Shopping Day!

We did our part to help out the local economy on Friday. In fact, we basically just shopped all day. First stop was a porcelain store. They took Visa, which was lucky for me, but not so lucky for our credit card balance. But whenever M & I travel and decide not to do or buy something b/c of the cost, we always regret it when we get home. Really, what's $200 in the grand scheme of things? And Jiangxi Province is famous for its porcelain, so if we're going to spend money on something, this seems like a meaningful something to spend it on. We bought a beautiful tea set that is hand-painted. It came with a certificate of authenticity that this particular famous artist painted it. It has his photo, signature and chop on it. We also bought a very unique teacup & saucer that just looked like something that should be in our home, if you know what I mean. And some little dolls that represent some of the ethnic minorities of China for Z when she's older. And an absolutely stunning vase that has a purple & blue glaze. Apparently this is also a very good quality piece. Chairman Mao & Deng Shao Ping both gave pieces from this particular artist to other heads of state when they visited China. We got a few other things that I'm not going to list here b/c they're gifts and I don't want to spoil the surprise. When I went to pay, one of our guides helped me bargain a little. When I looked at the list of original prices and then the discounted prices, it was evident that what they were doing was basically charging me full price for the good stuff and giving me the little stuff for free. I said this to the guide, and she apparently misunderstood, because when she said something to the clerk in Chinese, she went over and grabbed us a set of porcelain chopsticks & some jewelry boxes. I think they thought I was asking for something little for free! I felt so rude. But I'm not going to turn down a gift. And speaking of rude, both our guide and the clerk were stunned to see me sign my name with my left hand. They were even more blown away when I told them that M & B are both lefties too. Apparently this is unheard of in China.

I know there's been a request for pictures of the porcelain, but it's all packed up b/c we're leaving for the airport in less than an hour, and I really don't want to unpack it. I'll post pictures eventually, but it may be after we return home.

The downside of buying $200 worth of porcelain: we now have two more bags to carry on, not to mention the squirmy girl.

Next stop was a bookstore. We picked up some baby books that have pictures of numbers, animals, household items, etc., along with labels in Chinese, English and PinYin. This will be good for Z when she takes Chinese classes, and will help me too I'm sure. We also got a little something for B at this store, but I'm not going to tell what it is!



After that, the bus dropped us off at a pedestrian mall. It felt a little bit like a Chinese version of Melrose Avenue in L.A. to me. Loud music coming out of every store, and everything is super-stylish. You want to buy it all until you look a little closer and realize that the quality is cheap even though the prices aren't. All we bought was an adorable little stuffed doll for Z (called a Pucca Happy Love doll) and some hair pretties. I really wanted some of the ponytail holders that have big fluffy pompoms on them. I just love it when I see little girls with two ponytails with those on them. Z will have to grow some more hair before they'll do us any good though. We walked the length of this mall and back. We ran into several people who spoke English and stopped to chat, and also saw several groups of westerners with Chinese babies.

Our last stop (and I'm a little embarrassed to admit this) was McDonald's. M has been craving a hamburger, and I wasn't going to say no to some fries and a Coke. It was just like home. The girl at the counter even spoke English. The two main differences I noticed on the menu were that they had banana pies instead of apple pies, and that you could get a cup of corn instead of fries for a side.

Z: An American Girl:

We walked back to the hotel from there, about a 40 minute walk along some pretty busy streets. We attracted a lot of attention. Lots of grandmas & grandpas stopped us so they could fire questions at us (smile and nod, smile and nod, shrug, smile and nod again) and pat Z's cheeks. These exchanges always ended with lots of smiles and a thumbs-up.

Last night we had a group dinner at the Chinese restaurant in the hotel (they advertise that they have a western restaurant and a Chinese restaurant -- I hate to tell them this, but they really have two Chinese restaurants...). Our guide put us at two tables, one spicy and one not. We sat at the spicy table. It was spicy, but not THAT spicy. No spicier than a good chile relleno. Our guide told us it was "medium spicy," but she waited until after we ate & went somewhere else because she said our dinner wasn't spicy enough for her. Maybe she was just being polite and it wasn't really medium spicy but more like make-the-gringos-think-its-spicy spicy.

A few notes on adorable Z's progress:

- She's a pro at sitting up by herself now.

- She rolls over like she's been doing it all her life.

- She slept through the night last night!! This is a first.

- She likes to have a hand towel over her face when she falls asleep. She'll grab anything she can get her hands on & pull it over her face. It makes me nervous to see her sleeping with a towel over her face, so I always take it away after she's fallen asleep.

- She doesn't use a pacifier (actually, she likes to put the wrong side of it in her mouth -- we've tried to get a picture of this b/c it's very funny, but she always spits it out as soon as we point the camera at her), but she does this funny thing where she pulls her sleeve up over the palm of her hand, then puts the inside of her wrist right up to her mouth & makes sucking sounds. She doesn't actually put it IN her mouth, just right up to it. Then she purses those little lips and makes the cutest little sound. When she does this, it's a sign that she needs a nap.

OK, we have a plane to catch, so that's all for today!


More pictures - Mom and Z on the bus:


Z on the Bus with the Pink Panther:

New Construction: