The biggest reason we are glad that I'm out of the hospital is that we had planned to spend the Chinese Labor Day holiday (April 29-May 1) with Gilbert and his family in Tianjin. Tianjin was where we had originally been assigned to go when we signed up with the BYU China Teachers Program. For some reason, the university in Tianjin turned us down, and all BYU teachers that year, so we were then assigned to Shandong University in Jinan. We were excited to see this city, but didn't really know what to expect there that would be different from other Chinese cities. We were in for a pleasant surprise.
Sunday we met for District Conference at the Kinghorn's apartment in the Hanlin Hotel where we hold our church meetings. After a nice lunch with them we took a bus to the train station, and rode a high speed train to Tianjin. We really like the ease of the high speed trains. China runs them efficiently and conveniently. The ride to Tianjin was pleasant.
We got in line for the taxis and there were only three people ahead of us. The guard at the gate looked at the message that Gilbert had sent to David with the information of how to get to our hotel, walked over to the next taxi in line, showed it to him. The taxi driver nodded his head, so we hopped in for the ride. The ride to the hotel was a little less than an hour and the taxi ride cost us 230 RMB!
Lulu, Zina, Marcel and Gilbert. Our first night in Tianjin, China.
David, Zina, Lulu, Marcel, Gilbert.
Gilbert came out to get us when we didn't know where to go after we were dropped off. They had a room reserved for us in a nice place. His wife, Lulu, gets discount prices for travel from her work, so we had some nice accommodations. We had a few minutes to refresh ourselves, and then we were out the door again to go to dinner. Every time we needed to go someplace, a transportation company company they hired, provided us with a nice seven passenger vehicle to get there.
The restaurant was a nice place that specialized in seafood. Tianjin is the coastal seaport to Beijing, so seafood is fresh and plentiful. They ordered lots of food, but we had to be careful to not eat too much and disturb our sleep.
Eels. First time I've ever eaten them. Probably the last time, at least, knowingly...
Very delicious beef and quail's eggs.
Octopus tentacles, with peppers. Chewy.
I guess this fish tasted okay, but I didn't enjoy the fried scales on the outside, nor the bones from the inside.
We went to a park that was close to where out rooms were. Gilbert and Lulu talked me into riding a bike. They have rental bikes all over the place. You scan the QR code, and it unlocks the bike. When you are finished using the bike, you close up the lock, and then the app takes the fee from your account. Pretty handy. The problem for us using them in Jinan, is that most of the seats on the bikes won't go up high enough for us to ride them comfortably. The size is great for most Chinese, not for taller, long-legged Americans.
I was a little wobbly at first, the tires are smaller size and at the chain mechanism is different. All things you have to get used to. After getting used to it, I felt like I was doing okay, not really, totally comfortable, but I felt okay. Gilbert had rented a bike so that he could take their son, Marcel, on a ride, too. We rode around the park and then we headed back to the hotel area, on the bikes. David and Lulu were on foot, so we went rather slow for them to keep up.
One thing that I had said to David a few days earlier, was that I didn't want to ride a bike on the streets in China, it's just too scary! Well, there I was riding a bike on the streets of China! We got back to the hotel and decided that we were going to park the bikes and walk down by the water. Gilbert and I headed to the area where we could park the bikes, and as I was negotiating through two small pillars to get to the area, I didn't steer very well and ended up on the ground as the bike's pedal caught on the pillar.
Gilbert was first to get over to me. I had landed on my right elbow and scraped it up. I was sure that I was going to be bruised on my left leg, and my right hip, where I hit the pedal and the ground. My hand was also hit with the handle bars and I have a large bruise forming on it. It didn't do any wonders for my low back either. I was pretty sore when I went to bed. Gilbert and Lulu felt so bad. We had to not go walk by the water, so that we could go up to their apartment and clean up my boo-boos.
After all of that was taken care of, we sat around in their apartment, exchanged the gifts that we had brought for them, and that they had brought for us, and talked for a long time. Gilbert loves soaking up knowledge. While David went back to our room to get the gifts for them, he was asking me some questions about English, and he wants to know the reasons behind some words and expressions we use. Marcel was happy with the toy truck and 4-wheeler we gave him. After playing happily with it for about 20 minutes, he asked his dad if he could keep them. When Gilbert told him that they were a gift to him, he was so happy! His "xie xie
I rested better than I thought I would that night. Gilbert had gone out and bought "street food," traditional foods that the Chinese like for breakfast, so we went down to their apartment to eat. Frankly, I don't see much difference between some of their breakfast foods and the foods they eat the rest of the day. It was good tasting and we had plenty of it.
Our plan for Monday was to go a theme park that they have built around an old retired Ukrainian aircraft carrier. They employ Russians to come perform and help entertain at the park. One tall, blonde Russian woman was posing with some Chinese in pictures. They had traditional music being played and the buildings were meant to look like old Russian buildings.
