Harbin Ice Festival

At minus 15 degrees, we landed in Harbin located in north eastern China just below Russia to see the Ice Festival that lasts about 5 weeks! Upon arrival, we donned our winter gear and every layer of clothing we could muster and headed out into the bitter cold.

The snow sculptures, that last about 3 months, were breath-taking! Blocks of snow are stacked and then sculptors work their magic. It took more than a hundred sculptors 10 days working 10 hour days in 20 below temperatures to create this stunning snow sculpture - the largest in the world.

Dusting off new snow from "Snow Fairy Dance"

After 2 hours at the Snow Park we headed back to the hotel to get warm and then once the sun set headed out to the Ice Festival Park. Huge blocks of ice are cut out of the nearby river and hollowed out to string lights through the center. They are then stacked and carved!

Ice Festival stage where we danced Gangnam style!

The thermometer behind Phil says it is -20 degrees

Stairway to the Ice Slides

Of course Phil had to do the Ice Slide

Food stalls selling frozen candy coated fruits!

The next day we headed downtown by the river where the kids were skating, sliding and playing games on the ice. Brrr . . .

I truly don't know how anyone can live in these temperatures. The native Chinese look very eskimo-like and were not affected by the sub zero temperatures. 

Enough of the winter temps for me. We head to Langkawi, Malaysia this week where it is 90 degrees and very tropical!

xoxo, Kathy & Phil

Toasting our adventures in China 

at the Ice Bar in Shanghai

Just before I left to come "home for the holidays", Phil decided to show me the Ice Bar on the river in Shanghai! In my borrowed parka, we braved the 20 degree temps and toasted our new adventure!

A toast! Brrr . . . 

We head back to Shanghai next week after Andy goes back to PSU and Trixie to Ging Ging and Pop Pop's house. We loved our time at home and look forward to the next chapter.

We wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year and are very thankful to be surrounded by loving family and friends! Hope your wishes come true!

Suzhou

Yay! Roadtrip . . . Phil had a business meeting in a nearby canal town and I decided to join him to take in the sites. Only 2 hours out of Shanghai and we were in a fun city with lots of canals and beautiful gardens. Just behind our hotel was an amazing garden on a lake featuring 1000 year old temples and water gates.

The Ruiguang Pagoda is a Buddhist temple built 2500 years ago in 247 BC. It is made of brick and wood and stands majestically at one end of the gardens.

Ruiguang Pagoda behind hotel

Phil was very interested in the Pan Gate and how the water was allowed in and out of the waterway. The land and water gate is part of the ancient city wall built in 514 BC and was the only entrance to the ancient city.

Rockery and Waterfall near Pan Gate

We took several tours with the Air Product's group and enjoyed a traditional Chinese lunch Suzhou style! There were lots of things I recognized but the bowl of what looked like cottage cheese put me over the top. Once you dipped in the bowl,  translucent fish the size of your pinky finger moved to the top. They were almost clear, just two beady eyes staring you down. Chopsticks down! Lunch is over!

Suzhou Canal outside Restaurant

The tour of the Lingering Garden was my favorite. In ancient times, women were not allowed to go outside of the family home, so wealthy families built their own private family gardens for the women to enjoy a bit of the outdoors. This garden included multiple pagodas and a beautiful koi filled pond. A Chinese opera singer was singing in her wooden boat in the middle of the garden.

Opera Singer in Lingering Garden

The Chinese opera is very popular in Suzhou. It takes some getting used to but sounds a lot like a screeching cat fight.  The costumes and face paint were much better than the singing.

Suzhou Opera Screechers

Our final stop was Tiger Hill. We climbed the hill to see the Pagoda at the top and listened to senseless legends our tour guide shared with us along the way. By this time, I was becoming overwhelmed by the number of people crowding in to walk up the hill with us. There were too many people to fit on the pathway to get to the top but we persevered.

A group of monks were among the crowd using their phones and IPads to take pictures of the temples. They were like a bunch of rowdy college students. Not what we were used to in Thailand.

Monks at Tiger Hill using their IPads to take photos

We would love to go back to Suzhou, only 25 minutes from Shanghai via the high speed train. The canals and smaller backstreets are lined with tea houses and cafes and you can even ride on a Venice-like gondola to see the villages. Now, if we could just convince you to come to visit . . .

Apartment with a View

Our 13th floor apartment is beginning to feel a bit more like home and is definitely a reprieve from the city just outside our door. The car horns start at about 5:00am and quiet at about midnight. The apartment balcony overlooks the Sciences & Technology building, Century Park (much like Central Park) and the downtown Pudong section of Shanghai, full of skyscrapers of all shapes and sizes.

Apartment View

The canal we watch daily, is always muddy and doesn't look very clean. Even though they have been discouraged from doing so, swimmers get their exercise by tying orange balloon floats to their backs so they can be seen as they do the breast stroke up and down the waterway. There is a section just opposite our apartment that features our favorite canine swimmers. At 6:30 each morning, there are between 3 to 6 retrievers that come to swim and fetch orange floats thrown in the water by their owners. A great way to start the day!

Just Another Week

We have come to the end of another week in this crazy city with a few celebrations, lots of "market" shopping and bartering and just walking . . . and walking . . . and more walking.

