OK….we have been home for a week so I guess that I should get this trip journal finished up!!   It is awfully hard to find time to sit down and write when there are SO many things here that need to be done…..

But, here goes……the story of one of our favorite days in China……

On Saturday morning, we met our tour guide for a trip to the Great Wall of China.  We had set this up thru the hotel and had specifically requested to be taken to one of the less popular areas so that there wouldn’t be as many people.

We were met by a driver (in a REALLY nice car) and James (our guide)  from Gray Line Tours.  We had about a 2-1/2 hour drive to our section of the wall so we settled in for the ride.

James gave us some interesting facts about Beijing.  The city has 20 million people (just 2 million less than the population of Australia), and 5 million vehicles.  To curb traffic in the city, a car is only allowed to be driven one day each week (based on the license plate number).   However, on weekends all controls are off so traffic is actually WORSE.

He also told us that the Great Wall is 6700 kilometers in length (about 4000 miles) and was built to protect China from Mongolia.

We were glad to have a driver since on of the turns was navigated by exiting off of the highway, into a gas station parking lot and then up another smaller road!!!

When we arrived James purchased our tickets and we started walking down a long road heading to the wall.  And then we saw it in the distance…..

 

Now let me say here that I was NOT thinking correctly about the wall.  I had visions of climbing up to the wall and then walking on the same level for miles.  NOPE…..because the wall follows the contours of the hills it is constantly up and down.

There were a few areas that were undeveloped, but most of the trip  was climbing stairs of various heights.  The steps varied from 3 or 4 inches high to  over 14 inches in height….

And some areas were more rustic than others…..And there were plenty of signs reminding you to be careful….wonder what happened to this one….

The only problem with this was that you HAD to keep looking downward so that you wouldn’t stumble when you really wanted to be looking up at the wonderful view…..

 

The good thing was that we had to take lots of stops for photos……

and a few for catching our breath……

These cut-outs in the wall were perfect for stopping because the breeze would barrel thru the opening, providing a great air-conditioner.

As the morning got hotter, we were desperate for something to use to clear the sweat from our foreheads.  I looked into my purse and found a pair of socks that I had planned to wear on the plane yesterday but had never put them on.   These became our sweat  rags!!!

    So we went up…..

 

…and down….. …..rest and repeat!!!!

Here are few of our favorite photos….. 

It was fairly hazy when we first arrived, but it gave the place an ethereal feel.    When we ere leaving, we realized that the sky had cleared considerably.

The woman in this next photo was a vendor who had climbed a LONG way to sell her goods, including bottles of suspect looking water.  By this stage we had depleted our water and were ALMOST tempted to purchase hers. 

  
It was interesting to see how the vendors/hawkers/con-artists worked up here.  First of all, I was amazed that they would climb so far, but I guess that their “clients” were in a compromised position too.

Most of them would start talking to you in English and give you information  about the wall or “help” you in some way.  After a while they would either ask for money for their help or start showing you their “artwork”.

We had one section of steps where you had to scramble up a small area of rocks rather than stairs.  This one woman grabbed my arm to help me up the rocks.  The only problem was that she moved MUCH faster than I would have and I felt like she was dragging me up.   She stayed by us for a while, much like a loyal dog, but when she took out a fan and started fanning me while I was trying to look at the scenery, I finally told her to GO AWAY@!@!@!

We kept on walking, saying at each turn “we will go to that next fort and then stop”….

We finally gave up and headed back home, but had to have a photo first.  If we both look a bit strange, it is because we were standing on a STEEP slope and were having to balance ourselves….   

On the way down, we decided that we HAD to make some phone calls from the Wall…..the first to Jenny (who I knew would still be awake) and one to Michael’s Mama (who wasn’t home to take our call)!!   

I loved this photo because it  looks like there is a picture of the wall hanging on the wall!!   The lighter colored bricks at the bottom of the wall are from the original wall, while the upper ones have been restored.

Parts of the wall were fairly deserted, but as we got closer to the place where a Cable Car dropped people off, we started seeing more and more.  I called them “The Cheaters” as they hadn’t walked the same distance that we had!!!

 

We came across this fun group of students who were from Hong Kong.  In this photo they are all yelling “Hello” to the Americans…..

And then we looked back and saw them posing for this acrobatic photo…..…..proving that teens are the same ALL over the world!!!!

This is our favorite photo of the wall…..

   

I loved that you could look all along it’s length and see the towers as they dotted the tops of the hills.  It was truly a spectacular sight!!!!

