China Day 9 - Rain

On Monday, we ended up having a lazy day near the apartment. It rained all day long and I think we enjoyed a bit of a down day. In the evening, we went out front on the River and saw a beautiful light, music and water show with the skyscrapers as the background - absolutely gorgeous. What I like most about it was the fact that you felt like you were in Disneyland (it was Magical), yet it was free and anyone and everyone (no matter how much money you had) could enjoy it. Lots of the workers from the building construction next door came too. We then rented a bicycle built for 5 (yes they exist!). We road along the river front - it was truly comical!

the show slowly begins...

The backdrop is gorgeous and the music makes it feel so cool (oriental)

The show went on for over 45 minutes...

The sun went down...

The kids got tired of standing :-)

And of course - getting lots of photos :-)

So pretty!!!

And then we rented this thing (the night is the most fun, because everyone is out and about...)

We all took turns driving (but some of us were better at steering than others - yikes!)

Truly - so funny!!!

China - Day 8 (Zoo and Social Club)

On Sunday, we woke up and went to the Chongqing Zoo. The highlight there is of course the Panda Bears and they say that you need to get there early in order to see them in action (because they are quite lazy creatures and sleep all afternoon :-)). So we got there when it opened. The animals were of course great, but for me it was really so fun to watch the people. We discovered that the traditional dress is "highheels" for all of the Moms and "princess - flowly dresses" for the girls. It was almost 100% consistent :-) Living in Europe, I always love the little differences in the normal ways of life and in China of course, the differences were even more magnified! We had a nice morning at the Zoo and then went back to our apartment to meet with friends of the man that we rented the apartment from. They have a social type group and each week they have a different "theme". This time we were invited to talk about differences in America, Germany, and China. Most of the people spoke a little bit of English (because they had all gone to University) and it was so fascinating being able to talk openly about differences. The big conversation was about Finaces and how you manage finances - currently and also saving for retirement - again so interesting. I learned so much about China and we discovered many pros and cons to both Countries with regard to finances. We then went out to dinner with our host and that was super enjoyable (and educational) too!

The entrance to the zoo..

It was really comical to see all of the photo requests at the zoo... 

These girls were hanging out with each other - they totally looked to be Mia's age ....

In the morning all of the old people were in the Zoo doing their morning exercises...

it was so neat to see...

Be careful of the fierce beasts :-)

White tigers...

More exercisers (this was not a show or anything - just real life :-))

We saw so much of this and it touched my heart - Grandparents with their grandchildren (there were so many little girls too - we saw so many more girls than boys). They are definitely loved!!!

More dancing...

So many of the girls had features similar to Mia - little lips and beautiful large cheek bones...

More paparazzi requests - so funny (I think Bailey felt like a rock star :-))

Definitely a loved little princess...

More grandparents with grandchildren... Many parents have to go away to work in China, so often the Grandparents are responsible for the kids...

This was a first for us - you could pay $2 and you got a big tray of food to feed the Hippopotamus

They loved it!!!

Just a few Gold fish in the pond :-)

And it was the hottest day of the year so far, yet still all of the Women had on heels - so funny!

And the little girls were all dressed up!

And the pandas got their leaves :-) So cute! We learned from someone we met on the trip that apparently there are several zoos in Chongqing and all of them have Pandas. It would have been neat to see what one of the smaller zoos was like...

And such an interesting conversation with locals - so glad to have learned more about their system...

So fun to meet new people from different cultures!!

China - Day 7 (People's Square and 3 Gorges Museum)

Our favorite evening in China (back in 2006), was when we went with friends' to the People's Square in Chongqing. It felt so authentic and real and was just all in all so much fun. We definitely wanted to go back on this trip and see the area and also find the restaurant that we went to. The area has changed so much since we were there. There is a monstrous new Museum accross the way called the "3 Gorges Museum". The 3 Gorges Dam was built just after we were here the first time and it is the largest Dam in the world. When they flooded the area as a result of the Dam, it displaced over 1 million people. Many artifacts would have been destroyed, but they brought many of the remembrances to this Museum in Chongqing. We were lucky to squeeze in 1 taxi this time to get there (whenever we had to get 2, I worried that we wouldn't be able to find each other at the different drop offs :-)), and we walked around the museum and square for a while. It was neat to be back - much smaller than I remembered too. I think the reason we liked it so much the first time is because we were on our own with friends (without a guide). This trip was filled with that same feeling (just to really experience "real" China - without a guide -was so much fun). We were able to locate the restaurant that we went to. The outside had totally changed, but the inside was mostly the same. Chongqing is growing like crazy. There is rapid construction. The area we stayed was totally redeveloped since we were there 9 years ago - it is so interesting to see. I think it has oodles of potential for tourism, but of course then the entire city would change and the thing to me that is so great about it, is the fact that there are no tourists.

In the evening, we decided to walk around in the area behind our hotel. We literally stumbled across this big sports park area with all different kinds of sports: golf, rollerskating, boxing, climbing, swimming etc. This was especially fun for the kids to see - so neat!

Chongqing is building like crazy.. right below where we stayed, they were building like 6 new High Rises on the river. It was so interesting to watch them each day. Definitely hard work!

These were some of the workers who had come out to watch a few minutes of that fun run race. I think most of these men were from small villages and came to the city to find work.

Bryan , Mia, and I had stood in this same spot - 6 years ago - so great to have Bailey and Camden with us this time!

So fun to be back!

This is the new Museum. In the picture above, we were facing the museum...

Mia from the Balcony of the Museum

 A few of the saved memorabilia that would have been flooded with the Dam

A model of the famous Dam...

This was so cute - we saw selfie sticks everywhere (we even bought a few too :-) Definitely "made in China"!

So pretty!

This is the Concert Hall..

This is "our" restaurant". The outside has changed, but the inside is the same. We brought a picture with us, and this is a photo of Bryan trying to ask a Man who works there if this was the place.. :-) Sure enough, it was...

On the walk between the restaurant and the People's Square is now a Walmart - my how times change!!!

On the way out the back of the Apartment , was a neat Labrynth...

Looking down on the ropes course...

Soccer statue...

This was so neat - we walked in and discovered that it was a driving range, right in the middle of the city...

We bought a bucket of golf balls and all hit some - so much Fun!

For never hitting a golf ball - the kids did quite well!

When we came out from Golfing, this "daredevil" was doing tricks on his motorbike (it reminded me of an old episode of Happy Days and Fonzi :-)) Everyone was standing around and watching..

This was a roller rink next door to the golf place... You can see the skaters watching the motorbiker...

And here is the motorcycle biker, going down the steps (he went up them too on the bike - yikes!!!)

Walking around the sports area... The bubble building in the background was the big swimming pool...

The skaters - check out the wavy floor that they could skate over...

And of course, right in the middle of it all - people playing their evening cards :-)

This was a big facility where there was a wedding going on. We literally saw 25 weddings on this trip - Weddings are a huge and important business here!

And this man doing some type of Tai Chi in the park...

We saw this and peaked in the windows... then the people inside saw us looking and invited us in - so funny!

Some type of Warrier Buddha :-) Shrine

I had never seen a real boxing ring :-)

This was the pool - you could see them swimming from the outside

and again, the climbing wall (not sure about the liability with this :-))

A Golden Elephant :-)

and then back to the river for the evening crowd :-)