Tea Field Hike ....Part 2

So after my first hike that was painful and hard, I decide to do it again....with the family. Let me note it was no easier the second time, however there is a great sense of accomplishment when you have finished the 4 hours. I believe it's the mental high that makes it worth it...oh and the views! lol. As we hit the base of the mountain, and started through the village, a friendly voice called to us to come and have lunch.

We sat on the balcony of a family home set with a few tables. As our Chinese is not the greatest we struggle with the language so trying to order food is a treat sometimes. The woman brought out a fresh dead chicken and showed us 3 different kinds of veggies and we agreed to what ever she said! lol. Not sure of the meal we would end up with....turns out it was FANTASTIC! and soooo fresh!

As we were descending down the mountain to the village we counted 947 stairs....and none of the stairs are the same height. That's gotta be good for the ass...right???. I was thinking we should make it a weekly hike,but as I am climbing the mountain I think.....NOT. There is something about the climb after your finished that makes you want to go back for more! We'll see :)

Lunch was so fresh and delicious!

Lunch at the Tea House at the base of the mountain

The Chicken soup at the tea house! Very fresh!
after awhile you get used to the head being there!

The lady that owned the tea house



We counted 947 stairs!



Cool lizard  on our hike

Part of the trail in the tea fields

Soon I will be able to tell what this says! lol

Incense that lines the trail that leads to the temple.

                                      

MOON CAKES

We had the pleasure....... if that's what you want to call it, to try Moon Cakes. I don't think I will ever eat one again. My brother Wes tried a "cookie" that Deane brought home from one of his trips, and Wes referred to it as tasting like ass. How he knows what ass taste like.....well that's a whole other blog, I'm not willing to write. Moon cakes are comparable......they taste like ass! I think???? I don't know for sure! lol The legend behind the Moon Cakes is very interesting however.....here is what I found.

 The most famous legend surrounding the Moon festival concerns its possible role in Chinese history. Overrun by the Mongols in the thirteenth century, the Chinese threw off their oppressors in 1368 AD. It is said that mooncakes - which the Mongols did not eat - were the perfect vehicle for hiding and passing along plans for the rebellion. Families were instructed not to eat the mooncakes until the day of the moon festival, which is when the rebellion took place. (In another version plans were passed along in mooncakes over several years of Mid-Autumn festivals, but the basic idea is the same).

How to Celebrate the Moon Festival

Today, Chinese people celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival with dances, feasting and moon gazing. Not to mention mooncakes. While baked goods are a common feature at most Chinese celebrations, mooncakes are inextricably linked with the Moon festival. One type of traditional mooncake is filled with lotus seed paste (see side photo). Roughly the size of a human palm, these mooncakes are quite filling, meant to be cut diagonally in quarters and passed around. This explains their rather steep price (around $5.00 in Canada). A word of caution: the salty yolk in the middle, representing the full moon, is an acquired taste.

More elaborate versions of mooncakes contain four egg yolks (representing the four phases of the moon). Besides lotus seed paste, other traditional fillings include red bean paste and black bean paste. Unfortunately for dieters, mooncakes are rather high in calories.

Crazy Hangzhou Traffic

Let me start by saying very respectfully.....the Chinese can kiss my ASS! Deane finally passed on the 3rd attempt. I however failed the second time and am really not sure I want to try a 3rd time. I have enough road rage walking.....let alone behind the wheel. I am learning curse words in Chinese so I can tell people off! lol. These people are some of the worst drivers I have ever seen! There are NO rules on the roads here!

Back on the East Coast if you are even remotely close to the curb,traffic will stop in all directions to let you cross. Here they will run you over!  It doesn't matter if it's an 80 yr old women they honk and they will keep driving at you until you jump out of the way. I'm not sure I understand why drivers are so ramie, they aren't peddling the car!!!

Children do not wear seat belts! Children ride on the front of these scooters...weaving in and out of traffic. Not one person wears a helmet! I have though about getting myself an e bike, however I am a little nervous and I would be the geeky "round eyes" ( that's what they call us)  sport'n a helmet.

