sat in the front seat carrying on an animated conversation with the driver. We had one place in mind but the cabby was trying to convince her to go to a better place he had in mind. We finally ended up at our original planned stop after a few U-turns in the traffic and much bantering back and forth.
This particular street market is open every night and sells a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and other types of items. We walked the length of the street and ended up at a huge outdoor BBQ area where there were many small restaurants barbequeing a ton of different dishes. It was a beautiful warm evening and we sat outside at one of many tables. Lisa did the ordering for us and then proceeded to march off to find a couple of bottles of wine. While she was gone, the waiter tried to talk to us about something but, as always, we just shrugged our shoulders and waited for our "guide" to return. She did finally come back with the wine in tow just as we were starting to getting a little worried. The stuff was God awful so we didn't drink much of it but ended up leaving it with the table next to us when we left. The brand we often buy is Grand Dynasty and it is actually pretty good. In her haste, she had picked up Dainasty. Everything was very similar except the spelling of the word...live and learn!!
And then the food arrived. A sizzling platter of ........ frog meat..... that was kept warm over a little burner, a large plate of lamb on wooden skewers and some sort of vegetable dish. The large frog head in the middle of the platter did Nancy in but Lisa removed it before I even had a chance to see it! The waiter had a good chuckle over our reaction but I dug in and enjoyed the stuff. Judging from the size of the head now hiding under the platter, and the chunks of meat, they must have been good sized beasts at one time! Never a dull moment.
We then hit a few of the local clubs. It was a throwback in time for some of the places. Go-go girls (and guys) taking turns getting onto small areas and dancing their hearts out. Some had dance floors, in many people just danced wherever there was a spot free..beside the bar, or table, etc. The disco music was pounding, a couple of million decibels and a combination of popular English dance tunes mixed with Chenglish tunes. All in all, it was a fun time and great people-watching. The clientelle was about 99% Chinese with a few foreigners thrown in for good measure. After a few bottles of wine, beer, Jack Daniels, Long Island Iced Teas, and other stuff we managed to find our way home again before dawn.
And a positive note to end on. Lisa is going to sell us her scooter as she is moving up going to try her hand with a real motorcycle. This got us talking about bikes, etc and her dream of touring China on a motorcycle...Beijing to Mongolia as she said. The seed has been planted and we are starting to think about it. With our touring experience and her grasp of the language....hmmmm. Sounds like it might be a plan for next summer and we might just be crazy enough to do it . Stay tuned for the continuing saga.
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Sideways
Amelie Liyun
Inner Mongolia
hi, j ust want to know how is travel going in Wuhan, 'cause i was living there 3 years. hope u and ur partner coming Inner Mongolia in summer. maybe try motorcycle on, actualy ll dream come true.