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We woke up at 6:30 a.m., showered, and I caught up on some notes in my journal. We walked to one of the restaurants on the premises for breakfast at around 8 o'clock. It was a Chinese buffet, and there was a narrow balcony outside the dining room. I was looking for a table out there (it was warm and crowded inside) and the staff photographer got a waitress to clear a table for me. As we ate noodles, "flour and egg cake", dumplings, and cookies, he came over to photograph us. Maybe we were the first Americans who ever stayed there? We tried to pose for a photo, but he wouldn't bite. He waited until we shoved noodles and dumplings into our face with our chopsticks, and then took close-ups. So be on the lookout for unflattering shots of us in the hotel's next brochure!
After breakfast, we checked out shortly before 9 o'clock. We were worried that the Dragon Palace (Longgong Scenic Area), our next stop, might be as crowded as the waterfall had been yesterday. But when we got there, it was no comparison. We somehow managed to beat the crowds. It was a beautifully landscaped park, and we walked down footpaths watching families flying kites in the sunshine. Green hills surrounded a narrow river valley. We walked along a footbridge across the river as it cascaded over rocks at a shallow slope. The paths meandered and progressively revealed a limestone rock face which opened into a oarge cave. Water rushed through the cave, forming a very scenic waterfall. We climbed some cement steps to get some different views of the waterfall. Once again, we felt like rock stars as local tourists asked to take photos with us. We felt badly because we were in a hurry to beat the crowds (we had to make it back to Guiyang in time for dinner with Wang Jun's family). After posing for a couple of photos, we had to say we were sorry and hurried to keep to our schedule. There was a very modern glass elevator shaft attached to the limestone rock face. We rode up in it (talk about a gorgeous view!) to the top of the cliff. We arrived at an empty stanchion rope corral and Wang Jun bought us tickets for a boat ride through the Dragon Cave. He would not be joining us, and told us to remain on the boat when it reached the end, and to disembark when it returned here. We had a round trip ticket. We walked down steps to the river level and boarded a shallow wooden motorboat which seated about a dozen people. It was a bright sunny day, and once our boat was full, we crossed an open stretch of greenish water to the entrance of a limestone cave. We were instructed to keep our hands in the boat and to watch our heads. We entered the cave, where brightly colored lights illuminated the stalactites and reflected in the water. The passage was narrow in most spots and we had some minor collisions with boats coming in the other direction (this is why we needed to keep our hands inside the boat!) All part of the fun! Once again, this was no Disney ride on a track. This was the real deal, and there were lifejackets on board in case of trouble. The cave opened up to a large misty cavern, and was very impressive. Once again I was so glad to have the good camera back! The low-light photos came out great, because a flash would have ruined the ambiance. We got to the other end of the cave, and then rode the boat back to the start. We met up with Wang Jun, who said that they are still expanding the cave tour, and that the portion of the cave that we explored was only 1/6 of the total 15 km length. Wow! As we were walking back to the car, we passed an area where they were laying stones to extend the walkway. China is really investing in its national parks. Every park we had visited is so new and clean. They are always expanding and making improvements. The Chinese economic boom is allowing many Chinese to travel, and they are protecting natural places for them to visit. It is very similar to the U.S. in the early 1900's, when our national parks were established. We passed two young women who were sitting in bamboo sedan chairs. The chairs were being carried by two men each. The women were all smiles with their faces buried in their cell phones. Were they texting one another? Posting selfies to WeChat? Anyway, I took a photo as it was an amusing scene. We walked back to the car and left shortly after 11 a.m. Wang Jun had estimated that we'd be there until 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon due to holiday crowds, so we were actually ahead of schedule. We drove back to Giuyang. As we entered the city, we were stopped at a traffic light next to a public bus. Three girls on the bus were stealing glances at us. We caught their eye and waved. They waved back, and smiled. I took their photo