BUYING PORCELAIN & RENMIN PARK

This morning we were taken to an area of Nanchang that sells a great deal of procelain. Jiangxi Province is known for its porcelain. Our guides took us to a reputable shop where we learned how to tell the difference between handpainted and machine-made procelain. It's amazing and beautiful to hold up handpainted porcelain to a light and see the light shine through it. The shopkeepers were also demonstrating how good porcelain sounds when you clang them together. It makes a beautiful ringing sound. Of course, none of us were willing to participate in the "clanging."

Here's the little store where we shopped ...

And here's Rick with all our loot ...

Rick loves Chinese spoons and we found this beautiful bowl and saucer set with spoons ...

Spencer found this gorgeous dragon tea set ...

And we got Malia this tea set with little girls on it to represent all the children of her orphanage ...

Look at the boxes they come in - they are beautiful themselves ...

Then we headed to Renmin Park, which is a very popular park in Nanchang. Many of the locals come to this park, including elderly people who gather to do tai chi. Unfortunately, it has been a very wet and rainy day here in Nanchang, so not many people were out. However, the soft rain made for a very relaxing and peaceful day. We did run into several locals playing mahjong. Enjoy the pictures!

Dad, Mom and I were thinking of you today and how much you would have loved taking pictures here. You would have gotten some great shots! Hope we made you proud!

Here's the bus we were in today. This is the smaller of the two buses that haul us seventeen families around.

Rick and I sat right behind the driver and got to see up close and personal how the experienced drivers navigate this traffic. Let me just say that several times I caught myself pushing my feet into the floor of the bus trying to will the driver to brake!

And we're not sure what this guy is guarding, but we're betting he's glad there was a box to stand in on this rainy day.

We were talking to Sally, one of our guides, about the traffic. We've noticed that even though Nanchang is a very poor area, all the cars are very modern and new looking - we've even seen a Porche and Hummer! She commented that less than ten percent of people in Nanchang own vehicles. And man, there are a lot of vehicles on these streets!