Your Daughter is Beautiful, Only 100 Yuan for the Bracelet Please

The theme of our last two adventures is the incessant aggressiveness of the local vendors trying to sell us everything from jade jewelry (which Li loves and wants) to pomegranates (which Li also loves and wants). Lijiang has become such a tourist attraction that a large part of the local economy is built upon the tourism trade, specifically the souvenier side of things. Though we are being increasingly recognized around our local shops as here for the duration, when we go into town we look just like all the other foreign tourists who couldn't possible live without scarves and bracelets. (That's not to say we won't end up with scarves and bracelets of course!) Li's insightful comment was, "I think that man wants you to buy everything on the table."

We spent many hours last Friday wandering the streets and alleys of the Old Town. Lijiang is divided into two distinct halves, the Old Town cobblestone lined streets made with traditional mud brick construction (that survived the 1996 earthquake remarkably well) and the new town which is a rapidly expanding sprawl of concrete buildings. The Old Town is full of delightful restaurants, guest houses and small shops. It is easy to wander for hours. Li is an immediate attraction to many people and we are becoming more adept at explaining that she is our daughter, she is 5 and she was born in Guilin, Guangxi. Li is usually very shy during these interchanges. One of the women merchants tried to coax her 6 year old son out of the back of her shop to say hello to Li and he insisted on hiding under a blanket and peering out occasionally. I guess we are not the only parents forcing our children to do things they don't like!

On the weekend we pedaled our bikes 5K to BaiSha, a small traditional Naxi village. Somehow we missed all the touted sites, like the BaiSha Frescoes, and instead found ourselves pushing our bikes along muddy tracks in search of an elusive temple. At one point we were "redirected" by two stern looking Naxi women, we were clearly on a path towards someone's home! We finally called a halt to our search when faced with miles of uphill switchbacks on our one speed bikes. We retreated back to the village and bounced our way along cobblestones through multiple small villages until returning back to our apartment. Having missed the main sights and having been unable to find the old landing field used by the Flying Tigers (my grandfather was a supply office with the Flying Tigers) we have decided BaiSha merits a return trip.

The Scent of China

I think my enduring memories will ultimately be the rich and varied aromas of China. Some come from the restaurants, some from the streets, some from the people, but the most interesting ones come from the grocery store. I had to resist the temptation to buy garlic scented dish soap and hand lotion fragranced with the smell of sheep placenta. Yes, I sniffed it, and it didn't smell too bad.

Kindergarten

Li is surviving and and perhaps even thriving in kindergarten. Monday, our "driver" picked up Li and Shana at the front gate of the University to take Li to school. Li was pretty nervous and broke down in tears during morning exercises with 200 kids shouting in Chinese around her. Shana spent the morning trying to get comfortable sitting in small plastic chair with Li and little cow on her lap. Lots of the little girls were vying for the opportunity to sit next to Li. Even the big rough and tumble boy wrestled a pear from other kids and brought it over to give to Li. She did loosen up during snack time, no surprise. We opted to leave right before nap time when she was in a reasonable mood-we didn't want to push our luck. Tuesday Shana and Li again were driven to school and Shana was able to leave Li in her classroom while she went to pay the bills. Approximately 9 hours later Li arrived at the front gate of the University riding in the front seat of the mini-van with no seatbelt. She was all smiles and happy. A big sigh of parental relief. Her driver in Mr. Zhou (Joe). He smiles a lot and we pull out our phrasebook to communicate.

Li's description of kindergarten included the following highlights:

Li says "I'm good. Today at Kindergarten I had a good day at school. My favorite part of the day is eating. I met Amy, Lucy, Linda. (English names)" She said that she spent nap time in a tent with a girl named Linda and they talked the whole time. The teacher kept telling them to go to sleep but they kept talking. We asked what they talked about and Li said "I don't know, she speaks Chinese." That somehow explains it.

Wednesday we decided to put her in the minivan by herself to go to school. She was scared and wanted one of us to be with her. Steve decided a little bribery went a long way so offered her some gum tonight if she went alone, she said she didn't want gum, he offered her some extra dessert, she also declined, then she grabbed his ear and whispered "money"! We think it stems from the little pockets on her pencil case that are just right for small change... I guess she's an American after all!

The Art of Bicycling

I thought I knew how to ride a bike. But no one ever taught me the art of weaving in and out of buses and taxis. Some streets have what passes for a bike/cart/motorcycle lane, others, well, not so much. The taxis and buses are kind enough to honk at you shortly before they run you over. As Steve describes it, you simply begin into an intersection and then maintain your speed. If you change speed to avoid obstacles (like pedestrians) it throws everyone else off. The most challenging obstacles are the British style round-abouts. Two lanes of traffic constantly entering and exiting the circle mixed with people and bikes. Li thinks it is all great fun and sits on the back of Steve's bike in her child seat eating sun flower seeds and shouting "faster sled dog!". Shana appears to enjoy the chaos of the round-abouts in that periodically she will go around one and a half times. Li is ever watchful saying, "Where is Mommy going?" I think biking also has a little similarity to winter driving. There is a time to be plodding and a time to go for it, still with the a sense of overwhelming caution. It is also amazing to see the variety of bikes, loads and people pedaling around. I am not surprised to see a biker on a cell phone holding an umbrella while navigating the streets. I wonder what the locals would think about a stationary exercise bike.

A New Definition of Leadership

Always on the lookout for ways to define leadership, we came across the following from Owen Fashion:

"We always keep the intonation of appearance, supremacy of quality and the self nobility, are all the distinctions of a modern leader's confidence."

One Week Ago

We were frantically finishing our last minute packing enroute to Lijiang. It is somewhat surprising that after a week we almost feel like we have a routine. Unfortunately we cannot seem to figure out the inconsistent hours of the cafeteria and have eaten a lot of "ramen". You would not believe the walls of ramen at the store with interesting pictures. We have tried to avoid the ones with the pictures of chili peppers. We made our first foray to the vegetable market yesterday and bought some beautiful looking veggies. There were plenty we could not identify. We don't yet have the fortitude to buy whole dead chickens lying on plywood at the meat market. All the chicken dishes we have eaten include plenty of bone and gristle. We wonder how people would do here without some basic camping skills. The beds are about as soft as granite and without any hot water to do dishes we rely on our dilute bleach rinse. We are meeting more teachers, both Chinese and foreign. We stick out on campus so students and teachers routinely approach us to talk and a student we met in the store today helped us find a place to buy speakers. We will continue to update the Picassa picture site. We have added a bunch from our trip to the Black Dragon Pond two days ago. We didn't add the ones from all the men in their bright red skivvies bathing in the reservoir! Li is becoming quite skilled at the art of the squat toilet and loves the popsicles we found at the corner store.

Teaching the Old Fashioned Way

When is the last time all of your students automatically responded "Good Morning" in unison? It's a bit disconcerting from adults! Our first lesson as teachers was to be careful how we dressed. Black pants show the chalk dust! Our students are eager and polite with mixed skill level. Steve chose to draw maps of the United States and our travels while Shana made her students write personal ads and letters to advice columnists. Both took pictures of all their students to begin the process of learning the names of our roughly 200 students. The English names chosen by the students are fascinating. Mixed in with the mainstream are names like: Eleven, Unique, Feverwort and Cinderella. Unsurprisingly, we both received the advice to slow down our speaking...Luckily we made it to the weekend!