Keeping Up With the Gerkes

A Mary Abroad

2013-11-30T07:32:00.000-06:00

In our final weeks on our assignment here we had one last visitor decide to pop over. Mary Alice came to stay the week. Here are a few snapshots of our week!

Mary flew into Beijing and Clif took the train to meet her. It was a quick weekend trip. They crammed in some fine dining on Beijing duck, scorpions on a stick and The Great Wall. This being Clif's second trip they went to the same location but walked the opposite direction. While the ruins are much closer, the climb is a lot more challenging.

Getting ready to take the toboggan down!

On Monday, Clif took the day off and went with us to visit a near-by scenic area in Mudu, a local water town. The area we visited is Tianping Mountain (Flat Peak Mountain). This mountain is about 659 feet high. Mary and I were on the search for the spring at the peak. However, I had a baby strapped to my back and as we neared the top there ceased to be steps and only large rocks. After maneuvering the first round of rocks with baby M on my back, I decided it was probably a better idea to say we almost made it to the top!

Let's do this!

Entertaining the locals. M got an orange from her fans here.

This as far as we made it, but I think we did pretty well.

While we climbed, Clif enjoyed some juggling.

Enjoying her orange after a hard hike.

I said, "But the sun will be in our eyes." Clif said, "Don't squint."

Making friends everywhere she goes!

M's favorite, fish!


Tip 2

This little girl must have been very convincing at the "shopping area."

What is 5D you ask? Well, according to Google translate it includes blisters. Ouch!

Our city is known for all of the ancient gardens and temples. I had planned on taking Mary to one of the largest and probably most frequented, but then I decided I might as well see one more before I leave. There is a pagoda I see from the expressway frequently, but had never visited. So, I decided we would visit the Bao’en Temple Pagoda or North Temple Pagoda. It is the most ancient Buddhist temple in Suzhou. The pagoda is the highest in Suzhou and as a bonus we were able to climb up it!

Looking out over Old Town with SIP and Big Pants in the background.

On our walk back down the street we also saw the BIGGEST crab ever. I should have gotten a picture of it. It was a monster and probably was going to feed a whole family.

Our next stop was Shantang Street. This is ancient street in the Old Town. Most of the buildings have been turned into shops and restaurants, but it is always fascinating to look at the architecture. On this adventure we detoured down a side street and saw many typical sites, veg stands, live poultry stands, old women playing mahjong, and a huge fish being hacked up at a live fish shop. Yum!

Suzhou has kept all their original canals. I love seeing the old homes, each with a staircase going right down to the water. Some places you can still catch people doing dishes or laundry in the canal.

They melt down sugar and whatever flavoring then lay a stick on wax paper. The worker pours the melted candy into a creature or whatever they imagine. Here they made a crab. When it hardens they can pick it up and it is similar to a sucker.

Not ancient, but still so interesting.

This was our detour. We got some looks, I don't foreigners are normally seen down here.

The last day of our trip we went to the Pearl Market. I was nervous about taking M. I thought it was going to be a disaster, but she actually did really well. She played with a few necklaces without breaking a thing!

Shopping with the ladies.

Suzhou Park

2013-11-17T05:12:00.002-06:00

Our time is very quickly coming to an end. I read a blog about how once you leave an expat assignment you realize there was so much more you could have done and seen while you were busy living your daily life. I decided I wanted to have as few "I wish we would have..." thoughts as possible, so I asked a few other expats if there was anything in Suzhou they thought I should go see or do before we left. Just short afternoon trips that are doable with a toddler. While there are many places we would have liked to have visited in the country it just wasn't possible with a little one and constraints of vacation time. One of my friends mentioned Suzhou Park. I am very glad we went and checked it out. Such a good place for seeing what the young and old do on a lovely weekend.

Most of these activities I have seen from time to time, but never all in one place or at such scale. The warm temperatures must have brought out the crowd. I think these pictures really show what the older generation enjoy doing in their free time. I suppose I can admit there really are many things I enjoy about China. The "feel" at this park is one of them. Okay, enough babble, enjoy the picture show!

You won't find anyone above 6 practicing their ABC's in the park in the US, but with a system of characters it is not uncommon to see older men or women using these brushes and water to practice writing. I believe there are somewhere around 20,000 characters, but I think knowing 3,000 to 4,000 qualifies you as being fully literate. Study up!

I imagine these people probably know many more than the standard and are attempting to retain their knowledge and demonstrate for others.

The kids fishing pond. Many moms, dads and grandparents spending the afternoon fishing with their little ones.

With as many people as there were fishing on this one day, I pictured workers dumping buckets of fish into the pond each morning.

They were fishing for goldfish!

So many people playing instruments, all of them older. I wonder if the younger generation will know how to play them?

The guy playing the bells took his part very seriously.

Also lots of singing, no Miley Cryus songs here.

If you look closely there is a guy without a shirt on. We were not sure what was going on. A massage maybe??? Whatever it was, he had a group of on-lookers.

There was also a large mass of dancers. It was really pretty sweet.


Heels are a must anywhere you go.

The dancers and their audience.

Carnival Rides!

Clif asked if I wanted to take M on the ride, I declined after seeing some split pants ride past us.

Ummmm.....

You could also find some people practicing their Tia-Chi.

And no matter where you go there is always some young couples canoodling!

The only activity I did not snap a picture of is the old men playing games such as Chinese checkers. If we had more time I think it would have been a perfect spot to people watch. Suzhou Park is for sure a place you should check out before you leave.

Visitors!

2013-11-03T08:42:00.000-06:00

People actually got on a plane a flew for 14 hours + 2 hours in a car to come visit us! YAY!

In May my friend Stacy came to visit for a week. I think Stacy's favorite part was how relaxing it is to ride in a cab to Old Town. We took her to the Suzhou Zoo. That was an experience...

Yep, feeding the bear. People brought food just for the purpose of feeding the animals.

We chose not to let M feed the animals that day. We wanted to take our baby home with us.

I know why this little guy is sad. There was one tree in one of the cages, but it was in its own cage so the monkeys could not climb on it.

Cover eyes, what is this little fellow up to?

The next day I took Stacy to a garden I hadn't yet visited. I had heard it was one of the best. It turned out to a bit of a rocky maze. At least we worked our glutes!

