Local flavor

On our last day of the Golden Week holiday,  we took a mini adventure to a local shopping area.  We got on the bus not too far from campus  for the bargain price of about 30 cents each.  It’s a fun little bus ride and the locals are definitely not used to foreigners on the bus. The first time we took it, the older ladies all fawned over Alex and decided that Mark and I must be Chinese (from Western China).

At our bus stop, we walk around a bustling neighborhood with fruit shops (we bought some on our way out), restaurants, and brothels.  I was completely oblivious to the brothel until it was pointed out to me.  There’s an angry dog that patrols his area of the street, but so long as you don’t make eye contact, he will leave you alone.  Right past the angry dog, you come to a little bridge, and that bridge is the gateway to a magic area of shops, restaurants, live entertainment, and people watching.

Now I will admit that I made a rookie blogger mistake,  I didn’t check to see how much battery my camera had before we left for the night. So there won’t be as many pictures as I’d like, but I will definitely be going back there again.

There are lots of tea shops and snack places along the way, and Alex asked for his favorite snack- popcorn.  Chinese popcorn is not the same as popcorn in the States. I always think of it with butter and salt, but here in China it is usually sweet with a kettle corn to caramel corn taste depending on where you get it from.  Alex loves it! Personally, I miss salty popcorn, although this popcorn is good too.

We found this place because Mark’s coworker and new family friend, Lynken,  goes there for tea and thought we’d like it too.  The tea shop he goes to make an amazing ice tea! Right across of the tea shop is a little pagoda sitting area next to the river.  It’s so peaceful, I plan on going there to write this blog any chance that I get!

Along the way we found a pet store, Alex was enthralled- it had bunnies, fish, chinchillas, and a raccoon (or what we like to call Trash Pandas- extra credit if your get the reference). Alex really wants a raccoon for a pet now, luckily we can tell him the apartment doesn’t allow raccoons.

As we kept walking along the pathway, we came across a big bridge that lit up right as we got to it.  And all around the bridge there were bats flying around keeping the area relatively mosquito free.

We ended up at a vegetarian buffet and sitting at a large round table with a family we didn’t know. Luckily they thought Alex was pretty cute with his chopsticks and trying all the different foods. I thought it was great, and as good as the cafeteria food is here on campus, it was nice to have a break from eating with all the students.  By now my camera had run out of batteries, so no pictures of the great food or the restaurant. Next time I will correct this mistake. I was able to get two more nice photos on my phone before we left for the night.

one entrance to the strip

Alex wanted to be holding up the dragon