GuangZhou is the city my wife Mei was born and raised in. One of the first things I noticed was how old everything was. There were lots of new things, but mixed in everywhere were remnants of Old China. It's something we don't get to experience in USA.
I was the only one who thought this was odd: a corn ride for kids.
There are lots of old twisty trees all over the place. They grow up the sides of buildings, and thru sidewalks on busy streets. No one bothers them.
Is that a van in the far background of this picture? No! It's a super tiny van right next to me. I couldn't see how anyone could even get into it. I always considered myself to be of fairly average build, but in China I felt like a huge freak of embarrassing proportions.
This tree was unusual too. It was 5 or 6 trees which grew to about 8 feet tall, then all turned at 90 degree angles inward, converging together, and then continued growing upward as a single tree. It was the perfect treehouse tree.
Here is Mei with our 2 nephews whose English names are Michael and Gary. Gary (middle) used to make everyone call him Gavin until he decided Gary was better. Before "Gavin" he went by another name but I can't remember what it was now. "Gary" probably won't be the last name he chooses either. We go along with it.
Michael and "Gary" pose with me.
I had some of the most delicious food in my life when I was in China.
I also saw some of the most horrifying food in my life.
This is a typical day in a grocery store in GuangZhou. I guess there are some fairly busy groceries in USA but I've never experienced anything like this in my hometown.
Here's a balcony view from Mei's brother's home. In China you buy your home and you can own it for 99 years. After that it goes back to the government. If you don't have kids to inherit your stuff to, I guess it wouldn't be a big deal. They may have changed this law and now people can own their homes forever, but I'm not sure if that goes for homes people already bought, or if it's just for purchases after the law changed.
I was the only one who thought this was odd: a corn ride for kids. 
There are lots of old twisty trees all over the place. They grow up the sides of buildings, and thru sidewalks on busy streets. No one bothers them. 
Is that a van in the far background of this picture? No! It's a super tiny van right next to me. I couldn't see how anyone could even get into it. I always considered myself to be of fairly average build, but in China I felt like a huge freak of embarrassing proportions. 
This tree was unusual too. It was 5 or 6 trees which grew to about 8 feet tall, then all turned at 90 degree angles inward, converging together, and then continued growing upward as a single tree. It was the perfect treehouse tree.
Here is Mei with our 2 nephews whose English names are Michael and Gary. Gary (middle) used to make everyone call him Gavin until he decided Gary was better. Before "Gavin" he went by another name but I can't remember what it was now. "Gary" probably won't be the last name he chooses either. We go along with it. 
Michael and "Gary" pose with me.
I had some of the most delicious food in my life when I was in China.
I also saw some of the most horrifying food in my life.
This is a typical day in a grocery store in GuangZhou. I guess there are some fairly busy groceries in USA but I've never experienced anything like this in my hometown.
Here's a balcony view from Mei's brother's home. In China you buy your home and you can own it for 99 years. After that it goes back to the government. If you don't have kids to inherit your stuff to, I guess it wouldn't be a big deal. They may have changed this law and now people can own their homes forever, but I'm not sure if that goes for homes people already bought, or if it's just for purchases after the law changed.
I thought Gary was now telling everyone to call him "Super Gary."
ReplyDeleteThat Banana ride is hilarious! cool images
ReplyDeleteEXTREMO
Bob, you are right, he only answers to "Super Gary" now. If we say "gary" he will just stare off into space as if we weren't talking to him. He won't look at us until we say it right.
ReplyDeleteThanks Extremo for you kind comment!