Out and About in Guangzhou

Today was one of the coolest days we have ever had in China. Most of our appointments are done at this point....we are just waiting mainly on Judah's passport to be issued and to have our appointment at the US Consulate to have his visa issued. So, since today was a free day, our amazing guide took us to "old" Guangzhou, and then to visit a few markets...a pet market, herbal market, and fish market. They were fascinating!!!

First, a picture of the cutest baby I know.....

We started out in old Guangzhou. There is a canal running through this part of the city that connects to the Pearl River. Apartments and shops line the canal way and boats still traverse the waters. We toured 3 joint houses, which 3 brothers built and lived in before the Cultural Revolution.

Local Street

This is called a "wishing tree." Actually, it's a Banyan tree. People come and make wishes and tie red ribbons in front of the tree as they make wishes, usually for their children to be successful.

Meat Market

Old School....

Major Shopping Area

Some Local Cuisine

Scorpions, anyone?

Then we headed to the pet market. There are fish, turtles, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, birds, and other animals for sale (not to eat!).

The herbal market was next. It is the largest wholesale herbal market in South China. Many restaurants and pharmacies come to buy the goods to sell or put in recipes. We saw many things that we had no clue what they were. We also saw ginseng, mushrooms, seahorses, fish stomach (which is apparently good for the skin), snake skin, and worms. Yuck.

Jonah checking out some dried seahorses

Those are buckets of live scorpions. Ick.

More seahorses....which apparently help regulate your body temperature.

I'm guessing this used to be a turtle.

Then, we headed to the fish market. Again, it was mostly a wholesale area for restaurants to come and buy seafood. There were lots of crabs and shrimp....and again, many things we couldn't recognize.

Sorting Shrimp

Then we headed to lunch on Shamian Island, where we stayed last trip, and walked around a bit.

Overall, it was a very interesting look at some non-touristy things that most people probably don't see. We loved every minute of it!

Jude did great while we were out today. He slept for a bit when we came back to the room, and then did a lot of screaming while Rush and Jonah went to the pool. After much fussing, I finally got him to do the sign for "more." Hooray! I think there is some feistiness deep down in there....I think he has been babied quite a bit, and he does not like when you don't give in to him!! Too bad he's so stinking cute!

Tonight we headed out to the Chinese neighborhood behind our hotel and braved a noodle restaurant without an english menu. We ended up with some type of noodle dish with wontons...some crab, some pork. It was good and we were a little proud of ourselves for a successful outing! We also watched a man making noodles there in a little store. It was pretty interesting to watch. Then we stopped by the McDonald's next to the hotel. We figured it was high time Judah got a taste of ice cream. At first, he freaked out and spit it out! Then he didn't even want any more for a minute or two. Finally, I figured out it was too cold on his cleft palate, so I turned the spoon upside down when I put it in his mouth. Then, he was sold! He fussed when it was all gone.

Tomorrow our guide is tied up with some other families who fly into town tonight, so we are venturing out on the subway to the city's safari park. I've heard great things about it, so we are very excited to check it out!!