Trip to China
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Thursday, September 4, 2008 TOUR OF WEST LAKE AND SHOPPING IN CHINA At one glance I love you With a thousand hearts ~Mihri Hatun Our day started early with a guided boat tour of the beautiful West Lake . Before coming to China , Ian and I had read quite a bit and seen many pictures of Hangzhou and the lake that it is famous for. However, it is difficult to appreciate just how serene and peaceful this area really is just by looking at pictures. The lake is surrounded by very green rolling hills. It is often very hazy around the lake. Pagodas can be seen perched on the tops of the hillside. In the middle of the lake, there are three pillars which are used each year during Moon Festival. During this festival, a light is placed inside each pillar which produces a reflection giving the appearance of thirty two moons on the water. Our guide, Rebecca, explained to us that Moon Festival is based on the lunar calendar. It is a time for families to come together and remember each other. She said that it is common for family members to give one another gifts. They spend time together and eat something special called a moon cake. We have seen many of these moon cakes for sale at the local grocery stores as Moon Festival this year is on September 14th. I think we’ll bring some moon cakes home and celebrate this special Chinese holiday with Sophie this year : ) After our boat ride, Rebecca took us to the older part of Hangzhou which has a very long walking street lined with many small family owned shops. It really was authentic Chinatown : ) We attracted a lot of attention once again and were asked by many people if they could take our picture. One girl was pretty surprised when I then took a picture of her! Rebecca told us that many of the people say, “lucky baby”. Some even want to touch Sophie for good luck. One woman we passed pointed to Sophie and said, “ China ?”. When I nodded my head, she just gave me a big thumbs up. Parents with small babies and children will always approach us and want their child to say hello to Sophie in English. The people have been so friendly and gracious. We actually have really enjoyed interacting with them. We had so much fun walking through all the shops and found some special things to give to Sophie when she is older. Ian even had a chance to practice his bargaining skills : ) The shop owners would show Ian their calculator with a price on it and then he would show them his calculator with a lower price. They would go back and forth until they agreed on a selling price. I’m not sure if we really got any good deals or not, but it sure was fun trying! Sophie is doing wonderfully! I think she just might be the easiest baby I have ever had. She is so content and easy going. She is happy to play with us but can also easily entertain herself with a few toys for quite a long period of time. She loves to be out and about in the stroller but is also happy to be in the hotel room. She is starting to open up to us more and more each day. Today, we have noticed that she is more comfortable making sounds and even blew us a few raspberries. We are learning more about her every day and have discovered that she really doesn’t mind taking a bath. The problem is taking off her clothes for the bath. It is really upsetting for her to have to take off her shoes, take off her bracelet, take the bow out of her hair, etc. She is easily distracted if we hand her a toy, but she really doesn’t like us to take anything away from her…even if it is just for a bath. Overall, she is doing amazingly well! I really can’t believe how easily she has transitioned to us. She is just an absolute joy! She has the funniest expressions and her eyes just twinkle when she smiles. Each time we look at her, she smiles the biggest, cheesiest smile you have ever seen…you know, the kind that makes your eyes completely disappear : ) It makes us laugh every single time! In just four days, we can’t imagine our lives without her! “Would you like to stay forever?” ~Granny Fa (from Mulan)

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