As we came off of the wall, we were both dying for some water so James called our driver and he met us at the car with ICE COLD bottles of water for the return trip!!!!

Thank you James for taking such good care of us!!!!

 

After a wonderful shower and rest time, we headed off to a “Hot-Pot” Restaurant that the hotel concierge had suggested for us.  We had a bit of trouble finding it, even with the concierge directions, but finally found it on the SEVENTH floor of a shopping mall.  We just kept going up the escalators and looking for something that looked right.

We asked on the 6th floor and were pointed upward one more time.  When we stepped off of the  escalator we figured that we were at the right place since all of the windows were covered in steam!!!

Our reservation was for 6:30  and even with the trouble of finding the place, we were about 5 minutes early.  This caused all sorts of problems because apparently our table wasn’t ready yet so they sat us at a small table, gave us some lemonade to drink and brought out a tray for nibbles.  

We had only been there for 3 or 4 minutes when they came and motioned for us to follow them to our table.

The table has a propane tank under it and a square hole in the middle. 

We leafed thru the 10+ page menu (which fortunately had some English sub-titles) and finally ordered our food, starting with the “Affectionate Couple Hotpot”!!!

A divided metal container with one clear broth and one milky broth was brought to our table.  Then the server cut open a plastic bag of wonderful spicy red sauce and poured it into the clear broth.

The propane burner was turned on and we instantly had bubbling, boiling liquid at our table.

Our server knew a few words of English and was able to get the point across that we were to go to a bar to make up our own dipping sauce.  I added onions, garlic, sesame paste (tasted more like peanut) and my favorite addition….”Fragrant Spicy Cow Sauce!!!!      Not sure exactly what it was, but it WAS good!!!

The meat and vegetables (pronounced weggetables) were brought to our table and we were off.   The waitress placed our meat choices (beef and lamb) into each of the hotpots

We then added mushrooms……

….spinach….. 

….and sweet potatoes sticks (no photo) to the pot.

The waitresses brought us appropriate attire for the evening…..red aprons!!!!

Before we started eating, one of the waitresses came running over with forks in her hand but we thanked her and waved her off.

 

The process of the evening was to…..dip into the hotpot and pull out whatever you found……

….dip it into your sauce and enjoy….. 

We left quite a mess at the end of the meal…….When it came time to pay, we happily shelled out the $32 and tried to give our waitress a tip.  She frowned, slapped her hands together and said “NO!!!”.

We regretfully took off our aprons and started out the door, only to be chased down by the waitress because I had left my notebook sitting on the table!!!

We returned to the hotel and started looking for someplace to have dessert.  We remembered that we were welcome in the lounge area on the 17th floor of the hotel and that there was a Happy Hour going on until 8:00.  We arrived there about 10 minutes prior to the ending time so the attendant told us to load up our plates before they started taking the food away.

It was mostly “finger” food so we each picked our favorites and enjoyed sitting and relaxing…..

….the chocolate wasn’t bad either!!!!!

Early Friday morning Michael and I caught a taxi  (in pouring rain) from the hotel at XTBG and headed to the airport in Jinghong.

This airport is very small and only a few planes are ever there at the same time. 

When we checked in, our bags were checked to “PEK”, the Beijing airport, but the board for our flight said Kunming.  This confused us but we finally decided that we probably had a layover in Kunming.

We had an hour wait in the airport and settled in to wait.

We had a laugh at the status board as once a plane took off the status was listed as “Fly”!!!

We had watched MANY people taking photos of themselves as they walked to the plane so decided not to be outdone……

We settled into our seats and were dismayed at how tight the space was.   There was barely enough room for our legs and there was no way that the person in front could lean back.

We took off and, sure enough, we landed in Kunming…..again!!!!

As we were exiting the plane, we asked the attendant how we caught our next flight to Beijing and she told us to check with the flight counter in the terminal.  So, we dutifully exited the plane and climbed onto the bus that would take us to the terminal.

We stood there for several minutes, waiting for the doors to close and for us to take off.   Then a man came to each of the doors and yelled something into the bus.  On his second pass by the doors, Michael heard the word “ Beijing” so he stepped up to try to figure out what was going on.

The attendant looked at our boarding passes and proceeded to motion us to a smaller bus that was parked to the side of the plane.  OK…..so WE were the reason that the bus hadn’t left yet.   We could just hear what the other riders were saying about us!!!!!

We rode, along with 4 other passengers, to the terminal, and as we entered the gate area we were given new boarding passes.  Our next flight left in 30 minutes!!!

Michael headed off to buy coffee and asked if I wanted anything.  My answer was….CHOCOLATE  (I had gone for FIVE days without it)!!!!!

He walked immediately to the closest kiosk and came back with FOUR Snickers…..perfect!!!!

We boarded yet another bus and drove back to the EXACT SAME plane, which we boarded and sat in our EXACT SAME (uncomfortable) seats!!!!   Couldn’t we have just STAYED on the plane???

Fortunately, the flight to Beijing went quickly and we soon landed.  I love this mural that appears above the escalator in the airport…..

Our taxi delivered us at the Grand Hyatt Beijing, our home sweet home.  We checked in and were shown to our gorgeous room……

 

Sometimes a bit of luxury is a wonderful thing!!!!!

I love the special touches that a nice hotel have, such as these beautiful flowers in our room…..

We went downstairs to have dinner at one of the hotel restaurants and were told that, since we didn’t have a reservation, we would have to sit in the “loud kitchen area” and that we would have to be finished in 1-1/2 hours!!

We loved sitting by the kitchen and spent a fair amount of time watching the chefs as they made dumplings and noodles…..  

…..or stir-frying wonderful dishes in large woks…..

Our favorite menu item was a spicy Lamb with onions……

 

We also enjoyed these freshly made spring rolls……

The most fun food of the night was my dessert….banana slices drizzled with chocolate, and wrapped in a mixture of coconut and crunchy noodles.  It had an excellent flavor and was wonderfully presented!!!!

Tomorrow…..the Great Wall!!!!

Thursday was our last day in Xishuangbanna so Diana and I decided to make yet another foray into the town.  This time we walked thru some different streets and enjoyed seeing some of the local stores……

I loved the design of the pipe here…..

Here is the local home improvement store……

The tank in the center is a Solar Hot Water Heater.   Many of the homes and apartments are outfitted with one of these on the roof.   It is fine as long as it is sunny, but we have heard that on cloudy days you can run out of hot water.   And, since this is the tropics, there are LOTS of rainy days!!!!!

We passed this furniture store……

As you can tell, their furniture is very simple and functional, but we have learned that many of the items are not comfortable!!!

We passed the local scooter dealership with many of the cycles parked out on the sidewalk…….

I loved the shelves of bowls in this store…… 

….and the fact that bowls were used to keep the balls from rolling off of the shelves in this store……..

 

Then there were the “Sponge Bob” dolls next to the shoelaces and Buddhist stuff!!

This clothing shop had a great selection of styles……. 

But my favorite shop had a cabinet full of trims and stuff……

I spent quite a bit of time here!!!!!

We could easily tell where the school was and that it had just let out……

We walked along beside two young girls and talked to them a bit in broken English.  I asked if I could take their photos and one said not, but this little girl smiled shyly and gave the traditional “V for victory” pose…… 

During the lunch hour, there were lots of groups of men and women playing games and enjoying each other’s company…..  These are two water pipes……originally designed for smoking opium!!   Now they are used for cigarettes which are placed in the side appendage…..  

I call this next photo…..”Restaurant in the Making”.    All they have to do is fire up the grill and set out the table and they are ready to go……

As we left the town, we decided to walk down the river a bit.   The first thing that we encountered was…….

We happily skirted around her and into a commercial area by the river…..

As you can see, it was virtually deserted.   Apparently there used to be tons of small shops and restaurants in this area but they tore them all down and built this new area which is obviously NOT liked!!!   It seems such a waste.

We decided to walk past the town and re-enter the park thru the farthest bridge.  On the way we passed some of the houses of the village…..After about 20 minutes of walking we ended up at the other bridge, which also happened to be the main entrance to the park.   Then came the rub…..they wouldn’t let us back into the park without buying a ticket!!!!!   We tried to explain that we were staying at the hotel and that we had walked from the other bridge.   She said “yes you are staying at the hotel”,   we hopefully answered “yes” and she said “you must buy ticket”!!!!!

OK…..so we retraced our steps and returned to the garden via the footbridge.

While crossing, this fishing raft floated under the bridge……

 

And….one last photo of a plant in the garden…..here is a wonderful banana tree…..

 

In the evening we were supposed to go to a Dai village for dinner, but unfortunately the restaurant had flooded the night before.  So, one of the students made a reservation for us at another local eatery.

We walked to our destination….enjoying the dusky scenery…..

Unfortunately, the person leading the party missed a road so we ended up taking a short cut down the slope to the river……..

A short walk past the dump truck……

A quick peak into the kitchen……

…..and enter into the dining room (hut)…….

There were three tables set up for us, each loaded with wonderful food and drink.  We first unwrapped the banana leaves and marveled at the wonderful flavor of the paste inside.  We asked what it was so John asked the cooks for us.   He then turned to us and said “Are you sure that you want to know?”.   NOT a good sign.   We assured him that we did and he answered…..”Pig Brains”!!!!!   Oh well, they were tasty!!!! We were joined at our table by Taylor Lockwood who is a renowned expert and photographer of mushrooms!!!!

A good time was had by all!!!!

When Diana and I met on Wednesday morning, she told me that we had been invited to meet Bonnie and have lunch with her, which sounded like a fun plan.  We were meeting at the “Exotic” Plant garden, or the “Distinctive” Plant garden….depending on which sign you looked at.

On the way we, of course stopped to take some photos…..

These Spider Lilies were gorgeous and there were huge bushes of them all along the road……

Here is an “up close and personal” view of the flower structure and pollen anthers…..

When we saw these, Diana leaned over to smell them and came up with yellow blobs of pollen all over her face

This water lily was near the edge of the water and I thought that it was wonderful….. 

…..and this flower tickled my fancy as well……

The “Exotic Plant” garden contains some very rare and interesting plants, but this one was, by far, the most popular.   It is called “Dancing Grass”  (Codariocalyx motorius)  which is sensitive to certain voices and will “dance” when sung to.   Here the tour guide is singing to the plant and making it dance, however it is a bit hard to tell if the movements was because of the people moving or not……

SO, I ended up in this garden by myself later in the day and decided to perform an experiment.   I used my I-Phone to play Kool and the Gang’s “Celebrate” and watched the plant carefully.   Sure enough, after a minute of music, the plants started to sway slightly and small leaves started to visibly move.  Even all of the botanists present couldn’t explain it!!!!

 

I would love to set up speakers around the planting and see what happened when the music was broadcast from all sides!!!!

These exotic plants are prolific in the garden and are present in shades from red to yellow, to this gorgeous orange…..

Here are few of my favorite photos from the exotic garden…..

Most of the “natural” wonders that we have seen had at least one area where “un-natural” bling had been added.  I feel sure that there is a tradition or superstition associated with this practice……

One other gorgeous (and unknown) plant was a vine that produced huge (12 inch in  diameter) flowers…….

This cool “bulbous” appendage was found on the back of the flowers……

We met up with Bonnie, her three kids and 3 MORE children who lived in the compound.  We stopped so that they could  all swing in this enormous vine….

At one point, a sweet Chinese couple walked passed, looked in the tree and said “Oooooo” and started taking photos of the kids.  Once again, WE were the exotic wildlife!!!

We took the tram to Bonnie’s house and enjoyed a lunch of salad and fresh baked bread.  The bread is quite a delicacy as there are no ovens in any of the houses.   Bonnie accomplished hers by making use of a bread maker and some “imported” wheat flour and yeast .   Chocolate Chip cookies were baked in a small toaster oven!!!!   Delish!!!!!

The food was excellent, but was trumped by the conversation.   I hadn’t realized how much I was missing conversation taking place in English only!!!!

The conference attendees were eating dinner at the research center and then the talks were  continuing, so I decided NOT to join them for the event.  Instead I headed outside with my camera and my map and was determined to see some new areas of the gardens.

As I walked out of the hotel, I realized that there was a trail leading into a dense jungle-ish area just across the road, so that became my first area of exploration.

The first thing that I noticed was the deafening “buzz-saw” noise of the Cicadas as they cycled thru their calls. Noticed next was the intense heat under the canopy!!   Since my camera had just come from an air-conditioned building, I had to keep cleaning the lens for the first few minutes.

The colors and flowers were gorgeous and I spent about an hour wandering slowly and taking copious photos.  Here are a “few” of my favorites…..

    Even these TINY mushrooms were interesting……

I came out of the area toward the back of the hotel and found two VIP rooms called the “Miracle Fruit” room and the “Sorrowless Flow” room!!!!

I continued down the road, stopping occasionally (well, ok….really I stopped ever 30 seconds) to take another interesting photo….. 

Then I came upon a palm three that was putting out new branches.  They look so much like fern leaves, except that they are thicker and stronger. 

