Chinese Tea Leaves

Tea in China is amazing. One member of our group told me about all the delicious and different teas she hoped to buy when she was here. I wish I had found the time while here to sample and explore the world of Chinese tea. Instead I’ll use it as a theme for these short observations. Happy sipping:

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While it’s still fresh in my mind, make sure you all add ATM card to your China packing list. I did not bring mine thinking that my VISA card and spending money would keep me afloat. Wrong. I was amazed at how many places would not take VISA (I never took an ATM card last time and had no problems). I had to go into my spending reserves and would have run out of money if my sister had not brought her ATM card.

ATM – Don’t leave home without it.

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Libby Doodle Doo eats well. She has no problem with soft foods like congee, yogurt, scrambled eggs, melt-in-your mouth cheerios, baby food, oatmeal, etc. She has trouble with foods that require a little bit of chewing – like crackers or bananas.

We finally figured out her problem here in Guangzhou. She totally knows how to bite and chew. Her 3.5 little chompers will tear off a piece of food and her little jaw will go up and down and up and down and up and down for minutes. And then she looses track of what she’s supposed to do next. Eventually, the chewed food cascades out of her mouth like a waterfall –not a pretty sight. We’ve been working with her to teach her how to remember to swallow – but so far no luck.

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Before traveling, I had read on the internet that it was unnecessary to pack diapers for the trip – that diapers in China were easy to find and just as good as the American ones. On my last trip a couple of my travel mates had run out of diapers in Guangzhou and they said that the Chinese diapers were not very good. I decided to err on the side of being conservative and packed 48 diapers for the trip (12 days with Libby Doodle Doo x 4 diapers/day). But it was clear in Nanchang that I would not have enough diapers for the trip – this child goes through a lot of diapers. Plus, due to her bad diaper rash I was vigilant to get her wet diaper off as soon as possible.

We found lots of Pamper diapers in Nanchang, but decided to wait until we got to Guangzhou so we didn’t have to fill our small suitcases with diapers. Bad choice.

We bought Chinese-made diapers in a department store in Guangzhou. Libby Doodle Doo had a leaking accident with 3 of the first 5 diapers we used on her. We then went out searching for Pampers. We eventually found them – but not in her size. We had to get size 3 to 6 months – they fit her but it’s a tight squeeze (so probably not very comfortable for her). Fortunately we saved enough of our original stash of diapers to use on the plane trip home.

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For Libby Doodle Doo (as I did for her sister Little Zo Peep), I bought 18 gifts from China to give to her on the anniversary of adoption day. The gifts I selected are: Toddler books in Chinese, a soft stuffed Pig (she was born in the year of the Pig), a kite, a handmade doll, a wooden puzzle of China, the adoption Barbie that is given to adoptive parents staying in the White Swan, a child’s tea set (it comes from Jiangxi – noted for their porcelain and is gorgeous), Christmas ornaments, a coin necklace (with old Chinese coins), a copper pig, a jade necklace, porcelain chopsticks, a stone tiger, an embroidered picture, porcelain Chinese opera mask, an old bronze lock in the shape of a pig, a wooden carved calligraphy brush stand and an antique, handmade tiger hat that was worn on babies heads to ward off evil spirits. In addition I got her a string of pearls (really small and delicate) to give to her on her sweet 16 and another more contemporary silver/pearl necklace to give to her when she is an adult.

It is a strange sensation to buy gifts for your teenage and adult daughter when she is just a tiny baby cradled in your arms. But doing this now makes me realize how fleeting and quickly childhood will pass and how I need to squeeze every bit of enjoyment out of every day that I have with her.

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On my Last trip I shipped many of these gifts home from the Friendship store where I bought them (a government-run store that sold handcrafted items). Apparently, Friendship stores don’t exist anymore, so I bought my gift for Libby Doodle Doo (and Zo Peep and my sisters) at various stores – few offering shipping. So my sister and I knew we had to buy a 3rd suitcase to pack all of our loot in.

Once again, I used the forum section of Rumor Queen for advice on where I could buy a cheap bag that wouldn’t fall apart and vendor who would accept a VISA card. I received over a dozen replies to my inquiry including some important advice to make sure I didn’t buy a counterfeit bag (e.g. POLO, etc) because it probably will be confiscated by US authorities. My sister and I followed the advice and found a solid looking bag for $14 US dollars.

That Rumor Queen Forum – a life saver.

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You all have probably noticed that I have had little problems posting daily from China. I had read horror stories about how difficult it is to use Blogspot in China. I had done some research before the trip. I set up various contingency plans and used different methods at different times of the trip. I was able to post text, post pictures, read comments, post comments, and view my blog. It was more complicated than it was at home, but not impossible.

If anyone would like me to do a short posting on how I did it, let me know and I’ll share my learnings.

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I’ll leave you with the Chinese symbol for Tea: