7-6-99

@8:20p.m.

Our travel plans have changed from yesterday. Right now we are on the train to Wuhan. Rachel or Xiao Hong. Mr. Xu’s girlfriend is with us.

This morning at 11:30a.m. Hugh finally finished. He had the test scores recorded and had taken the papers to the English department. All the students passed. In Class 1, Echo, Daria and Shirley did very well. In Class 2, it was Lucy, Elton and May who did the best.

Lucy was here early helping us to pack when Mr. Xu turned up. E told us that the travel plans have changed. We will have to leave tonight to be able to get on the connecting train to Shanghai from Wuhan tomorrow. The train to Shanghai leaves in the morning at 10:15a.m. So if we leave tomorrow for Wuhan we will not be able to make the morning train to Shanghai. So right now we have to leave this evening, spend the night in Wuhan and take the train to Shanghai the next morning. It is all set. We will do that. There was a frantic last minute preparation in packing. Lucy helped by getting us lunch from Jack. Jack came to say goodbye and I gave him the last of my kitchen utensils. A lot of the students have no idea that our plans have changed. So at the last minute before we left there was only a handful of students who came to say goodbye. They were Enya, Susan, Celia, Alice, Shirley, Louisa, May, Lucy, Roy, Elton, Rose, Joan, Linda and Jenny. Four of them went with us to the train station to see us off. They were Lucy, May, Elton and Roy.

By the time we were ready to leave we had passed all of our possessions to the students. Mr. Xu came at 4:00p.m. to check on the rooms and the electrical appliances. He had a short check out list with him. I informed him that everything is working. He asked us about Mr. Zhao’s personal stuff that he had loaned to us. The mosquito swatter, the electrical mosquito mat and his son’s bicycle. I passed the first 2 items to Mr. Xu and told him that the bicycle is in the kitchen. We were ready to go. We passed the keys to the room to Mr. Xu, who then passed it to Mr. Yang the owner of the hotel. We did not lock up the rooms when we left. I was surprised to see Mr. Zhao outside the hotel. He stood to the side most of the time. At the last moment before we left he did shake hands with Hugh. That was his last gesture before we left. There were no words exchanged. At 4:20p.m. we made our way to train station in a car. There was a taxi following us with all our luggage. Roy, Elton and May followed in the taxi. Lucy rode in the car with us.

At the train station we were ushered into a special waiting room that was meant for officials. It had nice comfortable seats and private toilets. Mr. Xu introduced us to his girlfriend, Rachel. She was at the train station waiting for us. The train to Wuhan arrived and soon we were settled into our seats. The train was air-conditioned and comfortable. We said our good-byes to the students and gave each of them a hug. May looked especially sad and was on the verge of tears. The students asked Mahala whether she will miss them. Mahala told May that she will forget her in an hour, Lucy in a month and the guys she did not know. Before I boarded the train I told Roy to send us his wedding pictures. We got on board and the students waited on the platform until the train moved.

On arriving in Wuhan we were met by Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang had earlier on in the day come to Wuhan to get us the tickets for the soft sleeper to Shanghai. Upon arriving in Wuhan we had trouble holding off the numerous touts who wanted to help us with the luggage and also trying to get us to leave in their taxis. There were 2 ladies who were especially persistent. They followed us from the station to the taxi stand trying to persuade Mr. Xu to take their taxis. Upon reaching the stand we boarded 2 other taxis. There was mush arguing and shouting among a group of people about which taxi we should take. Mahala, Rachel, Mr. Zhang and I took one taxi. Hugh and Mr. Xu took another. Mahala was upset over that situation. She started to cry and kept looking back to see if the other taxi was within sight. The taxis took us to the Hong Shan Hotel. It was a 3-star hotel. Mr. Xu wanted to go to another to hotel with Rachel because it was too expensive for him. Hugh told him he would take care of the bills. Still Mr. Xu was hesitant because Rachel and him are not married yet. There might be questions. Hugh told Mr. Xu that if anyone asks just tell them that Rachel and I are sharing one room while Mr. Xu and him are sharing another. The cost of each room is 316yuan. After checking in all of us walked out to have supper. It was a hot and humid night. We walked to an eating establishment just across the hotel and ordered ourselves a meal.

