LIFE IN CHANGSHA
11/30: Last night we all went out to dinner to "Happy Tom's" which turned out to be a buffet pizza place. As you can imagine, the food was exactly what one would expect from a pizza place in Hunan, China. The problem is, where do you go with many small babies and yet still experience the local color? We were all pretty bummed until the locals discovered us! There was a group of girls celebrating a birthday and they asked if we would give the girls to them for a picture - we obliged to much giggling. We then joined in for a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" in Chinese no less (our guide had taught it to us) and much more giggling! We all agreed that that small event had saved the "Happy Tom" experience from being a complete disaster!
Changsha is about the size of Chicago and is a bustling city. Across from our hotel is the biggest ferris wheel in Asia and it is covered in neon lights. Next to that is a huge soccer stadium which is surrounded by a plaza. On our first day here, we went out for a walk (pre-baby, of course). In the plaza we found a man "painting" Chinese characters with water, lots of tai chi groups, a group of fan dancers, ballroom dancers, a group of women doing traditional Chinese dance and large groups of people singing! Each group had a leader, the group members all had music and they meet each morning to sing. Some of the groups would stand under the eaves of the stadium to catch the echo -- it was quite beautiful! It really is fascinating to watch how the Chinese live their private lives in very public spaces because of the lack of private housing space. In many ways it is really wonderful and creates a very rich community life.
We found out that no one can own land in China -- only the government. Therefore, even if you "buy" your apartment, you are only buying it for 77 years.
Another interesting thing is the amount of noise everywhere you go - in restaurants they often have both tvs and radios going at full blast. Then at night, we can hear music that sounds as if it is next door, but is really coming from across the street. Add to that constant car honking and construction and you get a sense of it!
As with the rest of China, there is a lot of construction going on in Changsha -- in fact, right outside our room a high-rise is going up. Some days they work around the clock -- all without any saftety equipment (other then hard hats). We have stood mesmerized and horrified as we watch men walking on the cranes without any safety harness!
We have also determined that there is a national morning greeting in China that has to do with coughing up, and then expelling, large amounts of phlegm. We prefer the dancing and singing.
Today we went to the Hunan Embroidery Institute. Hunan is known for its embroidery and it was truly amazing. In some instances, the pictures looked like they are oil paintings -- the detail is amazing. It can take two women over six months to complete one picture -- the work is painstaking. Especially because many of the pictures are of Mao who is featured with a beautiful Hollywood-white smile!
We then went to another store to buy more baby stuff -- I swear that the Chinese see the groups of Americans coming and just start chuckling -- suckers!
Tomorrow we go to Shaoyang Social Welfare Institute which is the orphanage that the girls are from. It is a long trip and will likely be very emotional for all of us.
Eleanor continues to eat like crazy and she "talks" constantly. She is still very smiley though we did have one small crying spell when we tried to put her to bed last night. It will be insteresting to see how it goes when she sees her caretaker tomorrow. |
