Saturday, October 17, 2009
Another good night's sleep. Lea woke up just before 8:00am. We took our time this morning since we didn't have any early morning obligations. We had a nice leisurely breakfast and played in the room for a while. Lea played with Daddy on the bed until she fell asleep for her morning nap.
She took a good long nap and then we ate lunch in the room. Afterward, we met the other families in the lobby and went for a long stroller ride to see a few more of the local tourist attractions of Nanchang. We left the hotel right after lunch and headed to Bayi Square.
Bayi Guangchang, literally August 1st Square or People's Square, in Nanchang was built from August 1, 1977 to January 8, 1979, in memory of the Nanchang Uprising (aka. August 1st Uprising).
The size of this square is 840,000 ft² now after reconstruction that took place beginning in 2002. It is the second largest square in China, after Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Ever since it was constructed, this square has been the main site for most of the big-scale ceremonies and marches. To ordinary residents, due to the extremely hot and humid climate in Nanchang, the square was a popular place to hang out during hot summer nights until recent years when more and more families are able to afford air-conditioning.
A musical water fountain, which was built in the south of the square has become a favorite destination for people especially in the evening. The water "dances" to the music played through a P.A. system and if the wind is right...everybody gets wet. After the show, there are many men with brooms that sweep up all the water. It's quite impressive.
After a stroll through the Square we took a scenic tour through a neighborhood and into another beautiful park. Bayi Park was again decorated for the anniversary celebrations and was just beautiful.
The park is free to enter and the landscape is typical of all great Chinese parks - walkways, pagodas, bridges and beautiful willow trees sweeping down into the water. The park is set around a central lake, in the middle of which is an island covered in shady trees. 
We actually caused quite the scene here as there were four American families with Chinese daughters and everyone in the park wanted to have their picture taken with us. We were the only Americans in the park. Our guide, Echo, had stopped to buy some oranges from a vendor and we discovered that Lea loves oranges. She almost ate the whole orange by herself. They were very good and sweet.
Another good night's sleep. Lea woke up just before 8:00am. We took our time this morning since we didn't have any early morning obligations. We had a nice leisurely breakfast and played in the room for a while. Lea played with Daddy on the bed until she fell asleep for her morning nap.
She took a good long nap and then we ate lunch in the room. Afterward, we met the other families in the lobby and went for a long stroller ride to see a few more of the local tourist attractions of Nanchang. We left the hotel right after lunch and headed to Bayi Square.Bayi Guangchang, literally August 1st Square or People's Square, in Nanchang was built from August 1, 1977 to January 8, 1979, in memory of the Nanchang Uprising (aka. August 1st Uprising).
The size of this square is 840,000 ft² now after reconstruction that took place beginning in 2002. It is the second largest square in China, after Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Ever since it was constructed, this square has been the main site for most of the big-scale ceremonies and marches. To ordinary residents, due to the extremely hot and humid climate in Nanchang, the square was a popular place to hang out during hot summer nights until recent years when more and more families are able to afford air-conditioning.
A musical water fountain, which was built in the south of the square has become a favorite destination for people especially in the evening. The water "dances" to the music played through a P.A. system and if the wind is right...everybody gets wet. After the show, there are many men with brooms that sweep up all the water. It's quite impressive.After a stroll through the Square we took a scenic tour through a neighborhood and into another beautiful park. Bayi Park was again decorated for the anniversary celebrations and was just beautiful.
The park is free to enter and the landscape is typical of all great Chinese parks - walkways, pagodas, bridges and beautiful willow trees sweeping down into the water. The park is set around a central lake, in the middle of which is an island covered in shady trees. 
We actually caused quite the scene here as there were four American families with Chinese daughters and everyone in the park wanted to have their picture taken with us. We were the only Americans in the park. Our guide, Echo, had stopped to buy some oranges from a vendor and we discovered that Lea loves oranges. She almost ate the whole orange by herself. They were very good and sweet.
After the park, we headed back toward the August 1st Square and went to Wal-Mart for more supplies. We bought some more baby bottles for Lea and a piece of luggage since we've maxed-out our carry-ons. I had planned on checking a bag on the way home assuming we would have lots of souvenirs (I was right).
Randy had to stop and take more pictures of the meat section in Wal-Mart. We really couldn't identify most of the selections. Speaks volumes for being vegetarian, I keep telling him!On the walk back to the hotel it had begun to get dark and the sidewalks were very crowded with people. Our group stayed together as best we could, dodging cars, bicycles, scooters and other people.
We were all together in a group at the point where one of the other moms just about stepped right on a dead rat laying in the street. She must have come up two feet off the ground when she realized what it was. She screamed, jumped, danced and screamed again. She was pushing an empty stroller at the time (her husband was carrying the baby) and I swear she and the stroller levitated right off the ground. After the horror was over, we all laughed until we cried. Then Randy wondered aloud, "How long do you think it'll be before that's an entree?" (he's a little bitter about his food experiences here).As we got to the hotel, the wedding party that took place earlier today was still celebrating the ceremony with more firecrackers right in front of the hotel. It must have gone on for 5 minutes. It was easily a 4-5 foot string of firecrackers and really, really loud. We said our goodbyes to the other families and decided to stay in for dinner tonight. We'll give room service a third try (fingers-crossed for Randy). I got a great vegetarian pizza. It was actually better than most that I've had at home in the states. I actually ate the whole 10" pizza by myself. Randy decided to give the filet another try, this time ordering medium-well...hockey puck mean anything to you?!? Oh well, at least he's losing the weight his been trying to lose for years now :)
Lea went right to sleep tonight. It was a long day for her.
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