We had chicken; beef; stir-fried potatoes, cucumber and squash; fried rice; sweet pancakes and 6 bottles of beer. It was an excellent meal. The total cost of the meal for all of us came to 118yuan. While paying for the meal at the counter I saw 2 big glass containers. One of the containers had 2 snakes soaking in wine. A person can buy a small cup of the drink at a cost. I did not inquire about the price. The snakes were twined around a twig and the heads were sticking out off the wine. We walked back to the hotel. By then it was 11:30p.m. By the time we cleaned up and went to bed it was 12midnight.

7-7-99

@7:15a.m.

We woke up at 6:00a.m. All of us took a bath. We are supposed to go down to a complimentary breakfast at 7:30a.m. with Mr. Xu and Rachel. Their room is right across from ours. Breakfast was good. It was buffet style and there were many varieties of food laid out for the guests. I had toast and coffee. Mahala had orange juice and some sweet cakes. After breakfast we went upstairs to collect our luggage and checked out.

Because the taxis in Wuhan are small we had to take to 2 taxis back to the train station. This time Mr. Xu was the only person in the 2^nd taxi. Rachel rode with us. Wuhan is a big city. On the way to the station we saw crowds of people everywhere. People walking, cycling, riding on the buses and people in cars. Traffic was very heavy with buses, bicycles, cars, motorcycles and tricycles all vying for space on the city streets. Pedestrians were crossing the streets in front of the vehicles. It was quite chaotic. Just before getting to the station I saw young male street person. He was sleeping on the street divider oblivious to the thousands of people and traffic around him.

We reached the train station without any problems. Our taxi arrived there first followed by Mr. Xu’s taxi a few minutes later. There were hordes of people there. Families and individuals all crowded around the front of the station. Some had children with them. Some were sitting on the ground guarding their possessions. At the few train stations we have been at this is the normal situation. Mr. Xu hired the services of a man in his 30’s to help us with our luggage. He wanted 10yuan to carry two bags for us. We made our way into the waiting room for 1^st class passengers and so did not have to fight the crowd. The man helped us with the luggage into our compartment. Hugh paid the man 15yuan for his services instead of the 10yuan he asked for.

The compartment is very clean. The pillows and blankets have been changed. It is also air-conditioned. We made ourselves comfortable and finally had a chance to talk to Rachel. She is still in graduate school doing her Masters in English. Her English level is very good, better than Mr. Xu’s is. We found out that she had bought herself a ticket for the hard sleeper and that Mr. Xu planned to sleep there tonight. We told him that is not necessary because there are 4 berths in the sleeper. They can have one each and Mahala can share with one of us. There was nothing much to do the whole trip besides talk and take short naps. Mahala kept herself amused by playing with her toys. We should be getting into Shanghai tomorrow morning.

Hugh also paid Mr. Xu the difference for the cost of the soft sleeper. I think it came to over 600yuan. I am not too sure.

As we travel further away from Xinyang I feel better. Hugh’s attitude and behavior is also changing. He looks more relax and less uptight, at least I hope so. The trip so far has been pleasant. Mr. Xu and Rachel have been most helpful unlike Mr. Zhao. Both of them have gone out of their way to make sure we have plenty of food and water. I bought a box of rice with cooked meat and vegetables in it. It is 15yuan per box for lunch. Mr. Xu and Rachel ate at the dining car. When they came back they told us that it was crowded and the food was expensive. For dinner I bought myself another box of rice and cooked meat. This time I bought an extra box of plain rice to share with Mahala and Hugh. The lady selling the rice asked me for 2yuan for the rice. I only had 1 yuan. She took that and gave me the box of rice.

When we stopped later in the evening I walked down to the platform and tried to buy myself some bottled water. The vendor asked for 4yuan for each bottle. On the train the same size bottle was being sold for only 3yuan. So I walked away. The vendor changed his mind, called me back and sold them to me for 3yuan.

