Chickity China the Chinese Chicken Chuck Wagon
I have been busy in China taking care of many things, some of which come fully feathered. Check out my latest companions at the salad bar. These guys were extremely suspicious of the clicking camera and would not go near the roughage with the camera nearby. So I tried a few different locations until finally they began to hammer away at the greens. Luckily this timed out perfectly with the Muppets audio.
This is my first real attempt at time lapse but I hope to do more in the near future. Just looking for those perfect scenes… here in China they should not be hard to find.
Prize to those who can think of the best name for these chickens.
Below is the Youku version for all those in China without access to YouTube.
Wuhan Institute of Physical Education
WIPE main entrance guardian.
This time last year I was spending my time at the Wuhan Institute of Physical Education. The fairly large university (7,000+ students) located in the capitol city of Hubei Province, China is dedicated to sports training and sports education. Students can major in basketball, ping-pong, dance, journalism, business, English and many other fields. The majority of the students study sports which makes for a pocket of larger sized Chinese. I can walk around Wuhan and be noticeably taller than most people, but here on campus I comfortably fit in with the sizable student body. The school is also host to China’s national rowing team and some young gymnasts in training. Let me tell you, these guys are all about quantity when it comes to training. The crew team is up with the sun and trains all day. Even the “universities basketball team” (which I cannot really figure out because they never play other teams, only inter-squad) runs and scrimmages all day. From my viewpoint they could really conduct a more effective and efficient practice, but I understand this is the way they like to do it China. In all sports in all levels, the theory is to get better you just train harder, not necessarily smarter. Obviously it has produced some good results in international competition (the school has training many Olympic gold metal winner, including Yang Wei) but it seems there are better ways. It was interesting to see how vastly different their basketball practices are compared to what I remember. In China the team practices together instead of doing individual drills. Most drills just seem to be a type of war of attrition, running up and down the court until you are completely exhausted. General wisdom would say this actually produces and practices poor technique, as the athletes tire, but they seem to just bulldog through it.
Anyway, I had fun playing basketball with the students and by the end of my time there I was getting my game senses back and was able to shoot a little better (it had probably been about eight years since I played a game before coming to China) and they taught me a fair amount of Chinese profanities. At the beginning of summer I filmed a walking tour of campus, which I will attach below. The video is way too long for one download so I cut them into three segments. I know the camera is really shaky and not the best quality, but it might be interesting to some of you to see the campus of a Chinese sports university. It has only been a few months since this video was shot, but by the time you view it the campus will have changed a lot. That is the way things are in Chinese cities nowadays. Cranes are up everywhere and the old cities are being erased while a new image is being penciled in its place.
Can you see these videos? Leave me a comment, I think there might be a problem.
Here is the Youku version (not as high resolution) because YouTube does not like my music choice and has disabled the audio.
HERE is a link to Part 2 of 3 Youku version for all you Chinese viewers without access to Youtube.
HERE is a link to Part 3 of 3 Youku version for all you Chinese viewers without access to Youtube.
And some photos.
The morning view from the pedestrian bridge just outside the west gate of Wuhan Institute of Physical Education.
Cranes building a new stadium to host the national Mind Games (chess and such). Hope that the students will actually be able to use it and play basketball. The old courts are generally over crowded and not in the best of condition.
The outside portion of the basketball courts on campus (as referenced in the above caption). When school is in session the courts are always jammed, unless it is shower/dinner time (yep, students need to show betwen 4-7). The "inside", let me just say covered, courts are in a little better shape but not much. What I like about basketball in China is that students do not care how cold it is they will come a play in jeans and sweats when the snow is falling outside and you can see your breathe inside.
The combat house at WIPE. Here they practice everything from boxing to dragon dancing. Some say the architecture is to resemble the shape of a fist, I don't see it.
Ask any student or faculty to give you a list of three things to know about WIPE and I guarantee they tell you Yang Wei trained here. So to memorialize him they put him up on the WIPE Wall of Fame.
Centrally located and even glowing at night, the administration building.
