Urban Gardening

Vegetable gardens flourished throughout Lishui, like this multi-acre plot near the Zhu home, planted mostly with bok choi, napa cabbage, and various other brassicas.

Family Time in Lishui

We spent the first week or so in Lishui, Drew's hometown.  We stayed with his parents, two brothers, sister-in-law, and our two and a half year old nephew, Yao Yao.  This was our first time meeting Yao Yao in person, although we'd talked to him several times with Skype, and he even called us once by himself.  He couldn't get enough of playing with his exotic auntie.  My in-laws were very kind to me, as always.   My mother-in-law accused Drew of hiding food from me if a dish was ever beyond my reach at the dinner table, and Yao Yao brought me whatever he thought I needed, from a hair dryer to a frozen sausage.  The last night we were there Drew's brother Jun told me, in English, "this is your family."  He said something similar to me last time I saw him, two years ago in Croatia, and both times made me tear up.  I had a lovely time, and at at the end of it we all went to Hangzhou for a couple of days, then said our goodbyes.

Sweet Old Village

This ancient village near Lishui has a nice display of old farming implements, and its own ferry!  The river and mountains reminded me of my hometown of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.  It used to have its own ferry too, but it probably wasn't as nice as this one.

Guerilla Gardening in Shanghai

On our recent trip to China we came across this cucumber plant climbing on power lines in Shanghai.  It was growing through a hole in the sidewalk, and someone had spread rotten vegetables near the base so it it had its own mini-compost pile to feed it.  I would have loved to have seen the harvesting process!