At 8:30p.m. Mr. Xu left the compartment. He wanted to go back to the hard sleeper. In spite of our protests he refused to stay the night in the soft sleeper. He said Rachel can have his berth and he will be all right on the hard sleeper. After he left we went to bed. We slept but it was not a deep sleep.

7-8-99

@5:30p.m.

I woke up at 5:00a.m. I was the first one up. The rest woke up at 5:30a.m. Rachel and I walked out to clean up in the bathroom. Then she went to wake Mr. Xu up. He came over and at 7:30a.m. the train was pulling into the Shanghai train station. By the time we unloaded and came out of the station it was about 9:00a.m. Mr. Xu’s friends were there to meet us. We went in Mr. Lu’s car and Mr. Xu took the other car. Rachel came with us. It took us an hour to get to the New Yangtze Hotel. The hotel is new, located in a quiet area and the rooms are clean. Mahala got sick in the car and threw up. Luckily I had a plastic bag on me. Mr. Xu was there waiting for us when we arrived at the hotel. We checked in and our rooms are right across from each other.

Mr. Lu wanted to treat us to breakfast. So after a quick cleanup we went downstairs to meet him. He took us to the hotel restaurant and ordered some "hoon toon" or "won ton" soup. We had sweet buns, steamed bread, dumplings and sweet rice. It was good and we enjoyed the first good meal we have had since departing Xinyang. After breakfast we came upstairs and rested. I washed up the clothes we were wearing on the trip.

Mr. Lu came at 12:00p.m. and took us out to lunch. The restaurant was located downstairs in the hotel lobby. We had a private room to ourselves. Mr. Lu was there with 2 other friends. They did all the ordering. When the food came there was fish, crabs, duck, chicken claws, shrimps, mussels, dates, jellyfish and 2 different kinds of soup. I enjoyed the crabs.

Mr. Lu has taken a shine to Mahala. He keeps wanting to hold her hand. Mahala is uncomfortable with that. He wanted to have his picture taken with Mahala and we obliged him.

After lunch we came upstairs and rested some more. At 2:00p.m. we walked down to the lobby and asked the manager on duty where Nanjing Street is in relation to the hotel. He showed us a map and told us to go there it would cost us 80yuan by taxi. The trip would take about an hour depending on the traffic. The hotel is outside the city limits. So we decided to go to a closer shopping district close to the hotel. The trip there by taxi costs 12yuan.

We checked out 2 supermarkets but I did not find anything I liked or wanted. Everything was overpriced in both places. We did buy some pork floss and bread and pastries in one. Rachel bought a packet too for her grandmother. Rachel and Mr. Xu looked at some shoes and dresses but it was way too much. We walked to the street bazaar and checked out some shops. We came away empty handed. We saw a bookshop and went inside to browse. Hugh bought some books for the library and paid 50yuan for them. We will pass it to Mr. Xu so that he can give it to the librarians next semester.

Outside the bookshop we ran into a little girl about Mahala’s age. The girl came up to Hugh with an empty can in her hand and begged for money. Rachel asked Mr. Xu to get rid of the girl. He said something to her in Chinese and the little girl walked away. Further on the same thing happened. Only this time it was a little boy. Rachel told the boy to leave us alone or else r. Xu would beat him up. Both children looked scruffy and dirty. We wondered if both these children come from the country. Surely there must be an adult who is the mastermind or leader of these children or maybe it could be their own parents who are using them this way. There was also an older woman in her 40’s who had a sleeping child in her arms. She was sitting cross legged on the sidewalk begging too.

We kept walking until we reached a market. Mr. Xu and Rachel bought peaches and longans and shared them with us. We decided to call it a day and hailed a taxi down. Mr. Xu sat in front with the driver and made arrangements with him to take us to the downtown shopping area tomorrow morning at 8:00a.m. The taxi driver dropped us off at the mouth of the Yangtze River. It is within walking distance to the hotel. To get into the park we had to pay a minimum charge. We did. We walked down the promenade and sat down on a bench under some trees. We took out our pastries and ate them. Mr. Xu and Rachel walked further down. We walked back to the hotel.

At 6:40p.m. Mr. Lu came to the hotel. His friend Mr. Yang was going to take us all out to dinner. This time Mr. Yang drove us to the restaurant , which is about 15 minutes away. Mr. Xu, Mr. Lu and another gentleman took a taxi there.

We were served many different kinds of food but the most outstanding dish was fried snake. There was about 10 to 12 pieces of meat on the plate. Hugh ate 5 pieces of the meat. He especially liked the tail meat. I was not that adventurous. Rachel tried it too and liked it. The waitress brought in another plate piled high up the snake skin. The skin had been shredded up. Hugh did not try the skin but Rachel ate some and told us it was delicious. After that the waitress brought in 2 tiny wine glasses. One had clear liquid in it and the other had red liquid. We looked closer and decided to ask what it was. Mr. Xu told us one glass held the blood and the other the liver of the snake. Usually the restaurant serve the those two thing to their guests to prove that the snake had just been killed. The diners were supposed to drink the blood and eat the liver. While we were there no one did. I suppose someone will do it after we leave. According to Hugh’s calculations the snake must have been 5 to 6 feet long.

There were lots of beer. Our host ordered Heineken and a bottle of the most expensive white wine in China. Hugh drank multiple glasses of the beer and had a shot of the white wine. The beer was 20yuan for a liter bottle and the wine was 500yuan. During dinner Mr. Yang told r. Xu that he is wasting his time and talent working at Xinyang Teachers’ College. That town is too small and rural. Mr. Xu should come to Shanghai where there are many opportunities for a man like him.

We made our excuses to leave around 8:30p.m. Mr. Xu got us a taxi and we left him and Rachel at the restaurant to their drinking. It was good to get back to the hotel and take a hot bath and just relax.

7-9-99

@7:30a.m.

I woke up around 6:00a.m. Hugh did too. Today is Friday and we are going downtown at 8:00a.m. All of us took a bath and got dressed.

Yesterday night Rachel knocked on our door at 10:00p.m. She was reassured that we came back with no problems at all. Mr. Xu called us up later. I was not aware of the time because we were sleeping then. He was just checking on us. This morning over cups of coffee that we made in the hotel room we talked about our trip and what we have experienced so far. Mahala reminded us of the more exotic food items we have been served with since arriving in Shanghai. There have been pig’s tongue, sea cucumbers, abalone, taro and snake. We have had fish from the Yangtze River. With all these wonderful dishes we were never served any rice at all for both lunch and dinner. During both occasions all the men smoked with the exception of Rachel and us. All of them smoked a brand of cigarettes called "Chung Hwa" or China. It is a brand favored by the late Chairman Mao Tse Tong. It is very expensive and a packet runs from 25yuan to 30yuan. It is a status symbol to be seen smoking this brand.

The taxi that we had ordered from yesterday was on time. He was waiting for us at 8:00a.m. outside the hotel. Our day of adventure is starting. The freeway was fine but as soon as we exited that the traffic pattern changed. There were traffic jams everywhere on the city streets. It was a mess. Gridlock on all the city intersections. The construction going on everywhere did not help matters too much. We breathed in so much exhaust and fumes from the vehicles that Rachel felt sick. Mahala was not feeling great either. The taxi dropped us off at the Bund, Shanghai’s famous water front landmark. We were not anywhere close to Nanjing Street where the shopping mall is. Mr. Xu had to ask for directions to get there.

Since none of us have had any breakfast we stopped at a noodle shop. I ordered some noodles with eggs and shared the plate with Mahala. I forgot what Mr. Xu and Rachel had. Hugh did not want any. We finally made our way to the shopping area. I bought some Chinese dolls, silk handkerchiefs, a nice carved box, 2 cheongsams and a fancy Chinese crown for Mahala. We split up with Mr. Xu and Rachel and chose a spot where we were to meet. While waiting for them we sat outside one of the shops and bought ourselves a drink. We talked to a young girl that was manning the store. She spoke decent English. Mr. Xu walked up with Rachel and we walked to another part of the shopping area.

