ShanXi Hanging Monastery

On Saturday, we went to the Hanging Monastery in ShanXi, which is also around 1,500 years old. It is an architectural wonder that is literally built right into a vertical cliff wall. The structure was high and narrow, with lots of stairs and small dark rooms full of idols. Certainly there were no kiddos running around. This monastery is a bit unique in China because it was built to jointly honor Confucius, Buddha and Lao Zi (the founder of Daoism).



While this place was a bit scary for acrophobic me, the statues in the little rooms of the monastery were wonderful, just wonderful. More pictures here.

Yungang Grottoes

Late last Thursday evening, Chris and I called our driver and said: So.... How much would it cost for you to drive us to ShanXi this weekend? Less than 36 hours later, we were bundled into the car - snacks and all - for a four hour road trip to Datong.

One of the places we visited during our weekend roadtrip was the Yungang Grottoes, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Unlike the nearby polluted, banal city of Datong, this place is outstanding. It was built around 1,500 years ago, and has over 51,000 buddhas carved into caves - teeny tiny buddhas and humongous buddhas.


It was really beautiful. Unlike some other tourist attractions in China, this one had an authenticity that was inspiring. Imagine, one guy years ago said - hey, let's carve some buddhas. And carve they did. Not many people know about this site, it seems, but it is definitely worth a trip. We are so glad we went.

More Yungang pictures here. Also, Chris has uploaded some videos of the trip, which confirm once and for all that I am a big dofus. "I mean, that was a really long time ago!" What am I, 14?

Blanket the World

During the eight hours we spent on the road this past weekend, I managed to finish the blanket* I have been working on all month. For some reason, this one took longer to complete than normal. I usually knit on planes as I travel around, but lately I have taken to just staring off into space or sleeping. Gotta snap outta that habit.


I have knit this particular blanket many times. It is a modified version of the "Building Blocks" baby blanket from the Yarn Girls' Guide to Kids Knits. I used Mystical Creations' hand-dyed chenille yarn, double stranded, knit on long size 11 circular needles. I really like this pattern for baby gifts. It is super quick (usually) because the yarn is so big and bulky, and the yarn is quite elegant - for chenille anyway. I often combine a variegated color with a solid, like in this version, for a really cool mottled effect. Also, the MC yarn is much cheaper than the Crystal Palace called for in the pattern. Bonus.


Has anyone else noticed that the Yarn Girls' pattern for this blanket is suspiciously similar to the "Basketweave Blanket" pattern in Falick and Nicholas' Knitting for Baby, which was published two years earlier? Seems weird to me that the second book did not even reference the first, which is pretty well known and hard to ignore. Creative license, maybe, but what about some respect? To be fair, I have knit the Basketweave Blanket too - on size 4 needles - and Holy Moley did it take a long time! I went right back to fat yarn and big needles for baby blanket gifts after that experience.

This time, I didn't start this blanket with a recipient in mind. I wasn't quite sure who needed this one or why, but I just assumed I would figure it out. Then last week, I was listening (and knitting) to the Cast-on podcast on a plane back from Shanghai. I heard Ms. Dayne mention the Casting on for Kenya project. Some nice people are collecting hand-knit blankets to take to children living with HIV/AIDS in Africa. Well, I thought to the blanket, that is who you are for. Thanks for letting me know.


*What's that you say? Who cares about the stoopid knitting? Tell us about your roadtrip to the World Heritage sites? Ahhh, yes. Patience, grasshopper. Patience.

Hello Baby

And there she is. I see her fully now.



This one is off to a little girl in the US of A who has a birthday coming soon. If I pop her in the China post now, she just may make it in time.

We are off on a spontaneous weekend road trip to Datong. Off to see the buddhas and hanging monastary. Why? Well, because one day we are going to wake up and realize that our time is China is done and that we never saw the local sights.

So Carpe Buddha, I say.

Diaper Baby #2

New clothes for diaper baby #2. Now all she needs is hair.

Around my Neighborhood

Lilo

Once upon a time, there was a little Lilo girl. She was waiting in a box of discarded stuffed animals. A nice couple came looking for treasures and saw that she was looking for a new family. So they paid 10 kuai and took her home.


She got a soapy bath and then rested in the warm sun. Her momma made her a new dress,


with a pink and purple zebra patch,


and her hair was braided and topped with a bow.


She waits, all ready, for her baby to come home.

Freaky

We have some friends here in Beijing who are helping to start a foster home. Their new home is for children who wait for adoption after surgery. It opened just this week with six children. Today after church, I asked if they needed anything. The response was: actually we need paintings for our bare walls.

Which was really weird because I had been feeling like I needed to paint something all week. On Saturday, I broke out the brushes and started on a picture FOR THEM. And it turned out it was just what they needed. I have a witness, too, because I told Chris on Saturday that it was for L&B.

