Today in Zhongshan we went to see some dragon boat races. These were quite different from the races in Hong Kong. For starters, these races are much longer distance. Also, the boats are simple dug-outs. No dragons' head, no fancy paint job, no drumming coxswain.
They paddle down a canal through the town, 4 or 5 men paddling steady and hard. These guys seem like pros. The whole town (and then some I am sure) is lined up along the canal watching. It is very difficult to edge in to see. Again, my height helps here! But finally someone in our entourage has succeeded in herding us down to a tarp draped over some wood where someone's cousin's friend's customer (or something like that, it is always something like that) has set up a spot and claimed it as his own.
People make way for us foreigners. I seem to be in the smoking section as all the men seated on stools around me are smoking. I move to the back where I can still see over their heads and watch the race. I guess this sort of race is not that exciting if you are not at the finish line. There are boats going back and forth; it is impossible to tell who is ahead. It is not the furious paddling of Hong Kong, so all I can do is watch the boats go by and try to determine if one or another has gone by before.
We leave and head for lunch. Some guy who owes Brother a lot of money has invited us to have lunch at a place he has rented out. There are several tables on a dock-like structure with a roof over it. It is resting in the water and there are a few out buildings on stilts for private rooms. It is dining al fresco on the water, what else could you want?!
The host owes our friend money, but he evidently gave 200 roast pigs to the city, one for each township! And he is holding this meal for about 25 tables. I guess we know where the money went! And by inviting us he has bought himself some reprieve in the deadline for repayment.
Lunch is hot pot. Turtle hot pot. We are served some gelatinous stuff and some meat.
The gelatinous stuff is what I guess is the turtle's skin. It still has the “freckles" you can sometimes see on some turtles. American Mom gets a foot, with toenails still intact!!
We hand that one over to the groom!
This restaurant has all kinds of things for sale: eels and snakes, frogs, turtles of course, and some sort of mammal that looks like a raccoon crossed with a sloth?! We don't know what it is. We want to set it free.
They paddle down a canal through the town, 4 or 5 men paddling steady and hard. These guys seem like pros. The whole town (and then some I am sure) is lined up along the canal watching. It is very difficult to edge in to see. Again, my height helps here! But finally someone in our entourage has succeeded in herding us down to a tarp draped over some wood where someone's cousin's friend's customer (or something like that, it is always something like that) has set up a spot and claimed it as his own.
People make way for us foreigners. I seem to be in the smoking section as all the men seated on stools around me are smoking. I move to the back where I can still see over their heads and watch the race. I guess this sort of race is not that exciting if you are not at the finish line. There are boats going back and forth; it is impossible to tell who is ahead. It is not the furious paddling of Hong Kong, so all I can do is watch the boats go by and try to determine if one or another has gone by before.
We leave and head for lunch. Some guy who owes Brother a lot of money has invited us to have lunch at a place he has rented out. There are several tables on a dock-like structure with a roof over it. It is resting in the water and there are a few out buildings on stilts for private rooms. It is dining al fresco on the water, what else could you want?!
The host owes our friend money, but he evidently gave 200 roast pigs to the city, one for each township! And he is holding this meal for about 25 tables. I guess we know where the money went! And by inviting us he has bought himself some reprieve in the deadline for repayment.
Lunch is hot pot. Turtle hot pot. We are served some gelatinous stuff and some meat.
The gelatinous stuff is what I guess is the turtle's skin. It still has the “freckles" you can sometimes see on some turtles. American Mom gets a foot, with toenails still intact!!
We hand that one over to the groom!
This restaurant has all kinds of things for sale: eels and snakes, frogs, turtles of course, and some sort of mammal that looks like a raccoon crossed with a sloth?! We don't know what it is. We want to set it free.
(I will post a picture of the restaurant later when I get one from the others. I had already run out of batteries on my camera by this time)
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