Back to the Silk Factory. Just as we were leaving there last Sunday Shirley noticed a few items that she would like to get, but time didn’t allow. So back we went today. They really do have a beautiful selection of a large variety of products made from silk, with very reasonable prices. This includes everything from sheets, shirts, jackets, pajamas and scarves to shoes, purses, pillows and quilts. Fortunately our limited wallet prevailed and we left there without having to take out a 2nd mortgage.
In the afternoon we ventured out into the heat for a short walk. About 15 minutes from the hotel is the Oriental Plaza, a very large, high-end shopping mall. This was a great place to just walk around in an air-conditioned environment. We’re also trying to get Samantha used to the stroller. She doesn’t like sitting in one spot, and has a limited patience as to how long we can leave her in there. We were told by colleagues that recently lived in China that the girls from Chongqing were hot-beautiful, and hot-tempered. She is so far proving both of those to be correct.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful; although we find that every day Samantha is becoming more and more familiar with us and is opening up a lot. She is more comfortable sitting and playing by herself, as well as rewarding us with that beautiful smile merely for the fact that we look at her.
One of the things that I don’t think that I’ve covered yet is the traffic here. I have a lot of respect for these drivers, and as comfortable as I normally am behind the wheel I would never consider driving here. They live by a totally different set of rules, which are governed more by individual respect rather than mandated laws. Traffic lights are reserved for only the most heavily congested intersections, and the rest is by mutual agreement. Traffic merges, separates and generally flows as people make room for vehicles entering their lanes, using horns where required to advise drivers of their intents. Nobody seems to get upset, and traffic generally flows fairly well, although slow.The other thing is that you need to be an extremely cautious pedestrian. In the pecking order on the streets, you’re at the bottom. Crosswalks really only indicate to drivers that they may suddenly encounter a new speed bump. Buses have priority, with cars, motorcycles and bicycles fending for their share. To give you an example of how low pedestrians are, if you are crossing with the light, traffic turning across the crosswalk has the right of way. To make matters worse, red lights seem to only impact left turn and straight through traffic. Traffic making a right on red in reality has a green light with higher priority than the pedestrian crossing with the light. This traffic basically merges with the flow of the traffic that has a green light. It is very difficult as a Canadian where the pedestrian always has the right of way, whether they are in the right or not. There have been many times that we have been crossing a street only to have a car cut us off.
As much as we are enjoying this experience, we're ready to come home. We've started the countdown.