and the immediately flashed us the peace sign. We went to a local restaurant where Wang Jun often eats lunch with colleagues. We sat at a table out on the sidewalk and ate our lunch: corn kernels dipped in egg batter, pickled turnip, pork with chilies and celery, and rice. Craig had a Snow beer and I had a JDB. We drove past Wang Jun's "fancy" office building and went to the bird and flower market. Wang Jun gave us from 2:30 until 4 o'clock to wander around by ourselves. Though the name calls out flowers and birds, you can buy just about anything in the narrow meandering alleys of this market. Fish, turtles, tadpoles, birds, rabbits, mice, incense, kitchen goods, tea, traditional Chinese medicine, porcelain, furniture, plastic home goods, etc. None of the salespeople in the market were pushy at all. It almost seemed weird not to be accosted and pressured into buying something! But this was a local market rather than a tourist market. Some vendors sold from carts or simple stalls. Some were located in single story buildings. Items for sale spilled out of the doors and into the walkpaths. We went into a store called Two Little Fishies that sold the most amazing home salt water aquariums we had ever seen, containing vibrant, thriving coral, tube worms, and tropical fish. The tanks were crystal clear and healthy. We walked around, peering into shops, seeing if anything caught our eye. We wducked into a store which sold lots of Chinese village figurines made out of clay. You could buy various landscape elements, people, accessories, etc. Collect them all! We were overwhelmed and couldn't decide, so we bought a piece which includes a rocky hill and a tree, with eight figures perched on it: men playing msucial instruents, playing board games, etc. It was quite inexpensive and the salespeople were very nice. They wrapped it safely for the long journey home. The whole market was crowded with families because of the holiday - especially the alleyway which sold dogs and cats. Some of the dogs were huge! Many were very well-groomed. Some were very well behaved, and others were aggressive. We saw kittens with coloration that reminded us of Inca. We hoped that all of these animals were well cared for, and would be sold as pers. We continued wandering. At one point we heard a mortorcycle approaching. We looked up and saw a motorcycle transporting a (ficus?) tree. The motorcycle squeezed down the pathway between two vendor stalls, barely clearing the awnings. We had to duck down an adjacent alley to get out of his way. He somehow managed to navigate his way through, though. We ran into Wang Jun and Mr. Zhou at 3:45. They also were wandering in the market. They asked if we wanted the remaining 15 minutes, or whether we were ready to go. We had already seen everything we wanted to see, so we decided to head to the hotel. Mr. Zhou had bought us some nice green tea at the market to go with the tea set that Wang Jun and Xiao Yi had given us! What a sweetie! Mr. Zhou drove us to the Sheraton to check in. Wang Jun had a long talk with the desk clerk. When he handed us the key cards he said, "Don't say anything about your room." We looked confused. "You will know what I mean when you see it." We went up to room 1616. It turned out to be a spacious corner room with a walk-in closet, king bed, desk, love seat, coffee table, and a comfortable chair. There was a spectacular view of the First Scholar's Pavilion (Jiaxiu Tower) out one window (we had seen the Sheraton from the pavilion in October, but not the other way around), and the People's Park and massive Chairman Mao statue out the other! It was a gorgeous, comfortable room, with not even a hint of the cigarette smoke that our Thursday night room had. What strings had Wang Jun pulled to get us this upgrade? We had just under an hour to freshen up before meeting Wang Jun at 5 o'clock in the lobby. We said, "You told us not to say anything about the room, but...good." It was very difficult not to say thank you for arranging this room upgrade! He just smiled, glad that we were doing our best to follow the local custom of not being effusive to close friends / family when they do something nice for you. We met Mr. Zhou at the car. He drove us back to Poly Hot Springs New Island, Wang Jun's neighborhood. His sister lives in a condo in the same complex. We parked under her building, and the four of us rode the elevator up to the 23rd floor. We were greeted by Wang Jun's sister Chen Xiaohong and her husband Yuan Huizhong. It was so nice to meet them! Wang Jun's mom, Chen Rulan, was also there. It was great to see her again. We got the tour of the condo. Wang Jun's sister speaks some English, and apologized that her daughter Yuan Siyuan was not home for the holiday (she had an exam