Just a leisurely stroll!

Girls day out

There are 13 lines on the Shanghai metro, I braved them for the first time for Stacy. For the most part we were successful. Our first stop was the fabric market. I really thought I knew what stop to get off at, but when we came out of the metro I did not recognize a thing, so I decided we should get in a cab. After a ten minute cab ride we arrived, though in hindsight I am pretty sure we were real close and the guy just drove us around knowing I was clueless. Anyway, Stacy had a lovely cashmere coat made. We were then off to lunch at a tasty Thai restaurant and our last stop was Pearl Tower.

Just another picture perfect day!

Stacy never actually stepped foot on the glass floor.

When the building under construction is finished it will be the tallest in China and second tallest in the world.

Miriam was a bit embarrassed to be caught in Pearl Tower wearing the same outfit as her previous visit.

A few days after we said good-bye to Stacy, Marijane landed. I felt very popular for a couple weeks.

While Marijane was in Suzhou we visited a water town called TongLi, which you can read more about on a previous blog post if interested and also went to the City Wall.

Lunch at TongLi. It was a little Mom and Pop place, very good.

I can't post anymore pictures of TongLi because they are all inappropriate pictures Marijane insisted on taking at the Sex Culture Museum.

Panmen Gate and the City Wall. I was pleasantly surprised. I was under the impression we were just going to see an old wall that maybe we could walk along, but was greeted with a beautiful garden.

A nice family photo other than M's serious widow's peak, or maybe she was going for the count from Sesame Street.

Ah...here is the wall. Which we did walk along until some man would not stop trying to get a picture taken with us.

I also took Marijane in Shanghai for a day. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were also there on a layover to Bali.

L thinking, "What the heck is cousin Mimi doing in China???"

Getting a closer look at each other.

We also went to Yu Garden. Since I had already been once, this was the only picture I took.

The morning stop was Yu Garden. I offered to take Marijiane on more sight-seeing, but she decided she would rather spend the afternoon at a copy market. She enjoyed it so much we missed our train back to Suzhou.

Oh, she also tried a China flavored Starbucks, I think she really misses her green tea and red bean frappucinno.

Even though my blog is about 5 months late, I am very thankful anyone made the trek to come see us. It was great having them and I hope they enjoyed it just a little.

Being a Tourist Part VII: Shanghai Stay in Pictures

2013-09-09T07:48:00.003-05:00

To finish up Clif's parents' trip we stayed three days in Shanghai. This post will just a picture walk of our stay. Enjoy!

Below is a picture of us in front of the same skyline. The difference is quite amazing.

2013

Pearl Tower:

I would love to be here on a clear day. I bet the view is pretty awesome, but in my three trips in two months to Shanghai this was about as good as it got.

Looking for pigs in the Huangpu River

In the glass viewing deck with the cutest baby in Shanghai.


If only you could see the other people also taking pictures...

A peek at The Bund, originally a British settlement.

People's Park
I would LOVE to come here on a weekend. I have been told Chinese parents congregate and post info sheets about their single children trying to make love matches.

She said she needed some knock-off clothes. Such a girlie girl.

Abercrambre - Since 1892

On the last day we went to Yu Garden, which is now one of my favorite spots in Shanghai. It's located in the area that was the original city.

Maybe the best smelling toilet in China?

Mid-garden dental check. Yep, all there!

Miriam's favorite part.

Well, this catches us up to the end of April! Only four months behind now!

Being a Tourist Part VI: Terracotta Army

2013-08-30T09:14:00.000-05:00

What? We have a blog? Sorry it's been a while and we're behind...we left everyone hanging in Xi'An...

The terracotta warriors were discovered in 1974 by a group of farmers digging a well. The warriors, chariots and horses were buried with the Qin emperor around 210BC and are meant to protect the emperor in the afterlife. The Qin dynasty is said to be the first time all the warring states were united as a single "China," and this is the tomb of the man who did it.

Scale model showing the potential for a huge army

It is estimated that in the three "pits" there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses. Most of the artifacts have yet to be uncovered; the government has halted all new excavation until discovering a way to preserve the bright colors, which were painted on the warriors but disappears quickly after being unearthed now.

Pit One

In this pit the warriors have all been uncovered and many reassembled, it was the first pit discovered and contains around 6000 warriors. Originally, the warriors were painted with vibrant colors and held weapons. There were also wooden chariots behind many of the horses, but of course the wood did not survive. As you can imagine most everything was in pieces when it was unearthed. All of the pieces go to the "warrior hospital" as our guide called it to be pieced and glued back together. Then they were reset in the current formation.

A sign marking the location of the well, where pottery fragments were found in 1974

Each statue is life-sized and no one is like any other

An open pit that has not had the contents extracted and rebuilt

A mock-up of the "hospital." Our guide told us all of the actually assembling takes place somewhere else.

This is one of the few still showing original color: red at the knee area.

Nearly ready to be released

Much of pit two has been uncovered, but not rebuilt like in pit one. Part of this pit also has the rements of the wooden ceiling that was covered with reeds and buried deep under ground. Underneath these roofs is where they would expect to find more warriors. Here there is evidence of fire that took place in the tomb during the peasant uprising that began the Han dynasty.

Pit two

You can see the wood ceiling has sagged but not collapsed.

On to pit three...Here there are nowhere near the number of warriors, but this was thought to be the command post with walls, corridors and offices. The warriors were arranged not in a defensive posture, rather they were lined up as if watching a procession.

There was only one warrior that has been uncovered totally intact.
His kneeling position gave an advantage when the wood ceiling collapsed.

A high ranking officer

This trip was definitely one of the highlights of our time here in China. If you come to China is it a must see!

Being a Tourist Part V: Xi'an's Lesser Sights

2013-05-22T07:38:00.003-05:00

We arrived in Xi'an at lunch time, and grabbed a quick lunch at the Hilton before heading out for some light sight-seeing. The Xi'an Hilton, by the way, is newly constructed and very, very nice. The main attraction in Xi'an is the 2000 year old Terracotta Warriors, but we'd schedule that for the second day. First on the agenda was the city wall, which follows the city's original boundary.

