Scratch off Guilin & a return to Meizhou:
Having the police interview done my wife thinks that soon her visa could come, maybe by next month. She had use up her last visa entrance into Hong Kong to pick me up from the airport. Since she wants to be ready to go to Hong Kong incase of a required interview from the Canadian embassy, she decided for us to go to Meizhou so that she can apply for a new Hong Kong entrance visa.
I had originally been in Meizhou in February when we had to travel there to register our marriage. Even though it has about 1 million people, it feels like a rural town to me. It is in the mountains and the air is clear and fresh. My first visit we did not get to see some of the sites. For this visit we would stay a couple of nights. The plan was first for Yan to settle some business, then after to take a day bus trip to see some sites. The cost for the bus ticket was 100 rmb per person. We travelled back with a lady from Meizhou that Yan calls big sister, even though she is just a good family friend. The trip took about 4 hours and during the ride, I could feel my throat getting the itch that signified to me that I was starting to come down with something.
We arrived mid evening and settled in our hotel. For the first night we had to settle on 2 double beds, but was promised a queen size bed for the next 2 nights. The hotel is the same we stayed in February, and after the 1st night, the next room was next door to our wedding night room. Cost was 180 rmb per night. Before retiring for the evening Yan was howling to try one of the local dishes that Meizhou is known for. When offered to try it, I declined because the thought of the meat gnawed at me. She wolfed down the meat telling me how delicious it was. I just settled for a common bowl of beef and noodles thank you.
The next morning we headed for the government building responsible for passports and visa, but first we stopped at the local back lane market to break our fast (the pictures I have uploaded). While sitting at the government office as Yan filled out the application, I noticed again how much louder the general conversation is in China. The rooms I also notice tend to echo from all the talking. City life in China is loud, whether in Shenzhen, Sanya, or Meizhou. It is not just the traffiic with the horns blaring, but in street conversation and in shop haggiling.
After the government building we headed for the newspaper office so that Yan could put an ad in the paper to sell her property there. Once sold, she will use this money to help her with her relocation to Canada. On the trip to the newspaper office we took a ricksaw for transportation. It was at this time and later that evening I wished that I had taken my camera. After our breakfast I had left the camera at the hotel. From the newspaper office we headed just outside of Meizhou to the country side. Now Yan had been raised from the age of 4 by foster parents. Outside of meizhou was the house that her natural father had lived in before retiring to Hong Kong. Her father was a rice farmer and his original house was in a very enchanting location.
The sun that evening hung suspended as a glowing orb in the red evening dusk. There was a stillness in the air barely disturbed by a chours of crickets chirping in delight. I saw farmers in the near distance working the land. Tranquil and peaceful huts collected along side rice paddy fields. This is the scene that we think of when we imagine China. And I can only recall in memory that which I wish I could have sharred in pictures. I would have needed more than a thousand words to paint the picture I saw that evening and still I would fall short.
That evening we ate at the same place where Yan enjoyed her man's best friend dish once again. We picked up some medicine from a pharmacy for the now sore throat and minor cough I had. I wished I new what products she bought for me, but I was instructed to take 4 pills each from the 2 boxes we purchased. I am sure she was overdosing me on medications. I remember others, like Ed (the sock) mentioning when they got sick and the kitchen sink method the Chinese girls used in order to cure us. Later that night once we had gone to bed, I woke up slightly coughing again. My wife told me to take some more medicine. I asked where they were. She rummaged through her hand bag and gave me one of the boxes. I poped a couple of pills from the blister pack and swallowed them down with some water. As I returned the medicine to her hand bag I caught in the darken room a glimpse of the picture on the box. This was not the medicine we bought today! I went to the washroom with the box and turned on the light. Sure enough this was different medicine. Once again, I am not sure what this medicine was for - But I have a distinct feeling that I won't be suffering from any menstrual cramps this month :s
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Stay tuned for the next installment intitled Day Trip and 3 times a trip with no Squat toilet but forth time not the Charm?
