The Saga Continues...

Hello all! It's time I mention one of my favorite things about China...the shopping! Back in the states, my specialty was the clearance rack. Over here, I swear it's just one big clearance rack, but much cheaper! We were given all of the bargaining tips before we came over. You know, take their offer and bargain to about 20% of their offer, walk away (and they always call you back), and wife comes up to bargaining husband and says no way (this one works great). As one girl at church put it, "shopping here is a full contact sport!" Thanks to the people in our ward and a wonderful couple who lives a building away, we have been told where the many different types of markets are. There are clothing, toy, shoe, electronic, flower, jewelry, souvenir, antique markets...you name it, they sell it.

So, needless to say, we've done a bit of shopping. I told Travis that it is almost an addiction to see how low can you get the price. By the way, don't think it's just me...Travis has become the bargaining king. Oh, and the food here is so cheap! I must admit that we have struggled with the cooking thing. With limited ingredients and only a stove top, we're not sure what to cook for dinners. If any of you have any good stove top recipes, we would REALLY appreciate you emailing them to us! Sometimes it's just easier and cheaper to go out to eat. At a restaurant by our house, we can order 4 or 5 Chinese dishes and only pay 4 U.S. dollars for the whole family.

Speaking of shopping, the next pictures are from a big outdoor shopping center with a little market of souvenirs, restaurants, and outdoor Chinese opera (which is absolutely horrid by the way). It is called Wan Fu Jing (spelling?), and I couldn't pass up pictures of some of the creatures they have skewered and being sold for food! Enjoy!

Yep, those are seahorses and scorpions...yummy!

A delicious arrary of beetles, other bugs, hearts, octupus, and who knows what else.

The next pics are from our trip to Temple of Heaven. It is where the emperors held ceremonies to worship heaven and pray for good harvests. The buildings and surrounding gardens making up the temple were beautiful. It was kind of foggy and rainy that day, but made for fun pictures.