A Little Side Trip

With not much going on here except rain ... yes, it's finally raining in central California where we are definitely running out of water ... I pulled out a few of my pictures from China.  At that time, all I had for taking pictures was a small digital camera, with no way to download any images.  Computers were not allowed on the trip.  Instead, we took rolls of Ritz crackers in case we got sick from the food, rolls of toilet paper since they don't have any such animal, and packs of Kleenex.  Let's just say it was a weird trip.

We were taken to San Francisco airport where we were dumped off five hours before the very long flight.  That meant the twenty in our group slept on the floor.  After a many hour flight, something like 14 hours, we landed in Beijing.  It was so "foggy" we could hardly see, except turns out it was SMOG, not fog.  All of China's electricity comes from burning coal.  This picture is Tianenman Square, just about where the man was run over by a tank during the protest march.  Yes, it was scary.

Why would I go to China?  Because the County Chamber of Commerce had been asked to supply groups of businessmen to promote new enterprise in China.  The trip was completely backed by the Chinese government for the measly cost of $2,000 (our plane tickets alone cost $1800 each).  We stayed in three star hotels (the best they have) and all food was included.  It was the trip of a lifetime for six of us friends who worked in the County building.  This picture is at the Great Wall.

Once we landed, we were divided up into busses with a driver and a tour guide.  We were to follow their every instruction to the letter.  Of course the six of us were rogues and went off course at every turn, much to my chagrin.  

At the very first "truck" stop, we were faced with the most horrible smell.  They don't have septic systems in China ... just holes in the ground.  This particular bathroom was a huge upgrade at a nicer restaurant.  No, there is no toilet paper, no place to hang your purse and no DOORS.  Being a ranch hand and used to the smell of dead cattle, I had no problem with this, but many of the ladies couldn't handle it at all.  Lucky for them, most of the hotels had standard toilets.

We weren't even in China one day when we bailed off the bus.  Out of six people, I always voted NO, knowing where we were and what the consequences might be.  The others wanted to see the REAL China.  This was a huge mall, something like six stories tall and full of people.  LET'S GO THERE!!

Wasn't I surprised when we walked in the door and looked down to see this ice skating rink.  WOW!  How cool is that!  I whipped out my camera and began taking pictures.  Tap tap tap ... on my shoulder.  Did I mention there are policemen on every single corner?  NO PICTURE!!  I immediately ditched my camera, afraid he would take it from me.  I made some movements like I was erasing the pictures and put it away.   Thank goodness I didn't end up in a Chinese jail.

We were escorted back outside where McDonald's was the busiest place in the area.  Yes we ate there, the same food as you would get in the U.S.  Too bad it didn't taste the same.  We thought for sure McDonald's supplied the same products, but we were wrong.  The fries were fried in a different kind of oil.  No one finished their meal.

The only way we made it back to our Hotel was because I happened to pick up a business card.  No one speaks English in China.  We had a Chinese accountant working in our office, so I picked up some "how to speak Chinese" tapes and practiced with him on occasion.  

We had been seriously warned about only riding in Government cabs, so we grabbed the first one that came by.  My Chinese wasn't so good, but I determined they have areas they can travel.  They are not allowed to go outside that area.  It took three tries before we convinced (with lots of money) one driver to take us to our hotel, as denoted on the business card.  You cannot even imagine how relieved I was to be let off at the right place.

Every morning we had breakfast in the upstairs banquet room ... things like toast, rice, boiled eggs, mystery meat because I could never tell what it was, along with hard-as-a-rock Swiss butter.  I ate lots of rice.  

Dinners were always at some fancy restaurant.  Fancy is relative when you walk in and see tanks of fish swimming around.  Pick one out, they whack it on the head and cook it for you.  As I said, I ate LOTS of rice along with a few vegetables.  They always served us normal fare ... NO American food.  Most times we played 20 questions trying to figure out what it was we were putting on our plate.

I was okay with that until they put the chicken on the table.  It was a big rooster, cut on half the long way.  Each side had half a head, one leg and some feathers for garnish.  I'm not kidding, it was scary!  I passed on that one too.  

Our first major stop was the Jade Factory.  There was some of the most fabulous art work I've ever seen, all of which were hand carved.  We figured out in no time that everywhere we stopped was government owned.  There were a few people there working on things, but it was a complete setup, making it look like they were so careful with employees.  We were not allowed to see the sweat shops.

As much as I loved the above piece, it was VERY expensive, as in $2,000 USD.  Instead, I opted for the lesser elephant.  This thing weighs a ton.  I carefully wrapped it up and put it in my backpack.  I carried it for the entire trip.  We were told never to leave anything in our hotel rooms because it would disappear.  In no time, I was very sorry I purchased it.  Amazingly, it got back home with no damage and sits on my shelf to this day.

I'll take you on more of the trip tomorrow.  As for now, I have to fix breakfast since I have company.  Then I'm off with my truck to pick up my new surprise.  I'll talk about that tomorrow too.  In the meantime, HAPPY RAIN!!