Friends of ours in St. Louis used to live in Guangzhou, so their friends who still live here were so kind to play tourist guide for us on Sunday. David picked us up in a cab at our China Hotel and took us to Lei Garden for lunch. His darling wife, Soon Yi (spelling?!) David, Shane, Lia and I had a delicious lunch of dim sum---shrimp dumplings, pork spring rolls, barbecued pork, and many other small plates that I don't know the name of. It was all delicious. We consumed lots of tea and polished the meal off with a dessert of sweet black sesame paste inside a doughy pastry covered in chopped peanuts. Oh yum!
We jumped in a cab and went to Shamian Island, where foreigners traders had been restricted to live. It is very quiet, with colonial architecture, and many shops that rely on the adoption market. All over the garden street that we walked were dozens of brides and grooms getting their pictures taken in very stylized poses. David said the brides--all beautiful with fresh-from the-salon hair and make up--will put on six or so different dresses and go to different parts of the city and get their pictures taken. It's all part of the prep work leading up to the wedding. And underneath their dresses: blue jeans.
We said good bye to our new friends, and took a cab ride home from the White Swan Hotel--where many adopting families stay--and came back to our side of town. We walked to a restaurant with five other couples for dinner--no English menu, no English speaking servers. We had an interesting dinner: warm beer, cold as ice chicken--yes, the head still intact, peking duck but they only served the skin, seaweed, congee, delicious shrimp dumplings, and several types of noodles and rice. We did not eat alligator, snake, or eel--all living and available to those a little more adventurous than we were. It was quite an experience!
More adventures to follow!
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