The Far West: nineteen days in China by Carrie King

silk factory - scarves, carpets, clothing.

terracotta warriors. photographs prohibited said the signs, but the one guard either didn't care or felt enforcement was impossible. cluster of covert photo-snipers hiding behind a pillar that blocked the guard's view. the occasional flash from out on the walkways. shooting from the hip and trying not to focus on the railing. my rationalization and attempt to give fred plausible deniability.

tollbooth plaza sign using "esquire": check journal for exact quote. discussion of highway signs here?

afternoon we did not go to the banpo museum, significance of which i only learned later: the bronze age site. had i realized at the time, i might have protested. instead we went to the market. crayfish climbing up sides of baskets; carp in red plastic tubs; live snakes and clams and crabs and lobsters and turtles and fish -- a surprising amount of live seafood for a city hundreds of miles inland: fred said it was flown in, and that seafood and seafood restaurants are very popular. food in china must be fresh, or it's not considered worth much. if it ain't kickin, it ain't worth cookin.

then we went to the jade factory, where things were beautiful and also more expensive than i felt comfortable with, even if the prices were much better than in the states. still, i could not resist claiming a pair of jade lions.

mongolian hot pot dinner. was i the only one that thought it worth the work? i thought it fun and tasty, despite the dangers of boiling pots.

sent another email from the business center (again waiting for paula?) as the pianist in the lounge played swanee river.