Chinese Medicine

So next Wednesday I am off to see a local Doctor that practices Chinese medicine. I am pretty excited as I was told he is fantastic.....and I have alot of aliments so let's see how good he is! lol

My Chinese tutor arrived one day with these bruises all down her neck on both sides and down her back. She explained to me that she was feeling very sick on the weekend with a fever and chills, I am assuming she had the flu. So she was talking to her friend who said she would come over and give her some treatment that would make her feel better. I don't understand why anyone would opt for this kind of treatment!!! She said she was crying while they did it because it was so painful. However she did say the next day she felt better.... Really who puts themselves through this over the flu???? She said they use their index and middle finger knuckles to pinch. This draws all the toxic blood to the surface. She said if you are healthy when they do that it will not leave any bruises.

I have tried to research this but I am unable to come up with much, other than  "cupping" which is similar to this pinching only they use jars and suction them  on your body. Either way I think I will stay in bed and sleep it off the next time I come down with the flu! 

Mountain Hike Photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=deaneamynash&target=ALBUM&id=5530429412879550609&authkey=Gv1sRgCK2f_u6b_sLMPw&feat=email

Mountain Hike

As I type this I am unable to feel the lower half of my body. Like the moron that I am I thought last week it would be fun to join some of the other expat wives and go on a hike.....should have thought that one through a little longer! lol. 4 hours.....ya you heard me! The picture above is what we did for 2 solid hrs as we climbed the mountain, now I know my sister-in -law Gail is reading this saying WHAAAA ya big baby! She just returned home from climbing Mount Everest. I figured it would be no sweat I have been working out at the gym, 5days a week...and lifting weights! My body was sooooo not prepared for this. I was sure I was going to throw up or have a heart attack , some of these women do this 3 times a week....WHAT-EV-ERRR! I'm beginning to think this is China through MY eyes...lol. When I finally made it to the top and pushed my body WAY out of it's comfort zone, It was all worth the climb. Upon arriving at the top all you could see for miles were the tea fields, and a Temple. They sell water and drinks at the Temple.... I would like to know who the hell carries all that up there? If it was me I would have a chopper fly the stuff in.

Now I've heard the foot messages are amazing here! I am so going to have to get me one of those.....soon. They cost about $11.00 for 90 mins, and $17.00 for a leg & foot message. I have been told they can be a little painful when you start, but quickly become addictive. Speaking of pain, that will lead me to my next post.....The affects of Chinese medicine.

Safe Sex

We had to know if it was stocked!

Cost: 16 cents!

Safe Sex

Condom Vending Machine

China Fireworks Expo 2010

Here is a few seconds of the fireworks we watched Saturday night from our balcony. These were continuous for almost an hour! October 16th was the International Fireworks Expo.
Fireworks happen here at all times of the day and night. I don't think there is a disturbing the peace law........I love the ones at 5 am! It is my understanding that the Chinese use fireworks as a means of good luck ex: weddings, grand opening of a business, or to chase away evil spirits.

One night shortly after we moved here, I had been asleep for a couple of hours....and soundly sleeping I might add. Then they start, It scared the sh*% out of me! I jump like 4 ft off the bed and in the process got a charlie horse in my leg. I start hollering and thrashing around on the bed, poor Deane wakes and has no idea what the heck is going on, so he starts hollering what's the matter! lol.....ok ya had to be there.

I can't wait for the Chinese New Year.....the fire works last for days at a time. I think I need to invest in ear plugs!

Count to 10 with Chinese hand signs

As some of you may know I am taking Mandarin lessons. This to me is not an easy language to learn. Their words have different tones, so the same word may have more than one meaning. Ex; the word for  Robbery and Rape are the same word.....but the tone in how you say it distinguishes which word you've said.

Deane had a computer Mandarin program installed on my computer. It proved to be great fun one night for my brother, sister-in-law and I , a few drinks and trying to say sentences in Chinese.....sometimes the program would tell you that it was said correctly,when clearly you did not say anything close to what they said. I believe my brother was speaking french at one point! lol. However it was picking up the tone and as long as you mimicked the tone it would say you were correct.
This has turned into a long story about nothing! I wanted to share something that I just learned about how the Chinese count to 10 with their fingers it is very different then how we do it.
Here is a short little video to show you how it's done.