The painting is not done yet, but here is a small peek.


Freaky, huh?

Too Busy to Notice

"There was no ethnic or demographic pattern to distinguish the people who stayed to watch Bell, or the ones who gave money, from that vast majority who hurried on past, unheeding. Whites, blacks and Asians, young and old, men and women, were represented in all three groups. But the behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away."

"From Pearls Before Breakfast," The Washington Post, April 8, 2007

Hao Kan

Yesterday, I saw this adorable little boy near our house in Beijing. I asked the man holding him if I could take his picture. To my surprise, he was immediately passed off to another man (his daddy?) as I got my camera ready. That was too bad because the first guy had a great wizened old face, which would have made an excellent contrast to the little one's. But no matter.

In the first shot, the little one was very uncertain and shy. So I tried to tell him how beautiful he was. First I said - you are so pretty - "piao liang" - but he was only confused by that phrase. Ooops, I thought, probably not a good idea to tell a BOY that he is pretty. So next I said "hao kan," which means looks good. And then he broke into the most beautiful smile.


My Chinese is pretty crappy, but sometimes I get it right.

Beijing Restaurant Review: Cepe

Whenever people ask me how Beijing and Shanghai are different, I usually like to begin by talking about restaurants. Shanghai is a business city, where people like to make deals over a glass of baijou, wine or sake. If you ask me for a restaurant recommendation in Shanghai, I will counter with - what kind of food? Chinese (Shanghaiese, Dim sum, Szechuan, or Hot pot), Japanese (Tepankyaki, Udon or Sushi), French, Vietnamese, American, or Western fusion? In Beijing, where politics is king and expense accounts slimmer, choices are more narrow. I have only three or four restaurants that I will enthusiastically endorse in Beijing; that's it.

My repertoire just expanded, though. Chris and I spent an evening with friends at Cepe, which is the Italian restaurant at the Ritz. Cepe is a french word for mushroom (weird, yes). True to its name, this place specializes in mushrooms of all kinds, including truffles.

Wow. It was outstanding. Perhaps one of the best restaurants I have been to - ever. Really. One of our friends knows the chef, so we were well taken care of, but I am sure that the food would be excellently prepared for everyone. If you are in Beijing and need a restaurant for a client dinner, for a celebration or even just for a break from cheap Chinese food (yeah, you know what I am talking about), this is the place.

On the way out of the restaurant, the chef showed us the humongous house mushroom storage closet. It is a big cabinet with many drawers where the restaurant stores dried porcini, portabello, oyster, morel and also grows its own on big dirt logs. This closet looked like a sleek, floor to ceiling, stainless steel humidor, with piles of mushrooms instead of tobacco. It was the coolest thing.

The Time has Come, the Walrus Said

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"to speak of many things.
Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing wax --
of cabbages and kings."

-Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

I have always loved this quote. In truth, I love all that is Alice,* including the very odd and dark Jabberwocky, but this poem makes me particularly happy. It is very twisted, actually, opening with dreams and fantasy and ending with trickery and - well - death.

This week I saw a link on AT the Nursery to a great site where you can order Wonderful Graffiti: custom vinyl text for the walls of your home. Here is my favorite example from the company's website.

I began to think about what quote I could use in Miss G's nursery, and my mind kept jumping back to the Walrus and the Carpenter. The "talk of many things" quote in particular alludes both to fantasy and to imparting of knowledge. It is my childhood and her potential, all wrapped into one.

When I told Chris, however, he said no. Hell to the no, actually. Too twisted, too weird. After all, the poor oysters did not fare so well. Well, OK. Perhaps a tale of deceit is not really the best reference for above my daughter's crib. LC was most likely a pedophile too, which is not cool either. So, back to the drawing board.

Speaking of Wonderland, I found some lovely Alice illustrations this week through a reference to the Rare Book Room on Whipup. We are all pretty familiar with John Tenniel's late 19th century illustrations, such as the one shown at the top of this post and below (courtesy of Project Gutenberg). But have you seen Attwell's art nouveau illustrations from an early 20th century edition? And the gorgeous Pease illustrations, with intricate borders around every page? And this fascinating (Polish?) version....



*If you are a math geek (like me), make sure you check out the Annotated Alice.

Obligatory Project Gutenberg language: This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Silk Ribbon Embroidery

Remember this knitted pinafore from a while ago? I finally got around to finishing the embroidery on the dark stripe today.



Now this dress will have to be handwashed, but it is a small price to pay because the embroidery makes it really special.

Dalat Flowers

Dalat is well-known for its flowers, which are grown for show in local gardens and for sale throughout Vietnam. More flower pictures are available here.

Gifts from Afar

In China, people typically bring back little gifts from their vacation for co-workers. I really like this tradition because it reminds me of how Chinese people are very thoughtful and intentioned. However, it does mean that you have to be very good at remembering and buying something for your colleagues when you travel. When I had a small team, picking out gifts for everyone was easier. Now that there are 14 of us, it is more of a challenge.

