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This morning we got up at 4:00 a.m. to prepare for our flight to Guiyang to see our dear friend Wang Jun and his family. Wang Jun had been our guide for 12 days last October, and we had become fast friends. He helped to put together this whole itinerary for us, and made sure that there was time allotted for a visit to his home so that he and his wife Xiao Yi could cook us dinner, and so that we could meet their infant daughter Ziting. We were very excited to be meeting them!
Wang Jun had been the one to recommend the amazing St. Regis Hotel. We are not used to this kind of luxury. We certainly don't require it. But we appreciate it, that's for sure. We enjoyed every minute here and every amenity. For a last hurrah, we called butler to bring our luggage down and keep it safe while we ate a very quick breakfast. We were the first ones to arrive when the Social restaurant on level 4 opened at 6 a.m. Once again, there was a fantastic buffet, as well as chefs to cook food to order. We were in such a rush that we poitely declined their entreaties and instead loaded our plates with delicious and fresh buffet offerings. We enjoyed pineapple juice, a strawberry berliner with powdered sugar, chocolate chip muffins, white chocolate donuts, sliced slabs of bacon, sausage, yogurt. cheese, coffee, etc. We had to eat and run, and at 6:25, we checked out and met Keely. We drove to the airport and arrived by 7 o'clock. We checked in and said goodbye to Keely. It had been na pleasure spending time with her, and we were grateful for her friendliness, knowledge, and passion for her job. We went through airport security and then stopped at a little store to buy 17 panda ornaments for $2 each. Who doesn't love pandas? The kids in Ecaudor and Guatemala would love them, as well as the fact that they would make cute Christmas ornaments for our families. We tried to get all different-colored outfits, and the store clerks laughed good-naturedly as we pored through hundreds of small pandas and then brought an armload up to the cash register. We waited at the gate and soon boarded a bus to the Air China plane. We were seated in an exit row. The plane took off at 8:40 a.m. and landed in Guiyang at 9:50 a.m. After picking up our luggage, we saw Wang Jun immediately (he towers over most Chinese men, standing a bit taller than us!). He rushed over to us and gave us each a big hug. He said that he'd call our driver on his cell phone. We were secretly hoping that it was Mr. Zhou, our driver from last October. We had really liked him a lot, and would love to spend time with him again. But we hadn't dared to ask Wang Jun about it. We know that tourism professionals take what jobs they can when they can, and he could easily have been booked. We didn't want to make Wang Jun feel uncomfortable if he'd had to hire a different driver. We waited on the curb, and as the van approached, Wang Jun said, "Look who it is!" We looked expectantly, and saw Mr. Zhou with huge smile on his face, waving at us happily from behind the wheel! We were so excited that I started waving and literally jumping up and down. Mr. Zhou parked the van and got out to greet us and gave us big hugs. Wang Jen would tell us that this was teh first time Mr. Zhou had initiated a hug with clients, as the ralationship is usually more formal. But we had become so close that we were friends rather than clients. Mr. Zhou remembered Craig's Tilley hat. He had thought that the rivets and strap on the side looked like a smiley face. Craig handed him the hat, and he put it on his head for a photo. We were so happy to be together again as a foursome! (Come to find out that Wang Jun had booked Mr. Zhou even before we had finalized the trip! and had been keeping it a secret all this time. Well played, sir!) Wang Jun asked if we wanted to sightsee or go to the hotel to rest. He was sure we must have gotten up pretty early...6:30? When we told him 4 a.m., he was flabbergasted. But Craig's MS causes him to be slow-moving and groggy in the morning, and we hadn't wanted to be late. Despite not having gotten much sleep the night before (about 4.5 hours, once all was said and done), we didn't want to rest - we felt good and wanted to spend time with our friends now that we were reunited. We drove to a satellite city of Guiyang. Like all of China, development in this area has been increasing at a very fast pace. This province, Guizhou, has traditionally been one of the poorest in the country, so this development must be helping its economy. Guiyang, the capital of the province, has become increasingly congested. To alleviate traffic and population problems, they came up with a typically Chinese solution: develop a brand new satellite city (Guanshanhu District) about 20 km from downtown and encourage migration. Government offices and agencies have been moved to Guanshanhu, and many brand new apartment buildings are being built. There is also a brand new high-speed train station which