A rest day then an eventful one

I didn't write anything yesterday because we decided to have a rest day at the hotel. After breakfast we went back to our rooms and read, watched TV and used the internet. The kids wrote in their diaries and played their DS's. Everyone was tired from being on the go for a week and the rainy weather wasn't conducive to walking around town. In the evening we went to dinner at the local restaurant next to the hotel. Yes this is getting to be a habit.

Today we had a free morning. We walked down to the large Ethnic Minorities Square which was beautifully decorated for celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the proclaiming of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. We had visited the square on our last trip and I wanted to see it again.

Three views of Ethnic Minorities Square

Across the street from it a very modern exhibition building was holding an exhibit with details and sketches of plans for the development of Nanning up to 2020. Many people were examining the photos and maps. I'm sure they were most interested in how the areas where they live will change. A short walk down the street on the other side of the square is the Guangxi Provincial Museum. We were granted free admission and walked around the gardens and looked at the displays of ancient pottery inside. The museum shop had a nice selection of Guangxi love balls, an item unique to this province, so Jade and Jarrah selected some to bring home. Jade, of course, went for a green one and also chose a light blue one. Jarrah chose a dark purple one.

Guangxi Love Balls

Across the street from the museum is one branch of the Dream Island Department Store and we decided to go in there and have lunch at Pizza Hut. We didn't particularly crave Western food as we'd had pizza just a few days ago in Hong Kong. It was just that it was an easy choice and one which we knew wouldn't give us digestive problems. After eating we walked through the department store, which is more upmarket than the Nanning Department Store we went to a couple of days ago. There certainly isn't any shortage of consumer goods in China! I was in the market for a replacement charger cord for my electronic dictionary (which was bought by a classmate for me in China) and thankfully I was able to get one. It wasn't cheap at $A50 but, since I couldn't find my charger at home and couldn't use the dictionary because it was totally out of charge, it was money well spent. My next task is to try and get a hold of the user manual in English and I'm hoping to be able to do this in Beijing or Shanghai.

We took a taxi back to the hotel for a very inexpensive 7 Yuan then regrouped and prepared for our meeting with Jade's foster family. We'd arranged to meet them and Allen in the lobby of the hotel at 3:30. They came as scheduled and the foster mother had an emotional reunion with Jade. We had planned to take them out for afternoon tea at the little restaurant near the hotel but then we found out it didn't open until 5pm so after some discussion with Allen we piled into 3 taxis and went to Pizza Hut (but a different one from lunch). Pizza Hut here in China has an extensive menu--way beyond pizza and pasta. We let the foster family order and they really went overboard. There was so much extra food! The bill came to 600 Yuan--and that with Allen's discount. Wow! Anyway, we had a good visit and it was a one-off so that's the way it goes. Allen said that they had never been in Pizza Hut or that shopping centre before. I think our worlds are quite different. Even though we had an interpreter they didn't ask questions about Jade but were quite happy to sit and eat and just enjoy being with her and us. They asked about us visiting again and we said maybe in a few years. They absolutely showered us with gifts. We are going to have to post them home as we don't want to lug them all around China. We gave them our gifts but I was embarassed that they'd brought an extra person along whom I hadn't known about and so I didn't have a gift for her. I really enjoyed the experience of being out with locals in their city--piling into taxis, seeing them order easily in a restaurant and just seeing them in their environment. I think events like this really enrich the travel experience. I will keep writing to the foster mother. I now have her daughter's email address so I can send them photos of today. They didn't bring a camera--they probably don't have one--so they have no record of our meeting.

Meeting the foster family at Pizza Hut in Nanning