Luck was with me this time, though. I found these wonderful embroidered bags in Ho Chi Minh city for US$1.50 each. Then I bought some specialties from Dalat to fill each pouch: strawberry and mullberry jelly candies, tamarind candy (oh so sour!), and artichoke tea bags. The end result is a very special token that is really representative of Vietnam, all for less than US$2.00 a gift.

Here is a closeup of the incredible embroidery on each little pouch. The quality is outstanding. Can you image doing all of that work for so little money?

I have moved!

Yippee!

Dalat Evason Ana Mandara Resort and Spa

Six days and five nights in a mountain resort, with cocktails and massages at your beck and call, excellent food, your own personal butler and a 1940's convertible roadster to take you touring around town whenever you like. Nice, huh? First let me say that the town of Dalat itself was really charming. I am pretty partial to mountain towns, though, like Cuenca in Ecuador and Baguio in the Philippines. There is something about the cool air and pine trees that relaxes my soul.

The Evason resort is still pretty new; it opened in the later half of 2006. We had some minor issues which were probably linked to the newness. The biggest problem was that our fireplace exploded into the room 30 minutes after it was lit. I think it was the first time it had been used, and there was an unfortunate air pocket behind the plaster in the back that expanded and blew. Luckily, there was no damage to us, the room or our stuff. Although, the fireplace now looks pretty bad.

Even still, the resort is very well managed. From the handmade soap in the bathrooms to the eco-friendly resort policies, all of the little details of our stay were well thought out. We took three excursions during the week - a scenic Dalat tour, a picnic lunch by a lake and the coffee lover experience. My friend and I were more into being driven around than being active ourselves, but they do also have whitewater rafting, mountain biking and rock climbing. Personally, I prefer to just have a massage. Or three.

As I mentioned before, we got a fabulous deal through the Luxury Link auction website. Perhaps they are running a promotion because the resort is so very new. Even at full price, though, this resort would be worth the money.*

If you aren't so keen on mountain vacations, the Six Senses group also runs two oceanfront properties in Nha Trang (and some in Thailand and Oman). Pricier, of course, but I am sure those resorts are well managed too if beaches are your thang.

More Dalat pictures are available here, and resort pictures are here.

*I don't know why I feel compelled to say this, but please know that I have no affiliation with this hotel. I just really liked it. Since good resorts (at good prices) are sometimes hard to find in Asia, I wanted to share the news. I actually think that the new blog advertising phenomenon is ugly. Can't trust anyone these days.

Movin' to a Big Girl Site

Hey y'all,

Big news. This Friday, missgioia.blogspot.com will be moving to missgioia.com. Just 'cause.

If you are a big dorky dork* like my husband, you may want to update your FEEDS. The new feeds are:

missgioia.com/atom.xml
missgioia.com/rss.xml

If you have no idea what I am talking about, then no worries. You will be redirected.

Cheers!

*But my dorky dork is helping me move over, so I am (in truth) full of admiration.

Little Smocked Dresses

I have a real soft spot for smocked dresses on little girls. Perhaps it comes from growing up in the Southern United States, where nice clothing is expected every now and then. Or maybe it is because I spent six weeks in Ecuador one college summer observing women working in a smocking factory. Either way, the delicate embroidery on children's clothes makes me feel that all is right with the world.



I can smock, but I have not had much time lately. The last project I did was the flower girl dresses for my brother's wedding. That was in 2005, and my plans to get out the pleater since then have not yet worked out. So when I saw these incredible smocked dresses for sale in Vietnam, I snatched up eight of them. Yes, eight. But they were very reasonable! The cheapest dresses were US$7.50 and the most expensive (made of a fine cotton batiste) was $30.
Who could have resisted?



I also picked up some appliqued t-shirts for US$6 each. Isn't this one wonderful?



So now Miss G has pretty little dresses waiting in her closet. We'll have to go back, though, so that we can restock once she outgrows these. No, I am not kidding.

Goi Cuon

While in Vietnam, we ate rice paper rolls almost everyday. So light, so fresh. We took a cooking class one day at the resort in Dalat, and we learned to make them. All the work is in the preparation, as you will see.

Goi Cuon - Vietnamese Hand Rolls

10 pieces dried rice paper
10 grams boiled, sliced pork/ boiled peeled shrimp/ or tofu*
50 grams lettuce and herbs (mint, basil, corriander)
50 grams thinly sliced red pepper, green pepper, cucumber and carrot (long thin strips)
30 grams chives

*We used firm tofu that was marinated in soy sauce and garlic and then grilled, chilled and finally sliced into thin strips

If you are confused by the metric measurements, don't worry. All you really need is a pile of each ingredient. You will grab a little of each item for one roll. Here was the pile that we started with in our class.




