Yangzhou Shopping and Sites

Yesterday started off a little more relaxing.  We did not have to meet until 10:00 AM again so a leisurely morning and Ali and the twins had some more playing time with their bears and forts.  Our first stop was at the equivalent of the Yangzhou Old Town.  A 2 kilometer block of small shops, restaurants and alley ways.  Of course the first store was a small shoe store and Sue and Ali bought a pair of shoes.  We strolled along this narrow street for 2 hours just taking in the local sites and people watching and stopping in stores.  We sampled some local dessert treats including a candy dragon made of caramel.  We watched the guy make it and it was impressive.  I heard a guy playing a harmonica and stopped at his stand and bought a small key chain harmonica   for $1.50.  I started playing a few tunes with him in his store and drew a little crowd.  Of course Sue and Ali were embarrassed but the owner was very impressed and happy that I brought more attention to his stand. :-)  Dave Clements and I even went back in a few of the alley ways.  It is very interesting how far back they go and the little houses and courtyards that are back there.  I also experienced my first Chinese squattie potty.  Hmmm.

 

We reached the end of the strip at the original City gates and took several pictures before going to another traditional Chinese lunch.  The oddity at this lunch was goose feet complete with the claws.  I was not brave enough to try them this time.

After lunch we headed to a West Lake or Slender Lake as they call it and a reunion with our other group from Gaoyou.  There was so much to catch up on and the girls greeted each other like they were long lost friends.  The experience the group had over in Gaoyou was incredible.  They had a large celebration in the City Park with dances and lots of people from the town coming out.  They also played with the school children there and had lots of other festivities.  The guides let us have plenty of time to talk but then hustled us into the park for a guided tour.  The Park is very beautiful with a lake running through it and lots of flowers and trees.  Part of our tour was on a large boat along the lake.

I did not catch all of the guides comments but I believe that this park was visited by one of the emperors many times.  It also had many Gingko trees which my brother Tim I know would have been interested in seeing.

We spent two or three hours strolling through this park and talking and taking pictures and just generally enjoying the nice sunny day. 

We went back to the hotel for some rest then we met at the Hotel restaurant for the Italian Buffet.  Everyone in our group was happy for some pizza and pasta.  The Deans (from Britain), the Clements, and us stayed in the restaurant until 9:30 or 10 just talking some more while the girls played.  It was a nice evening.