---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dennis Drake <drakedad3@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 12:46 AM
Subject: Dennis thoughts on Tuesday
To: drakefam51.chloe@blogger.com
Well, today is Tuesday and we leave China tomorrow for home! I wish i could say i am as enthusiastic about leaving now, like i felt yesterday. But i got out on my own yesterday - away from guides and other tourists and just walked the streets near part of the canal that surrounds our district near the hotel. The canal is fed by the Pearl River which is very much alive with fishing and commercial industry supporting Guangzhou. But around our hotel they made it more visually appealing. I was trying to get away from all of the Western influence if possible and see the real city.
I walked across a bridge that went over the canal into some streets that were alive with family businesses. I'm attaching some photos to give you an idea of the atmosphere.
The most amazing thing i stumbled into was a medicine market near the canal. There was shop after shop of families setup in what we would call a flea market atmosphere. No doors on most businesses, just a space with 3 walls and medicinal herbs and other "commodities" spilling out all over the streets from their storefronts. Everything was alive and out in the open. I went again this morning and plan to take Chloe with me in the stroller this evening. I want to see if there will be musicians setup and other artists out marketing their skills, etc. I cannot say how much I enjoy this type of culture. It is so authentic, genuine, real and alive. There are no English speakers that I've found in this medicine market. Buying here is a challenge, but the store owners have found an easy way to communicate and most of them just hand me a calculator. I would put in the amount of Yuan i wanted to spend and point to the item i wanted - or they would put in the Yuan value and show it to me on the calculator. But i don't even know what I'm buying. So far I've bought some Saffron, which is supposed to relieve stress I think, but I'll have to read about it on my own to see how to use it. Then this morning I bought some Ginseng roots - about 1/4 of a pound I am guessing (roughly 100 grams) for 35 Yuan (~ 5 dollars). I don't know what to use them for yet, but they are so popular here I wanted to try them once we get back to the states. This medicine market is apparently quite a business, and some items get very expensive for an average Chinese laborer whose family needs medicine. But this is a busy place so somehow people are buying the herbs, etc. Much of the Chinese thought is preventive also from what we have learned.
There are other things to buy near the medicine market, such as food. I saw some small places where families were selling chickens that they roasted on spits, as well as other meats. There were a couple of bakeries I saw where I was tempted to buy some bread or muffin. I wasn't hungry so i passed on the idea.
I passed by many unique family businesses where they were sorting seahorses on the pavement, or scorpions (large and small). My ignorance is pretty great so i couldn't tell you what the seahorses or scorpions are used for; but there was great care in the sorting. I watched for a minute (did not want to be rude and stay long time), but could not figure out the criteria for sorting. There were live snakes, not like snakes I've seen in the U.S. Not sure if poisonous or not. There were fish, crabs, turtles, all kinds of things. I know that turtle soup is popular in some cultures; so maybe that is what the turtle was for - but other than that, I'll have to learn more about the purpose for all the items. All I know is that I love the culture.
No, these people do not think like we do; but we do not think like they do. This has been my foremost thought while out among the people. I have grown to love and appreciate their spirit, their ethic of hard work and patient endurance of poor living conditions. Conditions we would not tolerate because we think we need so much to make us comfortable. These people are resilient and adaptable. For enjoyment after much work we see them playing a form of hackeysack, or many sit down around a barrel or table outside on the street to play cards or mahjongg or some other game. They live in polluting and adapt to crowded cities. It is a lesson for me that I will always remember. It is also an encouragement to me so that Dawn and I will not allow our daughter to forget who she is. She is and always will be a Chinese girl. We will teach her the truth that we know, and will encourage her to seek her own way when she is older ... to pursue her heart and to find the gifts God has blessed her with.
We go now to the U.S. consulate in a few minutes and this will probably be my last post here in China.
From: Dennis Drake <drakedad3@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 12:46 AM
Subject: Dennis thoughts on Tuesday
To: drakefam51.chloe@blogger.com
Well, today is Tuesday and we leave China tomorrow for home! I wish i could say i am as enthusiastic about leaving now, like i felt yesterday. But i got out on my own yesterday - away from guides and other tourists and just walked the streets near part of the canal that surrounds our district near the hotel. The canal is fed by the Pearl River which is very much alive with fishing and commercial industry supporting Guangzhou. But around our hotel they made it more visually appealing. I was trying to get away from all of the Western influence if possible and see the real city.
I walked across a bridge that went over the canal into some streets that were alive with family businesses. I'm attaching some photos to give you an idea of the atmosphere.
The most amazing thing i stumbled into was a medicine market near the canal. There was shop after shop of families setup in what we would call a flea market atmosphere. No doors on most businesses, just a space with 3 walls and medicinal herbs and other "commodities" spilling out all over the streets from their storefronts. Everything was alive and out in the open. I went again this morning and plan to take Chloe with me in the stroller this evening. I want to see if there will be musicians setup and other artists out marketing their skills, etc. I cannot say how much I enjoy this type of culture. It is so authentic, genuine, real and alive. There are no English speakers that I've found in this medicine market. Buying here is a challenge, but the store owners have found an easy way to communicate and most of them just hand me a calculator. I would put in the amount of Yuan i wanted to spend and point to the item i wanted - or they would put in the Yuan value and show it to me on the calculator. But i don't even know what I'm buying. So far I've bought some Saffron, which is supposed to relieve stress I think, but I'll have to read about it on my own to see how to use it. Then this morning I bought some Ginseng roots - about 1/4 of a pound I am guessing (roughly 100 grams) for 35 Yuan (~ 5 dollars). I don't know what to use them for yet, but they are so popular here I wanted to try them once we get back to the states. This medicine market is apparently quite a business, and some items get very expensive for an average Chinese laborer whose family needs medicine. But this is a busy place so somehow people are buying the herbs, etc. Much of the Chinese thought is preventive also from what we have learned.
There are other things to buy near the medicine market, such as food. I saw some small places where families were selling chickens that they roasted on spits, as well as other meats. There were a couple of bakeries I saw where I was tempted to buy some bread or muffin. I wasn't hungry so i passed on the idea.
I passed by many unique family businesses where they were sorting seahorses on the pavement, or scorpions (large and small). My ignorance is pretty great so i couldn't tell you what the seahorses or scorpions are used for; but there was great care in the sorting. I watched for a minute (did not want to be rude and stay long time), but could not figure out the criteria for sorting. There were live snakes, not like snakes I've seen in the U.S. Not sure if poisonous or not. There were fish, crabs, turtles, all kinds of things. I know that turtle soup is popular in some cultures; so maybe that is what the turtle was for - but other than that, I'll have to learn more about the purpose for all the items. All I know is that I love the culture.
No, these people do not think like we do; but we do not think like they do. This has been my foremost thought while out among the people. I have grown to love and appreciate their spirit, their ethic of hard work and patient endurance of poor living conditions. Conditions we would not tolerate because we think we need so much to make us comfortable. These people are resilient and adaptable. For enjoyment after much work we see them playing a form of hackeysack, or many sit down around a barrel or table outside on the street to play cards or mahjongg or some other game. They live in polluting and adapt to crowded cities. It is a lesson for me that I will always remember. It is also an encouragement to me so that Dawn and I will not allow our daughter to forget who she is. She is and always will be a Chinese girl. We will teach her the truth that we know, and will encourage her to seek her own way when she is older ... to pursue her heart and to find the gifts God has blessed her with.
We go now to the U.S. consulate in a few minutes and this will probably be my last post here in China.
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