Select one circle of dried rice paper. It will be pretty translucent with grooves on one side that feel rough to the touch. Place that rough side up on a cutting board or work surface. Dip your fingers in a little water and brush it across the rice paper. Let it sit and get soft for one minute.

Next, take the top third of the rice paper circle and fold it down to create a flat edge. Now you fill your roll. Pick up a few pieces of lettuce, some red and green pepper, cucumber, carrots and herbs and lay them in the center of the roll, perpendicular to the flat edge you just created. To make it pretty, you will want to arrange it so 1/3 of the stuffing is peeking out of the top of the roll (i.e., positioned above the flat edge). Then add two or three strips or pieces of your protein - the pork, shrimp or tofu. You will want all of these items grouped together in the center of the roll for easier turning.

Once the roll is stuffed, then fold the bottom third of the rice paper up over the bottom of your stuffing. You may have to wet it a little more at this point. Then take one side of the paper (left or right), place it over the stuffing and roll it up. The first turn should be firm and tight. On subsequent turns go slowly. It is just like rolling sushi, actually.

For presentation, you can arrange your rolls as you like. Our chef cut the bottoms of some off in different heights and then tied three together with a chive blossom stalk (see first picture). You could also arrange them in a pile, like this.



Vietnamese rolls are not complete without spicy fish sauce for dipping.

Spicy Fish Sauce


2 Tbs. plain fish sauce
1 Tsp. lime juice
2 Tbs. sugar
1 Tsp. red chili, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tsp. crushed garlic
2 Tbs. blended peanut (optional)

Serve with a pile of fresh herbs and enjoy!

Vietnam is the new Thailand

I am back in Beijing after a lovely, lovely week in Vietnam. I cannot recommend this country highly enough. It has all of the joys of Southeast Asia - great food, nice people, high quality handicrafts - with a laid back French colonial flair.



I am still recovering from my 4 a.m. Air China flight back from Ho Chi Minh (with a beyond crappy hour layover in Nanning), so I'll save details of the trip for later this week, including a review of our spa villas in Dalat and more pictures.

Best Quote of the Trip

Me: So you know your daughter is probably going to grow up to be a card carrying Republican.

My friend: Or worse - She could be a liberal with bad toes.

Frankie's Story

People are often suprised when we tell them that Frankie came with us to China. My standard response is - If Frankie didn't go, we weren't going. Frankie is family. There was no choice.

Getting him to China was suprisingly easy. At the time we moved, there was a one month quarantine in Shanghai, but it could be done in your house. So essentially we brought him straight to the apartment from the plane. We used Globy Pet Relocation. Best $600 ever spent. The US has no quarantine either, by the way, so returning shouldn't be difficult.

Once we settled in, however, things got weird. You see, Chinese people are not used to dogs. Not at all. I have seen an astounding number of grown men scream like little girls at the mere sight of Frankie. Dogs as pets is a relatively new phenomenon, so most people have had only intimidating experiences with country dogs. All this fear had led to some odd, even scary laws. For example, we are not legally allowed to walk Frankie outside during daylight. He must be licensed, which in Shanghai means paying the pet professionals $200 plus $250 in license fees to get the paperwork processed. If the dog is not licensed, then he can be taken by the police. Survival beyond 24 hours once that happens is extremely rare.

Less than a year after moving to China, we read news reports of serious dog massacres in two separate towns. There had been some rabies outbreaks, and the local leaders responded by ordering every dog killed - licensed or not, vaccinated or not. It was one of the most horrific, ignorant rulings I have personnally witnessed. We were very afraid for Frankie that week. But surely that would never happen in the big cities, like modern Shanghai. Surely.

Later that fall, we moved to Beijing where dog laws are much stricter. We were not allowed to live in the city center because Frankie is too tall; he is above 35 cm. Many people told us to not worry about the law - that many people keep dogs illegally in the city. But we are Americans, and we felt uncomfortable with the idea of non-compliance. So we chose a home far from downtown.

It was a good thing we did because, less than a month later, the Beijing dog killings began. Illegal dogs all over the city were ordered "cleansed." Some were beaten to death right in front of their owners. Others were taken away to be killed. Then we heard rumors that the police were coming out to our neighborhoods, where we were supposedly legal, licensed and safe, to check for big dogs. I have never been so frightened in my entire life. I spent one whole night lying with Frankie on the bed with my heart twisted in knots. If they had killed my dog, I would have lost my mind. Literally.

International pressure forced the President of China to reverse the death order less than a month later. It was an awful, awful time. Chris and I said that it was like Anne Frank for dogs, with everyone hiding their family members in the basement. Since then, things have been better.

Frankie is family, and I cannot imagine life without him. Sometimes China can be scary, bone numbingly scary. And now you know.