We'd gotten a tip the wall was an interesting way to kill a few hours. On top of the wall you can rent bicycles or golf carts to ride around the entire wall. We opted for walking and strolled leisurely for a bit along the southern side of the city.

We decided the wall really wasn't very interesting. It was an old wall that had originally been built 400 years ago, but had obviously been rebuilt recently. None the less, we successfully killed a few hours but regretted ignoring the guides advice to check out Muslim Street.

Rafael was our tour guide, we'd chosen him based on a reference from friends. Turns out he runs a tour guide company with multiple guides, drivers and vans. I can't speak for his other guides, but Rafael's English was good and his knowledge about Xi'an was fantastic. Miriam thought he had an interesting yellow badge on his shirt.

On the wall was a small bicycle museum with some very interesting examples from the history of bikes in China. The museum wasn't very big, but was certainly interesting to me.

There was also a hat salesman who capitalized on our being ill prepared for hot sunny weather. Shayne purchased enough shade for two people.

After the wall and a quick nap, we headed off for dinner at the Tang Palace Dance Show.

The show was really interesting with multiple performances of various traditional Chinese styles. It reminded me of the performances we saw last year at the Master of Nets Garden in Suzhou. However this show had a much larger budget.

The dinner on the other hand left something to be desired. Chinese dumplings are good - as long as they're served as part of a larger and much more assorted spread. However, and this dinner was dumplings and only dumplings. Granted, they were stuffed with a variety of stuffs but dumplings are dumplings and it got old pretty quick. I guess the large show budget is augmented by serving cheap food.

Perhaps the highlight of the evening was when we tried to get a refill on our Sprite. None of the waitresses could be bothered with it, so Mom got up, went to the waitress station and grabbed the bottle. We refilled and set it on the table like we saw on other tables, but soon someone came and took it back. Then the manager came and tried to sell us the bottle, while he tried to avoid looking annoyed....apparently they operate on the drug dealer business model. The first taste is free, after that it'll cost you.

After that we were all completely knackered, in fact Shayne took MJ back to the hotel early and missed the show. This was the fourth straight day of heavy tourism and we weren't done yet. The next day was reserved for the terracotta warriors.

Being a Tourist Part IV: The Great Wall of China

2013-05-17T22:56:00.000-05:00

I learned something about The Great Wall of China while planning a recent trip there: isn't one wall. It is really a somewhat complicated network of walls built over a the period of a couple millennia. Different sections are in various states of repair, some are connected and others aren't. Each emperor who built walls did so according to the land he controlled and the people he didn't like (mostly the Mongols and Manchus.) The scale of the thing is awe inspiring.

Map courtesy of Wikipedia

The Chinese say you're not a real man until you've climbed the Great Wall. A little extra motivation to visit a wonder while it's still conveniently close. We had avoided trips like this last year due to the pregnancy and birth, so when my parents decided to come all the way from Illinois it was an easy decision to zip up to Beijing; the wall being the main attraction.

The Great Wall's effectiveness varied over the years with the northern invaders occupying China off and on. The luck ran out permanently at the end of the Ming dynasty after the emperor spent much effort to rebuild the wall. The Manchus of the northeast seized Beijing around 1644AD and established China's final dynasty: the Qing dynasty.

Something so old is bound to succumb to the elements over time; some areas no longer exist and the most recent sections are in the best shape. A handful of sections have been rebuilt and maintained as tourist areas. I learned from others that the Mutianyu section wasn't likely to be as crowded as other tourist areas because it was a little more difficult to access by giant tour buses that are common in China. Coupling that with the fact we went on a weekday and the place was quiet.


A section of unmaintained wall is barely visible with the camera set to "super zoom" mode.

Earlier walls were built by compressing earth between wooden barriers, but this area was built (or maybe rebuilt) by the Ming dynasty with stone and brick. Cement and mortar didn't exist, so they used sticky rice to hold the walls together. Modern reconstruction used mortar, loose pieces of which are often picked up by vandals looking to leave their chalky mark on history.

The wall at Mutianyu snakes along the mountain peaks and is surrounded by forest. Some sections of that wall are quite steep causing people to look silly.

One section in particular is a very steep and long staircase, at the top of which flew a Chinese flag. Just to get to the base of these stairs was a multiple hour trek and only four out of five party members made it that far...and one of the four was relying heavily on the kindness of ~~others~~ me to do the walking.

The flag flew at that first guard tower on that hill in the background.

Check the size of people to fully understand how high that flag was.

At the bottom of the stairs, a woman and her son came down counting each step. 410(ish) steps up to the flag, a few more if you wanted to mount the mountain peak. Dad and I made it up about 30-50 steps before calling it quits but Shayne stayed strong. A woman at the top took her picture.

Queen of the Mountain

Shayne carried the camera to the top to share what we missed. The view was really something - we lucked out with a pollution free day.

Shayne's view from the top

Mom making the most of the bottom view.

At a few places along the wall were constructed garrisons/watch towers/barracks. These were sort of interesting and most had a hole in the roof to climb through. The interiors had brick columns and arches supporting the heavy brick roof.

Dad spotting for Shayne, the first step is a doozy.

At Mutianyu there are three options to get to the wall. You can ride an enclosed gondola, you can take an open air ski lift or you can hike up by foot. The gondolas and ski lifts both cost money and take you to different locations. At first we took the gondola ride together and did our sight seeing. After we finished up, Shayne and I took the ski lift back up so that we could ride the toboggan back down.

Riding the gondola up to the wall

The toboggan is equiped with a "dead-man" safety system. What that means is that the brakes are engaged by default, so if you do nothing it will stop. To make the toboggan go faster, you have to lean forward and push on a lever. The trip was pretty exciting until I got stuck behind a nervous slow-goer.

We've lived here long enough to know that warning signs are to be taken seriously. It's not like the US where warning signs are used to warn you about things that aren't really dangerous like hot coffee and pinch points. In China, if there is a warning sign you better pay attention because your life may be on the line.

Shayne doing the Chinese girl pose

And for scrolling all the way to the bottom, here is your reward:

Being a Tourist Part III: Tiananmen Square and Temple of Heaven

2013-05-05T08:19:00.001-05:00

While in Beijing we also visited Tiananmen Square. I won't write too much about it, but if you are interested here is a link to some info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square

We only stayed long enough to snap a few pictures as it was windy and the Chairmen Mao mausoleum, where you can view his body, had closed for the day. For all those who follow us, it closes at noon...don't be late.

