29 Aug 2010 China Update
Greetings all from Shenyang,
It's another wet weekend here in Shenyang, but so far, it's just rains...no additional flooding. The big events of this week were kind of non-events! The clothes dryer had been broken and that got repaired...not sure how many Chinese people it took to fix it, but it got fixed (not exactly perfect, but close enough!) for 250 yuan (about $35) and delivery and setup, we were happy! Now we can take away the "Chinese dryer" (Better known to us country girls as an indoor clothes line)!
I've already mentioned that it's raining a lot here, so it shouldn't surprise you to see the rainy photos below! We went to a market today (inside) and on our way there, I snapped a few typical sights we see here in town. I'm convinced the 3 wheeled trike is the Chinese equivalent of a local delivery truck. We've seen these things loaded down with everything and...business still goes on, rain or not... Shoes anyone?
This is the same spot in the road, just a normal guy going from point A to point B...We see a lot of umbrellas here...mostly for the rain, but also to shade from sun. One lady told me she is allergic to the sun and if she gets in it for more than 5 minutes she itches.
Once we got to the market, it must have been a slow day...even the shop keepers were playing some sort of game! It looked pretty intense, so Rod asked if we could take a picture...I guess they said yes, because no one tried to confiscate the camera when we took the picture! I'm not sure what the object of the game is...but each player picks up a block from the center pile, then either plays that block immediately, or plays one from his pile. We saw many different games going on all through out the market, so it must be a pretty popular pastime. Notice the Budda in the background...everyone I've ever seen here is "happy"..I don't think I've ever seen a sad one...they must be on to something here!
In this market, we think it's a wholesale market for other markets...don't ask me how Rod finds these places!! This market had all kinds of things...carved and polished stones and pottery stuff on the 1st floor, then papers (stamps, old money etc) on on the 2nd floor...after that I was in overload, so we left. Winter is long here, so we'll probably be going back! As we were leaving, on the 1st floor, we saw what has to be the worlds largest Chinese cabbage carved out of stone. The Cabbage must be a symbol for something (I think it's long life, but not sure!) because we've seen several of them...but none this big! Obviously we didn't buy it...not sure we would want to see the freight charges to bring that one home!
Stone carved Chinese Cabbages...pick your size and price!!
In the last update I mentioned on our vacation that the next part of our trip took us on the Bernina Express...here are a couple of pictures of some of the most beautiful parts of Switzerland...we took the train from Chur, Switzerland to Tirano, Italy, spent the night, then came back the same way. It was spectacular both ways. I highly recommend this train trip. You must have reservations on the Rhaetian Railway Bernina Express, but it's totally worth it! The railway itself was put on the UNESCO world heritage site back a few years ago, mainly because of the engineering that went into putting this railway across the Alps and how beautifully the bridges, viaducts and overpasses blend into the surroundings. There is one place in the trip where the train actually loops back under itself (the one bridge photo I took while on the train) See some photos below...I really had to limit myself here on the photos...I just couldn't stop taking them on the trip and I get mesmerized each time I look at them again!
That's about it for now...
Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers!! The adventure continues!
Sarah & Rod
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