After some brother-sister travelling adventures in Hunan, it was time to pick up my sister-in-law Mireille, my one year niece Monah and our friend Nancy in Shanghai.

It was great seeing everyone gathered again. Seeing Monah’s little smile was great. She has grown a lot since I last saw her, almost a year ago and is starting to develop her own little character. And, I was not the only one happy to see her. The Chinese absolutely adored her. Oohs and aahs were heard, pictures were taken. Our little rock star Monah!

In Shanghai, I took my travel companions to the classic views and had my favourite dishes: fried dumplings, gongbao chicken, sweet and sour ribs and a spicy little hot plate.The next day, we took a train to Hangzhou. We walked around the West Lake where Chinese. With a brother the size of a giant and a sweet little blond baby, we were bound to get a lot of attraction.

After our tour around the West Lake, we went into Old Street where we had some meat on a stick and other tasty snacks. We did a tour of one of my favourite night markets in China. The ladies were impressed with the variety of goods to be found.

The second day in Hangzhou was spent in Feilai Peak, famous for its little temples and Buddha statues carved in the rocks. During the weekend, the park is crazy busy and so we had the opportunity to see some of the Buddhist practices going on in the temples. People held up incense and lighted candles. Throughout the park, mantras are chanted through speakers. Officially, China is an atheist country. However, many Chinese people practice religious activities in one form or another. They hang little Buddha statues in their cars, wear beads and go to temples. Perhaps it is more related to tradition than religion?

Leaving the West Lake and temples behind, it was time to go to ‘my city’. I immediately gave my guests a literal taste of my home town: we had squirting dumplings, shengjian bao and went to my favourite little muslim place across my university which serves the best caramelized banana I have ever eaten.

This is where our storyline ends up at the hospital. During our last night in Hangzhou, our friend Nancy had hurt her foot. Because the pain did not seem to diminish, we decided it would be best to visit the hospital. Thanks to a few Nanjing Expat Fora, I found an English speaking hospital ‘Ben Q’. The hospital was very clean and not very different from our hospitals in Europe. Expect for the peculiar Chinese habit of always having to cut in line. In a Chinese hospital (or at least the one we visited), you get in line to register after which you get a number. This number allows you to see a doctor. Chinese do not understand this concept and randomly open doors of doctors offices, sometimes leading to very funny moments. Anyways, the doctor ordered an x-ray for Nancy’s foot and just a few minutes later, we received the verdict. Dr. Chen looked at the x-ray and to our great surprise, told us Nancy needed surgery. Her little toe was broken. Running around through China with a taped foot was not an option. We were both very shocked to hear this and obviously, emotions ran a little wild. This meant Nancy’s trip stopped here. After a lot of telephone calls with the insurance company, Nancy decided to fly back to Belgium, where she could get the surgery.

While Nancy and I were receiving the bad news, Ken and Mireille did get to see a bit of Nanjing. They were surprised by the freshness of the goods, the big Carrefour with heaps of fruit and vegetables, live fish, eels and turtles. Indeed, Chinese supermarkets are very different from the ones in Europe. In the evening, I was able to join them at Fuzimiao and the evening market. This one is particularly nice because of the delicious barbequed food. The next day, Ken and Mireille visited the Sun Yat Sen Maosoleum and the Ming Tombes.

And so, after only a week in China, Nancy flew back to Belgium. Ken, Mireille, Monah and I continued our journey to Yellow Mountain.

Magali