Squid on a stick!
Part of our snack before lunch was watermelon and seasoned, fried, fillet of squid. Don't knock it until you've tried it!
Marcel had fallen asleep in the van on the way to the park, so Lulu stayed with him, while Gilbert went with us to tour the ship. It was interesting, but with all the thousands of Chinese in this poorly ventilated and closed in space, it was hot and stuffy. After we had seen our fill, we headed out to meet up with Lulu and Marcel so that we could have a little snack before we went to lunch.
The theme park where the Ukrainian aircraft carrier was. Built to look like a Russian village.
Missiles on the aircraft carrier.
One of the shops in the Russian village of the TEDA theme park.
This aircraft carrier could land a plane or take-off, but it was more for helicopters to land.
Inside it was hot and stuffy. I found if rather endearing that Gilbert would go around to all the things that had a switch or a button to touch and he would try to turn it to see if it would work.
Old aircraft that are parked on the deck of the carrier.
We stopped at the Astor Hotel in Tianjin, where we had hotel rooms for the night. While Lulu was getting us checked in, we were greeted by a hostess who gave us a refreshing drink that tasted almost like ginger ale, without the bubbles. A grandfather that was holding his granddaughter sat near us and we started playing with her.
One of the historic buildings in Tianjin.
This hotel is a historic site. It was built in 1863, and they have kept traditions that they have had for all this time. A lot of the city was build by Europeans ,and a lot of those building still stand. Driving and walking around, you just got a different feeling about the city. In the hotel, you almost feel like you walked into it in the 1890's. Our room was really nice with one of those huge over-sized tubs. Of course we used it! David has missed his bathtub.
The grand staircase in the lobby of the Astor Hotel.
Afternoon tea was held in this beautiful atrium just off the lobby.
They keep this old turn style door in the area where the lobby used to be.
This is the old lobby, now a reading room.
Outside of the hotel from the back.
Our room wasn't quite ready yet, and Gilbert and Lulu had made plans for our meals and to see a Chinese Comedy show. Cross-talk is a traditional Chinese form of entertainment. If you have ever seen the old "Smother's Brother's" routines, it is similar to that, except it is in Chinese, and they wear a traditional Chinese smock. They perform impromptu routines for the audience.
A traditional snack of Tianjin, twisted and then fried bread. They were so excited to give this to us as a gift. Tastes okay.
First, we went to find a restaurant that was recommended to them as being the best baozi (pronounced "bow-tza"). Baozi is a steamed bun that has meat or vegetables cooked inside. We are not sure that any other Americans have ever eaten in the place because they kept looking at us. The woman in charge asked through Gilbert, if we like them. I gave her a thumbs up, and she was very pleased. Yes, they were good baozi, some of the best we've had.
Said to be the best baozi restaurant in Tianjin.
The staff getting baozi ready for the evening dinner crowd.
After eating baozi, we were picked up by another van and driven to a street where we could buy the tickets for the cross talk show. They found out that the show didn't start until 7:30, so Gilbert and Lulu wanted to take us to an old-style street market. They were particularly interested in buying some "snacks" that are available there. They wanted us to go explore the area, but they were starting to close it down and the guard kindly showed us with his hand coming together that they were closing down, so we left. We had to wait for Gilbert to find Lulu and Marcel, and when he did, we got another van to take us back to the Cross Talk Show.
The first performer greeted us in English after bowing to the crowd. Several times after he started his routine, he would turn to us and say something in English. He was funny and amazing that he would have the whole crowd with him and then throw something in there in English. It was fun, but it was getting late and Marcel was tired of trying to be good. Five-year-old boys need to move around. Another van picked us up and took us back to the Astor Hotel. Gilbert and Lulu wanted to walk along the river, but we were tired, so we just went up to our room and enjoyed it.
I kept looking at this sign as we were driving around Tianjin. When I asked Lulu what it said, she said it is, "Don't drink and drive." The cleverest part about it for me was when she said that the characters that are in the driver's seat of the car in the broken wine glass was the character for alcohol. Please, don't drink and drive!
We had to be up and get breakfast before we left, which was served in the hotel dining room. Very good food, attentive servers, and an elegant atmosphere. When we finished, we got our bags and met Gilbert in the lobby to say good-bye. He had ordered a taxi for us that would take us back to the train station. It only took us an hour to get back to Jinan with a high speed train that travels 300 km/h (about 186 mph). We found our bus that would get us to where we could catch the bus that would take us home. We both took naps that afternoon. It was a fun time with Gilbert, Lulu, and Marcel.
A sign inside the stall of the bathroom in the train station. I couldn't resist snapping a picture.
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