To be honest, there wasn't much in English and I didn't do any studying ahead of time, so I don't know much of anything about the monuments.


So close to seeing a preserved human being.

Later in the afternoon we strolled through The Temple of Heaven. This was the site where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties held ceremonies and offerings for good harvests. Once again, no tour guide so we didn't know much about what we saw, so here is a sample of the sights!

I think they just about covered all their bases.

With some 40,000 characters in the Chinese language I suppose it is easy to fall out of practice!

Pots for burning the offerings.

Snug as a bug in a rug!

Near catastrophe when I decided to touch this only to find out it wasn't attached. Luckily, I caught it before it dropped to the ground and broke into a million little pieces. Phew! That would have been embarrassing!

The following are a couple of the structures where ceremonies would take place.

After a long day of touring we needed to fill our bellies. When in China, why not visit Tim's Texas BBQ???

Someone had a bad case of hat hair!

Next up....The Great Wall!

Being a Tourist Part II: After Dark

2013-04-24T11:11:00.001-05:00

We ventured out one night in Beijing to see what happens after dark on Wangfujing Street. Usually nothing good happens after a certain time at night, and Beijing is no different. We chose to avoid trouble and had a good time.

About $4 gets you a taste. Pictures are free...if you're quick.

Mom pretended she didn't want to shop, but then she saw this alley and Dad's wallet came out.

If you don't like the price, walk away. They got the same stuff next door.

This was her first taste of bargaining, and she did pretty good but maybe left some money on the table. By the end of their visit she had it all figured out though. After she had her fill of China souvenirs, we found a street specializing in street food. They had everything from scorpion on a stick to simple dumplings. Truly something for everyone, but we were all stuffed full of Beijing duck from earlier in the night.

Near the hotel was a church, and in front of that church everyone was gathered doing everything. There was a choir singing hymns, a soloist singing opera, ballroom dancers and some hooligans practicing their break dancing. Unfortunately, none of those pictures turned out due to low light. You'll just have to use your imagination about a place where those things are all happening in close quarters.

Being a Tourist Part I: First Stop Beijing

2013-04-22T07:34:00.000-05:00

We have been in China for over a year and had yet to do much touring outside of Suzhou, so when our first visitors arrived we crammed as much site-seeing in as we could. Our adventure started out on the high-speed train to Beijing.

China is crowded. You have to catch a ride anyway you can.

Our first stop in Beijing was The ~~Windy~~ Forbidden City. If you are looking to read a plethora of interesting facts you may be disappointed to know I, Shayne, have decide to write this post and I am not always the best listener. The way I remember it our tour guide spent most of her time talking about the Emperor's concubines, so you may want to set your expectations low in regards to how much you are going to learn about this imperial palace built by the Han Dynasty. No. Qing? No that wasn't it either. Qin? Ming. It was definitely the Ming Dynasty (I barely made it through US history, I have no idea how the Chinese do it).

The Palace was pretty impressive. We came no where near viewing the entire site. Our guide suggested spending two to three days there if you want to see it all. The complex is made up of 980 buildings and 8,886 rooms. Though if you ask the emperor he believed there to be 9,999 rooms. Shh....don't tell.


The view of the first courtyard after entering through the south gate.


Most of the roofs were painted gold. We were told the original paint was made with actual gold. Fancy.

The Palace consisted of multiple courtyards. In the centers were structures that each served a specific function. Some of these include a building for conducting business and ceremonies, the Emperor's living quarters, the Empress's living quarters (Evidently they are only friendly once a month to make babies, otherwise the Emperor is all about his concubines. Interesting, no?), the Empress's birthday building and, of course, the living quarters of the concubines. The courtyards were surrounded by much smaller rooms that were used for various officers for conducting daily life.

I'm on a moat.

All around the courtyard were these huge vats. They were used to collect rain water. The rain water could then be used to douse any fires in the all wood palace.

In one ear. Out the other.

The Palace had an interesting drainage system. These dragons each had a spout. The water would pour out, seep into the ground, and hopefully help keep the moat full.

The Empress and her iPad.

This didn't have to do with the concubines, so I can't remember much other than I believe we were told it was carved from one solid piece of stone.

There is no evidence Clif attended this outing according all the pictures we he took. Oops.

Important people liked odd numbers. In many places you will find these little animals on the roofs. If there are nine, the person living inside must be important. However, the number ten was used only for the divine.

These lions were also guarding important buildings. We were told if they had five toes they were guarding an important person. These have four toes and also the ears are turned down. If I recall correctly, the turned down ears had to do with them being in front of structure for the Empress. It made them less furious.

Restored and beautiful.

A view of the outer structure.

There were many kinds of incenses burners. There were large ones burned during ceremonies and smaller ones, which I am assuming were more for every day use. Interest fact: sometimes a concubine might try to add poison to an incenses burner like pictured below in an attempt to kill another concubine.

What I also found interesting that the last man chosen to be Emperor during the Qing Dynasty was actually a three year old boy. The guide told us at his coronation he was escorted by his father. The young boy was frightened by the noise of the ceremony and crying unconsolably. His father was over heard telling him not to worry because it would all be over soon. Ironically, that was true. Four years after he became ruler the Qing Dynasty was over thrown. I am also pretty sure she told us this story because M may have been have a little fit in the baby-backpack.

The Gerke's meeting the last living nephew of the last emperor. He now sells his calligraphy to benefit the City, they bought one like you see hanging in the rear.

The final time I will mention them, we were also told each night the emperor would choose which concubine to spend the night with. His eunuch would then go to retrieve her. She would be required to take off all her clothes and be covered with a sheet. She would then be escorted to the emperor and he would know that she was not hiding any sort of weapon that could be used to kill him.

After our tour ended we walked back through the City only to realize what a maze of buildings we had not seen, including a four star bathroom. It is truly an impressive site.

Stay tuned for more Beijing adventure!

Happy Easter

2013-03-31T07:23:00.000-05:00

On Easter morning, the sun rose and a seaward breeze blew the smog away. It was a perfect day to take M out in her Easter outfit for some pictures under a blue bird sky. Spring is underway in Suzhou!

