MarkLuvsShuPing

I knew there were some good ones in there! Seeing the look on the minnow fishermen's face would be worth the price of a ticket to Nanning.

I agree with the concensus, take her back to the DR. In a lot of ways ShuPing is a bit of a rebel. When she visited the doctor here for the first time, we found out the baby was very healthy, but ShuPing's blood sugar was pretty high. Come to find out after a few tests, that she had gestational diabeties (diabetes that goes away after pregnancy). They sent us to the diabetes clinic and we got informed on nutrition and diet and how to do the blood test. We went and bought the tester and the right foods, but she kept telling me not to spend the money on it. She was sure the baby was fine and we shouldn't waste the money. I had to insist that we buy the stuff and monitor her blood sugar very closely. ShuPing was supposed to keep track of everything she ate and eat it in the right amounts and test her blood 4 times a day and record all of it. Meanwhile I ran off to work everyday and she blew it off half the time. I never could get her to understand that the doctors really were concerned about this. In the end she was right and it was not neccessary, the baby was born extremely healthy. However, she informed me that she could not take a bath or shower for 1 month after the baby was born. We could not take the baby anywhere for 1 month (except to see the doc). She ate eggs, hominey and rice like it was going out of style and all because, "This is Chinese ways for mama and baby."

Thanks, that was informative JT. I highly recommend the Pizza Hut, it's just like the ones here in the states, except for the toilets. I've been to the Wal-Mart and it's pretty awesome. I tried to make spaghetti while we were there and failed miserably because I couldn't get anything that resembled Italian spices or pasta. It would've been good to know about the little American food store. As far as staying in Nanning, lele is right. If your SO has any kind of connections, she should be able to get a good deal on an apartment. I think ShuPing is the best at this. She was renting a room from a girl in a very nice apartment complex and managed to talk the girl into vacating the place for the 3 weeks that my son and I stayed there for only 800RMB. She did come back a few times and even spent the night a few times, (which my wife thought was rude), but she never imposed on us. I realize we probably got lucky, but ShuPing seemed to think this kind of thing was normal. So ask your SO if she'd be able to work something like this out when you go. Here's a bit of a pipe dream that I hope to live out one day, but would love to see someone else do it and report. I had mentioned to ShuPing that it might be fun to take my son fishing while we were in Nanning. She knew a guy who liked to go fishing and she arranged for us to get together and meet at a lake. I think it's more like a widening of the river, but it's huge and surrounded by a park. They had paddle boats and a ferris wheel on the opposite side from where we were. Anyway, we fished from the bank and used some kind of flavored corn meal dough for bait. We put it on these little bitty hooks and it was only good for 1 or 2 minutes before it dissolved off the hook. They were biting like crazy, but you couldn't tell it because they we so damn little, 2-3 inches. The funny thing is, they were keeping them. I caught one about the size of my hand and they went crazy. It does require skill to snatch these little boogers up, it took me several minutes to even figure out how to toss the bait in without slinging it off, then several more minutes before I could tell when I was getting a bite, most of the time I figure I just got lucky and pulled it at the right time. My then 11 year old son, was frustrated beyond measure, though he finally got the hang of it. The thing is, I look up and down the bank and see lots of people fishing the same way. No rod and reels, only these little cane poles. All anyone was catching were the little "minnows". I kept thinking how I would love to have a rubber worm or some lures. Visions of pulling out a huge bass or something similar, kept floating through my mind. Damn, give me a real worm at least and let's see what I could pull out. Alas, I had to content myself with having caught the largest fish of the day, all 6 inches of him. So, if you are headed to Nanning and like to fish, maybe you can pack a fold-up rod and reel and some lures and tackle. See if you can wow the crowd on the banks as you reel in a monster. Let me live vicariously through you since I may never go back to Nanning again.

Thanks Don, that worked for IE, but I usually use MSN, which is supposed to be IE, but is more of a bastardized version of IE. It doesn't have the same controls. I'll ask them how to do it. You da man!

Help! I want to get this working for ShuPing, but all we have are jumbled characters. I know I need to change my internet settings, but I can't find simplified Chinese in them. All the other Chinese language internet pages show up, why not CFL?

