Let's begin in China... Dongguan

After checking my folks in to the hotel last night, we went for a Midnight Snack... or as I'd call it -- a whole heck of a lot of FOOD! WOW! 2 whole fishes (which you can see them choosing with Mag at the left and see the Flat Fish cooked at right), a few large squid, veggies, pork buns... A great way to break Mom and Dad in right off the bat to the food they will have on this trip! YUM!

We all slept fairly well and were up-n-at 'em this morning for a full day ahead!

After a tasty breakfast we journeyed to the market! The food market, to select crabs (two kinds), veggies fruits and fish for lunch. At left shows an egg stand with so very many kinds of eggs available from goose and duck to quail and preserved eggs (the black ones in the lower left of the photo.)

The colors of the vegetables -- YUM! This is what my Mom is taking some video of... the richness of color!






I loved the colors of the bags of rice and the spices side by side... then this little kitty hopped into the photo... Of course, after I took the photo he hissed his head off at me...










After the market we were off to see my factory. They had brought with them some bottles of maple syrup that had been made from their own trees in New Hampshire, along with photographs of the process that is takes to get the syrup from tree to bottle. Noone here had ever seen such things.

My folks were treated to a factory tour by Tony with details filled in as they went by each division head. The tour included the various parts of the factory, canteen, grounds and dorm-style rooms. Meanwhile I wrapped up most all of the loose ends for work. Phew 105 hours...plus 2 more! Before I knew it, it was lunch time!

Crab lunch day!! The usual feast was expanded upon with the addition of a large sandpaper fish, steamed, and a few veggies. YUM!!! Fu prepared the usual two crabs. The white one with the red markings that is served cold and dipped in the white vinegar with the chopped garlic, and the more typical red crab with ginger and scallions that is served hot and is dipped in black vinegar with hot fresh chilies in it.

Needless to say we didn't go hungry -- and my folks enjoyed it as much as the rest of us. How can you NOT? YUM!

We next toured the grounds of an entertainment complex where we saw a laughing Buddha and Quan Yin... The view I used to see from my old hotels breakfast room. (photos later perhaps...they are with my Dad.)

Then is was tea time! We jumped into the car and went to do a tea tasting at Ten Fu's Tea...YUM!


We tried about 6 different teas presented by the tea master... a surprisingly young man. Pictured is a Ti Kuan Yin - harvested in autumn, an oolong, and best brewed in clay. I bought some of this tea, along with a clay pot. Yum!
We also tasted the Dragon's Eye tea, shown hear in it's unbrewed state. Each leaf painstakingly hand wrapped around a jasmine flower. I like this jasmine tea!! Bought some of this too along with a porcelain pot since it's best brewed in porcelain. I won't bore you with photos of all of the teas -- but I can say that I also picked up some Pu-er, a common and mild black tea, and some Dragon's Well, a lovely green tea.

After we picked up our wares & tea, we journeyed on to dinner at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel. Min & her husband and Ho and his fiancé joined Mag, Tony, Mom, Dad and myself for a nice Teppanyaki dinner.

Finishing the night, Mom, Mag and I went for a foot Massage! Amazing how much LIGHTER your feet feel after a foot massage! As we were being massaged, I flipped channels and came upon... An episode of the NEW Dr. Who!! (Yes...I'm a closet Whovian!) It was funny to see the new Doctor using cell phones and having the aliens a bit computer animated... No Daleks though. [Grin] Tomorrow we'll leave China for 3 nights in Hong Kong!