Advanced warning: if you get sick of seeing other people's babies this post isn't for you. Maybe you'd like some content oriented towards adults.

This Ain't No Cuban

2013-03-25T08:45:00.003-05:00

I've been hosting some US based coworkers this week, and doing so always involves a trip into old town to shop for cheap souvenirs the expats call "China junk." It's the same stuff everywhere: silk, bags, watches, green tea, embroidery and these things:

When it comes to China junk, bargaining is half the fun and sometimes it's all the fun. The value really isn't high but they are the sort of goods that are unique enough to bring back to the states to prove you really went.

The seller noticed our honest uncertainty about buying shady looking cigars and sweetened the deal without even asking. She threw in a free smoke to make it 4 for a buck-fifty. SOLD!

Upon closer inspection, I found some sort of light colored material wrapped in a leaf - presumably a tobacco leaf. The smell wasn't like a cigarette and certainly wasn't anything like a cigar. The label featured an elephant and some writing that wasn't Chinese or English. A true mystery!

At home on the balcony I wasn't sure if I'd get high or worse. Nonetheless, I blazed one and saw no hallucinations but I did find a harsh taste. It wasn't entirely unpleasant and not really very good at the same time. An earthy taste, something like tobacco with a hint of burning paper. I doused it after a few puffs, went inside and ripped one apart - starting at the mouthpiece.

Under the leaf wrapper I found a layer of newspaper surrounding a substance that resembles the stuff you peal off corn cobs and tamales. It looked like they wrapped corn husk with paper, then covered it with a tobacco leaf. Intrigued, I investigated further.

The portion I burned didn't include any newspaper or corn husk. I was happy about that. Apparently, the paper and corn husk act as a filter of sorts - while not actually a filter, it's something too keep the finely shredded filling in place. The portion I smoked include bits of shredded tobacco leaf and.....wait for it.....wood. Little pieces of wood. That explained the flavor.

And such is the story of my most recent cultural experience. Will I do it again? No. Do I regret it? Not at all.

A return to "The Way Up North Province"

2013-02-24T04:06:00.001-06:00

You may remember my trip to Changchun last year, in which I hoped to never return in winter. Such thinking has a way of ~~afflicting~~ affecting your life, perhaps I sealed my fate with that wish. As it became apparent I'd be visiting again for a week in January and February, I nervously eyeballed the weather forecast. The weather-guesser told me to plan for days topping out around -10F and nights down around -33F...good thing I brought long-johns to China.

Snow Minnie Mouse and that other character I'm too old to recognize...as photographed from the taxi.

The extended forecast steeled my will as I prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. Lady luck was on my side and extended forecasts maintained their reputation as notoriously inaccurate. Nature dealt me weather with highs closer to freezing and lows bearably close to zero...and visibilities near zero as well.

China's air pollution has been in the news lately because Beijing has had troubles. My experience has been the problem is bigger than Beijing, Changchun being another particularly bad city. My habit of taking pictures from every hotel I visit finally paid dividends, as seen in the following comparison.

Two pictures taken from the same hotel, looking the same direction

The first day temps were high enough to melt some snow, which left a layer of filth all over the city. My theory is that snow grabs the air pollution from the sky as it falls. This is just a theory based on one day's experience, but have a look at the black stuff we were walking in.

Wipe your feet!

The cars did an even better job of displaying the filth.

A nice white Lexus

Eventually, the air returned to the "cucking fold" range on my thermometer and all the black schmuck refroze so we didn't track it indoors. I found the cold weather agreeable, as it was a good reason to warm up with coworkers around a delicious hot pot. Hot pot is similar to fondue, but instead of oil or cheese you use boiling soup to cook. Very delicious, even though it tested the limit of our expense book.

Hot pot!

Not every meal was high cost, as I again visited the dirtiest restaurant I have ever seen. It's the one located in an alley behind the place that has an English sign. It was still serving the best Chinese food I've had and the waitress was still in the mood to shamelessly flirt with a laowai. Visiting again for dinner gave me a chance to interact with a drunken Korean who held his nose like a pig after finding out I'm American.

Easily avoid eye contact thanks to this bathroom "door"

Again we finished up work a smidge early and had time to recreate. After spotting some ice skaters on TV, I asked Carl if he'd ever done any skating. He's from the south of China and had little experience with cold weather and ice skating wasn't available. He even had to buy a warm hat for this trip. We asked for some advice on where to go and found out the lake we toured last year offers skating. Back at the hotel, I put on all the clothes I brought and met Carl in the lobby for some cold outdoor skating

This is when I found out the Chinese word for "ice skating" sounds similar to the word for "snow skiing" and the concierge told us the lake had skiing...not skating. To skate we'd have to go to a mall, a place I later learned was the largest indoor mall in Asia. Seriously, it was huge.

In China, the Christmas season lasts well into Summer.

We paid 50RMB for an hour and rented skates. My big white guy feet pushed the limits of their rental skate inventory - settling of one size too small turned out to be OK. It had been a long time since my last skate session, so things started a little wobbly but it didn't take long to remember enough to have fun.

I look fat because I'm overdressed for indoor exercise.

Having worn too much clothing for indoor skating due to the communication error, an hour proved to be too long for me. I was really sweating by the end but Carl had a hoot. He started out with a few laps hugging the rail and by the end was brave enough to stumble around in the middle.

Carl having a life experience, not pictured is a huge smile

A young girl slid up next to me and asked in perfect English "Where do you come from?" I replied in Chinese "I am an American," and she ran to her mom yelling the Chinese words for "AMERICAN! AMERICAN! AMERICAN!" In my Chinese textbook "Where do you come from" is one of the first chapters, so I imagine English lessons here have a similar curriculum. Later she tried talking to me in Chinese and I had no idea what she said.

Still smiling

Another time I was run into by a young woman who had lost control. I saw her coming with just enough time to reach out and soften the impact. However, in reaching out I accidentally touching her breast - it happened so fast and I felt bad. She embarrassingly skated to her group of friends where they whispered and laughed.

Still smiling?

Skating was a spectacular end to what should be my final trip to Changchun. My company should have no reason to do business here in the future. It was great to provide Carl a chance to do something he should never have a chance to do again.