PAPA CARL'S 4TH WHENEVER LOVE FEST http://mishami.image.pbase.com/u25/mikez/upload/34022604.woodstock.jpg COME ON AND GET SOME!!!! I couldn't let one go by with out the pics.

I waited at Blenz while ShuPing was inside. I would recommend that you take her there before the interview so she knows where you'll be. It's not that far, so if she needs something, she can find you right away. It can be a little on the expensive side for China, but the internet is free and it gives you something to do while you're waiting.

I was looking for a lesson plan for my students who have chosen "Cooking" as their elective class, when I came across this article. I wish I had seen it 3 weeks ago, I might have been able to talk ShuPing into a visit. If anyone decides to look for this place, let me know if it's still around. June 26, 2002 The Rage in China: Lunching on Wildlife, and Mao BY ELISABETH ROSENTHAL LIANBIAN, China "Long Live the Proletarian Revolution" screams one of the huge red banners, relics from Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution, on this vast restaurant's walls. But the hundreds of wild animals in the cages stacked high underneath will not live long at all. The herons, flying foxes, snakes, baby deer and lynx are among the dozens of species on the menu here, all destined to end up fried, stewed or dunked into a hot pot as part of today's businessman's lunch. Plunked improbably in this village on the outskirts of Guangzhou, the fantastically popular Sent Down Youth No. 1 Village Wild Flavors Restaurant is outwardly the oddest of hybrids: a kitsch theme spot where patrons can remember a miserably poor and brutally political decade in China's history while indulging the current southern Chinese rage for feasting on weird and expensive creatures. But then this is Guangdong, China's boom province, a giddy, anything-goes place where consumers rule and economic success has long since supplanted Communist orthodoxy as the guiding principle of existence. "I decided on a Cultural Revolution theme because in those days we suffered a great deal and never had anything to eat," said the owner, Liu Zhenhua, 51, who sports a cellphone, a shag haircut and two rings in his left ear. His restaurant is named in part for his Cultural Revolution experiences as a "sent-down youth," a city boy remanded to the countryside to learn from the peasants. "Now we are prosperous and can eat anything we want," he said. "So we can remember past suffering while enjoying our current good fortune." Wild animal restaurants are just one of many consumer crazes, from skateboarding to fine wine, that have gripped Guangdong in the last five years as rising incomes have left Cantonese with time and money to pursue their pleasures. Baiyun Avenue, which leads north out of Guangzhou, the provincial capital, toward Lianbian, is cluttered with opulent eateries whose billboards seem better suited to zoos. So two years ago, to distinguish his place from other restaurants offering scorpion, bobcat and squirrel, Mr. Liu had an inspiration: he erected a huge statue of Mao by the roadside, plastered the restaurant walls with slogans, old photos and 1960's propaganda posters, and dressed his waiters in vintage 1960's military garb. Presto! Mao, the outdated Great Helmsman of the Socialist Revolution, was transformed into a marketing device. In this part of China, Mr. Liu was rewarded rather than criticized for his innovation. Local farmers, impressed by his ability to make money, elected him village chief by a huge majority ?his baggy jeans and earrings not considered a liability. To judge by the perpetually packed dining room, Mr. Liu has hit upon a formula irresistible in Guangdong, which has been notorious since ancient times for both adventurous eating and irreverent politics. People here will eat "anything with legs other than the table," an old saying goes. "Wildlife restaurants are a sign of our prosperity," said Kuang Zuoqiao, 51, a slightly scruffy farmer who joined two relatives for cheap cigarettes and expensive chunks of wild boar here on a recent Tuesday afternoon. "It's fun and exciting to see what new animals taste like." He said they splurged on wild animal meals two or three times a month, adding, "When you see an animal, it's only natural to wonder what kind of flavor it has." His distant cousin, Kuang Yanyao, 53, said there was a tinge of vengeful pleasure in feasting under the watchful eyes of plaster Red Guards. During the Cultural Revolution, they plowed through China's countryside in posses, ransacking temples and beating those deemed to have anti- revolutionary tendencies. "The Cultural Revolution was not a happy time here," Mr. Kuang said, sitting under a poster that proclaimed, "The Revolution Depends on Chairman Mao Thought." "We ate just rice and tea ?we were always hungry. So it is very satisfying to be able to eat here, like this." At the restaurant's entryway, well-dressed customers in sport shirts and silk dresses surveyed the cages, picking out lunch. The house specialty is "Dragon, Tiger, Phoenix," a stew of snake, wildcat and crane popular for its supposed health benefits as well as its flavor. Rats are popular, but only in winter, since they "carry too many diseases in summer," a waitress explained. But some customers averred that, like a fine sherry, a well-prepared rat knows no season. "To me, it doesn't matter what time of the year," Kuang Zuoqiao said. Mr. Liu's is certainly not for the animal lover or the faint of heart; there are Chinese who feel that the people of Guangdong have now taken the sport of extreme eating too far. The central government, noting that wealthy locals here are now paying top dollar to eat protected and even endangered species, is cracking down on the trade. Just this week, the owner of a nearby restaurant was sentenced to five years in jail for serving pangolin, a kind of anteater. Mr. Liu says he carefully adheres to government laws on wild animals, sometimes purchasing from Southeast Asia animals not available here. "Rare owls and crocodiles used to be popular but you can't get them anymore because the government has banned that," a waiter said. But for many customers, a trip to Mr. Liu's is as much about political catharsis as culinary experimentation, an attempt to come to terms with a bygone time. "I receive a lot of support from old people and other sent down youth who, like me, don't want these things forgotten," he said. "They come down here for reunion dinners and by the end of the evening they are filled with tears."

