Our visit to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)
It’s been more than a year since my last post. There have been several attempts on my part, but for various reasons, not one of those posts made it through. Sigh! Anyway, I hope to be more consistent about sharing our stories from this third year in Shanghai. Wow!
I’ll start with our early summer visit to Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), a mountain range in the Anhui Province. In mid-June, just before our home leave trip back to the US, we spent about 5 days in the Huangshan area. And it was spectacular! There were granite peaks and valleys and pine trees and astounding views galore! It was definitely breathtaking and easy to see why these peaks are the inspiration for many Chinese paintings.
Getting there was not as straightforward as we had anticipated. After flying in to the closest airport, we stayed the night at a nearby hotel. The next morning, we hopped in rented cars and drove another 1.5 hours to the park entrance. From there, we were transported by bus to a gondola that took us to a station mid-way up the mountain. We still had to hike the rest of the way up the mountain to our hotel.
During our hike up, one of our little friends fell ill. Thank goodness for the Chinese “sherpas” who, for a pretty price, will carry those in need up to the top. For fun, these guys even added Lily onto the lap of her friend – but it was no bargain. We tipped another pretty price for that.
Take note of the paved trail. Not a single trail in the park was natural. The entire park was paved with granite steps with faux wood (cement) rails, where needed. It didn’t make the climbing any easier but it definitely took away from the natural beauty of the park itself.
Here, my two sweet hikers are taking a break at one of many look out points. There isn’t much hiking to do in the jungles of Shanghai so we relished in the clean air and the fantastic scenery.
In this picture below, the clouds had come in and brought mist and rain. On many peaks, I was reminded of the Olympic Mountain rainforests in Washington: always misty, sometimes raining, with gorgeous greenery everywhere. And when the sun was out, everything glistened!
One of the primary reasons tourists stay on the top of the mountain is to be able to wake up early, hike to a peak and catch the sunrise (it certainly isn’t for the luxury of the three hotels at the top.)
After a couple nights on top, we hiked our way back down to the gondola station. Here is the view from the gondola on our way down the rest of the mountain.
Nearby Huangshan is the famous ancient Hongcun Village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We spent the next day walking about the village, buying little trinkets and tasting little snacks. According to what I have read, the village is laid out in the shape of a cow (or an ox, depending on the source). The Moon Pond below is where a scene from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was filmed.
There were so many quaint little alley ways in the village that transport you back in time (until you see an electric scooter parked on the side.)
It’s not an unfamiliar sight all over China to see meat drying outside. Here, we have some ham hocks. (I like to keep to culinary terms to make it sound a bit more appealing but the little hooves kinda ruin it for me.) And no, it was not one of the snacks any of us tried.
On the other hand, this crispy wafer-like snack was quite tasty. Would have been perfect crumbled over a dish of vanilla ice cream.
Thanks for reading! Hope to share about our next adventure soon.
Mahouts for a day!
Taking care of elephants for a day – unanimously, the highlight of our recent vacation inThailand. At the risk of being too wordy, I’ve tried to use more pictures. But it was just such an incredible experience, it’s hard not to want to say a lot too. In Thailand, Asian elephants are revered. But they are also highly endangered due to poaching, illegal trading and captivity for tourism, and loss of natural habitat. I just finished reading an article sent to me by a friend which saddened me. I am so glad that we were able to see and be with elephants the way that we did, especially after reading this article. http://lifeasahuman.com/2012/feature/the-dark-side-of-the-elephant-business/ (the link for those interested)
On our first day of our spring break, along with the Gunsolus-Paterson family, we spent an entire day “working” at Patara Elephant Farm – a private elephant farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand. “Working” is used loosely here since we weren’t really working in the true sense of the word – not as hard as a real mahout (elephant caretaker). But we were guided through the same daily activities of the mahouts, and we learned enough to change our view of elephants forever.
When we first arrived, we were awed by the sight of several elephants freely roaming around the main gathering hut. There were a couple of baby elephants – one of which stepped on Lily’s foot. Needless to say, she was apprehensive when she had to approach a larger elephant but it was quickly explained that the baby elephant moves as awkwardly as a human baby. An adult elephant knows exactly where to step. In fact, during our introduction, we were asked to pay attention to elephant movements – methodical, patient and with precision despite their size. After the introduction (I will go into more about what we learned after the pictures), we put on ponchos to make us look more like the mahouts. It was important that the elephants saw us as the same as mahouts. We were ready to meet our elephants.