I shouldn't tempt fate again by saying I won't be back, but maybe next time will be warmer.

Such days are boring.

2013-02-23T02:30:00.002-06:00

Sometimes it rains all day and we're stuck inside. Such days are boring.

A New Tailored Coat

2013-02-13T01:28:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's really been a long time since the last post. We took a break from China to visit home for the Christmas holidays and after that we kind of spent some time getting readjusted to China life. Now things are clicking again and a conversation with friends recently reminded me that I need to post something to keep things fresh....so here you go...here's something...to keep things fresh.

Merry belated Christmas everyone!

I've been wanting to go have a sport coat tailored ever since Shayne had some maternity dresses made in Shanghai. I got some references for a good place in Suzhou and made it happen. Mr. Gu is a tailor in Suzhou New District and he has a card in the Expat Association's taxi card pack. His shop is located very near the Yushan Lu stop on subway line one and that might be the quickest way to get there from SIP. He seems to be liked by the expat community because he speaks pretty good English.

If you go there, it's best to know what you want - and specifics are important. Knowing I wanted a sport coat wasn't enough. You've got to know specifics such as the style, the fit, the color, the pocket and lapel style...do a little research to make the process smooth. The customer service was a bit ~~rushed~~ brief so it helped a lot to bring in this picture and say "I want this but not plaid."

Mr. Gu took a look at my picture and said "what about the back?" I guess it's best to also know about the back, we discussed a little and decided on one slit and I assume he knows enough to fill in the blanks. After looking at the picture, we had to pick a fabric and I found a navy blue I liked in 100% wool. Then he took my measurements and said "500RMB, 200 now and the rest in 10 days when you pick up."

I went back after ten days and tried on my new coat. A very good slim fitting jacket, exactly like I wanted. And for around $80 it is hard to complain about being rushed through the first visit. It certainly beats driving all the way to Shanghai to work with a tailor I pick out randomly. I might go back and get one in dark grey...or maybe a full suit.

Tongli (feat. China Sex Culture Museum)

2012-11-10T06:47:00.001-06:00

Clif took a vacation day and we visited Tongli to celebrate his birthday. That was a few weeks ago and what started as laziness turned into forgetfulness with regards to writing this blog post. But fear not, here is a much needed update so you can "keep up."

Tongli is a little touristy town located within the city of Suzhou. Even though we live in the same "city," it took around 45 minutes to drive there from our home. This is because Chinese "cities" are more like what Americans consider counties....it's all just semantics but saying something is in Suzhou doesn't really tell you much other than it's west of Shanghai and east of Wuxi.

Mr. Wang took us to a parking lot and pointed toward a building, which was labeled as the ticket office. We asked for "liang ge" tickets and received two in exchange for 200RMB. After that, the clerk took on an inquisitive look and pointed at an English sign that read something like "storage car battery: 5RMB." We didn't know what that meant, so we declined. She nodded and pointed down the road in the direction we should walk.

These birds dive under water and bring back fish to the owner

We walked down the road in the direction she suggested and quickly realized we had no idea what was going on. We expected an ancient village and canals lined with cobble stone walk ways. What we found was a modern city that is representative of almost all Chinese cities. Luckily we noticed some green golf carts shuttling white people around, so we followed them on foot for about 2 miles.

Eventually we got to the gate of the ancient part of town where a security guard checked our tickets. Outside the gate was a "storage battery car shuttle stop" where the green carts were dropping people off...and we learned that a "storage battery car" was a shuttle and we should have paid 5RMB to save wear and tear on our shoes.

One of the big Tongli attractions is the China Sex Culture Museum, so naturally we headed straight for that. Well actually we didn't go straight there, it was more of a zig-zag because we didn't know where it was. Actually we could see it on the map, but we couldn't see ourselves on the map.

While it might sound like a pornographic type place, it was actually fairly educational. Inside they had a huge collection of artifacts, artworks and ancient...ahem...tools - most of those wooden.

Click for more pixels only if you appreciate art

Another valuable lesson for anyone following our footsteps is that the China Sex Museum bathrooms are markedly clean by local standards....and perhaps bathrooms such as those are worth the 20RMB entry fee even if you don't poke around the exhibit.

Siddhārtha? Is that you?

The Sex Culture Museum was extremely interesting. It took a while to meander through the displays and I took a lot of pictures even though the signs forbid pictures. But this is China and people here don't follow rules. So many pictures in fact that the camera battery died and we didn't have any juice to take pictures during the rest of our day in Tongli's other areas.

Best job ever?

Unfortunately, most of the pictures are a little X-Rated and I shouldn't put them here. So if you're interested, come over and we'll show them....there are a couple really interesting ones.

Prostitute's bed on the left, sex chair on the right.

After the museum, we were hungry and a friend recommended a little coffee shop that was high priced and westernized. Which means it wouldn't be crowded and somehow we actually found it quickly among the maze of walking streets. We paid way too much for a couple slices of ham, cheese and a too much mayonnaise on croissant roll...but it was good and MJ got to stretch her legs a bit.

MJ emerges from the baby backpack cocoon and begins to wake up

From the seat, we looked out the window and saw a fairly typical sight. This woman was selling random crap that apparently people buy. We see little shops like this everywhere, and we always see little kids playing with those toys nearby. They stand there waiting for people to walk by, and when someone does they pick up a do-dad and demonstrate it's function while yelling.

Awaiting the next passers by

Business was slow, so this woman took a moment to clean her dishes in the super clean canal water. And by super clean, I mean not as polluted as the water near our home..

Here is the final lesson for other people who go to Tongli. Don't bring a stroller! They are a pain on the rough streets and you have to lift them over steps and door sills everywhere. We were happy to also have the baby backpack to keep from shaking MJ too much on the street, but we still had to drag the stroller around.

But having an empty stroller provided some humor. Chinese people LOVE to look at white babies and when they see the stroller they always rubber neck to see her. Almost everyone was so focused on sneaking a peak into the stroller, they failed to spot the baby strapped to Shayne. And when they realized the stroller was empty, they were always shocked and sometimes gasped in confusion. "Why are these laowai pushing an empty stroller?"

These fancy doors where everywhere

We also visited one ancient residence that had been ruined during the cultural revolution because the government used it as a stable. In recent years it has been rebuilt and restored to "it's original beauty."

