This was a quiet, enjoyable, relaxing day, in which we
stayed in Pinghu, toured a Chinese mansion, and went out to the “Taiwanese Garden”
restaurant for a special Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner.
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Typical Chinese cookstove |
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Partition between two rooms |
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Bedroom with ornately carved bed |
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Chinese paintings on the walls |
We toured a large old
mansion in Pinghu, which was very fun and interesting, but about halfway
through I found myself towards the back of our rather large tour group, so I
couldn’t hear what the tour guide was saying and I just contented myself with
taking pictures.
Soon, however, I heard great bursts of laughter coming from
the group ahead, so I hastened up to see what was the situation. The tour guide
had been showing the honeymoon suite, with a red-curtained, ornately carved
wedding bed. At this, Mr. Huang pulled Amy and Shep from the group and had them
sit down together on the bed. The cameras were flashing, let me tell you! Amy
said later that it was okay, considering that there was absolutely nothing
whatsoever between her and Shep, but she didn’t think she would ever live that
down.
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The gardens outside the mansion we toured |
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At Pinghu's lake |
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View from the Taiwanese Garden restaurant |
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Chinese food |
Taiwanese
Garden restaurant was a
neat experience. That was where they served whole turtles and a dish of squishy
opaque stuff in longish strings of about an inch in diameter. Some people
thought it was jellyfish and ate it so they could say they had had jellyfish.
The next day we found out what it actually was: the “achilles tendon” from
pigs’ feet! We ate, but the focus was on the celebration of Chinese New Year.
Mr. Wang gave us all a large Chinese knot and a red envelope containing 15 RMB
(about $2). That night we also sang karaoke and set off fireworks. It was fun
to celebrate a holiday I had never celebrated before.
Next Post: Touring Hangzhou
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First Post: Pre-departure excitement
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