We learned how to determine the elephant’s mood and to ask for permission to approach: flapping tail and ears meant OK to come closer, but not if the ears were held tight to the head. We moved forward with offerings of organic bananas (yes, these bananas are specifically grown on the farm, chemical-free, just for the elephants as their skin is very sensitive). Here, Emily is feeding bananas and making nice with Boon Pak. The tusks made me a little nervous at first.
Next, we learned that examining elephant poop each day tells the mahout whether the elephant is healthy and eating well. Solid poops like the one Grace is happily holding, should be moist and full of fibers. Surprisingly, it didn’t smell that bad – a bit grassy but then again, I didn’t take a huge whiff!
We also learned how to recognize dark patches on the elephant’s side. Those indicate that the elephant slept on its side as it should. These two easy and quick daily assessments help maintain the elephant’s health.
We brushed the dirt and debris off our elephant after asking it to lay down. Imagine having someone ride on your back with debris rubbing into your skin – ouch! 
Larry’s and my elephant, Mai Wan Dee, a 45 year old bull, didn’t want to be bothered with us at first. But after a few minutes of watching us wave bananas around, I supposed he figured he had nothing better to do. Still, a mature 45 year old animal, human or not, does what he wants and we were absolutely ready to respect that! He was quietly, but stubbornly clear about that point when we went for our walk – headed off the track to snack off the branches and nothing we or the mahout said had any effect.
Bathing the elephants in the water was amazing. They enjoyed the water being splashed on them as much as we enjoyed scrubbing their bodies (following the direction of the lines in their skin). It was so much fun watching the girls climb all over the elephants – even elephants needed washing behind the ears.
Our turn for a little shower! 
Nice and clean, we were ready to go on an elephant ride! (And well fed too! The picnic lunch served by the Patara Family was so delicious – fried chicken, sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, and frest fruit.)
Patara Elephant Farm’s mission is to foster the healthy breeding of elephants – to grow the population and sustain its growth. During our introduction, we were told that Patara Farm is a private farm. – it receives no government funding. In fact, Patara Farm shows up in a tourism catalog under Thai lifestyle – elephants are a critical part of the Thai lifestyle and fostering its continuity in a safe, humane way is what Patara Farm strives to do. It accepts rescued elephants and nurses them to health. In the ten years of operation, they have had 15 new births and no elephant deaths. By the end of the day, as Jeanne pointed out, it was amazing the see our children walking amongst elephants, or looking at chatskis and not thinking twice about the gentle giant that just strolled past. Or, the one who walked right into the hut to hang out. The elephants we had the pleasure of spending the day with were such beautiful beings. We enjoyed it so much and hope to return someday.
A busy, but fun weekend
This past weekend in Shanghai was a busy one. On Saturday, the girls had an all day swim meet at which they swam all their best times, so yay for them. And it only took me all season to realize that they both wear a black and pink swimsuit (not their team suit) and not the same style black and pink suit. Not really worth noting in a blog post but when I finally made that connection, I took a picture, and here it is (because I didn’t get any great shots of their swims like I should have.)
cherry tomato kisses for mom
On Sunday, we visited a farm which grows organic produce – got to sample lettuce, spinach and strawberries. Fun field trip on a beautiful day.
produce is grown in greenhouses to protect them from the natural elements.
hard not to eat several for every one strawberry picked. so juicy and sweet!
Most of the strawberries were eaten that night for dessert – the rest barely made it to the next day. Even organic foods back home don’t go bad this quickly!
And finally, because the type of toilets (squatty or western) is such a big deal, I took this picture for my girls. This is to show them that, while we fret about having to use a squatty potty, the locals find western toilets to be strange too. Read line #2 below. There is NO better incentive to have your children go to the bathroom when you ask them than the threat of having to use a squatty.
Today, it was just some random stuff. I hope to have fun things to blog about after we return from our vacation in Thailand – Chiang Mai (temples and elephants) and Hua Hin (beach, beach, beach)! Best of all, we will spend a part of this vacation with some really great friends.
Happy Birthday to my dad! Living abroad has no end to challenges, but on my toughest days, I hear my dad in the back of my mind saying “have an open mind”. Those famous words from my childhood gets me through.
