Duck, anyone?

Today it rained off and on in Nanning and that makes for some interesting sights. It is not rare at all to see people riding scooters while holding umbrellas, or ladies dressed nicely (with heels and all) riding a scooter or bike while covered with a rain poncho. Too bad the photos didn't turn out so you all could see this too. Umbrellas are common here even on a sunny day as many Chinese like to keep their skin as light as possible (it is beautiful they believe). Half the world away, many people in the U.S. go to tanning beds to get darker . . . go figure.

Not related to the rain necessarily, but still quite interesting is the photo below of the guy on the motorcycle.

Yes, those are freshly killed ducks on the way to some restaurant to be served for lunch or dinner today. You will often see food being transported like this around the city.

Another interesting sight is the bamboo scaffolding. (Sorry, again no photos turned out due to the rain) some of the bigger construction jobs use steel, but most of the smaller jobs use bamboo that is tied together with what looks like some type of grass. OSHA would have a field day here . . .

Today was a day for touring and learning more about the Chinese culture, especially about this area. We went to Qingxiu Mountain and saw a temple that housed several Buddha (photos of the Buddha are not allowed), a really neat Pagoda (Longxiang Pagoda), and we fed the Koi fish in the lake. After returning to the hotel for lunch we ventured out to the Guangxi Provincial Museum that contains many relics from the various ethnic groups that live in this area. A quite educational day indeed.

ZhuZhu feeding the Koi.

Longxiang Pagoda

We climbed to the top of this Pagoda for some interesting views of Nanning and the surrounding area. The misty rain made for less than perfect pictures, but the memories will stay with us forever.

Mom and ZhuZhu in the Pagoda

In addition to our education on the local culture, we continue to learn more about ZhuZhu each day. Today was a roller coaster ride ranging from giggles and smiles, to flashbacks with sobbing and tears. She has also started to test the boundaries with us. She is learning just how far Ma Ma and Ba Ba will let her go (not too far by the way . . .and if you don't believe it ask Keegan and Oliver).

The photo below is at one of the peaks of the roller coaster ride. Sieferts, here we come! Today we saw more of ZhuZhu's fun side. She was jumping up and down and giggling when she found out we were going swimming. She can be so fun and cute. We can hardly wait until that is the norm, rather than the occasional moment between periods of sadness caused by flashback memories of those who loved her so much before we got her.