Houhai (oo-hi)

Incredible. That is the only word I can find to describe today, simply 'incedible.' I woke knowing I had less than 72 hours left in China. Talking with my husband this morning I couldn't decide what to do. Jim suggested I hire a guide again so I would have someone to talk to and could glean some information from. It was too late to do so, so - I grabbed my guide book and headed to the French Bakery for some 'white bread & coffee.' Aah, it hit the spot and gave me inspiration. I decided to spend the day at Houhai Lake and Park.

Hailing a cab and getting him to agree to take me there (this is always a major task), we headed off in search of what I was not quite sure. We were driving through town when all of a sudden he stopped and pointed. There in the middle of all of the skyscrapers and traffic was Houhai. It was beautiful! Immediately upon exiting the cab I was approached by a young man wanting to take me on a rickshaw tour of the lake area. I denied and kept on walking.

As I walked it became apparent to me that I had no idea where I was going. There are hundreds of rickshaws that are in constant movement around the area. Another young man approached, spoke in his best broken english and offered a ride as well. We bargained the price, agreed on a 2 hour tour and embarked on our wonderful journey.

Chun Qing was the drivers name. He sat me in the rickshaw, covered me with a fuzzy blanket, insisted on taking my photo and we took off. At every interesting site he would try his best to tell me about it. Most of them had plaques in shinese character and english. He always stopped so I could read. He told me how he liked Mike Tyson then acted like he was punching someone and biting their ear off :) He likes Michael Jackson and showed me The Michael Jackson Bar. At one stop a palace had been converted into a school. He stuck his fingers in his ear, spit out his tongue and shook his head. Later I read it was a school for the deaf.

We stopped at one point and walked down a hutong street. I went into a tea shop and the girl poured me some tea. He sat and watched patiently. I patted the bench next to me and he looked happily surprised. He came and sat with me and we tried many teas. We had Oolong Milk Tea that smells and tastes like milk! We had jasmine tea and fruit tea. We each doned our cup of fruit tea, took a big swig and puckered up like we had just eaten lemons. We turned and looked and each other and just laughed our butts off.

We drove all over the place. We saw men and women toweling off after a cold morning swim, we toured hutongs, courtyard houses and palaces. He showed me Jet Li's house and a kung fu school. It was an amazing two hours. When we finished I began walking and found myself re-tracing the route we took. It was good, it felt familiar and I had so much fun shopping, bargaining and playing. I was told again that I was "So hard on the seller", I am a "Too tough woman." I was told my eyes were beautiful (the Chinese and their damned wrinkle fetish), and a little girl took my photo because it honored her to do so. It was fun. I must have put on my 'Rock Star' clothes this morning.

I had a fantastic lunch and dinner which will be a separate food blog. I also watched as old men played heated games of dominos, chinese chess, ma jhong and poker. It was a hoot. The dominos guys slam them down on the table so you can hear it a block away. An old man was doing water calligraphy, one was playing the chinese violin while an old lady screeched out the song. Children were flying kites and I got to see the longest kite I have EVER seen floating in the sir like a dragon riding the wind currents.

The air had a slight chill but it was nothing like yesterday. It was calm, it was lively, it was beautiful and it will be embedded in my memory banks forever.