The French Concession
Here in Shanghai, its always a treat to see friends and family from back home. And so it was very fun to see our Bellevue neighbor and friend, Ning, to whom I dedicate this post. Ning and her children have been in Shanghai since the beginning of February to attend her brother’s wedding and visit her parents. Her daughter, Katherine, and Lily were in the same kindergarten class (Yay Mrs. Farris!) We spent one day, the four of us, just hanging around our house catching up. We showed them around our “hood”, had lunch, and the girls went swimming. Lily got to miss school for this special visit.
But the greatest treat of all was spending Monday with Ning, walking around an area of Shanghai known as the former French Concession. This area was once owned by the French consulate and inhabited by many foreigners up until WWII and the Japanese invasion. (Think Lisa See’s, Shanghai Girls). Rich with history, the area is now a trendy, upscale residential and shopping/dining haven with hip restaurants and bars. The streets are tree-lined and quaint. Some of the old architecture remains although, as Ning has lamented, many beautiful buildings have been torn down to make room for modern apartments and other buildings.
Ning is Shanghainese and was raised in the French Concession area. So, it was incredibly special for me to walk around with her as she shared stories about her former neighborhood. We walked along famous streets such as Changle Lu – what was once a quiet street with no cars and only children playing is now a busy thoroughfare and lined with restaurants and shops. And we stopped in front of the building where Ning and her brother used to take afterschool classes.
love the door frame
We also walked through Fuxing Park where Ning used to play.
- stone entrance of fuxing park
This is a well-known park with European influences but it means more to me now knowing that my friend grew up playing at this park – it is not just another landmark. There were lots of elderly Chinese engaged in exercise, a card game, and even ballroom dancing. It was here at the park, while noticing all the elderly, that it struck me how different this original area of Shanghai is compared to the area in which I live now. My area is new and developing – wasn’t even a part of Shanghai as Ning knew it.
Chinese character writing
- ning’s grandfather’s childhood home
imagine hot, fresh bread while you play
sign says "embracing heritage, setting trends"
My appreciation for the area is now so much deeper. She lived in the same area where Chiang Kai Shek (leader of the Nationalist government in China) lived. His former house is now a part of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. And we were able to walk through the house of Zhou Enlai (first Premier of the People’s Republic of China).
front of Chiang Kai Shek's former house
Zhou Enlai's former house - so charming
Ning has only been away from Shanghai for approximately ten years but the amount of change that Shanghai has undergone is astounding to her. And it continues to grow outward and upward. Can’t say if all this change and at the rate its changing is good or bad, but for sure, Shanghai doesn’t seem to sleep! (Except during Chinese New Year).
The Giving Tree
Tuesday in Shanghai, I joined a number of volunteers to help The Giving Tree organization pass out bags of goodies to migrant children. A bit of background: Shanghai has a fast growing and large population of migrant workers. Most of them travel from poor, rural regions of China to economically prospering cities, like Beijing and Shanghai, to work very low paying jobs (domestic help, service, construction, etc.) They have very similar issues with migrant workers in the states. I am still learning much about the social welfare system in Shanghai but from what I understand, it used to be that children of migrant workers did not have dependable access to education. Some children could integrate into regular Shanghai schools. But others were academically behind their city peers. Recently, the Shanghai government committed to providing free education to all school-aged children of migrant workers living in Shanghai.
The infrastructure of the schools is still being set up but basically, they are established in run-down buildings with little or no heat. At the school I visited, the children wore jackets under their uniforms and even the teachers had on thick jackets and scarves. I counted at least 54-60 students per class. Classrooms had no floor space for circle time, no book shelves filled with books or games and barely enough room for one person to slide down the aisle in between the rows of desks. The school also has no playground – no field to run around, no basketball court, not even enough concrete space to just play. I think about Emily’s and Lily’s past and current schools where smart boards are the norm. This school still uses chalkboards. But it is also one of the lucky schools as it has a computer in each classroom which is hooked up to a large, flat screen tv. The teachers all have microphones to project their voices – a necessary tool in a classroom with so many children (no teacher’s aides, by the way.)
teacher in thick jacket and scarf
tight quarters
computer screen - the actual computer is built into the teacher's desk, kinda like an arcade video game
Giving Tree bags being organized for distribution
Each year, The Giving Tree delivers thousands of bags to migrant school children. The bags are first filled by individuals guided by specific information about each recipient child. For example, 400 empty bags were delivered to our elementary school. Each family signed out one or more bags to fill with a pair of shoes, a jacket, new school supplies and an age-appropriate toy. The bags were then delivered to a nearby migrant school by our 5th graders, including Emily. She was able to spend time in a 1st grade class and see the huge delight in the children. (I think it was quite impactful as her wish list for the holidays was reduced to only three specific items.)
