Exploring the Green City of China

Nanning, Guangxi 3:30pm.
We've all just returned from a tour of the Green Mountain Park in Nanning. Our local guide Cindy says Nanning is noted for three things...1st being China's Green City for all the parks, almond trees and flowers that are found in plentiful amounts here. I would love to see it in summer when flowers would be at their best...now there are flowers as the winter barely gets below 8-10 degrees Celsius, but not the lushness of summer.

Second is the number of motorcycles found here...over 1/2 million licensed motocycles. They are everywhere and you better beware crossing the intersections and streets, because here the motorist/cyclist has right of way and pedestrians stand ready to be mowed down if they don't step lively enough. We've experienced the difficulty of trying to cross the road even when we've had the green light. If a car doesn't plow you down, a motorcyclist or cyclist will.

Third is the river which divides the city in two and provides a very scenic vista from its banks. Of course we all feel that the fourth special quality of this city is the beauty of its girls! All of us can certainly attest to that...as it was an especially gorgeous group of toddlers ready to hit the outdoors this morning in their warm clothes and hats. The day was a chilly 10 degrees Celsius and on Mt. Quingxiu, where the park resides, the mist and damp made it a day for fleece, hats and mitts, at least to start off with...after climbing path to the huge stone Longxiang Pagoda I was not feeling too chilled.

The park besides containing the highest views of Nanning, also offered a Buddhist temple which we stopped at first before going on to the pagoda. I'm dragging my tale this morning as Genevieve had a bit of of a temperature, was pulling at her ear and was restless during the night...I gave her a couple of doses of tylenol, and it seems to have held things at bay...her nose is congested and she may have a bit of a cold coming on...situation normal for this time of year, whether in China or Canada. About 3 or 4 of the girls have the beginnings of colds.

So I'm working on reduced sleep...I had part of the twin bed and shared it with Genny...she definitely doesn't like the tiny crib provided by the hotel. She seems to sense every time I'm putting her in, even if I've started her off in my bed...less work to just let her have part of my bed. The first night I slept in a tub chair pulled up to the bed. But last night I managed to use 1/3 of the bed and Genny 2/3rds...you may have noticed the discrepancy, yes she is a bed hog, flailing her arms around and tossing and turning...I just tried to stay out of the way.

Today I found out there are many types of buddhas...I thought there was just one...silly me. Buddha today in this temple was a woman and called the Bountiful Buddha, known for bringing children to young couples...so we were an appropriate crowd to light the incense to her today...all of us feeling thankful for our girls (although I can reveal that we were the majority over 35 rather then 20somethings, so I guess she's pretty good at bringing children to oldsters too!) and ready to acknowledge any devine help along the way.

After wandering through the temple and lighting three sticks before her alter, we headed up further into the mountain to the Pagoda which is not the original structure, that was demolished in the 1950s and rebuilt to the existing one in 1980s. Debbie was the stair climber today to the windy top of the 7 storey structure...I waited at the bottom with about half a dozen strollers and moms.

After desending back to the bus and feeding a few carp with Cheerios and the scraps from our snack at a stone bridge, we headed to the store which housed the Guangxi Pearl Monopoly(another specialty of the region!)I won't say what I bought but they will look lovely around my neck...many China pearls found new Canadian homes today.

After a nap and pictures for Genevieve's visa, I made arrangements for the purchase of "chops" in Genevieve's and Madeleine's Chinese and English characters (these are stamps with their Chinese and English names carved in stone)as well as a caligraphy scroll for Genevieve.

Then we headed to our favorite dim sum place to watch Genevieve wolf down dumplings and flat noodles with beef...we had a few too along with the most delicious wonton soup...food here is a mixture of delicious Cantonese, Vietnamese and weird Chinese interpretations of North America fare. How about a little pizza with cuttle fish added to taste! Or Club sandwiches with Spam! Yummy.
Take care,
Michelle