Chrissy is visiting, which has thrilled the kids and been great company for me. It has also stretched my tourism boundaries further -- I had forgotten how I got my tourism feet wet with Chrissy when we first arrived in China! My big problem with doing touristy things in China is that a) everything is super crowded b) everything is super commercialized and c) your whole experience as a visitor is being managed by paths, railings etc. that tell you where to go, what to look at, where to take photos. I've tried bucking these instructions but the truth is, once millions of Chinese visitors have been to a place they really have found the best views, etc.

One of our best finds has been the subway route to the South Bund Soft-Spinning Material Market (aka the Fabric Market) where you can have great clothes custom made for less than an inexpensive off-the rack version in U.S. We also discovered a huge tea market near the railway station a few days ago, with an enormous park for the kids nearby. I plan to add the tiny jasmine flower tea balls that I bought there to my short list of Favorite Chinese Things. And on the weekend we all went to Qibao, a river town a long taxi ride from where we live now.

Highlights of the Qibao trip were a pole boat trip (with someone's German Shepherd paddling alongside the boat); a stop at a cricket museum, which was actually a lovely peaceful old house with a garden courtyard; and sitting on the riverbank eating strawberry ice creams under a row of kites flying themselves outside a kite shop. At a Buddhist temple, Emi said that she wanted to light some incense and pray to the Gouda like all the other people. Explanations ensued once we were able to stop laughing.

In taxi on the way home Tuck asked me about a turquoise ring I was wearing. It was kind of a dome shaped stone, a pale blue one shot through with dark grey lines. I explained that turquoise is a stone people find in the ground in places like New Mexico (which they have visited) and that some people think it looks like the sky. Tuck looked at it solemnly and said, "I think it looks like thunder over water." I hugged him and told him I would always remember what he said. Naturally, Emi then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to say something memorable enough that I would always remember it too. Of course, she already had what with the whole praying to the Gouda thing, but she didn't realize that.