My visit was to a different migrant school. What an experience! The glee in the children’s faces and voices! The toys were enormous hits with all the children. But equally exciting were school supplies – basic pencils, pens, erasers and notebooks caused the children to shout across the room and wave them in the air! The jackets and shoes were necessities as most of these migrant families can’t afford them for their growing children. Most impressive observation – the students had to sit quietly until every child recieved his or her bag. Not a one tried to sneakily open the bag. Their discipline and patience was amazing!
the excitement was deafening!
Having been involved with many giving programs over the years, I was naturally eager to find where I can contribute here in Shanghai. Poor is poor no matter where and giving is always a joy.
Hangzhou – West Lake and Dragon Well Tea
Broken Bridge - so named because it appears broken in the winter snow
Sunset on West Lake
But as ancient as the city is, we travelled to Hangzhou from Shanghai in a modern bullet train. What would normally have been a 2.5 hour car ride (given no traffic), we made it in less than an hour. Very fun and very easy way to travel.
303 km/h or 188 m/hrBullet Train
Of course, we still had to get a taste of turkey and the fixins.
At the hotel's Thanksgiving Buffet
One of the highlights of the trip was travelling up one of the surrounding hills to Lions Peak and tasting Longjing Tea. Longjing Tea is considered the national tea of China. While there are many variations, mixtures of other teas, fake ones, etc., the tea grown in the Hangzhou hillsides are the authentic Longjing or Dragon Well tea.
Longjing Tea or Dragon Well Tea plants
a cup of Longjing Tea at our tasting
And of course, what’s a vacation without a dip in the hotel swimming pool?
We had a great time overall in Hangzhou – it was our first trip within China as a family. A few things were missed – family around a thanksgiving table, wild rice stuffing and a pumpkin pie. But its all a part of our adventure here.
Our next trip is to Taipei, Taiwan over Christmas Break. So looking forward to seeing the Dex and the Gunsolus/Paterson families there, as well as my aunt and uncle who live in Taipei.
New Normal
Today in Shanghai, I made pulled pork in my new slow cooker. I had to leave my slow cooker behind along with most of our electrical appliances because the voltage system in China is different. Thankfully, I acquired a toaster and a blender from a friend. And we bought a cute little lime green vacuum cleaner – not my Dyson but I don’t really vacuum much these days. (The reason why is another blog entry.)
My latest purchase, the slow cooker, was bought through an online store. It doesn’t look like the slow cookers I’m familiar with in the states – either the old fashion crock-pot or the newer stainless steel styles. I wasn’t even 100% sure it was a slow cooker. But even though I can’t read Chinese, I could tell the ratings were favorable. Around here, you just try it and if its not all that, well, you move on. So, with one click, it went into my cyber cart and then appeared at my door the next day. (Really cool – next day delivery and you just pay cash to the deliverer.)
Since the girls have been nostalgic for pulled pork sandwiches, that’s what I made. Thankfully, I had the forethought to pack a couple jars of Rub with Love BBQ sauce in my suitcase. The slow cooker directions are all written in Chinese but it looked simple enough. Since there are only two options beyond the “off”, I assumed the middle was “low” and the right was “high”, just like most slow cookers. Within 5 minutes, it started to heat up like normal. After a few hours, the pork was cooked and shredded. In went the sauce and sautéed onions. A couple hours later, in between bites, the girls were asking to save some for their school lunch tomorrow. Very sweet considering they want to buy lunch every day.
The point of this blog entry though, is really about normalcy. (Hence, the reason why I bolded and italized the word “normal” above.) Moving to a new country is really the easy part. Lots of different people do most of the work – we just had to fly here. They packed for us, they made our arrangements, they found us temporary housing, they completed most of our paperwork, they helped us find permanent housing and they even unpacked for us. But no one can help us establish normalcy except us. And while I believe we are doing a darn good job in accepting new ways of doing things which will become our new “normal”, we still get homesick and it can hit pretty hard.