Video - Surprise Wuhan Snow
This week we had a surprise snow here in Wuhan. In my opinion the winter has been relatively mild. I say that now, but I did have a minor case of frostbite on my thumb through December and January. This sort of thing is pretty common here because it does get rather cold (many days below freezing) and most building do not have insulation nor good heating, my apartment being one of those places. So I developed a little red bump below the knuckle which quickly grew to cover most of my thumb. The healing process begins when it begins to itch like crazy. My entire thumb began to itch and and peel while in Harbin and Beijing. Sure Harbin and Beijing are much colder outside. But inside most places have radiators and stay quite snug. I could wear only jeans and a shirt inside and be totally fine. In Wuhan I creep around the house in thick quilted pajamas with a Chanel and metal chain design. They are pretty ghetto and pretty awesome, plus they keep me super warm and make me feel like one of the locals. People have told me they call this the mahjong suit because old men wear this all night while playing mahjong with the neighbors. Me… I call it my everyday suit. Too bad it did not come with a thumb mitt to protect my big digit. This reminds me (sorry about the tangent), yesterday I was walking around and this older man was wearing ear mittens. Not ear muffs, ear mittens. They only covered his ears. At first I thought it could have been some cosplay thing. But they guy was too old and conservatively dress so I dismissed the idea. But they did look like some kind of costume bear ears or something he grabbed from his teenage daughter.
I digress. Back to the reason for the post. I just wanted you to see a little snow here in Wuhan. It will probably be our last for the season as the temperatures are starting to creep upward. So here you go…
A Walk Up Wuhan’s Moshan “Mountain”
Sculpture near Moshan along a bridge.
Not far from my place is a “National Park” called Moshan “Mountain”. Notice the use of parentheses here? Think of them as indications of my skepticism of their contents.
First, “National Park”. Many signs inside the park are written only with Chinese characters. Some of these signs have an official looking logo stamped and painted into them. The logo looks very similar to that of the US National Park system and the English on the Chinese version even states that this is a “National Park of China”. While very scenic for an urban setting like Wuhan, I’m not sure Moshan has, in my opinion, what it takes to be stamped as an official National Park. At first I thought it was just another Chinese rouge. Upon some further investigation I found that it is more a first degree National Park and not in itself a national park.
Moshan is a member of a family of “National Parks” under the East Lake National Park title (aka Wuhan Donghu National Park). I’m not really sure what constitutes a “National Park” and what does not. For instance, is the free public swimming area in East Lake a National Park? How about the Wuhan Institute of Physical Education (yes, WIPE)? It is located on East Lake. Not sure? Neither am I. While the scenery is nice, it does fall a little short of such a grand title. But Moshan has the signs to prove it.
The second use of parentheses has to do with the title “Mountain”. The title Moshan Mountain sounds odd to me for two reasons. First, the name Moshan (磨山) implies mountain. Shan (山) is the pronunciation for mountain. So Moshan Mountain is like saying Mo Mountain Mountain. But I have seen it referred to as Moshan Mountain in a few places and I even find myself calling it Moshan Moutain. My acceptance must be because in China you often hear the same thing repeated twice. Many nicknames are just the same word repeated (bao bao - means baby and is also the name of my neighbor’s cat) or doubling a word for emphasis is a popular practice (yi dian dian - means only very little of something). So when I first physically saw Moshan “Mountain” I thought to myself, “I want to see more mountain mountain”, or Mo Mountain Mountain if your from the city. See my reasoning?
Let’s get back to the characters making up Moshan (磨山). See the shan (山)? It kinda looks like a mountain. But 山 is very very liberally used in China. It can represent something the size of a pitchers mound to a base camp in Nepal (see how I refrain from using the T word to keep sensors at bay) (see how I spelled sensors with an s to keep sensors at bay) (see how I just want to put in another parenthetical statement). So if the Chinese are going to liberally use some thing like the word mountain, one of mother nature’s greatest creations, then it’s easy to slap the National Park title on every Tom, Dick and Harry Hill in the land.
The park was was a nice day out and a good way to get away from the hum of the city. Below are a few more photos from the day.
Some take car, some take bus, some take the lift, some take the stairs. There are many way to climb Moshan. And like all elevated parks in China there is always a slide back down.
Sacrifice Alter SE View.
Sacrifice Alter NE View.
Sacrifice Alter NW View.
Sacrifice Alter SW View.
The Yin and Yang of the Sacrifice Alter.
Wuhan University Snow
Heavily Photoghopped photos of a dorm entrance at Wuhan University.
Yesterday I took a few photos wondering around Wuhan University. By night I told myself that I’ll return during the next snow. I didn’t have to wait long…. today we had or second snow of the season. I thought I might as well get out while I can, even though I suspect it won’t be out last. It was also a good test to be out in the cold. In less than a month I’ll be up in Beijing and Harbin (for the ice and snow festival). Should be extremely cold and extremely cool (if you catch what I’m saying).