This week was a bit calm with Phil in town for most of it so I had to re-visit some resourceful cooking skills. Simple items like fish, chicken and veggies all have to be questioned. Where did it come from, is it safe and how old is it? Often times, it is just easier to go out and eat!

Phil and I celebrated our new surroundings on the river at a neat place called "Cool Docks" down on the Huangpu River that runs through the center of the old and the new sections of Shanghai. We chose a fun Greek restaurant overlooking the river.

Celebrating at Mythos on the river

As we were sitting on the rooftop deck Phil said "Look, over there - my ship has come in!"

Philip's Ship Came In

This week I began exploring the French Concession area in the old section of Shanghai. The only way for me to figure out where I am is to walk the sections of the city.  I found some really cool wet markets - like our farmer's markets - stocking live crabs and fish, meats displayed at room temperature, lots of vegetables and eggs. Sadly, they cripple the ducks to keep them from waddling away and keep them with the chickens so they can get the eggs. At the end of the wet market alley there was a newly renovated section built with sustainable materials, entirely eco-friendly and home to several cafes. I finally found a vegetable sandwich on 12 grain bread. The first sandwich I have had since I arrived!

Phil has become a really good barterer and took me to the underground, knockoff market to show me his stuff. I am totally impressed and now leave the pricing up to him. Basically, if they tell you something is worth $40, if you are Phil, you can get it for $12. But, you have to walk away several times and stick to your guns! It is definitely going to be a challenge for me - but I have a great coach.

This morning we went to the local flower and pet market. The flowers are beautiful and they even have fall mums! We love watching the chinese children in the pet section picking out their pets. We were watching a little boy picking his bunny out of a cage - awww, so cute - until the vendor pulled out a black plastic bag and stuffed the bunny and some food in the bag and handed it to the little boy. Hope he makes it home alive!

"Look Mom, he put my bunny in this bag!"

There were lots of fish, baby mice, birds and turtles of all sizes! 

Phil is off to the airport, therefore it must be Sunday. We have a short week and then head to Suzhou, a water town outside of Shanghai known for its ancient gardens and canals!

xoxo, Kathy & Phil

Sprogers Arrive in Shanghai

We have finally moved to our new apartment and are getting settled. I truly don't know how Phil has survived the past three years with the combination of jet lag and the hustle and bustle of a huge, unfamiliar city. We are both convinced we will need Mandarin lessons to survive!

After the first week of getting settled, Phil booked a cycling trip to ShengSi Island in the China Sea. I was anxious to get out of the city and was ready to learn to ride!

ShengSi Island

After being dropped off at the ferry port and finding out the next ferry would not leave for 3 hours, we went to the waiting hall. It is a lot like an airport but with marble floors. It was packed with people leaving for the holiday week of Mid-Autumn Moon Festival.

Across the aisle we noticed a cute baby of about 9 months sleeping across the seats with her grandmother. We had heard about the babies with slits in their pants - bare bottoms and other parts exposed, and noticed the slit in her pants across her backside.

Baby wakes up, grandma sits the baby up on her lap and gives her a bottle. Cute baby, but wait, what is that stream coming from the slit. You have got to be kidding me, right? Nope. Baby proceeds to pee all over the marble floor. People walk by and through the puddle tracking it across the terminal.

We, of course, get up and move and notice puddles everywhere. People slipping in them until the lady with the mop shows up and goes down each row to sop up the mess. Welcome to China!

ShengSi Temple Renovation

The ferry took about an hour and we arrived at the hotel lobby only to have our bikes presented to us ready for a moon rise ride through a fishing village.

Meals were all Chinese served on a big lazy susan in the middle of the table. You spin it to see what you were hungry for - lots of vegetables, many of which I had never seen before, whole fish cooked in gooey sauces, dried fish, jellyfish, baby fish piled high, salted peanuts and rice. Choptsticks are your weapon of choice so you just pick out your favorites and chow down.

Buddhist Temple at Dawn

The morning ride was at 4:30am to a local temple and 4 of us decided to venture out. We arrived to the chanting sounds of the monks and chiming gongs and went to watch the sunrise from the back of the temple overlooking the China Sea. While we were waiting, an apprentice monk came out and invited us for breakfast. We felt privileged!

Breakfast at the Temple

Breakfast was congee, jellyfish, sugared peanuts and pickled vegetables. But it wasn't about the food!

Sunrise from Temple

We biked up and down hills and hiked on some of the remote islands with an amazing group! We even visited the dawn fish market and saw sea creatures of all kinds.

Jellyfish at Fish Market

Including assorted meats displayed in the 75 degree heat. Poor Mr. Pigs!

The views on the islands were just beautiful.

Scalloped beach on ShengSi Island

Before we headed back to Shanghai, Phil rode the circumference of the island with 2 other bikers. It was an aggressive 2.5 hour, 45 mile ride up and down some steep inclines.

Upon our return to Shanghai, the city put on an amazing fireworks display in the park right off of our balcony. This certainly is the land of fireworks - the Chinese light them for every occasion, even weddings!

Fireworks in Century Park

We miss the turning of the leaves and the crisp autumn days, college football and our Nittany Lions and of course, ALL OF YOU! Our email remains the same and so does our mailing address - we would love to hear from you.
Much Love,

Kathy & Phil