This is the ceiling of a stage, the round part is about ten feet in diameter.

Tongli is a very interesting place. It's quite large and we spent a day and didn't see much of it - we'd love to go back. Next time we'll pay for the "storage battery car" and we'll leave the stroller at home. We might even pay 20RMB again to use a proper pisser.

Sugar Cane - Split and Spit

2012-11-02T09:57:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Alva for sharing some of her sugar cane with me. Luckily the eating technique was also shared: Split the cane with your teeth and peel back the hard green outside. Bite a chunk of the crisp white innerds and chew out the juice. Spit out the remains. Tastes like sugar water...a nice treat.

I recommend caution while you peel it. You're one sneeze away from scrapping boogers off the candy.

Sink Swimming She Loves It

2012-10-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Not long after MJ was born, Clif's coworker also had a baby. He was sharing some pictures, when Clif noticed something odd: the baby went swimming immediately after birth...and not the normal grunge rock album cover style of infant swimming. When asked about it, the coworker explained they go every week and it's good exercise for the baby.

Update: Buoyancy helps reduce the amount of weight suspended from the baby's neck - like how you feel weightless while swimming under water. It is a specially designed inner-tube and it mostly just keeps the baby upright with head above water.

About the same time, Shayne had a reunion with all her classmates from the prenatal classes. They all brought new babies to show off and brag. The teacher asked if any had tried the Chinese swimming yet. Nobody had...

Saturday we put on our brave faces and did it. We went to the store, walked up to the worker, made the international hand signal for "swimming" and pointed at the baby. Before we could blink, MJ was naked with an inner-tube around her neck and swimming circles in a specially built sink! Check out the video:

I know it looks bizarre, and maybe a little cruel. She never cried, screamed or showed signs of anguish. If anything, she totally loved it. She kicked around for about 10 to 15 minutes, which is about how long she's willing to do anything. Then we dressed her up and paid the bill.

I think we'll go back for more, maybe even see if this can be done in our bath tube.

The Humble Administrator's Garden

2012-10-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

After failing to enter the Humble Administrator's Garden last week, we strapped the baby to Shayne and braved the big world again on Saturday. It really is a beautiful place best described with pictures. I won't muttle things up too much with my words.

A marked reduction in crowd density.

One of many pagodas and pavilions

Lotus pool, we missed the blooming season

Bridges are often crooked because demons can only travel in straight lines.

It is easy to miss the details

We're sure there is a reason to use round doors, but we don't know it.

Permanent residents

Shayne doing her best impression of a young Chinese girl.

Even in ancient gardens, the cellular service is top notch.

We waited a long time for all the other people to leave this picture, and settled for "only two"

Bonsai!

Clif loves these things. He's not sure why.

Watch your step!

This grape vine is protected from the bums of weary visitors.

Wood carving

Why we left the baby stroller at home: in general China is not wheel chair accessible.

"Heavy Traffic" and a Lesson Learned

2012-10-06T06:13:00.000-05:00

Last week was a Chinese national holiday, and nobody worked for one week. It was kind of a twofer holiday to celebrate the anniversary of Mao's revolution in 1949 and the "mid autumn festival." Many people chose to spend their free time at popular tourist destinations. For the most part the Gerke family chose to stay home, but we did venture out for a day trip in Suzhou...and it went terribly.

"We've made a huge mistake"

Even after seeing this crazy picture, we decided to be brave and go to The Humble Administrator's Garden with crying baby in tow. This particular garden is nicknamed "The Not So Humble Administrator's Garden," due to it's impressive size and opulence. It is one of the largest and most popular Chinese gardens in a city full of beautiful Chinese gardens. Here is a picture from Clif's solo visit in October of last year:

That picture is from last year, because we didn't actually go into the garden this year. We made it as close as the gate and decided not to fight the crowds on the narrow garden paths. The line to get tickets was super long but there were people scalping tickets for a $1.57 premium and without the wait. We saw a steady stream of people going in, and not so many coming out...so we swore to come back on a day when everyone else was working.

On the Friday before the holiday, Clif took a vacation day and we happened to visit the same location. On that day, ominous rain clouds sent us home early but it gave a unique perspective of what a holiday can do to crowd density. Here are two pictures, one taken the day before the holiday officially started and the other was taken during the holiday. See if you can guess which is which.

Those pictures were taken at approximately the same location: on the street in front of the garden - not even in the garden itself. There are a lot of people in China, and when they have time to recreate they seem to enjoy doing it in the company of others.

We ended up strolling through the crowd and then calling the driver back to get us - I doubt he even had time to park. He chuckled when we jumped in the van and used one of his few English phrases: "heavy traffic."

For the next holiday we'll leave the country or stay home.

This Tea Comes with Frills

2012-10-03T10:42:00.004-05:00

There are certain perks to living in China, and having access to abundant amounts of delicious green tea is one of them. Loose leaf tea is common, and the most fun to brew. I love to spend a small amount of my work day watching tea brew. The leaves start out dry and then expand as they rehydrate. Small residual currents in the water can make watching tea brew about as interesting as a lava lamp.

It only requires access to hot water and some way to filter the leaves off the finished product. In my sample video, I've used a specialized tea mug that comes with a metal screen (you'll see at the end how well it doesn't work) but other contraptions such as french presses can work too. Some of the professionals use their teeth to strain out the leaves, and chew the remains like whole leaf tobacco.

I'm not expert enough to pick out a good tea until it's been brewed (and poured in my mouth) and I couldn't name any specific type. The term "green tea" seems to refer to any tea that is green. Some has huge broad leaves, other teas have small slender leaves and I've seen some that include flowers or other frills. There are certain types from certain regions of China that are "famous" and I'm trying to learn by sampling as many as possible and trying to remember the Chinese characters for each.

Regardless of the tea origin, one important factor is to not over steep the tea. Leaving it too long or using too little water results in bitterness. The batch I made for this video was deliciously brewed at ten minutes. It is unlike anything you'll get in a bag from Lipton.

A taste for good tea is one of the many small effects China will have on my life. Will I be disappointed after returning to the states? Or will I find a local source for "broad leaf green tea with frills?" I've already got the mug...

