Our Anhui/Jiangsu provincial teams decided to get together this past weekend to celebrate a hybrid Can-Am Thanksgiving. We all rendez-voused in the city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu province.

Yangzhou is the hometown of President Jiang Zemin. I'm not sure about the size, but I actually think Wuhu might be a bit bigger. The streets are fairly clean and are often decorated with trees or miniature parks. There are many joint ventures in the city. Most of them are German, most notably Mercedes-Benz. Yangzhou is a city of character and Western conveniences.

One of the best parts of Yangzhou is the Slender West Lake. It's right beside the university we stayed at. One part of the lake costs 8 yuan to get in. The other part was rumoured to be anywhere between 31 and 75 yuan. Obviously, I didn't go there. There also this charming canal that empties into the lake. Along this canal are some stone walkways, beautiful buildings, and a market.

Coming from Vancouver, I obviously miss walking along the Seawall and breathing in that Pacific Ocean air. The stone walkways were a welcome relief. I loved being right there strolling along the water. It's not only the water, but also the abundance of trees and grass. It felt very soothing. The canal is lower than street level, so it can sometimes feel like you've stepped into another world.

One part along the canal is lined with these unique buildings. The roofs are all Chinese style. Most of the buildings were restaurants. There was one place with swings for chairs that was actually like a coffee bar or something. It was called the Pottery Bar. In the window were displayed many pots. I think they may have been done by customers because they weren't exactly professional looking. Also, there was a place that took people out on these little barges. Each barge was a brilliant brown and gold. Many were adorned with dragons. Inside were lounging chairs and tables for tea. I would love to have gone on one, but I was afraid of the price.

Then, there is the market. That place is full of animals for sale. From what I figure, once you buy something there, it's up to you what you do with it. Anyway, there were a lot of people selling little pups. Lot of the other teachers were simply in love with those pups. One little guy was playing the shoe of its vendor. It was adorable! The variety of birds you could purchase was also astounding. There was this one red parrot like bird that was gorgeous. One of the other teachers found out that the vendor was offering to sell it for 6,000 yuan. A steep, steep price, but it is actually cheaper than what a bird it's size would cost in North America. There were also a lot of fish, plants, potters, and other stuff. This was all right along the canal. What a place!

There was also a history museum by the canal. To see the museum itself you have to pay, but the courtyard kept me occupied. Shops lined the walls around the court and vendors set up in middle of the yard. I was particularly attracted to an painter's shop and the stamp store.

The painter's shop was just chalk full of paintings on a lot of different mediums. Some were on paper and others on silk, but what really caught my attention were the fans. I actually bought one. It has a painting of trees and mountains. I really liked it. Also, I went into the stamp store. It was full of, of course, stamps. There were also calling cards. China has some really beautiful collector calling cards. Then, there were the postcards. Most of them were really expensive. There was only one set for about 10 yuan that I got. But they had a lot of postcards from other parts of the country too.

All of these places and attractions really added a lot of character to the city. Fortunately, they haven't been drowned out by the Western conveniences that exist in the city. Firstly, there are more Western restaurants in Yangzhou than in Wuhu. There are the ubiquitous McDonald's and KFC and the hotels in town mostly serve Western food.

I went to McDonald's twice on our first day in Yangzhou. It was also the first time I had been to a McDonald's in China. The food basically tasted the same. Even the style of service was the same. Bethany really noticed that. She had worked at McDonald's for about 3 years. The menu behind the counter was all in Chinese, but there was a nice hand-held picture menu beside each of the cashiers. Some of them even had English. I was hoping to get a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, but they didn't sell it. Oh well. At least, they still had the Big Mac and Filet-O-Fish.

Then, there are the hotels. These hotels really put most North American hotels to shame. I visited three different hotels on the Saturday. Each of them are unique in their own ways. The first was the XiYuan (West Garden), then the State Guesthouse (where President Jiang would stay if he came to town), and then the Metropole.

We went to the XiYuan early in the morning for a hearty Western buffet breakfast. Amy, one of the local Yangzhou teachers, had collected these breakfast tickets over the past two months and she had enough to share them with all the teachers. In other words, we had a free Western breakfast buffet that morning. There was bacon, sausage, ham, croissants, cereal, coffee, tea, milk, and orange juice. There was even an egg grill. I got a fresh omelette from the cook there. It was great and it was all for free.

The second hotel we visited was the State Guesthouse. Our reason to go there was to watch Amy and my roommate Brian duke it out in a game of tennis. When Brian heard that Amy plays tennis, he just needed to get a game in. The hotel has a huge and lush lawn. The guesthouse and it's other buildings are surrounded by a long wall. Not only was there the hotel and tennis court, but conference buildings, gazebos, streams, ponds, and it's own private landing on Slender West Lake. It was pretty.

The last hotel is the Metropole. This was the locale for our big Thanksgiving dinner. It was a dinner buffet with a mix of pasta, dim sum, hot pot, and more. It was great. Of course, it cost a lot of money. I think we must have spent about 60 yuan per person. And that's the discounted rate. When you make a Chinese salary, that's a lot of money to be spending on one meal. But for a get-together like ours, it was worth it.

I would love to return to Yangzhou again. Mainly because I didn't get to see everything, especially the Slender West Lake. I think a return in the spring may be warranted. Better start saving.