offers 480 km/hr service to Canton. When we arrived, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We were surprised and delighted that we all sat together! Typical China guide protocol is that the guide eats with the driver, separate from the guests. Wang Jun said he was breaking his own rules, but we came up with a loophole - we are friends now, not clients! Wang Jun and Mr. Zhou remembered how much Craig liked spicy food (Mr. Zhou had once asked if Craig was Mexican since he knows Mexicans eat spicy food and many Americans do not). Wang Jun ordered us some delicious spicy dishes: chilis, bamboo shoots (We all joked that we were now eating like pandas), sweet eggplant, pork belly, greens, etc. It was as though we had never left. Craig had a beer, and I had JDB, an herbal sweet tea soft drink. We showed them some photos from Chengdu (pandas and dressing up for the Sichuan opera) on my tablet. After lunch, we went for a walk in the nice, brand new Guanshanhu Park. Mr. Zhou usually waits in the car or does his own thing, but this was his first time driving to the park, so he wanted to explore it as well. So the four of us enjoyed walking around together. It was hot and humid today, but the sun was hidden behind clouds most of the time. It didn't make for the best photos, but it made the temperatire bearable. The whole park has a very "green" philosophy. Electric golfcarts are the only motorized transport allowed. Signage encouraged environmental responsibility. There was a nice lake and we could see the modern architecture of the new city in the distance. Flowers bloomed and the landscaping was gorgeous. e saw lotus blossoms and small turtles in a pond, and we noticed many birds. More than 37% of the population of Guizhou province is comprised of ethnic minorities. This park paid tribute to this, with its architecture (a Dong drum tower) and statuary. Kids were playing in colorful playgrounds. We enjoyed walking around and taking in all of the sights. After our walk, we drove back to Guiyang, to Poly Hot Spring New Island, the community where Wang Jun and his wife Xiao Yi live. It is a very nice residential community comprised of highrise condos, gardens, swimming pool, a supermarket, a hotel featuring hot springs, shops, and soon a large movie theater. Mr. Zhou went to park the car and Wang Jun took us up to their 18th floor condo. We met Xiao Yi, and learned that 5-month-old Ziting, born a month after our last visit, was napping. We took a tour of their beautiful condo (or "nest", as Wang Jun likes to call it), It had a foyer, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathsrooms, a study, a kitchen, and a living room with balcony overlooking mountains and ponds. There was a lovely spread of snacks, and they gave us special barley tea to drink. They presented us with a lovely tea set from Jingdezhen county, which has been famous for quality porcelain since the Song Dynasty (10th century). During the Ming Dynasty (14th century - 17th century) the skill was at its height. Porcelain from Jingdezhen was taken to Malaysia and Indonesia and traded for spices and ivory from Africa. It was a very lovely tea set, and we were very touched. We gave them their gifts: 3 baby outfits for Ziting in a bag knitted by my mom, earrings for Xiao Yi made in Bellows Falls, VT, and a T-shirt for Wang Jun from Ipswich, Massachusetts, where we work. The shirt proudly states that Ipswich was founded in 1634, which is considered old by U.S. standards. We joked with Wang Jun and Xiao Yi that that is nothing compared to Chinese history! We looked through Wang Jun and Xiao Yi's gorgeous engagement photo albums and the two of them looked like models. So lovely! The albums had glass covers, and the photos were printed on heavy paperboard, with cute phrases about love interspersed within the photos. We had never seen anything like it, and it made our 8-inch-thick leather wedding album containing physical photographs seem very old-school! Xiao Yi played some baby photos on slideshow on the TV, so we got a sneak peek at the lovely Ziting. It was amazing what a happy baby she seemed to be! We couldn't wait to meet her. Wang Jun and Xiao Yi went to the kitchen to prepare an elaborate dinner. We watched some TV with Mr. Zhou and showed him some panda photos on my tablet. Ziting soon woke up from her nap, and Xiao Yi's mom, Zhu Yongli, brought her out to meet us. She was so cute and smiley! I held her and she was very happy. Xiao Yi's mom kept taking photos ofus with the baby on her phone. They laid Ziting into her lady bug pram, and we kept seeing her little feet kick up into happy baby pose. Her name translates to Graceful Purple, which suits her perfectly! We are so happy for Wang Jun and Xiao Yi on this wonderful addition to their family. Zhu Yongli took Ziting down to the gardens for a walk. We watched TV with Mr Zhou (some sort of China's Got Talent type of show) and he fell asleep for a few minutes. We popped into the kitchen occasionally to observe Wang Jun