Happy New Year to all you celebrating!
Wuhan University Dragon Roof Tiles
Wuhan University dormitory windows.
Wuhan University original library.
University main field and track. Today... full of snowmen.
Wuhan winter umbrellas.
Train Ride from Wuhan to Hong Kong
A veiw across the harbor at Hong Kong Island.
A few weeks ago I needed to make the Hong Kong visa trip. Like many expats working legally (yes there are a number of people working/English teaching in China illegally) I had to make a run to Hong Kong to convert my travel visa to a working visa. See… you cannot just mosey on down to the local Public Security Bureau or Consulate to change you visa. You have to officially exit the country and return with the correct paperwork completed.
So instead of boarding a plane I decided to take advantage of Wuhan’s new $2.2M train station and take the bullet train on down to Guangzhou South Station, bus to Guangzhou East, train to Shenzhen and then walk across the border to Hong Kong. Sounds easy right? Right?
The new Wuhan Train Station is big, impress and empty. Sorry no photos… it was like 6AM and my camera was secretly and securely packed away. Once inside there was quick stop at one of the few shops for some cup noodle (all the water fountain areas in China’s train stations and airports have convenient little machines dispensing hot or super hot water for you tea , noodles or you confusion). The announcements for the train arrival began. Because I was there (the only white person in the station) the poor girl giving the announcements had to use her poor English to repeat the announcement. I think I understood more of the Chinese version. Soon the train cars where sparsely full of passengers. Not the images I have seen of Chinese trains (most of which I believe are over dramatic visuals of holiday travel). So I chose a seat on my favorite side (today West, as the sun would be pouring into the windows on the other side). We zoomed along, passing small villages and farmers who probably cursed the damn train for splitting their acreage. We made a stop in a neighboring Province. A few folks and a lot more people boarded. One of the new passengers approached my aisle and motioned that he wanted my seat. Sure he did… it was a damn good seat (no sun, clean window free from hair oil smears, decorated with my drink and snacks). But he insisted and handed me his ticket. Yes I see… your ticket is a different color (blue). But mine is red and this is China. Red always wins. After quickly reviewing his ticket I realize he had a seat assignment… my seat. And now I realize my ticket also had a seat assignment. The print on my ticket was off track (text over text, characters over characters) but sure enough I had a seat on the East side of the train. So I gathered my things and moved east.
The remainder of the trip was uneventful and soon we arrived in Guangzhou (home of the Asian Games this November and an NBA game Rockets vs. Nets in October). My poor Chinese language skills were enough to get me a $2 bus ticket to Guangzhou East, which is where the train for Shenzhen departs. This is more than I can say for me return trip as I could not for the life of me find the bus from Guangzhou East to South, which ended up costing me about $30 (all my cash) for a cab to travel the same distance.
The rest of the journey to Hong Kong was pretty simple. The border crossing in Shenzhen was basically a big shopping area. Much nicer on the Hong Kong side of course. Once in Hong Kong I purchased a subway token with my Canadian (left over from the Olympics and which the Chinese banks would not take because someone wrote “Ben” on it) money exchanged and headed towards the bay.
My hotel was the YMCA Hong Kong, not your standard YMCA hostel, near the subway and near great view of the harbor. This is the perfect hotel in a great location at a great price (about $95 a night) for first time tourists. Check out the reviews on TripAdvisors, its top notch.
My hotel, the YMCA, is located just behind the Cultural Center (the large building occupying most of the frame).
The visa switching process was a matter of taking a number, filling out some paperwork, paying extra money for expedited service and returning in two days (next day if you want to pay even more) to pick up the new visa. Over the next couple days I did some sightseeing, visiting about every night market in Hong Kong, walked the many hills of Hong Kong Island, ate some good food, explored a real English language book store for hours (we don’t have this kind of thing in Wuhan) and took some pictures of the amazing harbor.
Soon enough I was back in Wuhan eating noodles.
A swamky shopping center (Cartier, Shanghai Tang, etc.) across the street from the YMCA.
The Hong Kong skyline at night from above.