This is the view from the top that shows where the leaves are coming from.   The slender green stems radiating out from the sides are the older leaves……But, what I really liked was seeing how the leaves looked at the different stages of their development into huge palm leaves.    

Needless to say, I spent a long time photographing this one plant!!!!

I continued on and ended up on this pond that had walkways across it that were made of glass. 

It was fun taking photos from the “middle” of the pond….

By this stage it was time to return to the hotel for dinner but I looked at the map and realized that I was closer to the village than the restaurant and I was sure that I could hear the Rice/juice restaurant calling my name.   SO,  it was back across the bridge and a visit here…..

   ….the place of fine dining!!!!

This restaurant has ONE menu that is in English and it is comprised of 5 or 6 loose, laminated pages and it takes a while to read thru everything.   The problem is that, as soon as the menu is received, the waitress stands next to you, at the ready to take your order.   This causes a bit of stress and normally means that I order the same thing.  However, this time I did go for Spicy Chicken rather than pork!!!!

We have also discovered that just because it is listed on the menu doesn’t necessarily mean that it is available.   Many of the dishes use fresh fruits and vegetables so the available menu depends on what they have found at the market that day.

She left the menu on the table after taking my order so I was able to peruse at my leisure.  I found a Fried Rice section that contained “Chicken Paw” and “Pig Skin” and another category called “Rice covered with other things”.  Under the “Deeply Fried” section there was bananas, pineapple, apple, pear and sweet potato”, while “Water-Ice Drinks” contained the flavors of  Red Bean, Green Bean, Jam and “Kinds of Fruits”.

I ordered fresh pineapple juice which was  so refreshing although it was served over ice and who knows what water was used to make it!!   Oh well, I just repeat our mantra…..”We have antibiotics!!!!!”. 

The rice is served with a small spoon, and on other occasions we have asked for chopsticks.  However, tonight I realized that everyone around was eating with the spoon so I joined in!!!

For desert, I ordered bananas from the “Deeply Fried” menu.  They were served with the obligatory (and tasty) drizzle of Sweetened Condensed Milk. …..

This is the napkin (toilet paper) holder for the table.   Isn’t he cute……

 

On the return walk I passed several construction sites where they are in the process of tearing down some old apartment blocks.   There are a few machines used, but most of the labor is done with a pick axe and lots of hard work.  

Once the rebar had been picked up it was being loaded into this truck by four workers…..two on the ground throwing the rebar up to the two in the truck!!!   The others are just standing around for the sheer enjoyment of it!!!! 

I returned to the hotel, checked my email, had a refreshing shower and waited for my hard working husband to return.    What a wonderful day!!!!!

On Tuesday morning, Michael dutifully headed off to his workshop and Diana and I walked back into the village (easier since we knew where it was this time).  The walk is about 1/2 mile and you cross a beautiful suspension footbridge just before coming into town…..

 

The town of MengLun seems small and primitive but we were told that the population is around 40,000, which means that we are only seeing part of the town.    Most of the people  here are from the Dai ethnic group. 

I had to laugh that the first shops that you see after the bridge are wedding shops featuring elegant dresses and suits……

Of course I was enamored with the Dai clothing and fabric shops.  The fabrics were mostly gorgeous silks with gold brocade designs worked into them. 

They would not sell a length of fabric but would only make it into a garment.  I could have spent all day sitting here and watching this woman draw the design on the fabric.  She was working from a written pattern that told the dimensions of the pieces that she needed to cut.    All of the machines are treadle…..

….and the garments were gorgeous and were made from vibrant colors with touches of sparkle…..

Even the children’s clothes were wonderful….

 

…..and look at this elegant dress……

We walked a bit further down one of the main streets and came to our next shopping place…..the agricultural market…… 

The two little girls in the right lower corner followed us around and giggled for about 10 minutes!!!!!

This was the local yarn vendor.   When I first saw these skeins, I thought that it was wool roving, but on closer inspection it was a very fine cording.  I am guessing that it was made of silk….

Note that this fiber vendor also sold…..shoes!!!

We watched as a small truck parked in the back of the market and started bringing out HUGE baskets  and bundles of vegetables……

Dont these look gorgeous…..

As soon as a basket was unloaded, people would rush over and start picking out their vegies.   I figured that these may have been the restaurant owners selecting their menu for the day.

Having said that the vegetables look so good, I will add that the Chinese have no regulation over the use of fertilizers and pesticides so these are quite possibly covered with both.  When we first arrived, there was a epidemic of exploding watermelons where too much growth hormone had been used and they were popping open in the stores.  