and Xiao Yi cooking together. Xiao Yi showed us something that looked like a dehydrated slice of potato. She used chopsticks to drop it into a wok of cooking oil, and we watched as it puffed up to about 10 times its normaL size. It looked kind of like a rice cake. We had no idea what it was. Wang Jun showed us the package. Still didn't help - only Chinese characters. Then he told us it was a prawn cake. Xiao Yi rescued some from the wok and we ate them while they were still piping hot and crunchy. They were quite good! Wang Jun's mother Chen Rulan arrived and was quite friendly. Despite the language barrier, a warm friendly smile goes a long way and everyone was soon at ease. Wang Jun's sister and her husband were also supposed to join us for dinner, but they called to say that they were stuck at work, preparing for tomorrow's Labor Day holiday. So, it was time to eat. They had prepared a staggering 11 dishes! Xiao Yi had cooked her specialty - a pork dish, and there were also crabs, shrimp, salad, prawn cakes, salmon sashimi with wasabi, sugary rice pudding, and more! Craig and Wang Jun drank beer. The grandmothers and I drank Bordeaux. It was a delicious meal and we both ate to bursting because it was all so good and we couldn't stop. Xiao Yi had been a little bit nervous about cooking for us, but she needn't have been. Everything was delicious and their hospitality was fabulous. We kept thanking them and Wang Jun told us it was not necessary. After dinner we chatted. The grandmothers guessed about our ethnicities. They thought that I looked Russian, and that Craig looked "American." I'm French Canadian and British, but I found their observations interesting. They then asked about our godchildren and travels. We felt bad that we couldn't comunicate with them directly, but Wang Jun was happy to translate in both directions. Wang Jun asked if we liked Ziting ("the little thing" as he affectionately calls her). What kind of question is that? Of course we loved her immediately! Then he asked us to be her honorary godparents. Although they are not Christian, Chinese culture does have a similar concept. He sees it as destiny that we met and became such good friends. He doesn't really understand the connection that he has with us, but it is real and he wants us to be a part of the family. He thought that it was telling that Ziting took to us right away even though she often exhibits stranger anxiety. We were delighted to be her honorary Gan Die and Gan Ma! Wang Jun wanted to make sure that we realized that they were not expecting (and did not want) us to have a monetary commitment. He wanted us to be pen pals with Ziting as she grows up, so that she always knows that she has family in the United States. He said that they realize that China is too far for us to visit as often as we do Latin America, but that maybe we could visit again within the next five to ten years? We could certainly do that...hopefully even sooner. Wang Jun translated our response to the rest of the family, and they suddenly all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. More cell phone photos were taken of us with the baby. After a lovely evening with our new family, we said goodnight with plans to meet again in two nights for dinner at Wang Jun's sister's house. We were so happy, and we thanked the family profusely for their hospitality, and for welcoming us into the family. Wang Jun chastised us, telling us that you don't say thank you to family. We told him that in our culture, we are used to saying a sincere thank you. We told him that we would try to abstain from this habit while with him, but that it is so engrained in our psyches that we are sure we will fall back into it now and again. Wang Jun and Mr. Zhou drove us back downtown. Along the way, we passed some really prettily lit new buildings and bridges. Everything looks so pretty at night in China! At home we only really get those kinds of lights at Christmastime, but everything is lit up all the time in China. We arrived at the Sheraton Guiyang, where we had stayed last October. It is a very nice hotel and we felt immediately at home. We checked in, said goodnight to Wang Jun and Mr. Zhou, and went up to our room on the 27th floor. This was a smoking floor, and the room smelled like smoke. But it was fine; we would be checking out very early in the morning anyway. We unwound, and went to sleep at 10:45 p.m. after a long but thoroughly enjoyable day. |
 Saying goodbye to our dear Keely at the Chengdu Airport  Reunited with Wang Jun at the Guiyang airport  Craig and Mr. Zhou at lunch  Guanshanhu Park  Lotus and turtles, Guanshanhu Park  Wang Jun and Xiao Yi's beautiful engagement photo  A tea set from Jingdezhen  Ziting with Steph  Darling Ziting  Delicious, home-cooked 11-course meal  Dinner: Mr. Zhou, Wang Jun's mother Chen Rulan, Xiao Yi's mother Zhu Yongli holding Ziting, Xiao Yi, Wang Jun, and Craig  Ziting and Wang Jun  Steph, Craig, and Ziting 
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