Street Basketball in China
8th Wonder Prepares for Battle
A few weekends ago American Streetball came to China. A group of American players made the long journey over here to be ambassadors of streetball. The tour (organized by Crossover Sports and Shemgod) actually started back in the spring as event organizers hosted grassroot events in five Chinese cities as a sort of tryout for Street China, the team to oppose the American SKY team. Think of Street China as the Washington Generals, of Harlem Globetrotters fame… but not really. Once Street China had chosen its 12 players they were ready to take on team SKY in a three city exhibition tour. Luckily this included a stop in Wuhan at the Huazhong Institute of Science and Technology, just a few bus stops from my apartment. Each tour setup is basically a standard four-quarter game with music, dancers, referees (who were not really in on the entertainment value and made way too many traveling calls), SWAG (t-shirts and sweat bands) for fans, photographers (me), M.C. and short halftime skills program. Before opening tip the Wuhan crowd grew to over 4,000 in the 5,000+ stadium, so the house was fairly full. The fans cheered when the SKY dunked and Street China scored but remained relatively quiet yet entertained. Despite being a little frustrated by the consistent grabbing and reaching defensive tactics of the Chinese throughout the game (play a pickup game in China and you will understand their frustration), both sides found their momentum in the final quarter and ended a flurry of buckets and cheers from the crowd. Final score SKY 106 and China Street 53. It seemed closer but defense wins championships… and the Chinese have a little work to do in that category. The tour will continue on to Shanghai (and has already stopped in Beijing) to wrap up the month long experiment. Once the live basketball is finished CCTV will produce an eight episode reality television to be shown nationally. Unfortunately my CCTV 5 comes in fuzzy and is of course in Mandarin.
I was able to talk to a few of the players before the game and at halftime. Good guys who have a good life traveling and playing basketball in front of decent sized crowds. I did a little digging and found some info on Team SKY.
” Mr. 720″ Taurian Fontenette: from Hitchcock, Texas and former player at UTEP and Richland College (yep, the same one where I took photography and language courses while living in Dallas). Check out his dunk videos HERE.
“Spyda” Dennis Chism: from Atlanta, Georgia has traveled the world playing ball for the likes of AND 1, SKY and the ABA.
“Helicopter” John Humphrey: From Atlantic Beach, North Carolina has been a longtime teammate of Spyda on the streetball hoops tours. He played high school ball at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia and finished his college career at Middle Tennessee State University.
“Pat the Roc” Pat Robinson: from Prince Fredrick, Maryland area has been featured on advertising campaigns from Under Armor to the NCAA. Due to his fancy dribbling skills and dunking ability he has been added to a number or international basketball entertainment tours.
“8th Wonder” Antwan Scott: from New Bern, North Carolina was the big man (6′8″ and 215 lbs) in the paint all night. A force and a talent who played high school ball at the Oak Hill Academy and college (from 1998-2002) at Wake Forest.
“Big Swoal” James Rhodes: from Wilmington, North Carolina does the dirty work, rebounding and setting picks for so the flashy players have clear lanes to the basket.
“AO” Aaron Owens: from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a quick and crafty (6′3″ 165 lbs) player who has spent many season with AND 1 and the Ball4Real World Tour. In high school he played with Rasheed Wallace and Aaron McKie, spent his college days at Henderson State University, where he earned Division II All-American accolades) and has a few NBAD games on his resume.
“Space Invader” Guy Dupuy: the only player not from the States, he calls Paris, France and any court in the world his home. Mostly know for jumping over cars, people, horses, miniature cities, large cakes, and just about anything else on his way to the basket.
Guy Dupuy entertaining the crowd during halftime in Wuhan.
Timeout. Team SKY in the foreground and Street China in red.
Street China bucket presented by our sponsor VOIT. Not to be confused with actor John Voight (see it's spelled differently).
