Despite being up late last night or until the wee hours of the morning, I woke up around 9:30. Rebecca slept later than I did, but it gave me opportunity to read and finish some writing. I ate leftovers for breakfast with tea of course and studied a bit of Chinese. I can almost get the numbers one through ten now. Rebecca has decided to take me to the Yu Gardens today. we head out around 11 and first go to have a house key made for me...about 50 cents... I get my camera out to try to capture some of the essence of daily life in this area. The sheer numbers of bicycles and scooters parked on the sidewalks is staggering. We even see an adult-sized tricycle made to transport large panes of glass. Huge turtles are for sale on the sidewalk...not sure if they are for dinner or as pets. Even though some people her are overweight, nobody is truly fat and there's a reason for this, they walk or cycle everywhere. It's hot here and they must just sweat it off. The dress for comfort not fashion in many neighborhoods. Not much thought is given to what they wear save that it is comfortable. Frequently we see as Rebecca calls it, the "pajama patrol"... people dressed in loose fitting men's pajamas. You'll see grown men dressing like that...pretty funny, but who can blame them, they are trying to stay cool. Matching does not seem to be an issue either...stripes and florals are combined in clashing colors...men are sometimes shirtless or wearing a sleeveless undershirt and shorts or shirts have rolled up to reveal their fleshy midsections. Of course the more middle class inhabitants dress in more upscale western fashion such as the twenty somethings we encountered last night with their party attitudes and bored affect. I can't get enough of the children here. Clearly they are revered and pampered. Their bright smiles and shining eyes could melt the heart of Scrooge. A couple of subway trains the 4 and the10 and we arrive close to the Gardens. We have to travel through a touristy shopping area, but to my delight it's not all tacky t-shirts. In fact though Rebecca rolls her eyes, there are lots of interesting items for sale...jade and pearls, shadow puppets and masks, silver jewelry and clothing from the Miao minority, amber and wooden carvings. There is schlock of course...tacky hats made of accordian paper and cutesy dolls, and paper fans and brightly colored pinwheels and every size repica of stuffed Haibao, the mascot for the expo. Tons and tons of food stalls abound...these people snack a lot...huge dumplings served in their own bamboo steamer served with straws so that you can slurp the juice out first before eating the dumpling...stinky fried tofu (that's not an understatement) fried chicken, sushi, drinks of all kinds including bubble teas with tapioca pearls ( a bit like sucking on a drink and getting an eyeball every once in a while) and smoothies made with sweet red bean paste. We browse a candy shop and come away with a few samples. The sales people are persuasive...an assortment of sesame candies and a sort of peanut brittle. Then it's on to the gardens. They are representative of classical Chinese gardening architecture according to the pamphlet and it was built during the reign of Ming Emperor, Jiajing (1559) as the private garden of Pan Yunduan, the administrative commissioner of Sichuan Province. It is a popular tourist attraction. That's putting it mildly...being there was like being at carnivale in Rio...there are so many people milling about. This place is about 2 hectares and it is packed. Still you find little pockets of serenity where it is quiet except for the constant hum of the cicadas. the gardens have ponds and bridges and rooms made of laquered wood that were used for different purposes of the family...the doorways are unique...the threshholds are at least 6 inches high indicative of high status presumably to keep out bad spirits and ghosts which are unable to cross them because their feet are together. We take in an art exhibit in one of the buildings on the Garden campus done by a French artist. She has taken photographs of different cites around the world and played with their image which I think then are silk screened onto fabric rolls. Her commentary reflects someone passionate about the way different societies impact the earth environmentally. My favorite is one that is blown up and looks very much like the motherboard of a computer. We continue our exploration of the Gardens. It's really the atmosphere of a fair. People are out with the families munching on their snacks and chattering away often stopping to stare at the lao fan (foreigner) or take pictures, but that's okay...I reciprocate and do the same. Late in the afternoon we leave to grab something to eat. Rebecca takes us to Nan Tiang steamed dumpling kiosk which is very famous. It's apparent because the line is about a block long. As we are waiting in line, we notice the women ahead of us has what looks to a whole fried bird about the size of my fist complete with head and feet. We ask to take a photo and start a trend...the giggley school girls ahead of us take pictures as well. We get to the window and order. It's a bit like going to Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans. All they sell are these dumplings...thousands of them a day and that's all that they sell. They put some vinegar on them to eat them and one must first bite into them and suck out the juice and then eat them...they are delicious. We take our treats over to find a spot to munch on them and survey the tourists as we do. We head back after our snack stopping at the market close to the apartment to pick up some essentials. That's a treat for me as it's the first supermarket that I've been to here. Unlike the U.S., supermarkets, the larger they are, the more expensive they are. It's a bit like a walmart superstore as they sell everything from groceries to clothes to household goods. Interesting items include live eels, turtles, and frogs for sale. You also pick out your live fish with a net. That's what I call fresh! We grab some yogurt and toilet paper ( really important) and juice and head home. My evening is spent napping, reading and catching up on emails. I listen to the sounds of the city and chat a bit with Kevin (He is back after spending the day teaching his girlfriend's niece to ride a bike.) Rebecca goes to hang out at her friends and comes home late in the evening. I am still up typing but finally hit the hay around 1:30 am. More adventures to come.