China Day Eight, Part II - Quanzhou

We weren't in the hotel for long before we had to leave again for yet another appointment. The vendors picked us up in a mini van equipped with a dvd player built into the dash. They played a karaoke dvd for us and we watched bucolic scenes of nature fade in and out before our eyes while the likes of Celine Dion and Michael Bolton tickled our eardrums. Our driver wore white gloves...I think it was to protect him from germs...



Images of YAO MING were everywhere promoting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing...I think the locals got tired of seeing his face everywhere:











One of the factories we visited got us lunch from their local PIZZA HUT before our arrival...they were warned ahead of time that Missy and I were vegetarians, so they were kind enough to get us this cool and crisp "corn and watermelon salad"...at first glance, I thought the watermelon chunks were tomatoes...which would have been acceptable. Not wanting to be rude, I made an effort to eat some of the salad...it tasted "interesting"...not entirely bad, but not exactly a taste that I'd want to get used to....



The vegetarian pizza from Pizza Hut also had corn nibblets...the pizza was actually pretty good, unlike the corn/watermelon salad combo...



In addition to the Pizza Hut meal, the vendor gifted us with these elegant shadowboxes depicting famous characters from Chinese opera:





Back at the hotel we had to make our own fun...we didn't notice this before, but in our bathroom there was this painting of a flower that looked like a cross-section of the female reproductive system...GEORGIA O'KEEFE?



More funny "Engrish"...this one's for Greg:



We did some work and checked email:



And then jumped on the beds: