February 26th

Got in late Tuesday two hours late. Went right to the hospital as our daughter is there. Convergence of two conditions caused high fever and things.As of today she is better and hopefully will be home on Friday. I will post final pictures and stuff in the next couple of days.

February 21st

Another new experience in China

We are in Nanjing after another great ride on the fast train. When Li Bei booked our hotel she asked if they would accept foreigners and was told yes. Apparently any hotel ranked below two stars cannot accept foreigners. The rationalization is that below two stars is sub-standard and they don't want foreigners seeing sub-standard hotels. Apparently the police spot check these hotels and if foreigners are staying there the hotels can receive a fine. When we got to the hotel to check in the clerk said that we could not stay there. After a lengthy and loud negotiation in which the clerk said that we would have to go to the police station to register the clerk took us to the police station where Li Bei registered us. Took about forty-five minutes. We are now technically residents of Nanjing for three days.

The hotel is sub-standard. Of course you should not expect much for 88 rmb which is the equivalent of about $15.00. That's right $15 for a hotel room. Tomorrow, Friday, the rate is 108 rmb which is about $18.00.

What a deal!!!

February 20th

Didn't realize that it has been six days since my last post. Nothing much happening. We are just hanging out enjoying Maxwell, going to the mall, going out to eat.

Yesterday we ate dinner in, a chicken dish. Li Bei bought a half chicken, cut up for dinner. There is truth in labeling and their is TRUTH in labeling. In the package was one wing, one,leg, one thigh, one breast, one foot, and one half of a head. Truly one half of a chicken. For our benefit she did not cook the foot or the half head. Thank you Li Bei.

Tomorrow we are heading for Nanjing, the former capital of the southern half of China. We will be there for three days. There are a number of very good museums there particularly one about the Japanese and Chinese in World War II. Looking forward to that.

Monday we are going to Shanghai to spend the night as we have to be at the airport by 9:00 am for our flight home. Where has the time gone. Looking forward to getting home but very, very sad to leave.

February 14th

Happy Valentines Day everyone.

Haven't been able to download the blog for some reason the past few days.

Under the heading of "It's a small world".

We went to Greg's Ultimate Frisbee practice on Wednesday to watch him play. Some players from Beijing, friends of Greg's teammate, were in town and also came to play. They were American. We exchanged the 'where are you froms' and to our surprise one of the girls was from Cheshire and her boyfriend was from Hartford. As I said, small world.

Weather has turned cold and rainy so we are kind of hunkering down until we go to Nanjing. Twelve days left. Time flies when you are having fun.

February 10th

The fireworks started about 6:00pm yesterday and went off continuously until after mid night. Think the best fireworks display you have ever seen on the 4th of July and multiply by any large number you can think of. If I could have gotten above the building next door  I would have had a 360 degree view of fireworks as Hangzhou celebrated the new year. Just the ones we could see from our porch were spectacular. It sounded like a war zone as fireworks were going off all over the place. I took some video just so you could hear the noise but for some reason it didn't save.

Today we participated in the tradition of making and eating jiao zi -jow za- (think ravioli) We did pork, leek, mushroom filling. Boiled them and ate them. Yummy!

February 9th

Fireworks stand around the corner.

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year making tonight new year's eve. Fireworks are a larger part of the celebration. However, municipalities do not put on fireworks displays. They are private or corporate.

Went to Pizza Hut today for lunch with Li Bei after shopping but there was a waiting list. We went to KFC instead. Pizza Hut here is a moderately upscale restaurant. The menu is very large and includes non-traditional PH items like mochas, cappuchinos, ice cream. Every time I have been by there it has been crowded.

Snowed yesterday and last night. We have about five inches on the ground and it is in the high twenties.

Random Photos

Fresh pineapple prepard at the store.

Procession of monks at the Shinyin Temple. (Hope I have the name right)

One of many Buddhas carved into the hillside. These statues are from 800 to 1000 years old!

February 8th

Went to a hibachi style restaurant a couple of nights ago. Had my first squid. Very tasty and not chewy.
It has been snowing for the past seven hours. Little tiny snow flakes. Should look very nice with a fresh coat of snow in the morning.
Made a trip to the grocery store to stock up on food prior to Chinese New Year on Sunday. The stores are getting very crowded as everyone is doing the same thing. A lot of the little shops are already closed as people are headed home to be with their families. Traveling around the country is very difficult at this time because so many people are traveling so we are hunkering down until after the new year before heading for Nanjing.
It is 2:20 am and fireworks are going off. We have been awakened by fireworks at 5:00 am a couple of times. The Chinese use fireworks to celebrate many things and not just the new year so fireworks can go off at any time, night or day.

Heading for the grocery store, 34 degrees and raining.

February 5th

The weather has turned and has been colder, cloudy, and misty. I am just finishing cold 1C, the cold that goes on for ever.

I have come to the conclusion that riding in a cab here is comparable to riding a mule into the grand canyon. Initial excitement, then fear, then making the decision to  put your faith in the cab driver/mule and enjoying the ride. The rules of the road are quite different here. Pedestrians do not have the right of way despite what the law says. You really have to experience it. One difference I have noticed - when we were in Paris a few years ago I started to notice that cars had little dents, broken headlights, etc. The result of small fender benders. Here the cars are remarkably intact despite what appears to be free for all rules of the road. We have seen or come upon only three accidents since we have been here, all very small fender benders. Gotta go, the cab is here.

January 31st

The weather has been very good for thepast two weeks or so. Relatively warm days, sun is shining, couldn't be any better.
Today we visited a Buddhist temple in Hangzhou. Saw stone carvings of various Buddhas 800 to 1000 years old.We only covered about one quarter of the temple as it is huge. Quite impressive. Pictures posted later today or tomorrow.

January 30th

This morning Li Bei and I went for a foot massage. One hour to include shoulders, back, arms, and feet, 22 yuan with coupon. The equivalent of about $3.50. I could dance all night. I would past a picture of my feet but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Jan 27 - Random Pictures

Li Bei with a broccoli like vegetable. This grocery store is Wu Mart. It is located in the basement of a four story mall.

This is called "hot pot" There is a hotplate in the middle of the table that boils liquid. On the right is the spicey, the left is well just think chicken soup. Foods are placed in each liquid to cook them. What you see is a lunch for two.

This picture is outside of the Wu Mart Mall. Scooters and bikes as far as you can see. My bike is right over there.

Duck, the whole duck, and nothing but the duck. Denice doesn't like this part of the store.

Max at school. Unheated classroom. We, Denice, Li Bei, and I (reluctantly) sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star  to them then they sang it back to us in Chinese, of course. Denice also gave them Hersey Hugs. I think Max was a little embarrassed.

This is just to show you that I made it to the top of the stairs that I was climbing. Whew! Tough work.

Denice loves Chinese food.

Forgot one thing.

If you look at the stall closely you will notice that there is no paper dispenser. You have to provide your own toilet paper in most places.

In China there are basically two types of toilets. The squatting toilet pictured above and the sitting toilet that we are all familiar with. One requires strong thighs and good aim and the other, well you all know how to use it. After two and a half weeks I have been able to get by without using the squatting toilet. Fortunately the malls and some restaurants we have frequented have the sit down type. Hopefully, due to good planning, I will not have to use the one  pictured above. Wish me luck.

Climbing stairs on the Great Wall. Just resting!

Some grab and go snacks for the traveler in a hurry.

January 23rd - Catching up

Since my last post we  have been to the Beijing and visited the Tian' anmen Square, Temple of Heaven,the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall. Also everyone but Greg is sick or at this point recovering.I am on my second cold in ten days. Denice is finally getting close to 100%, Max is not well, and Li Bei is recovering.

The Temple of Heaven is where the Emperor went to offer sacrifices and pray for good harvest. The Forbidden Palace is where the Emperor lived. You enter a gate and walk through a football field length courtyard then enter a gate and walk through a football field length courtyard then enter a gate to get into the Forbidden City. After that it is a series of long courtyards and buildings where the Emperor held sway with visiting dignitaries, changed clothes, rested, etc. At the very back of the city are the gardens with varies statues etc and around 800 year old trees and various other plants. It is a rather long walk from front to back. Worth the visit as it is a very impressive place originally dating back to about 1420.

Tian' anmen Square is just that, a big brick paved square. Some statures and two of the biggest tv screens I have ever seen. Unfortunately they do not show the NFL on them. It is also heavily policed as they don't want any demonstrations in the square. All bags are x-rayed upon entering.

The Great Wall is quite impressive. Highly commercialized with vendors actually on the wall. The part we went to was hilly requiring climbing a lot of stairs. Whew! It was interesting to be able to walk on the wall, something you have read about and never expect to see.

Over all the trip to Beijing was very enjoyable. We took the over night train to Beijing and the fast train back. We had a sleeper compartment that was very comfortable with two bunks on each side. The fast train, going about 200 miles miles per hour was set up like an airplane but with more space between seats. Very comfortable and the trip took about 7 hours, 15 hours by the slow train.

We are spending the next couple of days just hanging out while we all recover. I'll talk about food on my next post.