We walked past some shops selling gold jewelry. Mr. Xu wanted to go in to have a look. At the first one he did not see anything he liked. At the 2^nd shop Rachel and Mr. Xu wondered off towards the section selling rings. Mr. Xu then told us that he was intending to get Rachel a ring. Its significance is great. That shows real commitment on his part. We left them to browse on their own. After deciding on the ring that she liked Mr. Xu bought it. Mr. Xu slipped it on her finger before leaving the shop. I could tell Rachel was feeling real happy at that moment. There was a glow in her face and eyes. What more can a woman want.

We decided to have a bite to eat at one of the local burger joint. It was called Mos Burger. We invited Mr. Xu to join us but they declined. Instead they wanted to walk around more and would come back to meet us there an hour later. We had our first burger and fries which was definitely not tasty at all. Across from the burger place there was another shop. I walked in there and bought myself some hand-cut paper designs.

When Mr. Xu came we told him that we were feeling very tired and have decided to go back to the hotel. Mr. Xu and Rachel were planning to walk to the Bund to see the TV Tower. Then at 6:00p.m. he was going to meet up with Tim. I know Mr. Xu was anxious to have us meet Tim but we were too tired to wait until that time.

So Mr. Xu called a taxi for us and after explaining to the driver where the hotel was and agreeing to the price we said goodbye to them. The taxi driver deposited us at the hotel and instead of charging us the agreed fare of 75yuan he charged us the full metered rate of 85yuan. On top of that he wanted an extra 6yuan for the toll fare back. Hugh paid him what he asked. The taxi driver was not an honest person. I wondered if he had deliberately taken the long way back to the hotel in order to charge us that extra 10yuan.

We rested some and at 6:00p.m. we walked down to the lobby. Hugh wanted to check on the hotel bills. If we understand correctly, Mr. Lu has paid for our bills. That is a lot of money to pay for three people he has only known for 2 days. The receptionist did not understand English so we could not make our inquiries. Feeling hungry we walked to the restaurant located on the 2^nd floor of the hotel and ordered us a meal. We had fried rice and "hoon toon". We ordered 2 cups of coffee and a Pepsi for Mahala. The bill came to 48yuan.

We also made a call to Grandma later that night. It was 4:30a.m. her time. We had woken her up. We talked for about 2 minutes. She told us that she will be at LAX to pick us up. After making that call we came downstairs again. We wanted to pay for the call. The front desk did not have the phone charges yet. The girl told us to come back in the morning to find out the charges was.

7-10-99

@1:55p.m

This morning we woke up early. Yesterday we had an early night. All of us were asleep by 9:30a.m. Yesterday at 10:00p.m. Mr. Xu called us up from his room. Mr. Xu had gotten in touch with Tim yesterday evening. Tim is coming by today in the evening to meet us. Between the hours of 6:00p.m. and 7:00p.m.

This morning Mr. Lu took us out to breakfast again. His friend Mr. Yen was with him. We ate at the hotel restaurant. Mr. Lu is in the construction business mainly freeways and is going back today to his work site. We thanked Mr. Lu for the hospitality he showed to us.

At 11:00a.m. Rachel and Mr. Xu left to go downtown. They are meeting Tim again and Rachel wants to go shopping. We have decided to just stay in the hotel and rest. Before they left I gave Rachel 100yuan and asked her if she could buy me more of the paper cutouts. Mr. Xu also called up the airlines and confirmed our flight for us tomorrow. We have decided to leave at 1:00p.m. for the airport.

Hugh is on one of his crusades again this morning. He keeps harping on the fact that no one is telling him how much our hotel bill is so far. The reason we cannot find out how much we owe the hotel is because none of the staff here understands English well enough. He is all worked up over this issue. He seems to think I am working against him and he wants an independent interpreter. What can I do? I do not speak the language well enough to make myself understood to the staff of this hotel. In fact he has accused me of conspiring against him this morning and that I am on the side of the Chinese. He is getting paranoid over the hotel bills. He thinks Mr. Xu and the hotel management are in league to rip him off.

