Expensive Sunshine: Guiyang and More on Anna Banana

On the way up to the hotel from the airport, Aggie told us a little about the city of Guiyang itself. Out of all the things she said, I thought that the etymology of the city's name was particularly interesting.

In Chinese, the name 'Guiyang' is actually two words in one. The word 'gui', very common here in China, means 'expensive'. For example, when the laundry delivery people came to our room this morning to drop off the three little loads of laundry we gave them and handed us the bill for 900 yuan (roughly 130 USD; yes, that is a true story), we quickly let them know 'tai gui le' (too expensive!) and demanded a lower price. Needless to say, our interaction with the launderers here was not the most pleasant we have had here in China. 'Yang', the other part of the word, means sunshine.

This very unique name is also very appropriate. As Aggie explained it, the sunshine here is expensive not in that its presence is hard to detect, for that is not the case at all. When the sun shines here, it shines. When the locals say the sunshine is expensive here, they mean it drains you, it costs you. If you have ever spent most of a hot summer day outside, even if you weren't really doing much, you know what I mean. You literally feel exhausted and sapped of all energy. So, in a way, the sunshine is expensive...actually very similar to Louisiana.


I would like to share a bit about Anna before I discuss what we have done in the way of sightseeing these past few days. I'm sure you could tell from the pictures, but I just have to say it again: she is adorable. She has been quite sick these past few days, and not very happy as a result, but when she is not crying, she is always up to something, playing with something, rearranging something. She is beautiful, as well; of course, I am biased. She has fairly large eyes and hair that is always sort of messed up. The next thing you should know is that she is very, very, very, very small. Gosh, she is tiny. She is definitely smallest in our group and there is not much to her. She is almost two and 18 month clothes are almost big on her. Next, she has a temper. When we got Rebekah and we knew we were going to adopt again, we would always say, "Oh, Anna is going to be quiet and soft-spoken." I am pretty sure we were wrong. Even the little bit that we have experienced, she has quite a fiery personality. If she is annoyed by something, she will just throw it out of the way. So, in some respects, she is a lot like Rebekah. So, far she has said baba (daddy) and jiejie (big sister) and has taken quite a liking to Rebekah. Rebekah seems to have grown up quite a bit, just from having a little sister already. As for right now, we just hope that Anna begins to feel better; she has quite a cough and has been in and out of some fevers, though she is doing better. Now for some sightseeing notes...


On Monday, our first day after getting Anna, we took our trip to a Chinese Walmart. This was such a cultural experience that I think it is appropriate to describe it here. While most of us hate Walmart and grumble about 'having' to go, most of us have never experienced a Chinese Walmart and now you can know for sure: yes, there is a place that is worse. To be sure, I enjoyed being able to see it, but it is not a place I would like to frequent on a regular basis.

To get there, we all loaded into the bus, and as we began to get closer and closer, we noticed a nice, open space with lots of flowers, trimmed bushes, walkways and benches and one little lone box about the size of three phone booths stuck together with stairs leading downward and the traditional Walmart sign. Then, we went underground to park.

Yes, you read that right. There was underground parking for Walmart. They eliminated the box store look by putting a nice garden on the 'roof' at ground level and having one little ground level entrance. That was actually a nice improvement. Everything else was the American Walmart...not even at Christmas...but, just American Walmart on super steroids. The Walmart extended two levels underground. As we entered the lights were extremely bright, the music was blaring and the place (and the people) seemed to go on and on forever. As soon as you thought you were done there would be a little door in a back wall that would open up to an entirely new section. Nothing was very easy to find. Behind the counter, in the meat section, there were entire sides of pig hanging on large hooks. In the little displays, there was every body part imaginable. In the 'other' meat section, there were long eels laid out on the ice next to huge heaps of random body parts of squid. The water tanks next to it held what could possibly be your next dinner: bullfrogs, snails, crabs, and huge fish, swimming around in large tanks. Here you can not only have frog, but you can have the perfect frog...your frog. As soon as you point to it, it has your name on it. Walmart was definitely an interesting experience. I even had a few conversations with the locals. I think I did pretty well, even if I did have to pull the easy escape ('Wo bu dong, duibuqi.'- 'I don't understand, I'm sorry.') a lot.



On Tuesday, we left fairly early for a park nearby: Qianlingshan Gongyuan park. We passed through the city, edging little cars out of the way with our big bus as bikes, and mini-cars swerved around us and pedestrians walked alongside. As far as I could tell, we didn't run over anyone :). We came to a more rural area. Women carried the babies in huge baskets on their backs and peddlers sold their wares from the backs of huge pallets conveyed by their bikes or carried on a pole across their shoulder. We passed by the small, cone-like mountains on the way and then by the huge reservoir/lake for which the park is named. We were dropped off in the middle of the road partially up the mountain.


This park was known for its monkeys (it was their wild habitat), ranging in size from about knee-high to little bigger than my palm. We were advised not to get too close. These monkeys were known for taking things and being aggressive...as in, taking water bottles away from tourists and even snatching and unzipping backpacks and purses to find food. After one of the monkeys stole a bottle from a baby in our group and opened it and drank it...we knew that these weren't just rumors.


We left the savage monkeys and visited a temple/historic site, and, while we were there, saw one of the native ethnic minorities for which this area is famous. We then came back to the hotel and ate lunch at Pizza Hut where Jay almost broke a few plates in his charades game with the waitress, while trying to communicate the idea of 'to go'. In order to really get the idea across, he picked up the food, plate and all, and started walking out the door. They got the idea, even as they were falling over laughing.


Today, we visited an ancient village. The structures we saw were two hundred years old and older. The town was built with a fortress surrounding it with huge, stone walls. Inside were narrow streets, winding and sloping, with small, traditional Chinese buildings lining them, all decked with red Chinese lanterns. People would open the front of the building as their store and live in the back and upstairs. There were traditional carvings and crafts being sold and spices, especially large red peppers out to dry. There were also kegs of boiling pigs feet, a local delicacy and cosmetic, apparently. As we left the town gate we walked out into a huge open space, cordoned off into different plots of crops, like a quilt. A farmer in a cone-shaped straw hat passed us with his water buffalo. Off in the distance were the hill-like mountains. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip, and I got some good shots. Because this note is already too long-winded, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.




When we came back (after the laundry incident) we decided to walk around Guiyang to see (and smell) a little more of it before we leave. I (this is important; supposedly, I have a bad sense of direction) navigated us successfully to the bridge over the river that runs through the city. As we were returning, dodging people and motorcycles on the sidewalk, the sun started to set.


It got dark and the huge digital billboards and neon signs lit up everywhere. Nothing slowed down; in fact it seemed like more people crowded onto the streets. That's how it is here...always moving, always bustling, always selling, always going. Tomorrow we'll go see one of the largest waterfalls in the world and the largest in all of Asia, and then, on Friday, we will fly out.


Regardless of us, the City of Expensive Sunshine continues to bustle on and on.