Li Bei goes on line and buys coupons for meals at local restaurants, sort of like groupon. The meals are predetermined and about a third of the regular price. We used a coupon last night and had another good meal. BBQ rice and ribs, beans sprouts with bamboo, dried tofu with mushrooms and..... wait for it...... PIGEON SOUP  It looked like chicken soup except that the drumsticks were very little. I tried the broth, not bad, then after awhile tried the tried the pigeon. I had to build up my courage. Guess what..... It tastes like chicken. Well sort of. The expansion of my palate continues - if only slowly, very slowly. Off to Beijing today. Hopefully the pollution will have abated somewhat.
Coooooo, Coooooo for now.

No they are not in China. This is a picture from Isenberg's on the day we left.

January 16th

We are heading for Beijing tomorrow. Taking the overnight train,a fifteen hour ride. Staying in Beijing until Monday and will take the fast train back, about an eight hour ride. We plan on seeing the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiaenamin Square, Summer? Palace, a musuem or two and whatever else we can squeeze in. Might snow on Sunday.
Had my first American meal, other than peanut butter and jelly, lastnight. I made spaghetti for Denice. She is finally starting to get better and we are going to venture out so she can get her hair cut and buy a pair of slippers.

Here are some pictures.

My birthday hat. Maxwell helped me blow out the candles.

Lunch at the cafeteria at Greg's school. Notice the coats. The cafeteria is not heated, the windows are open. Yesterday Greg closed one and a few minutes later a worker came over and opened. The interior halls in the schoolare also not heated.

Kung Fu fighting with Maxwell. A daily occurence.

January 14th - Impressions

After one week in to the journey here are some impressions- There is a consistent haze over the city on sunny or cloudy days. The news is saying that Beijing is experiencing historic pollution. We are going to Beijing on Thursday for the weekend. Just to put in into perspective on a pollution index New York city registers 19. Beijing yesterday was registering over 500. Should be and interesting experience.
The city, Hangzhou, appears to be very clean. There are many workers on the streets constantly cleaning. The stores, at least the malls are also very clean. Unlike a department store in the States where you have a hard time finding any employees the mall stores all seem to be over staffed with many workers throughout the stores. As soon as you stop to look at something there is a clerk standing next to you. The smaller stores and restaurants are not heated. 
Not much beef in the grocery stores an when you do see it it is very expensive. Pork is the meat of choice. Chickens are typically whole, with head and feet, so are the ducks by the way. Went to a vegetable market yesterday where the chickens are not only whole but alive. Can there be a fresher chicken anywhere.
The locals stare at you. Despite the fact that there is a large foreign population here they still do not see a lot of foreigners, or white faces, so they stare. Not a lot but more of along look. I always look back and smile. Some smile back but most do not.
I found a place to play poker. Might go tonight.
The food is generally very good, but different kind of. Hard to explain.
Where we live, on school property, is gated and guarded 24 hours a day. Not great security but something.
I will post some pictures tomorrow.

January 13th

This is Maxwell's angry face. I think I ate the last dumpling.

Haven't been doing much as Denice is still not feeling well. We did go to the center of Hangzhou to what is called oddly enough West Lake, a rather large lake in the center of the city. Spent about an hour and a half walking around enjoying the sights then visited with a friend, from Germany, of Greg and Li Bei's for about a half an hour.

Took our first bus ride there and took a taxi back. Typical larger city in that there is a lot of traffic and many crazy drivers. Denice remarked that we had not seen any accidents and shortly after that we saw two minor ones. I'm sure we will see more.

Heading out to the store so I will post some more pictures later.

January 10, 2013

Post-Birthday.
Not doing too much yet as we are both getting over colds and are a little bit under the weather. However, we have been out to two malls to do a little shopping etc. and eating at a couple of restaurants. Yesterday I "enjoyed" my first ever duck blood. Yes you read that right, duck blood. Just a little piece. Today I had my first quail egg. To my surprise it tasted just like a chicken egg only it was much smaller. Overall the food has been okay, just getting used to the different textures and tastes. I have also been to two grocery stores. Not quite like your local Safeway of Stop n Shop.

Today Denice and I went to school with Greg and met his students. Mary you will appreciate this - He has two classes of 25 students split in to two groups. He meets with them twice a week for a total of 14 hours of classes- that's Monday through Friday. Teacher heaven.

Heading off to bed so enough for today. I'll post again tomorrow with pictures.

We have Arrived!!!

Two hours to New York, with a stop for lunch at Eisenberg's, an iconic New York deli. A fifteen hour flight and then  a three hour drive. It was all worth it to be able to hold my grandson.