One  person commented that it was best to buy the buggiest and worst looking fruit that you could find because, “if it was good enough for the insects, it was good enough for you!!!”

These balanced baskets were a popular way of transporting goods.   Doesn’t it make your shoulders ache to look at it!!!!

We came across this fire stove in the back of the market and the lady tending to it was putting a type of green bean into the door on the left…..

At the back of the stove was this vat with a distilled beverage siphoning out of it.   It was then poured into the empty water bottles on the left and sold in the local stalls.     We were served some of this later in the week and it proved to be VERY, VERY strong!!!

 

We came across several pans of these interesting looking delicacies, but could never figure out exactly what they were.   I am thinking that they are a type of cooked egg, but the texture was very gelatinous.  Oh well, they are still cool looking…..

This next photo is actually one half of a grand table that was filled with spices.   Each little bin held a different spice or dried herb.   The smell was intoxicating…..  

When leaving the market, we spied the local supermarket and, because we were on a hunt for chocolate, we had to go and visit.

I loved walking down the snack isle.  You could choose from marshmallow bears……

…..dried and spiced whole fish……

……or bags of chicken feet……dont these look yummy!!!!

They eat very little chocolate, but love these little packages of  Jello-like concoctions.   I didn’t eat one, but were told that they were fairly gross…..

This supermarket also sold some clothes and I really liked this section of women’s shoes.  This particular style is very popular and you can see from the photo that most of them have some sort of “bling” as well….

The one thing that kills the fashion statement is that they wear ankle high nylons with these which reminds me too much of old women with their knee-highs rolled down!!!!

We found a bit of chocolate….I bought a pack of cookies that l0oked like Oreos (sadly, the resemblance did not extend to the flavor) and was also excited to find cans of Coke Zero.

Diana and I had lunch at our favorite Fried Rice and Juice restaurant  but enjoyed our Cokes with the meal.  

By the way, much of this morning’s trip was done under umbrellas as there were consistent “pop-up” showers.  It was very refreshing to have the rain roll thru and it felt good to have it splashing on our “tropically” hot legs and feet.

After a walk back to the hotel (and a quick nap), we walked to the trolley station and caught a ride to the research building where the meetings were being held.  After they finished with the talks, we took a ride around the garden and it was fun to see other areas that needed to be visited on future days.

We ended up at the “Rain Forest Lodge” which is an open-air, covered deck and were greeted with this lovely sight……

So you can get a little perspective, the table is about 2 feet tall  and the stools sat a mere 12 inches above the floor.  It made for an interesting experience with our very long American legs!!!!

About halfway thru the dinner, various women, dressed in gorgeous costumes,  started coming out of a side room.  They were to be our entertainment for the evening.   I laughed at one of them madly taking photos of US as we were the curiosity there!!!!

We found out that they were a group of  Dai dancers and that they were going to perform some of the dances that were native to their people.  The women were gorgeous and their costumes were delightful…..

It was fun to realize that we had seen many of these dances at the “Dynamic Yunnan” performance that we had seen in Kunming.   Obviously these were not as professionally performed, but it was so much fun to see their faces and expressions as they danced.   In the introduction, it was said that they were not professional dancers, but that their smiles were genuine.

After the first dance, they came to our tables and tied a red string around our wrists, saying that we were now “tied” to Xishuangbanna and would have to return again.

Here is their rendition of the “Peacock Dance”.  I was interesting that the costume was almost exactly the same….. 

…..and this dance was performed in almost the exact same manner as in “DY”…..

Sometime in between songs, the waitresses started to clear the table, and then brought out MORE food.   These were mostly meats cooked in the Dai Barbeque style. 

Once again, the food was wonderful, but were all too full to eat much of this surprise second course.

In between the songs we endured  enjoyed Michael’s and my personal hell…..karaoke!!!!     First some Chinese songs and then a bit of John Denver.   Since then we have talked to another person who loved the song “Country Roads” and he said that it was very popular after Denver visited China.  It is obvious that he made a lasting impression on this country.

The final dance of the evening was the dance of the “Long Fingers”.  It was very cool how they used the “fingers” to add motion and interest to the dance.

Of course, the only thing that I could think of here was …..”Stop….in the name of love”…….. 

The last song brought out all of the dancers and of course the invited speakers had  to participate too.    It was NOT a pretty sight and apparently there are some blackmail photos out there that haven’t yet surfaced.   I am thinking that we will be willing to pay GOOD money to cover them up!!