at university this weekend) to meet us. Yuan Huizhong served us fancy tea, small bananas, and pears. We always like to share a little bit of our lives at home with people that we meet on our travels. They share the culture, lives, and homes with us, so we like to be able to reciprocate. So we pulled out our photo album, and showed them photos of our home, family, and travels. Mr. Zhou loved a photo of Craig shoveling during a blizzard that he photographed it with his cell phone! When they got to the bungy jumping photo, Wang Jun's sister said "bungy" and sucked air through her teeth. I realized I had the bungy video on my tablet. We played it for them, and they all found it very scary to watch. Wang Jun laughed and said he needed to leave the room. We also showed them a video of highlights from our wedding. That went over better. Xiao Yi and baby Ziting arrived. They handed the baby to me, and she sat contentedly on my lap for a few minutes. Even when she fussed, it was so minor and quiet. We took a few more photos with her and then it was time for dinner. Wang Jun's sister had prepared her specialty: Chinese cabbage in a tasty sauce. We also had Chinese mandarin fish, corn, soya, chicken dipped in chili paste, salmon sashimi with wasabi, shredded carrots. Wang Jun, his brother-in-law, and Craig drank lots of beer, and they served another bottle of the delicious Bordeaux from the other night. I ended up drinking the majority of the bottle myself, as Wang Jun's sister was the only other person to have some. But it was so good! I am definitely becoming a big fan of red wine! Birgit would be proud. Mr. Zhou did not drink as he would be driving later. He is a very responsible driver, and we respected and appreciated that. The spiciest dish was mushrooms with chilies, and they hadn't believed Wang Jun that Craig would be able to eat this. They watched him intently and gave him a big thumbs-up. Craig wasn't putting on a show - he didn't just eat it to prove that he could. He genuinely loved it! Wang Jun's sister immediately ran into the kitchen and added some more chilis to some dipping sauce. She had gone easy at first in case we couldn't take it, but when she realized how much we were enjoying it, she spiced it up even more. When the sashimi was running low. she insisted on preparing more. They wanted to make sure we had plenty of food. We had difficulty not thanking everyone profusely for their generous hospitality, but we hoped that our smiles and full bellies conveyed our appreciation! The family told us that this is nothing compared to their spring festival feasts, where they often serve more than 20 dishes in a single meal! They invited us to visit for the spring festival within the next couple of years, so that we could spend time together, enjoy the celebration, meet the extended family, etc. It sounded fantastic and we will definitely make it a priority to come back and see our Chinese family! Wang Jun started to list off other things we could do in the area, and that he would like to take us to the hot springs and also karaoke (Lost in Translation sprang to mind again...What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding?) Ziting had fallen asleep during dinner but she woke up just before we said goodnight. She is such a good baby! At 9:15, it was time to head back to the hotel. Wang Jun had every intention of accompanying us. We insisted that he walk home with Ziting and Xiao Yi and get some rest. Why should he escort us to the hotel only to turn right around and come back here? We were fine with Mr. Zhou. Just as we are not supposed to thank him because we are considered family, he does not need to play the traditional guide role and escort us to the hotel. So he walked us down to the car, and we said goodnight. Mr. Zhou drove us back to the hotel. There was a sobriety checkpoint during the ride, so it was very good that Mr. Zhou had been self-disciplined about not drinking, even though the rest of us had gotten a little tipsy. We said goodnight to Mr. Zhou when we reached the hotel. Our room had a gorgeous view of all of the colorfully lit buildings of downtown Guiyang. We could even see the statue of Chairman Mao in all of his spotlit glory. We wound down and went to bed at around 10:30. |
 Waterfall at Longgong Scenic Area  Boats about to enter the Dragon Palace water caves  Stalactites lit up and reflecting in the water in the Dragon Palace  Steph at Longgong Scenic Area  Craig and Wang Jun leaving the Longgong Scenic Area  View of the First Scholar's Pavilion (Jiaxiu Tower) from our room at the Sheraton Guiyang  Ziting  Steph, Ziting, and Craig  Home-cooked dinner  Ziting and Wang Jun's sister  Wang Jun, Ziting, and Xiao Yi  |
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