Yesterday we traveled to Wenzhou from Shanghai. The trip went very well, and we are now in our apartment.
We got up relatively early, had a traditional Chinese breakfast, took a soft sleeper bus to Wenzhou, checked out our apartment, went out for dinner, checked out the other apartment, and are now outlining our plan for tomorrow.
We ate breakfast at the hotel. It was a buffet, with the traditional Chinese breakfast trappings. The buffet started with watermelon, went on to porridge toppings (mix-ins?), steamed dumplings (baoxi), hard boiled eggs, rice porridge, fried eggs, and soy sauce. The porridge mix-in options included tofu noodles, brown sugar, some sort of spam, seaweed, picked cabbage, and a few other things. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures.
I did take quite a few pictures on our bus trip. We left Shanghai at 10:10am on a sleeper bus. There were about 36 berths, outfitted with a slightly inclined "head" end, a pillow, and a blanket. The trip was very comfortable. The Chinese countryside was rather uniform, with rice paddies, road traffic, white houses with green and orange roofs, and construction. After about an hour, we went over the longest bridge in the world of a certain type- I think it was 26 miles long, and connects Shanghai with the northeastern quadrant of the Zhejiang province.
There are taxis everywhere in Shanghai!
Some pictures from inside the bus:
This is Jenny- she's staying with us in Wenzhou for a few days until we get settled in.
A typical non-sleeper bus:
The Countryside:
We stopped for lunch after about two hours, and had a rice something. It was a small ball of cooked/steamed rice, with a few pieces of meat stuffed in the middle. I'm not sure, but I think the meat was some sort of pig organ. The rice tasted unusual, not unpleasant. On the other hand, the meat was just a bit too unusual.
The second portion of the trip went by very quickly- I slept. It was good. By the time I woke up, we were in the mountainous regions north of Wenzhou. The road was relatively flat, so we ended up going through many tunnels- some of them quite long (1km+).
More Countryside:
There is a surprising amount of construction. It seems like everywhere we turn, there's a new building going up, or extensive remodeling, or road expansion, or train tracks, or something. Lots and lots of construction.
One interesting thing I noticed on the drive to Wenzhou was the subject matter of billboards- they have a very industrial bent, advertising everything from plastic injection moulding machines to fireproof cables. Apparently, the demographic that travels to Wenzhou is comprised of entrepreneurs in search of manufacturing.
In spite of all that, I'm not sure what exactly this sign advertised:
There is also a surprising number of churches in the Wenzhou area. I'll probably touch on this a bit more in the future, but Wenzhou is unique in all of China in that the population here has a high concentration of Christians - about 30%. It is also an area high in businesses, and the Christian businessmen tithe 10%. Consequently, the Christian population has a mucher degree of influence here than it does anywhere else in China.
We got into Wenzhou at about 4:30pm. We met Mr. Jiang at the bus station, and he took us all to the first apartment. There are only two apartments rented at this point, with the third apartment due to be available in about ten days. In the meantime, Shannon and I will have guests!
The first apartment is relatively large. I think it's almost twice the size of our apartment in Oklahoma, with three bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a large livingroom/dining room/entryway area. I think it will work out fine. The kitchen is fully equipped, with a refridgerator, a microwave, a stovetop, a toaster over, a sink, pots and pans, etc. The bedrooms all have beds--two queen size, one twin size--with bedding. It is located about two blocks from the language center in a relatively upscale quarter of downtown.
A few pictures of the apartment:
The second apartment is located in a different building, about 8 blocks past the language center. It is located in the old quarter of downtown, where the buildings are a bit more dated. The condition of the neighborhood appears to be a bit rougher, definitely noisier, and quite a bit more interesting than that of the first neighborhood. The building is also not as secure, with a small entryway, a lazy looking watchman, and switches on the hall lights. The interior of the second apartment, though, is much nicer. I think it was cleaned more thoroughly by the previous occupant, and the furniture quality is much higher- it's both more elegant and better kept-up. Everything is smaller, but it has much more character.
The third apartment is located in the same building as the first apartment- it's just not available yet. It's supposed to open up in ten days.
After we dropped our things off at the first apartment, Mr. Jiang took us out for dinner a fancy chinese buffet. It was very nice, located in an incredible-looking hotel, and had a well stocked buffet. Most of the meats were seafood, with everything from escargot to shark fin soup. There was also a fair amount of fruit, Chinese dates, plums, grapes, melon, and dragonfruit. I was gratified to learn during the course of the meal that the Chinese name for "Dragonfruit" is almost exactly what I had called it when I asked for it at the Asian Market in Oklahoma City. Dinner was very good. Shannon and I ended up seated with Mr. Hsu and Mr. Jiang, and we chatted about the BCOC conference, Mr. Jiang's background with CTI China, and a few other small-talk topics. It was very pleasant.
Mr. Jiang at the restaurant:
After dinner, we checked out the second apartment and then all returned to Apartment #1. For the next week or two, all four of us will probably stay in Apartment #1, and Jenny Hsu will stay with us. There are just enough beds to go around. So far, it is going very well- it's been really very nice to have other people around as we get settled. The space constraints haven't yet been much of a factor. We'll see how things go over the weekend.
:-)
- Jonathan
We got up relatively early, had a traditional Chinese breakfast, took a soft sleeper bus to Wenzhou, checked out our apartment, went out for dinner, checked out the other apartment, and are now outlining our plan for tomorrow.