ATTA GIRL!!!! I have to be one of the luckiest blokes in the world. All the time I was in GZ with ShuPing, she kept warning me to be careful. I'd carry her bag for her and she'd keep telling me to hold it in front, not on the side. I finally gave in and kept in in front. Mr. Bravado, I told her I was hoping some punk would come and try to snatch it. Luckily, no one attempted it. (I'd hate to be in a Chinese prison for killing a purse snatcher. ) Sorry that it happened to her, but glad to see she recovered and will get the documents replaced soon. Oh, and Roger, you guys will be together, no doubt. Hang tough.

Just let me assure everyone that hitting the 2000 posts mark is worth all the trouble and aggravation. It definitely puts getting that silly little visa thing into perspective.

It's been a long road and a little wheel, but I finally made it to the big time! http://hcs.harvard.edu/~dins/tours/bermuda/jump.jpg 2000 posts BABY!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!

Hey Congratulations Jenny and Jack!!!!!!!!! Don't you worry about that plane flight, they never even blinked at ShuPing. You might want to make sure you have an aisle seat though, it's a long way to go without several potty breaks. WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO and YABBA DABBA DOOOOOO!!!!

PAPA CARL'S 3rd(?) ANNUAL LOVE FEST You simply must plan to attend. The #1 in CFL fun! Here are some scenes from previous Love Fests... http://www.planetgong.co.uk/framed/University_of_Errors/99_sf_daevid-dancing.jpg http://www.zehara.co.uk/thetforda.jpg http://www.jasminechina.com/Images/miao2.jpg http://www.sharelynx.com/photos/fishing/TribalDancea.jpg So please plan to attend, you're sure to have a blast!

Rock on CFL members!

I was kinda brought back to reality last night. I told my donkey guts story to my ex- inlaws (they are Mexican) and they just looked at me like, "So?" They started talking about "tripas" and how good they are - goat guts. Not everyone in the world eats like Americans do. We are a pretty self-centered lot, aren't we? Just to bring this back to a more visa oriented topic, I got my I-134 notorized for free at the consulate. While I was in the waiting room there, the elevator stopped and a tall, black woman inside quickly pushed the button to close the doors as soon as she realized no one was getting on. I wondered if it was the infamous "Black Pearl". As far as a Chevy Chase movie, it might be perfect. I haven't gone into enough detail here to do it justice, but maybe I'll continue the story in the "Our Stories" section.