An Interesting Feature

Our Wally's World.

One thing about most of the large stores here is they are multi-level.  This is a huge city with 20 million people so real estate is at a premium.  They cannot sprawl like they do in the states.  Consequently there has to be a way for shoppers like me to get from one level to the next.  Enter the Travolater.  The first time I saw one, I came around a corner with a cart, saw an escalator and thought......how do I get down that/where is the elevator?  Then I realized it was a ramp!  Voila!  Just push your cart on and  these funky wheels somehow catch and hold the cart in place.  You don't even have to hold on to it, you also cannot push it if you wish to go faster.

 I decided to look at the map before I went in.  These store are so huge I wanted to know where I was going.  This is when I noticed the name of  "Travolater".  I had never heard it called anything, we always called it the flat escalator!

 And what a map they have.  I don't know how many Walmart's there are in Beijing but the ones we have been to are all this big!

Look Ma, no hands!!

















Love, fondly, sincerely,
zaijian,
Ramona

Lunch, always an adventure!

Just to keep you updated on the options in Beijing.  Keep this  in mind for when you visit, we will be happy to take you there.  May not join you for the meal, happy to get you there just the same.

We will actually eat a few doors down at this establishment.  We can vouch for the food here, delicious beef brisket with onions, barbecue sauce and pickles with a side of fries.  Yummy, very full. 

Love, fondly, sincerely,

zaijian,

Ramona

All in a Day!

Just an observation of what can happen in one day.  Probably should have done more shots.....hourly or some such.....Hind sight is twenty twenty!!

 These first three pictures were taken at 6:00 Saturday morning China time.  The railing is so beautifully highlighted because the flash went off....I am not nor do I claim to be a photographer:)  Air quality index 310.

These three photos were taken at 5:00 pm on Saturday, China time.  What a difference a day makes!!  Air quality index 62!

Love, fondly, sincerely,
zaijian,
Ramona

What's for Dinner?

After some of the pictures I have posted of food.....oddities....my MIL thought we might be starving and wondered what we CAN eat.  So here  is what we had for dinner last night....I forgot to take a pic of the eggs....we have to eat them while they are hot!

So here we have some cute cabbage/broccoli cousin.  Sometimes I just steam them and you put whatever you like on them.  Other times I get more creative.

Last night I got more creative....Here we see sliced onions sauteing in a touch of oil along with garlic and some red pepper flakes.  To which I added the greens.








Don't they look Delicious?

We also had rice.  Just boiled, nothing fancy.

Olivia, being of a very discriminating palate, had green beans as sauteed greens do not quite cut it for her.  We finally found a green bean that tasted something like home.  I bought some beans that were almost 2 feet long, cooked them up and fed them to Olivia....she said they were not very good.  I tried them another time and agreed we would not get those again....who knew green beans could taste like paste and have the texture of chick peas (I don't like chick peas!)  If it doesn't say Sunkist, you don't know what's inside.!
Eating here is an adventure some days.  I get most of my fresh veggies at a veggie man.....about a five minute bike ride away, he has also started selling meat, I think because the meat shop that was next door seems to have closed.  We have a small grocery just five minutes in the other direction which carries fresh milk....we aren't fans of the boxes/bags, we keep them on hand for when the market is out of milk which happened a lot in July and August when we first got here because we came before the ex-pats returned for the school year, not so much now.  This market caters to the ex-pat community with lots of imported goods.  They also carry good cheese.  The Chinese don't tend to eat as much cheese as other cultures from what I understand.  One of the big differences for me with shopping is that for fresh foods I have to shop almost daily.  I am having to get used to that because I cannot find frozen veggies that look like something we want to eat, unless it is an import which is then very expensive....think about five dollars US for a small bag of frozen, Birdseye corn......We bought corn on the cob one day.....it looked so good, and everyone walks down the street eating it....street vendors sell it in the summer.....I guess it might be what we call field corn back home.....never ate field corn but it can't be much worse than this stuff was.  A very disappointing purchase:(

Love, fondly, sincerely,
zaijian,
Ramona

Hazardous Air

Not a great day to be outside.  I have discovered that days like this give me a rather nasty headache if I am outside much.  It seems to me every time I need to go to the grocery with the driver it is like this.....it's not like I plan it, there isn't a thing to do about it:(  I don't want to live here forever:)

Looks like fog, looks like rain, nope, it isn't going to rain and six hours later it is slightly brighter than this because the sun is out there somewhere!!  It isn't any less yucky.  Such a not nice post.