Food.... The Good & The Bad. Click to view photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=deaneamynash&target=ALBUM&id=5527524137231743889&authkey=Gv1sRgCP-K-uWMirL7lgE&feat=email

Snake Wine

I would like to start by saying that this makes the Mexicans look like a bunch of pussy's! I would say it takes a real man.....or a real idiot to drink an alcoholic beverage with a venomous snake in it.
Speaking of Tequila and its little submerged worms, there is the Chinese drink that most fascinates and revolts most foreigners: snake wine. It is generally a rice wine bottled with one or more submerged snakes. Most Chinese, especially younger ones, do not drink it, but you find it in many restaurants and can buy it around the country and region. In China there are three snake wines, five snake wines and others. (They also have wines made of intimate body parts that shall go un-identified. In Chinese restaurants you often find snake wine in huge, broad-necked bottles or jars, the snake or snakes, often quite large, flopped at the bottom but sometimes filling a major portion of the jar. The restaurateur usually ladles out as much as you want. Or you can buy it in smaller bottles to take home with you.

It is not clear to me if the snake is drunk, dead, or dead drunk. I gather that the snake gives a special taste to the wine. The Chinese undoubtedly cook and eat snakes. I imagine that drunk snake tastes good. I guess I will never know....cause I'm not an idiot! lol

Exotic Foods of China (insects, snails & more)

We were at this very place when we went to Beijing,it was down the road from our hotel. They refer to it as the "Snack Market" it opens at 6pm until around midnight. The song to this made me giggle.....I know I'm mature! lol

*CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW PHOTOS*

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=deaneamynash&target=ALBUM&id=5525646905479972497&authkey=Gv1sRgCNyYwMD704DusQE&feat=email

China Toilet 101




Tradional Chinese Toilet

  OK this is one of the things I may never get used to over here! Yes as you can see there is NO door!  And Yes I believe that is fecal matter on the floor! This is the first time experiencing no door...however I did read about it so I knew I would encounter it at some point.
Taking a pee break in this country is a bit like gambling....you never know if you'll win or lose! Most bathrooms have NO toilet paper,or a place to hang your purse...as you can see you do not want to put it on the floor! And when your finished peeing and allow yourself to drip dry... you then have no way to wash your hands. Most of these squatter toilets have a dirty old sink with some dirty old rags NO soap and nothing to dry your hands with. So finally after months of stupidity I have some packages of tissue in my purse and a bottle of hand sanitizer.  I wish this picture was a scratch and sniff..... This was by no means the worst bathroom I was in,and it doesn't seem to matter where you are. You could be in a higher end place and think the washroom will be nice and maybe even have a western toilet.....Nope it's gross! The woman's washrooms here are busy like back home, but there is no etiquette when it comes to taking turns. I literally pulled a girl out of the stall one day! There was a line and she walked right in front of everyone right into the washroom.....ummm no! get in line! That is my greatest pet peeve here, they are pushy and they will step right in front of you ,if you tell them to get behind you they will! ( and physically grabbing people is acceptable here...not like at home where you would be charged with assault).......Ok enough of my toilet rant! :)

Writing The Drivers Examination

So today was the day we wrote our drivers licence test......Congratulations you FAILED! We'll no shit Sherlock if you could have been there to read those questions! First of all the translation from Chinese to English was......just plain terrible,as most of the translations I assume all over the world.

Just to give you some in site on the whole "driving" thing. You have to do a medical before they will make an appt to write the test. In the medical they check your hands..... to make sure you have all 10 fingers! The other part was standing with your hands on your hips and thrust round and round......in front of oh about 200 people! We couldn't stop laughing we were like, what the heck???? The pushing and shoving in the lines at the DMV are crazy.....imagine all these people what to get behind the wheel and they drive the very same!
It's funny as you write the exam your mind goes to how they really drive,and you kinda wonder why they make you even write....there are no police enforcing the rules of the road!