As usual Hugh has told me that we can go home fighting and that if I do not resolve this situation between us we had better go our own separate ways. He has just accused me of being angry with him. I should be angry after all the insults and accusations he just hurled at me. Of usual he had the last words to say. "Say as few words as you can during the next few days." I will try to oblige him in his request. Even now, on the last day before we leave China we are still fighting.

Tonight we finally met Tim, the last foreign teacher. He is a nice young man from Florida. He is doing better in China than our family. He is adjusting and has a good command of the Chinese language. That helps in his everyday interaction with the local population. He has his own apartment and even has a Chinese girlfriend. He works for an international company but was not too specific about his job designation.

Since all of them have not had dinner yet we walked to a restaurant across from the hotel. We decided to join them. Mr. Xu ordered tongue, liver, pig ears, stir fried chicken and a big bowl of soup. Tim tried everything on the table. Once Tim even ate goat’s gonads without knowing what it was. He told us it was chewy and the taste was not bad. Mr. Xu ordered a bottle of Chinese wine and both Tim and him played the Chinese drinking game. It is played with the fingers. The loser has to drink his whole glass of wine. I am glad Hugh did not want to play this game. He only had 2 bottles of Japanese beer.

We walked back to the hotel at 11:00p.m. Tim, Rachel and Mr. Xu continued their visit while we went back to our room.

7-7-99

@8:00a.m.

We will be leaving China in about 9 hours time. We hope to check out at 11:00a.m. and leave by here by 12:30p.m. for the airport. I woke up at 7:00a.m. I took a nice warm shower and washed my hair. It is going to be a long day for all of us.

We checked out at 11:30a.m. Our total bill plus the phone charges came to 740yuan. We paid by American Express. Mr. Xu called for 2 taxis and that came to 160yuan. We had to pay an extra 12yuan to the taxi drivers for the toll charges.

We arrived at least 2 hours before check-in time. There was a place where we could store our luggage for a price. We did that with our heavier pieces. Since we had time we went to the restaurant and had 3 cups of coffee and 2 bowls of ice cream. The bill came to 70yuan. It was very expensive even by American standards. Mr. Xu and Rachel left at 2:00p.m. A little before 3:00p.m. we collected our luggage. Then we had to wait in line to get our luggage through the x-ray machine. Then we stood in line in the check-in counter. We checked in our luggage and was given our seat numbers. We then went to another line to go through immigration.

The line was long. A Chinese woman cut in front of us while we were busy filling in the exit forms. Hugh asked her which line did she come from. She had a blank look on her face and looked away. As the other queue moved faster she moved over to the other line where her friend was. Both of the ladies were playing both ends to see which line moved faster.

The immigration officer took away our resident green cards. Then we had to go through a security check again. Our carry on luggage was x-rayed and we had to go through a metal detector door. From start to finish the whole process took over an hour. We had only another hour before our flight. We bought some magazines and books from the airport lounge. Mahala and I had to use the bathroom and by the time we were through our flight number was being called.

An hour after take-off we were served dinner. I slept through most of the flight. Halfway through we were served a snack. I had a ham sandwich. Two hours before landing we were served another meal. It was breakfast. Hugh and I did not eat but Mahala wanted too. She had scrambled eggs. What she did not eat I finished for her.

We arrived in LA at 1:30p.m. local time. It took us ½ an hour to clear immigration. There was a long line too. There was a Chinese man in his early 40’s in the next line. He had jumped the queue. Another Chinese man told him to go back to the end of the line. But the line jumper said he is in the right spot. He had left his spot to go to the bathroom. No one believed that story and he was not allowed to go first. When our turn came it was fast. The immigration office looked at our passports and waved us through. We collected our luggage and went through customs with no hassle. By the time we walked out it was about 3:00p.m.

I heard Joe call to me. Then I saw Sue, Kathy then Mom. It is good to be back.

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