We ate breakfast at the hotel. It was a buffet, with the traditional Chinese breakfast trappings. The buffet started with watermelon, went on to porridge toppings (mix-ins?), steamed dumplings (baoxi), hard boiled eggs, rice porridge, fried eggs, and soy sauce. The porridge mix-in options included tofu noodles, brown sugar, some sort of spam, seaweed, picked cabbage, and a few other things. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures.
I did take quite a few pictures on our bus trip. We left Shanghai at 10:10am on a sleeper bus. There were about 36 berths, outfitted with a slightly inclined "head" end, a pillow, and a blanket. The trip was very comfortable. The Chinese countryside was rather uniform, with rice paddies, road traffic, white houses with green and orange roofs, and construction. After about an hour, we went over the longest bridge in the world of a certain type- I think it was 26 miles long, and connects Shanghai with the northeastern quadrant of the Zhejiang province.
There are taxis everywhere in Shanghai!
Some pictures from inside the bus:
This is Jenny- she's staying with us in Wenzhou for a few days until we get settled in.
A typical non-sleeper bus:
The Countryside:
We stopped for lunch after about two hours, and had a rice something. It was a small ball of cooked/steamed rice, with a few pieces of meat stuffed in the middle. I'm not sure, but I think the meat was some sort of pig organ. The rice tasted unusual, not unpleasant. On the other hand, the meat was just a bit too unusual.
The second portion of the trip went by very quickly- I slept. It was good. By the time I woke up, we were in the mountainous regions north of Wenzhou. The road was relatively flat, so we ended up going through many tunnels- some of them quite long (1km+).
More Countryside:
There is a surprising amount of construction. It seems like everywhere we turn, there's a new building going up, or extensive remodeling, or road expansion, or train tracks, or something. Lots and lots of construction.
One interesting thing I noticed on the drive to Wenzhou was the subject matter of billboards- they have a very industrial bent, advertising everything from plastic injection moulding machines to fireproof cables. Apparently, the demographic that travels to Wenzhou is comprised of entrepreneurs in search of manufacturing.In spite of all that, I'm not sure what exactly this sign advertised:
There is also a surprising number of churches in the Wenzhou area. I'll probably touch on this a bit more in the future, but Wenzhou is unique in all of China in that the population here has a high concentration of Christians - about 30%. It is also an area high in businesses, and the Christian businessmen tithe 10%. Consequently, the Christian population has a mucher degree of influence here than it does anywhere else in China.
We got into Wenzhou at about 4:30pm. We met Mr. Jiang at the bus station, and he took us all to the first apartment. There are only two apartments rented at this point, with the third apartment due to be available in about ten days. In the meantime, Shannon and I will have guests!
The first apartment is relatively large. I think it's almost twice the size of our apartment in Oklahoma, with three bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a large livingroom/dining room/entryway area. I think it will work out fine. The kitchen is fully equipped, with a refridgerator, a microwave, a stovetop, a toaster over, a sink, pots and pans, etc. The bedrooms all have beds--two queen size, one twin size--with bedding. It is located about two blocks from the language center in a relatively upscale quarter of downtown.
A few pictures of the apartment:
The second apartment is located in a different building, about 8 blocks past the language center. It is located in the old quarter of downtown, where the buildings are a bit more dated. The condition of the neighborhood appears to be a bit rougher, definitely noisier, and quite a bit more interesting than that of the first neighborhood. The building is also not as secure, with a small entryway, a lazy looking watchman, and switches on the hall lights. The interior of the second apartment, though, is much nicer. I think it was cleaned more thoroughly by the previous occupant, and the furniture quality is much higher- it's both more elegant and better kept-up. Everything is smaller, but it has much more character.
The third apartment is located in the same building as the first apartment- it's just not available yet. It's supposed to open up in ten days.
After we dropped our things off at the first apartment, Mr. Jiang took us out for dinner a fancy chinese buffet. It was very nice, located in an incredible-looking hotel, and had a well stocked buffet. Most of the meats were seafood, with everything from escargot to shark fin soup. There was also a fair amount of fruit, Chinese dates, plums, grapes, melon, and dragonfruit. I was gratified to learn during the course of the meal that the Chinese name for "Dragonfruit" is almost exactly what I had called it when I asked for it at the Asian Market in Oklahoma City. Dinner was very good. Shannon and I ended up seated with Mr. Hsu and Mr. Jiang, and we chatted about the BCOC conference, Mr. Jiang's background with CTI China, and a few other small-talk topics. It was very pleasant.
Mr. Jiang at the restaurant:
After dinner, we checked out the second apartment and then all returned to Apartment #1. For the next week or two, all four of us will probably stay in Apartment #1, and Jenny Hsu will stay with us. There are just enough beds to go around. So far, it is going very well- it's been really very nice to have other people around as we get settled. The space constraints haven't yet been much of a factor. We'll see how things go over the weekend.
:-)
- Jonathan
4 comments:
Hey man - praising the Lord that everything is going well for you guys! Keep up the good work:-)
I'm so glad to be able to picture you in your surroundings. That's a good-sized apartment!
Random question - were the rice balls wrapped in seaweed? One of my best friends growing up was Chinese and his mom would make him seaweed rice balls for lunch - just curious if it was the same!
These weren't- they were served in small cellophane baggies. We had some today from the local market that were wrapped in a thin layer of dough, though, so I guess there are different ways to prepare it. I'm looking forward to having one that isn't filled with "mystery meat" :-)
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