China

Life in China is very hard. I am more appreciative for my American life than ever. No words can adequately describe the traffic in China. There are motor bikes, buses, bikes, taxis walkers and cars sharing the same lanes. There are lights, but traffic will cross the intersection from two different directions. If someone is in your way, you beep to let them know you are coming through. Interestingly , there are less accidents than in the USA. None of our guides own cars, as they are too afraid to drive. It seems like most people take public transportation which means often waiting for thirty minutes. Most Americans won't even try to cross an intersection, but Kathy and I are more adventurous than most. Besides the constant traffic at all hours, there is construction 24 hours a day. There are massive high rises being built everywhere.

Our first guide Queenie, was an only child. If both parents are only children a family is allowed to have two kids if the first child is a girl. Queenie's family could not afford to have a second child. She said she had a lonely childhood. Our current guide is married without children because it is so expensive to have a child. Our travel escort Winnie, said that her family was able to afford to pay the extra fee to have a third child. They were hoping for a boy, but they had another girl. She said this was still a "happy thing" because it is good to have many children. We were glad to hear this.
The people have been wonderful and we have been very humbled by the way they are so eager to serve us. When we have difficulty folding our stroller, no less than six people will try to help us get it in the taxi. When we return to our hotel, four people are there to open the door and get us an elevator. On two occasions, we asked for directions and have were escorted all the way to our destination. Our guide will serve us dinner before she eats her own meal. In Hefei, a local shop owner refused to take our money for his tea because I was doing such a good thing for the people of Hefei. He offered us lunch and kept saying thank you for adopting one of our girls. The family asked if they could take a picture with us to hang in their shop so they could tell others that Americans stopped in their shop. The local people do stare at us out of curiosity, but are quick to greet you if you say "Ni Hao". The Chinese really look up to Americans and we have been asked to pose for pictures several times.
Here is a pic of the owner of the tea shop and a photo shot from are window in Hefei