Surprise!!!!
My mystery destination.......drum roll please.......The United States! I flew to Seattle last Monday and returned to Shanghai yesterday. Abi discovered that she had some extra time off school because her finals were finished early in the week. So.....I went to Bellingham, WA to hang out with her and see Tucker.

I surprised my parents with this unexpected visit. It was really fun to see their faces when I walked in their door.

Jindezhen China

Jindezhen group

On the bus heading to the plane
Theresa, May, Karen, Angie, Shelly, Sabrina...oh...and me....I'm taking the picture!

Our flight was delayed for about one hour. The weather in Jindezhen was not very good. In fact the plane was very bumpy most of the way there. The flight was only supposed to be one hour but it felt like we were up there way way longer than one hour!

It rained....and rained...and rained....and thundered.....and there were flashes of lightening in the sky....yikes!

Note the flooding water.....and the stepping stones to get into this shop

Dinner is served!
We went to a local restaurant for dinner and the place was packed! As we entered the restaurant....everyone turned and looked....and then started waving. It was really funny.

View from my hotel room

Our driver brought us noodles for lunch. We were going to eat them in the bus but this nice shop owner offered us his table. It was a nice break from the rain and cold weather.

Noodles in a bag....and then more shopping in the rain

And then it was back to the restaurant for dinner before we went to the airport.

Notice the duck heads? We did not eat any of those.

Our dinner....Chinese AGAIN?

Korea Textile Shopping

Friday evening we arrived in Seoul for our annual fabric shopping trip. This year there were 6 shoppers from Shanghai. This is part of our gang (Connie, Beth, Kathy, and Julie) outside a restaurant where we had a fabulous Korean dinner. I think I could eat Korean food every day and not get tired of it. The flavors are sooooooo yummy!

Our host cooking our beef on the table grill.

Kathy Long enjoying the meal.

Grilled veggies and beef.

Shoppers at the Happy Quilt Warehouse

Mr. Kang's family
We were very spoiled this year.....they brought coffee and donuts to the warehouse for us while we shopped. Now that is service!

Our grand total for textile procurement this year.....drum roll......1003 yards!
Well done ladies!
I think I could open my own fabric store after this trip.

After the warehouse shopping we went to Dongdemun market and then to an outdoor market.

Food offerings at the street market.

Best made plans.....
Tim and I were supposed to arrive at the Pudong airport within 15 minutes of each other on Sunday afternoon. He was coming from Houston and I was coming from Seoul. It was a perfect plan! However....my flight from Seoul to Shanghai was delayed.....and delayed....and delayed. Originally we were to leave Seoul at 1:30, then at 4:10, then at 5:30....this continued until 7:30 in the evening. AAAARRRRGGGG! I finally got home around 10:30 that evening.

On the road again!

Last weekend I went with some friends to Jindezhen...the pottery town...about one hour flight from Shanghai. We went with a group of 7 ladies...some new to Shanghai...some veterans like me......yes...it is true I am now a veteran. It is fun to pass down information to the next generation of expats. One of the blessing of living here....the people we have met and the friends we have made. There is a "bonding" that happens with people when they are living in a foreign country that is hard to describe. Several of my good friends have moved on but there are a whole new set that have just arrived.

Today I am flying to Korea....yes...I am "getting around" these days. It is hard to keep up my blog when I am on the road most of the time. Our Korea trip is again...."textile research and procurement". There are 6 of us "Shanghai quilters" going this year. This is my 3rd year...I can't even believe it! I will be back in Shanghai on Sunday night just in time to greet Tim at the airport when he arrives from the US. Perfect timing don't you think?

I will leave again on Monday for a "mystery destination"....stay tuned for "as the world turns" by Deb Spofford...

Day 7 Heading back to Kaili

We got up early this morning and headed back to Kaili. On our way we stopped at the San Men Tang Dong village. It is only accessible by ferry.

Love the ferry!

Shelly, Tom, and Natalie enjoying the ferry ride.

When we arrived in the village we noticed these large red papers hanging on the wall. Our guide said that they had to do with some sort of disaster.

We soon discovered that the disaster was a fire. We had seen so many signs on this trip warning people about fire and here it was a reality. One couple we talked to said they went to another village for two days to visit family for the holiday. When they returned their house was gone. This village lost homes for 20 families.

The fire was caused by some sort of electrical spark. The villagers have some money that is available to buy new appliances but the wiring is very poor and they do not know how to make it safe.

The fire happened just a few days before we arrived and they were already rebuilding temporary shelters for the homeless families.

We discovered that one of the read papers was an apology from the family where the fire started. The other red papers were names and donations from other villagers to help rebuild.
This man is the trusted "accountant". All the donations are very public to make sure the money is accounted for and that each family receives their share.

This women invited into her home

Her home was quite nice and had beautiful windows.

This is her court yard where she "suns" her plants.

More sights in the village

There are some very old and strange buildings in this village.

There is a mystery about these buildings because no one knows who built them or who the owners were.

The biggest mystery is the column of letters. It might be a code for something but no one knows. The Dong and Miao language is only verbal. Nothing has been written down because they do not have a written language. And...each clan has their only dialect so it is even hard to communicate from one village to another.

Back on the ferry and now just a short (5 hours) drive to Kaili

We were sooooooo happy to be back in Kaili. Heat, diet coke, clean beds, western toilets! Life was good again! We ate dinner at a Miao restaurant. This is a traditional dish.....fish hot pot. The fish is raw when it is put into the soup and then it cooks at your table. For a minute I thought it was still alive because the fin was sloshing in the soup water. AAAHHHH!

After dinner Sven played the piano for us. He is sooooo talented. Oh and did I mention he speaks fluent Mandarin.....and German....and English!

Just another day in our adventure in China

Afternoon - Day 6 Long Li Ancient City

About 2 hours into our 4 hour journey we stopped in an old city that is famous for its stone architecture. It is also famous because Mao had a meeting here during the civil war. Chinese history says that his is the location where Chairman Mao took power of the communist rebels and lead them to victory against Chiang Kai Chex.
The other interesting thing about this city (and I can't remember the name of this city) is the long bowed street. It rises on both ends and is low in the middle.

Art work from the "meeting place" of the communist rebels.

Chairman Mao's bed room while he was staying in this city

Our guide's grandparents lived in this home when he was growing up. He remembers that it was surrounded by rice patties and he visited them once every two years because it was a long journey from the city to this village. He also remembers going over the mountains on a bus in the winter when there was snow on the roads and the bus had chains to get up the hills. He didn't think it was any problem when he was as kid but now he thinks it was really dangerous traveling on the bus with slick roads without guard rails on the mountain roads. Jason's aunt and uncle still live in this house. This is their kitchen.

We had lunch in this village......by this time I choose not to look in the kitchen when the food was being prepared. Some times ignorance IS bliss!

Back on the bus.....only another 2 hours too our next stop.

Our next destination was Long Li Ancient City. It is one of three "ecological museums" in this area. China and Norway partnered in this project to keep the city and it's inhabitants historically preserved.

This was probably the low point of your trip. Okay...not probably....it was! We were all tired and cold and wanted some sort of Western food. We arrived at our hotel which was really a "hostel".

This is the kitchen of the hotel.

We had one of the VIP suites because we had a squatty potty in our room. I am not really sure that was a plus.....In the photo it looks 100% better than in real life and it was.....a bit smelly.

Our group rallied though and left the hotel for a walk around the village.

This city is really "ancient" . I forgot how old....but....it is really really old.

Door ways dressed for the New Year

People in the streets.

This building was the old school. Now it is pretty much empty with the exception of the first floor. The kids us it for a roller skating rink. Pretty cool!

This village is known for gambling. Every New Year the tables come out and the whole village play for money. We even saw little kids maybe age 5 playing dice and cards with a wad of money in their hands. After the New Year holiday the tables are put away until the following year.

Art work on the walls of one home

Fire warning signs were posted every where we went. All the villages had signs.....some were pretty cute. "kis our joint responsibility"

We walked to the back side of the skating rink and the kids all came to the window to say "hello!"
This village is also famous for the the dragon dance. We heard rumors that the dragon would make it's first appearance this evening. I was not so sure when we saw this guy's dragon still "in progress". The head is really beautiful.

More sights in the village.

a weal to you and me???

Tim was fascinated by this construction style .... this post was holding up a building.

The kids were really friendly and fun

After the tour of the city we came back to our hotel and set up our own card game. We found a short table and some stools in the lobby and moved them outside. It was actually warmer outside than in the hotel. No worries though.....the beer was nice and cold because it had been on the shelf in the lobby. Tiffany cards and this village.....priceless! We also played a game of "pass the pigs". The sun was shining finally! and we had and great time playing cards. All in all....this was one of the most miserable days and one of the best days.


These little guys lived in the house across the street from the hotel. They came by and visited us several times during the evening.

This was my "picture of the day".

We were lucky....the dragon did come out that evening. The kids carry different parts of the dragon. the baskets are made from piglet baskets and they either have a candle inside of the basket or a flashlight. On the first night the dragon goes to homes that have had a special event that year.....like a new baby....or a wedding. The dragon goes all the way into the house and then back out.

It is sort of like our Halloween. The kids get candy and treats from the homes that they visit.