Wuhan Graffiti
Some of Wuhan's Hubest Graffiti
Spent some time last weekend looking around Wuhan for some good graffiti and found it. It seems there is a group of artists, calling themselves Hubest, who spend their nights tagging various business garage doors and advertisements. The names on most of the graffiti here in Wuhan tell me the majority of the work comes from this group. And lucky for us… they are pretty talented. Better than most all of the street art I found around Dallas and up there with some of the best I saw in the movie Style Wars (if you are interested in street art this film is a good introduction). From the looks of the art locations (one is along a busy bus stop connecting the Hankou and Wuchang districts) they can easily get away with their work. I imagine, like most things in China, there are people around to see the pieces being created (riding buses or waiting at the stop) and those people don’t know what to think of what they are seeing. Is it wrong, art, or the audience is so far removed from the world they just don’t care. Which brings me to the question… can you vandalize in China? I mean is it possible? In a place that sees most (80% is my guess) of its finished hot dry noodle cups tossed over the consumers shoulder to decorate the ground, what harm is a little paint going to do on a wall. And in a place with a rich history of graffiti (I am talking about the governmental slogans painted on walls across the country, from farms to factories, most of which are still visible), there may be an unconscious desire to see painted messages on walls. In America we accept the unflattering fetus billboard posted 10 meters away from the XXX nudie magazine/video shop all across our scenic highways. But we often squeal at the site of some well made graffiti in the playground nobody in the neighborhood has visited in years. Who’s right and who is wrong is anybody’s guess. Maybe it just comes down to our American appetite to let anyone who has paid to do something can do it (I image most graffiti artists would call it sacrilege to pay for a wall or a billboard to showcase their work). Anyway, the argument has already played out in American and people have chosen their sides. But here in China the argument hasn’t even started. So until then, if it ever happens, the streets and walls of China are open for art.
In sum, basically what I am saying is I want to see some pro-life graffiti painted on Uncle Jimbo’s XXX shop the next time I drive from Alabama to Florida. Otherwise all you graffiti artist should stake some new ground in China.
In the meantime check out some of the graffiti Wuhan is producing. I’ll try to have more posted in the future.
More Wuhan graffiti at the bus stop.
He probably rides this way home everyday, has he ever seen the graffiti?
027Ray Wuhan Graffiti Artist
A graffiti wall along the base of Turtle Mountain in Wuhan.
A Walk Up Mulan Mountain
The “real” Mulan
Yes I worked at Disney for one year. Yes I have visited the China pavilion in EPCOT many times. No I have not seen Disney’s Mulan. But… I have now visited her hometown and climbed Mulan Mountain. The story of this visit and the “true” story of Mulan follows.
In downtown Jiang’an Wuhan you can walk along the Yangzte River and find a plethora of small travel agents selling vacations all over Asia. Currently the best deals are to SE Asia, say Vietnam flight and six nights for only $600. Among these various companies is a small-time operation selling cheap bus tickets to the home village of our favorite fabled Chinese Disney character. On Saturdays buses departed at 7AM, 8AM, 9AM and 3PM. You don’t have to get there early, just get there on time (more on that later).
Yes traveling in China is cheap, and yes you often get what you pay for. So 15RMB (about $2.50) will get you a seat on a bus for the two hour drive up to Mulan Mountain. Make sure you are there on time, remember you don’t have to be early. When the small bus with the pictures of people having tourist type fun on Mulan Mountain pulls into the parking lot, chase that bus around in circles like the other Chinese. Sure you are wise to the fact that that bus needs to pull around and is going to park nest to the kiosk displaying the same tourist fun photos as the bus, but chase it around anyway, everyone else is. Soon it will stop just where you thought it would and the mob will jockey for position near the door. I assume this is the moment when the bus driver looks at the small frenzied crowd and places a mental bet on who will be first to board his hell on wheels. He times the release of the gate perfect with for the timely positioning of his favorite horse. And the first person to establish two feet on his bus he is is right, he is always right… it is the girlfriend of the slightly crazy looking one (who wedged himself between her and the rest of the crowd). In this kind of game the crazies always win. Should you be one of those closer to sanity (I place myself in this category), best advice is to stand back and watch. No need to get so close to the cage as to have your finger bitten off. Once on board you will know you this is not the nicest of vessels but hey $2.50 is pretty cheap. So you are happy with things. Even when the bus makes a stop 45 minutes away from your final destination to pick up passengers who will now double the cargo count. Because you have a seat, you consider yourself lucky. Even if that guy has his crotch too close to your face and the guy next to him just stares at your foreign face the entire time. It’s hard to find this kind of entertainment for $2.50. A Happy Meal is at least $3 these days. And this little box of a bus is much more fun. If you look close enough in the corners of the bus I am sure you can find some toy or souvenir better than a plastic Shrek key chain.
