Shamian Island and He Ping Street

We had a great morning and I am feeling SO much better.  We got to Skype with family back home, and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast here at the Shifu again.  This morning there were so many different nationalities represented because of the start of the Canton Trade Fair.  We heard French, Italian, Spanish, Greek (?), Indian and African language conversations going on in the restaurant while we enjoyed our meal.  How cool is that?  :o)  The more I travel the more I learn that the world is really a small place.

At 10:00 we met our guide, Jack, and went for a nice walk down He Ping Street, which is known for its pet market and its herbal and traditional medicine market. Wow!  What an eye opener that was.  Fish are by far the most popular pets: they are quiet, relatively low maintenance, cheap, and don’t require special licenses or insurance.  Fish, in general, when viewed as pets represent prosperity which is also attractive to pet owners.  There are buckets and pans full of different color and size and shape fish, many of them are goldfish, all laid out in rows in front of the market stalls from each vendor.  Next most popular was the turtle, which Jack was explaining to me was also for Buddhist religious practices.  Some ceremonies called for releasing turtles into the Pearl River, which runs through Guangzhou, which has apparently killed the local fish population by overpopulating turtles.  Whoopsie.  We saw buckets and buckets full of turtles, all shapes and sizes.  There were also lots of birds, kittens, and puppies.  All in tiny wire cages, which made me quite sad.  Dog owners, I learned, are required to not only pay for a dog owners’ license but to carry insurance should the dog bite someone or cause damage.  Dogs were not popular pets ten years ago, but as more people are earning higher incomes they are gaining popularity.  (I read in the newspaper this morning that a pet protection organization in Chengdu just rescued 800 dogs from being sold at a meat market.  Go team!)  We saw some unique pets, too:  chipmunks, odd-looking gerbils (white and gray), rabbits, chicks and guinea pigs. 

ground squirrels

fish

puppies (bottom), kittens (top)

baby turtles.

He Ping Street with the Holiday Inn Shifu in the distant background

Past the pet market was the herbal and medicinal market.  I was pretty grossed out, but interested at the same time.  The history behind Chinese traditional medicine is still quite respected today.  In fact, many pharmacies have not only contemporary medications, like antibiotics and beta blockers, but they also carry quite a supply of professional-grade traditional ingredients.  We saw such a pharmacy the other night on Di Shi Fu Road.

Normally think type of thing grosses me out so badly I can't stand it, but I kept asking myself "what" and "why" trying to wrap my head around it.  Jack was so knowledgable, and explained what a lot of these ingredients are for, what part of the body they work on, and such.  I was curious, although I am still not OKay with it, to see what this culture perceives about the world around them.

Everything and anything you can think of.

Filets of dried lizzard.

empty, dried turtle shells and snake skins.

Deer bones and tendons, and deer penis.

live scorpions.

dried seahorse and stomach lining (unknown animal).

Of course they have 'normal' stuff too, like ginseng and herbs, but that's too boring to photograph!

Yes, He Ping Street is very interesting!

Once we walked the length of He Ping Street, we came to the pedestrian bridge to Shamian Island.  It was only about a 15 minute walk.

This is all the water that separates Shamian Island from the rest of Guangzhou.

The architecture here is VERY different.  It is very European (built by French and British settlers long ago).

Look out!  Here's trouble!

Local school children outside for organized exercise.

Walking park, near the playground.

Such a strong little boy!

Sweet ice tea at Lucy's.  Can you spell A-W-E-S-O-M-E?!?!?

Older adults getting exercise in the park.

This is a bayan tree.  They are all over Guangzhou, especially Shamian Island.  They are so interesting, and provide excellent shade.  This is all one tree, about 100 years old.

Future gymnast?

There certainly aren't a lot of Christian churches around in China.  This one, on the island, is just gorgeous!

I caught the hem of my favorite skirt on a screw from a parked bike and made a small rip in it.  Grrrrrr....!!!

Back for a PPD site check.  He made it out with only a little yelp of dissatisfaction.  In and out in 5 minutes.

There are bronze statues just like this all over Shamian Island. 

(Check out the rip in my skirt - ugh!)

Here, let me get that boogey for you.

Hey there, beautiful!  Can I hold your hand?

Interesting statue in front of Lucy's Restaraunt.

More wedding photography on beautiful Shamian Island.  These photo shoots are usually for sales magazines.

No caption needed here!  My carmel frap has never tasted SOOO good!

After our coffee break, we headed over to Jordan's store.  Jordan is a fellow Christian who owns a neat little store filled with the kinds of goodies that adoptive families are looking for:  traditional outfits, Chinese decorations, shoes, etc. and gives really good deals (everyone here bargains.  Matt is the king of bartering!).  We put a pretty good dent in our gift-shopping list and felt good about where we spent out money.

Little man isn't ready for a bamboo sword. Sorry, buddy!

Time to walk back to the hotel.

I have had the most interesting conversations with Jack today, about adoption, raising children, learning new languages, local  history and life in China.  What a blessing to have him with us!

We spent some time getting documents ready for the US consulate appointment on Wednesday, and made plans to go hiking in the mountains tomorrow.  Jack says there's a great view of GZ from the top, and a cute little local restaraunt.  I can't wait!

So I will end my post here.  Elliott is napping, but will soon be up and we are headed to meet some new friends from the USA at a restaraunt called Takila over by the Garden Hotel.  Mexican cuisine served to Americans in eastern China.  This is sure to be interesting!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!