So, making pulled pork became more of a mission for me. Finding a slow cooker became a priority. And tonight, despite the fact that Larry is in India, we had a family dinner that seemed “normal”.
PS – after searching everywhere, I also finally purchased an electric pencil sharpener through the same order. Many stores only carried manual ones made of plastic with silly cartoon characters
all over. I sat for what seemed like hours (probably only 1 though) sharpening pencils and colored pencils and loving the sound of the whirl!!
Follow up to Tuk Tuk
Decided against the tuk tuk for various reasons and decided to buy a vespa-like scooter. It’s fun! Still getting used to driving it. I’m sure the security guards at school were happily entertained watching a newbie try to steer her scooter in through the gate because she can’t make sharp turns yet.
Can’t wait to bring it back to Bellevue with me – hope it can make it up the NE 24th Street hill.
My brain hurts
Today in Shanghai, I had my third, private Mandarin lesson. For my lessons, the tutor comes to my home and we work through pronunciation, vocabulary and sentences/conversation. Twice a week, my brain goes though a 1.5 hour workout at the end of which, it throbs and feels wobbly. I want to reach my hands into my head and give it a good massage but the best I can do is sit and stare into space. Not only does my brain go through a workout, but my tongue and mouth feel fatigued and dry. And I”m not even learning how to read and write characters yet. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the invention of PinYin – the Latin romanization of Mandarin in order to teach phonetically. It’s a brilliant invention in my opinion!
I had been so eager to start lessons knowing that if I could speak more Mandarin, my daily life would become easier. I looked forward to melting away some of the barriers caused by my inability to communicate such as telling the taxi driver to turn right or go straight, or ordering food in a restaurant that doesn’t have a picture menu, or even speaking with my “ayi”. I was hoping that some of the Mandarin I learned as a child would come back easily. (Some of you know that my family were expats in Taipei, Taiwan for a number of years when I was a child.)
Unfortunately, this has not been the case! Learning a new language at my age is HARD! My tongue/mouth is unable to pronounce some of the sounds no matter how hard I try. My brain feels like it has a mesh fence around it where most words can’t penetrate but every once in a while, something gets through. And then, I have a moment of gratification – I learned ONE WORD out of the twenty I struggled with – but its something! I so admire and have a deeper appreciation for people who master several languages and continue to learn more.
Which brings me to ask you all for extra compassion. Compassion is so powerful to our humanity. I always thought I was pretty compassionate and understanding of new immigrants who didn’t speak English. I even tutored people in English. But trying to learn Mandarin has deepened my appreciation for those who must learn a new language – especially those who have so many survival obstacles to overcome at the same time. I’m just a “tai tai” learning the language in the comfort of my home. (Tai tai and ayi together is another blog entry.)So, when you see others struggling with the English language at a store, or at school, or at the post office, I ask that you take a few minutes to reach out and offer them help.
I am confident that, despite my aging brain, I will be proficient enough. It might take me the entire length of our stay here in Shanghai, but I’m determined.
Hope and Peace
But despite his absence, it is from Larry that I gain strength. As he commented on his Facebook page, there is no better way to memorialize those who have perished than to carry on and not allow terrororism to deter living. So, I continue to pray for peace in the world and peace in all of our hearts.
This weekend is actually a very joyous weekend in China and many parts of Asia. Its Mid-Autumn Festival during which families gather, eat mooncakes, and re-tell the legendary story of the lady on the moon. There are several variations to the story but basically a man shoots down 8 of the 9 suns surrounding the moon. He is offered a pill/potion for immortality but his wife takes it instead and floats up to the moon. So during the moon festival, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest, you can see the wife’s shadow on the moon.
Mooncakes also come in variations. These mostly round pastries are often filled with red bean, sweet lotus paste, or meats and nuts. Its a huge business of course, as custom suggests that mooncakes packaged in beautiful tin boxes are given to friends and family as gifts. Even Haggen Daz has gotten into the business of making and selling ice cream mooncakes. This is a picture of a very large mooncake in a grocery store display.
Giant Mooncake
Tomorrow is a new day and I am hopeful. To connect the Moon Festival to the 10th Anniversary of September 11, I hope that the gathering of family and friends and community continues to provide strength, joy and peace to our world.
todayinshanghai 