Nov 15 I think I can call myself a “streetwalker” after today.

Another day of wandering with the yarn shop addresses as a sort of guide. I headed west from the hotel and found the street. This street seemed to specialize in diapers for children and also for the elderly. There were about 6 shops that only had diapers:

The top one with the orange had pictures of gray haired people the bottom ones had babies.

I passed an elementary school:

Stopped at an appliance shop to see what was available. ( Stoves (much smaller than ours) Refrigerators, washing machines, small appliances etc. )This was a mid range fridge with 3 temperature zones

I stopped in at a place that was either an investment place (people seemed to be sitting and looking at a ticker tape) or a betting parlor. It was hard to tell, but since they had a bathroom that was traditional but clean, I didn’t really care which.

I walked on to Yu Garden. I had been there before in the pouring rain with Douglas, so I decided to see it on a nice day. It is really a labyrinth. One just wanders, looking at the views. A man was feeding the goldfish and then catching them and throwing them into the air:

I stopped for tea in a famous tea house just outside the garden. They specialize in a “flower tea”. The pot comes with just a bud at the bottom. When the boiling water hits it the flower blooms:

The tea comes with small snacks.

Walking back to my hotel I passed a building with 3 floors of wedding dress shops. I stopped in to use the bathroom there, too.

Then I came upon a pashima feeding frenzy. This had to be a good deal. It looked like the Filene’s wedding dress sale in miniature. I fought my way in and joined the scrum. At the door was a girl with a fistful of money. She counted your shawls, took your money and gave change.

I had to walk all the way home because I didn’t have any more money. Footsore, but feeling successful, I had a great day.

That evening was a show at the conference. Acrobats, a magician, folk dancers, a Peking Opera style actress (really a man) and a group playing modern music on traditional instruments. It made the performance in Hefei look really good.

We took a UCLA group, which included 3 Chinese grad students, to a Hunan restaurant that Chuck had found in his book, “The 50 best restaurants in Shanghai.” It was really, really really HOT, but very good. He was so proud of himself when the next day, one of the Chinese guys came up and asked for the name of the place because he had heard about it from the students who had been there.