Entourage in China
After visiting the Guanxi, we took a flight to Shanghai where we met up with the rest of the entourage. My cousin Tim from LA, my aunt and grandma from Taipei all met up with my uncle, Tim's dad, and Tim's aunt in Shanghai. By this time, we were a party of 10 including two drivers, one for my uncle and the other for Tim's aunt. We spent a day or two in Shanghai where we traveled in a 3 car entourage to eat, shop, and enjoy the sights before embarking on our journey around the region. Our entourage started from Shanghai with 2 cars but often grew to 3 or more during our adventures as we were hosted and joined by my uncle's many acquaintances in each region.
Hangzhou
We were first joined by Mr. Dong and Ms. He in Hangzhou. They were kind enough to put us up in a 5 star hotel and take us around. We later learned they would join us for the rest of our journey - good excuse to take time off with a business partner! Very clever. We loved having locals arrange everything for us and take us around. We visited a famous Buddhist temple, LingYing Si, that had statues of Buddha carved right out stone. West Lake was our next stop. Famous for its beauty, it was the inspiration for the Summer Palace in Beijing.
Huang Mountain
Next our entourage took us to Huang Mountain where the previous mayor's son greeted us. He would be our guide for this portion of our trip. He showed us around the old part of town which have been preserved from the 1200's or so. He too arranged a hotel for us to stay and a private dinner at a 5 star hotel complete with wait staff. The day after we hiked or rather took the tram up Huang Mountain to enjoy the views with near zero visibility which reminded me of our trip to the rice terraces in LongSheng. I was surprised to see 'sherpas' on the mountain carrying heavy loads of goods on each side of a long bamboo stick which ran across the shoulders. Food, toiletries, and other goods were for the hotels and resorts on the moutain. The cost of hiring these workers was cheaper than running the tram up and down the mountain with the supplies. They make an all day round trip for a few dollars - paying just slightly better than their agricultural alternative. Capitalism at its best.
Hong Cun
Our guide for the day took us off of the mountain to the a small village of Hong Cun, a registered Unesco site where parts of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon were filmed. The town dates to the Ming and Qin dynasties and is known for its beauty and feng-shui. Historically, the town was prone to fires and other natural disasters. To rid itself of the bad fortune, feng-shui experts were called in to help with the re-design of the village. Water was the key. The village is bordered by a lake on one side and a system of canals were designed to run to every house in the village. An aerial view of the village reveals the shape of an ox with the 4 land bridges representing its feet, the winding canals its intestines, and a smaller lake in center of the village its stomach.Through our visit, we saw hordes of art students making their attempts at capturing pieces of the village's beauty.
Suzhou
This was the easiest and best vacation we had ever been on - locals showing us around! It was great while it lasted. We returned to Shanghai and ventured to SuZhou, Venice of China, on our own. Suzhou is laden with water ways and famous for its many water gardens. It was once the home of rich merchants and dignitaries who spent their earnings on building lavish gardens along the waterways. Though these are well preserved, like much of China, development is growing rampant and much of the old city's charm is being replaced with a cookie cutter cement jungle.
Shanghai
Shanghai was all about the shopping and learning the art of the bargain. We were able to meet up with and stay with Ky and Jennifer while there. They were kind enough to host us in their ex-pat paid apartment and give us pointers on how to bargain. It wasn't long before we felt comfortable with buying things. The secret? It takes getting one or two salespeople mad at you before you truly know the bottom price. After they get frustrated with you and refuse to sell you the item, you to leave and continue to the next store to buy what we wanted at a slightly higher price. These were not boutiques that we were shopping at...everyone sold the same things!
Thanks to Mauro and Tabitha, Janae fell in love with the Nintendo Wii before our trip. We ended up buying it in China at the same price as the states (machine is legit) but were able to get accessories and games quite a bit cheaper in China! A couple DVDs and pieces of clothing rounded out our shopping.
One of the most interesting experiences we had in Shangai was going to church there. It has only been in the last few years that the Church has become more open and accepted there by the government. There is a local branch for Chinese citizens only which started only three years ago. They asked if we carried a Chinese passport while waiting for their services stating that if we didn't we had to attend the ex-pat congregation. We explained we were visitors and were allowed to stay. I was very excited to see there was a place for locals to meet especially knowing there wasn't one when I was on my mission in Australia - it was just sad seeing members who had to return home to China wanting to continue going to church and not having a place to do so
Rules for the church there:
- Chinese passport holding citizens can not congregate with foreigners and vice versa
- Leadership in local Chinese branches have to by default be citizens
- New members are restricted to people who were baptized abroad such as in Australia, Canada, or the US and their family members.
Among the ex-pats there, I met Ben Coffin who fortunately recognized me. We taught in the MTC together at BYU many years back. The world is definitely small - especially being a Mormon.