Once you arrive to the entrance of the Mulan Mountain village, pay little attention to the women who board the bus just outside of town. First, they don’t speak English. Second, they just want to tell you the town is sold out of guest rooms and theirs is the only remaining bed in town. When the bus arrives to town the crowd of even more women hawking their guest room will tell you differently and you will soon see there are plenty of guest rooms available and little English. Don’t be too shocked if one of the women follow you around all over town, even wait for you outside of the bathroom. That’s Chinese hospitality. Don’t give in too quickly to the pressure of your new Chinese friend. Take your time, walk the main street, pick a guest house that is right for you and in a location best suited to your liking (at the end of the street, need the convenience store, near the all night mahong game, etc.). If you still cannot decide then the Fat Guy Guest House has all you need for around 60 RMB (less than $9). The place is clean and operated by a nice family. But if your shoes are wet from walking in the rain they don’t take to kindly to moving your rooms coat hanger into the communal restroom and drying them from the heat lamp.
When you have time… enjoy the hike up the mountain.
- The local mahong hot spot.
- This way to your bathroom. One per floor. Three rooms per floor. The second floor bathroom is inside but some guests where already there.
- Okay… so it is not the the most primitive path. Kids are doing this with their grandparents. But it is still a good little workout.
- Okay… so you can actually climb this trail with your children and your grandparents in shower slippers. But I swear it is still a bit of a challenge.
- One of the many lakes you will encounter along the Mulan Mountain hike.
- Mulan?
The “Real” Story of Mulan
The "real" Mulan featured on a mural in Baoan Temple, Taipei.
Well before Steamboat Mickey was drawn, there lived a young girl named Mulan. She was the only grown offspring of a famous retired general. He raised Mulan like he would a son, teaching her to ride horses and fight with a sword. One day, scrolls with a message from the royal military were posted in all the villages. “Each family must send one man to the army for battle.” The old man’s body was was too old to fight but his warrior mind too honorable reject the request. Mulan knew her father would die if he went to war again, but girls did not fight in wars. She knew she must take the place of her father. So that day she bought a horse, a saddle and bridle. The following morning she stole her father’s battle armor and rode silently away from her home.
Disguised as a man, Mulan fought for many years. Her battle skills were so impressive, when the war ended she was called before the Son of Heaven to receive an award for bravery. She was offered a high position with the royal army. But her wish was only to return home to her family. She declined the offer and asked for a good horse instead. The request was granted and she rode home. There her family warmly welcomed her return and she gladly gave the warrior clothes to her now grown brother. It does not take long for her to return to her true identity. After fixing her hair and powdering her face she is quickly transformed into a woman.
Not long after, friends who had served with Mulan came to visit. Their were amazed and perplexed to see the beautiful woman before them.
The story depicts the immortal character of Mulan. She is a person of unmatched ability but also a common person. She is the combination of a brave warrior and a beautiful girl. She does not wish for the high post and attention but instead is enthusiastic for a peaceful life. It is a story of personal courage and triumph. A story for each of us.
Huanying!
Welcome to the Golden Koala
Last week I arrived to China (Wuhan, Hubei province) just in time for the May Day holiday and the opening of the World Expo. The airport in Shanghai was full of kids with their Haibao (the mascot of the World Expo) plush dolls, bags, key chains, phone charms and just about anything that can carry an ink print or be shaped into the Gumby-like shape. The layover in Shanghai was much easier this go round as I actually read a diagram of the airport layout (China Southern is in terminal 2) which limited the wondering around I did last time. A second win, the plane arrived on time. My last China bound flight squeezed me too close to my connection and left me standing in front of some blank faced Air China workers trying to tell me the next flight to depart was the following morning. This time the only snag was the 240RMB (about $35) charge for my luggage. Total weight was over 20K so they charge you. U.S. travelers, sound familiar? Yep, another wonderful idea export from the States. The rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful. The boxed meal served on the less than two hour flight (Shanghai - Wuhan) served was my first China ‘born’ meal and happily received by my time confused lunch, as I was probably eating this as dinner around 6:00 AM East Coast Time.
Back street leading to the Golden Koala.
This weekend we had dinner at a friends new restaurant (the Golden Koala) in a side street near the University district in Wuhan and I snapped a few photos for the new owners. The food was extremely tasty… the best ‘baby lobster’ (crayfish) I’ve had outside of the South and the new menu items (a sweet and sour like pineapple pork, a sweet frog soup with little frog men swimming the backstroke, and pork ribs) they are thinking of adding was all well received except for the plum sauce on fish. That was a little battle in the mouth no one wanted to fight. The place is going to be there for at least another three months. Lets see if it has a life past that.
A view of some closed shops out the window. Maybe not the best sign about the location?
A few back the other direction.
For those who may try to call my US phone number… it is no longer in service. The best form of contact with me is via email.