Deane's score was closer than mine so he was able to take the test again and FAILED AGAIN! The lady told our Chinese translator as we were standing in line that we would never pass! Well how optimistic, so she let our translator download all of the answers for the test.....Great if you memorize all the answers, there are only 400!

So on the drive home we started talking about weather or not we really needed to get it. At first we felt so handicapped without a car,but the over the last few months we have learned where near our apt is the best place to get a taxi.  I mean people in New York do this all the time right? It would in fact be cheaper than a car as well.

We recently found a small chain supermarket, it is almost like a mini walmart, a little bit of everything. It is about a 7 min walk from our apt we may have found it sooner but we only went out side when we needed to as the weather was sooooo HOT! So we are scheduled to rewrite the exam next week. I say lets buy a scooter! lol

Beijing Trip

Here are some photo's of our trip to Beijing in Oct...being total tourists!

Our First Big Trip

Here in China they have a National Holiday from October the 1st through to the 7th. They call this the golden week, however the days that are not worked through the week are then made up on weekends. Strange for us because it doesn't work that way back home.

So we took advantage of the hoilday and flew to Beijing for 4 days to do some exploring. We had a full schedule with a tour guide and driver, you really almost need that so you can find out the history and the legends of the places you are visiting.

We hit the Forbidden City, Ming Tombs, Temple Of Heaven, Tianamens Square,The Great Wall,The Sacred Way and The Summer Palace. Very Surreal to be standing in the temples where famous Chinese Emperiors are known to be buried. Some are places where they lived or where held under house arrest. The Summer Palace was a place an Emperior built for his Mother's 60th Birthday.....but was finished when she was 44 yrs old.  Beautiful place with man made lake and gardens.

We hit the Great Wall...but not the section were everyone travels. There were thousands upon thousands of tourists over the holiday, so our guide suggested we go to a different part...less people!  So we never actually walked the wall we just got to see the section that hasn't been rebuilt yet. The plan is to hopefully return in the off season! Lesson learned,don't travel in an over populated place durings the holidays,it is INSANE!

Chinese are very much infulenced by the art of  Feng Shui and you can see it in all of there design and architecture. All and all it was a great trip, we hit the little shopping alleys to score some deals. It would seems as though isaac has picked up on the wheeling and dealing like it's crack cocaine....the problem being is that he's not very good at it and tends to get ripped off! He hasn't mastered the art of walking away....they will come!!!. I bought some pretty Chinese fans at Ming Tombs probably not the cheapest place to buy things I thought, but I paid 10 rmb each....about $1.60 Cdn.  I went to the market that night and they wanted 165 rmb each!!! about $ 24.00 Cdn!

Long story short I said I bought them at Ming Tombs for 10 rmb each, however he acted as though he didn't believe me. I walked away and said your crazy if you think I will give you any more than 10 rmb......guess what he sold them to me for 10 rmb. Good thing I had seen earlier that day the price of them at a tourist spot with a fixed price....or I would have been royally ripped off!

We tried to explain this to Isaac as some lady is trying to sell him a spinning top with cool lights for almost $10! Hello can you say DOLLARAMA! They see the foreigners coming and we become an easy target.

Moving To China

It was August 18th when we boarded our plane,13 hrs in the air followed by a 2 hr car ride to our new apt. Suffering  from exhustion and jet lag it was nice to finally be to where we would hang our hat.
The first few weeks for me were tough. 19 days before we boarded the plane I lost my Father to cancer. A man that I considered my best friend I had just lost,and now I was embarking on a new adventure in my life I could never share with him. I was pretty sure those first few weeks I was going to crack....actually I think I had a few melt downs on Deane. We were now in a foriegn country with no vehicle no real way of communicating with anyone. And trying to shop at the supermarket was a challenge.

As time goes on things get a little easier and we are learning how to speak the language and how to get around. Learning how to cook with the food that is avaliable and the lack of an oven to cook it in is kinda fun in it's own way,it's making me tap into my inner creative chief.....however cooking is not really my passion,eating is though!