A Farmer and Some Moon Cakes

2012-09-23T07:18:00.001-05:00

This past Saturday Clif's work hosted family day. There were tractors, free dinner* and games for the kiddies so we loaded up our kiddo and headed out.

First stop was the door prize table. MJ scored a truck that looked suspiciously like a character from the movie Cars. Copyright infringement??? Maybe they got a bargain at the local copy market?

Clif and I got a bag of goodies. I taste tested most of the items.
Here is a quick review:
Puppet: Fishy flavored Styrofoam.
Mystery Candy: It looked liked chocolate covered carmel or toffee on the packaging. It was spit out.
Kitty Sticks: Prawn flavored mini-bread sticks. Not too bad.
USA Green "Pers": Dried and/or baked and seasoned peas, probably the best thing I tasted, still not good.

I chose not to try the pork-in-a-bag or the chocolate sucker. China loves to put meat in bags, but for some reason I have no desire to eat meat that has been vacuum sealed with a cartoon pig on the label.

We also got Moon Cakes in honor of Mid-Autumn festival coming up in October. If you want to learn more about it you can go here: Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival
Moon cakes are basically small round cakes with a filling. I have been told the filling varies depending on where you are in China. Traditional to this area is sweetened red bean paste.


Fancy packaging is popular here. China does not skimp on good quality boxes for packaging.


Clif says, "Tastes like Fig Newton." And yes, Clif did eat something with bean in it!

MJ was welcomed with celebrity status. Clif's co-workers have been earger to meet MJ. Something about a Western baby draws a crowd. What is the first thing they say you may be thinking?
1. How old is she? (Side note: Many Chinese babies do not leave the house for a month or longer.)
2. Who is taking care of your wife? (Side side note: Most Chinese have a family member move in with them to take care of the baby while the wife recovers for the first month and then continues to care for the child when the wife returns to work. Clif has even been scolded for not hiring someone to take care of me)

The night's main attraction was skits put on by each of the groups in Clif's building.

As the night progress I noticed Clif was about the only ISE who got roped into performing. Even though he failed to attend most of the practices, I would say he made a pretty good farmer, even if his head was a smidge too big for his hat.

MJ Clif and I were getting tired so we ended the night with a family photo-op.

*We opted for the Western option, spaghetti with mashed potatoes, which is better than the typical western food items Clif has encounter at work i.e. cake wrapped in bread.

Lunch - You Get What You Pay For

2012-09-01T10:28:00.002-05:00

I'm told I am lucky, I get choices for lunch. Not "the same old slop." Three choices actually: A, B and C:

Option A is called the rice option. It consists of 4-5 small platters and a bowl of rice. The platters contain different meats and vegetables, which varies each day.
Option B is the noodle choice, and comes with a bowl of noodles and 1-2 small plates. Usually the platters are from the A option. Sometimes instead of noodles, they serve dumplings which is always a safe choice.
Option C is the western/vegetarian choice. It's western because it comes with a Chinese version of western food - usually bread based. I had a corn sandwich recently, drizzled in syrup. Once it was purple cake wrapped in bread.

In general the food isn't very good, even by the standards of my Chinese coworkers. A former expat once said "The only good thing is it's free." Free food at work is an expectation in the Chinese culture; I think we get what we pay for. This picture below shows a fairly typical A choice, I eat stuff like this every day. I'll break it down so you can have a glimpse into my daily life.

In the top left corner is a plate containing tofu and some kind of fibrous vegetable like celery but round and hollow. Some of the veggies resemble weeds, this is one like that. It was served in a spicy sauce - too spicy for my western tongue. They used to serve 5 plates, but lately they've been combining two into one. That annoys me greatly.

Bottom left is a beef dish they serve often, sometimes with potatoes. It's quite delicious but some days the meat is bony. The sauce tastes a like barbeque but is runny and does a great job sprucing up the white rice.

Middle top is some kind of cucumber/zucchini/egg plant/squash...I'm not sure which. It was cooked down to a mush and served in a sweet sauce. One bite was enough, food texture is important to me and this felt like it had been digested twice but the taste wasn't terrible.

Middle bottom was a new one - his was the first time I tried this dish. There was some debate among coworks about it being pork or chicken. I think it was processed chicken, molded onto a left-over drumstick bone and puffed up with air. It was heavily spiced and felt like a boiled sponge. Barf.

The bowl on the bottom right contains rice and desert. The rice is always welcome because it fills the space all the other food would if I ate it. I like to pour some sauce on the rice, but not too much because, if it is slick, chopsticks won't pick it up. The desert is a dough ball stuffed with a dark goo and rolled in sesame seeds...not sweet like candy or cake, but sweet. Sometimes they serve flat bread or a bun instead of this dough ball.

In the top right is a peach juice box and green (unripened) orange. They always offer a juice, soda or yoghurt but the white boxes are the best. The fruit selection varies by the day and generally people won't eat it without washing or peeling it first. On this day everyone was amazed I'd never eaten a green orange. "Don't they have that in the states?"

And I do it all with chopsticks. They'll offer a fork but laugh about it when I accept. I came to China with a basic chopstick skill set. I've since gotten pretty good....for an American. It is still impossible for me to eat as fast as my coworkers, but they're polite and wait for me to ~~finish~~ stop eating.

Squeeze From the Bottom

2012-08-25T09:28:00.002-05:00

Life in China is full of quirky little things that we find fun. For example, we buy ketchup in a tube - like toothpaste.

We choose the tube not only because it is the cheapest form of ketchup. It's also fun to squeeze out the last drop.

A Primative World

2012-08-07T11:13:00.000-05:00

Last year, while fishing the Mackinaw River in Illinois, I found a beer can. It was a relic, perhaps buried in muck for decades. It was an interesting find because I'm too young to remember pull tab cans. I even took it home and kept in the garage for a while. The world sure has changed....

"Please Don't Litter"

A vented wide mouth didn't satisfy you, and neither do cans shaped like bottles. I won't even ask about your disappointment with labels that change color. Never fear, beer scientists are constantly researching new ~~gimmicks~~ technology to improve your beer experience. Enter the new "Punch Top" can....because the only way to improve beer is to make it harder to open.

Yet somehow, people in China still get by with last year's model...

Some days it's a wonder how I survive here. I can barely drink this beer.