Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Steve, Allison, Sean, Megan and Ryan!
An invisible red thread connects those who are destined
to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance.
The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.
-An Ancient Chinese Belief
Today was a rest, shopping, and Dads playmate day....no appointments and no paperwork! Ryan slept fairly sound (but a bit restless) from 9:00pm through to 7:00am. As soon as he got up, he went to the potty...with a dry diaper! He seemed a little sad for the morning, but began to play again (with Steve) at breakfast. He is very particular about his little green placemat (actually a green wash cloth..don't tell him though), it has to be perfectly flat and without any food crumbs. Once food falls on it, it must immediately be cleaned off!! He uses a spoon and tiny bowl very well, and showed us he knows how to take YOUR plate and politely slide some food into his bowl...then gives your plate back. He was the star of the restaurant all day. He even drank juice from a china tea cup, using the handle and not spilling much of a drop. He eats politely, almost intense like a little old Chinese man (with a bib).
It was a very playful, giggling afternoon, especially with Steve (Allison and Megan are a bit jealous!). Problem is, he wants me to hold him all the time (he is a solid mass of joy), so we had our guide take us to the department store to buy an umbrella stroller. We found a Disney one, but Ryan would not have anything to do with it (a crying, sobbing little Chinese boy with cruel American parents doesn't look good in China). We finally broke him in the privacy of the hotel room, with a bottle as bribery. He didn't care for the swimming pool, then again neither did we due to the arctic temperature (and some excessive spitting by a few men). He reacted about the same to a warm bath, so the temperature had nothing to do with his displeasure.
Megan was stopped at the bakery (with plenty of beautiful cakes that said "happy birthday" in english...who is buying those!?) and hugged her after saying "hello"...Megan replied "Ni Hao" (reversed languages, but cool). The shopping is bizarre. On the same stretch of street there are tiny rundown wholesale storefronts with wholesale street vendors on the very crowded sidewalk. Then you see the American fashion stores and expensive luxury cars parked outside (with a street sweeper using a antique bamboo broom). Then you come upon the street cart food vendors just below the gigantic billboards with images of American models wearing fur coats (who buys those...must be the same folks buying the birthday cakes). All the buildings are either very old and filthy, or very new any shiny. Many do not look fully occupied, some abandoned and some never quite finished. There probably aren't many clean windows other than storefronts, everything seems very dusty.
Our major conclusion is that both Beijing and Urumqi are cities of MANY people and many contrasts all within very close proximity. Bad drivers are everywhere (can't imagine the insurance rates), and the mix of trucks, vans, buses, cars, motorcycles type vehicles, bikes, donkey pulled carts, rickshaws, and pedestrians.