Tomorrow some friends in the compound are having a Halloween party with prizes for best costume, couple, etc.....I am going as a witch.  I have to make a spider, that is my job as soon as this is posted.  Mike is.......Gotta wait for me to show you:)

Love, fondly, sincerely,

zaijian,

Ramona

Staying Busy

So Sorry I haven't posted.......see title.
A friend of mine from South Carolina, Michelle, told me about two weeks ago she was coming to Beijing...Oo la la, how exciting!  Well, most people plan such a big trip several weeks in advance, not Michelle.  She was coming on the following Tuesday if her Visa arrived in time.  She was coming for work, she works at Mikes old plant in Florence.  When the boss says go...you go:)
She got off work early on Friday, took a taxi to our house and I shared the fun experience of bike riding in China with her as we headed off to lunch.  After lunch I took her on a walking tour of Olivia's school, she was impressed.  It is an impressive campus.  It was almost next door to the restaurant.  Saturday we had Mikes driver....Mike was in South Carolina!....I miss him.....


We went to Panjiayuan, (you can see pictures of that market from previous posts.) Lama Temple and Confucius Temple.
When Olivia graduates from WAB the ceremony will be held at Confucius Temple.  What better place to hold a graduation than such a special place of scholarship.

Confucius Temple

Some of the more important tablets are carried on the back of these giant tortoises.

 We think the graduation will take place on the stairs to Olivia's left.  It is the opposite side 

of the building below.

 One very gnarly old tree.

Lama Temple

 Lama Temple had many more buildings than the other.  Each one has statues of Buddha inside.

In this building, below, there is an 18 meter statue, it is big.

 Prayer drum.

 Green hexagon ceramic wall tiles.  

For those aware of a current quilt project of mine this is so perfect!

Mama lion.

When we were walking to the Temple the street was crowded with stores selling incense.  We did not know what it was for.  Now we do.  As you walk towards each building there is an altar where you light three incense sticks, kneel and offer them to Buddha.  Then you go inside and offer three more to each Buddha inside...these you do not light.  These are huge incense sticks, probably 18 inches long.   I did not take pictures of the incense lighting or the altars as I thought is wasn't right.  If you want to experience the amazing amounts of incense smoke in the air and see the ritual please come to visit and we will gladly take you there.

You apparently, also, do not light your film? 

Leaving the Temple:)

We had a great day and were thoroughly worn out by the end of it.  On Sunday we went to another market, Silk Market.  Lots of fun in there.  Michelle brought us Oreo's, Cheezits and Buttermilk powder.  Olivia had  Buttermilk pancakes for dinner on Sunday, she was thrilled:)

Love , fondly, sincerely,

Zaijian,

Ramona

Muxiyuan

A fabric market to explore!!

With  Keary and Tracy.

Buttons, very large bags of buttons!!

   

Many large bags of buttons

All day long they get shipments in and send shipments out.

These are bundles of fabric..I don't know if they are coming or going.

This is huge rolls of very soft blanket fabric.  2 meters wide.

Stall after stall, selling almost the same stuff.

They ride all sorts of things through these buildings to deliver and pick up stuff.

Lace stalls.

Anyone for some rhinestone cowboy?

The back wall has some designs they have available or it is for display

and you just buy the loose ones and do your own.....I am clueless.

Stall after stall!!

Beads!!!  Buckles, findings...

Ribbons and trims.  I think the was the best stall for this stuff.

I will be back.

Those are all zippers and the guy thought I was nuts for wanting a picture!!

A more selective way to buy buttons than the bags.

Just a glance down a row between buildings, piles of fabric everywhere,

wrapped, covered, stacked.

The woman coming out of this stall did not want me taking pictures!

That usually means there is something in there they should not have.

This was all real fur items.....who knows what she has.

All those plastic bags are beads....seed, bugle, wooden, shaped glass, all sorts.

I was like a kid in a candy store!!  The shop owner found my enthusiasm amusing!

This is all real fur stuff.  A whole long row of it.  We didn't go down here after we saw the

whole arctic fox skins.....very depressing.

So much fabric!!!

I will be back

Love, fondly, sincerely,

zaijian,

Ramona