The currency here is the Yuan (pronounce "you in") or RMB. The conversion rate is about 6.85 RMB to 1 USD ($). I usually just use 7:1 to estimate prices. I will now provide a list of common goods or services that we purchase with their accompanying prices (approximate):
· Can of Coke=2 RMB=$0.30
· Bottle of OJ or Tropicana=3 RMB=$0.40
· One-way bus fare=1 RMB=$0.15
· 10-15 minute taxi fare=14 RMB=$2
· DVD of Hancock, Get Smart, or other unreleased movies=7 RMB=$1
· Delicious breakfast pastry=1RMB=$0.15
· Big Mac Value Meal at McDonald's=21 RMB=$3
· 12 inch Pepperoni Pizza from Pizza Hut=88 RMB=$13
· Trip to supermarket for four days worth of food and miscellaneous household items=65 RMB= $9.70
· 5 gallon jug of purified water delivered to apartment=11 RMB=$1.65
· Snickers Bar=8 RMB=$1.15 (not so much savings on the rarely seen items)
· Costs and initial deposit to open bank account and get bank card=16 RMB=$2.30
· Full-day bicycle rental in Yangshuo=10 RMB=$1.50 (no deposit, no names, no signatures)
· Bamboo raft trip for 2 down Yulong River=150 RMB=$22
· Package deal for 2: bamboo raft trip, mud cave excursion, full-day bicycle rental, personal tour guides, bus ride to caves=300 RMB=$45
· Full dish of fried noodles and beef=10 RMB=$1.50
· One night stay for two at Bamboo House Inn in Yangshuo=150 RMB=$22
I'm going to go freaking nuts! There I was, lying in our bed reading (okay, sleeping) when I hear "BANG, BANG, BANG!" I ignored it, rolled over, and thought I would fall back to sleep immediately. But OHHH NO! The hammering continued....and continued....and continued. It has lasted for over 20 minutes. I swear the people on the first floor of our building must be trying to make the building collapse. It's so loud and I CAN'T STAND IT! So I got out of bed and complained to Chase and you know what my sweet husband did? He found me a funny Jack Handy story to make it all better. And I must admit, it did just that. I will now share it with you: I remember I was hammering on a fence in the backyard when Dad approached. He was carrying a letter or something in his hand, and he looked worried. I continued to hammer as he came toward me. "Son," he said, "why are you hammering on that fence? It already has plenty of nails in it." "Oh, I'm not using nails," I replied. "I'm just hammering." With that, I returned to my hammering. Dad asked me to stop hammering, as he had some news. I did stop hammering, but first I got a couple more hammers in, and this seemed to make Dad mad. "I said, stop hammering!" he yelled. I think he felt bad for yelling at me, especially since it looked like he had bad news. "Look," he said, "you can hammer later, but first-" Well, I didn't even wait to hear the rest. As soon as I heard "You can hammer," that's what I started doing. Hammering away, happy as an old hammer dog. Dad tried to physically stop me from hammering by inserting a small log of some sort between my hammer and the fence. But I just kept on hammering, 'cause that's the way I am when I get that hammer going. Then, he just grabbed my arm and made me stop. "I'm afraid I have some news for you," he said. I swear, what I did next was not hammering. I was just letting the hammer swing lazily at arm's length, and maybe it tapped the fence once or twice, but that's all. That apparently didn't make any difference whatsoever to Dad, because he just grabbed my hammer out of my hand and flung it across the field. And when I saw my hammer flying helplessly through the air like that, I just couldn't take it. I burst out crying, I admit it. And I ran to the house, as fast as my legs could take me. "Son, come back!" yelled Dad. "What about your hammer?!" But I could not have cared less about hammering at that point. I ran into the house and flung myself onto my bed, pounding the bed with my fists. I pounded and pounded, until finally, behind me, I heard a voice. "As long as you're pounding, why not use this?" I turned, and it was Dad, holding a brand-new solid-gold hammer. I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes and ran to Dad's outstretched arms. But suddenly, he jumped out of the way, and I went sailing through the second-story window behind him. Whenever I hear about a kid getting in trouble with drugs, I like to tell him this story.
Kylie & Chase in front of one of the many motorcycle shops in Yangshuo. This is for you, Bridger, Jedd & Dad. The only downer is they only sold one model (this is Chase talking...like I would know the difference)....they were all 125 cc. But they were given a bunch of different make and model names for the exact same bike. Very few of which were Yamaha.
In front of a different section of the Li River. We took a bike ride past this section and were much cooler while on the bikes than when we stopped (hence the sweat).
Chase was particularly fascinated by this....scaffolding made entirely of bamboo and twine.
Beautiful view of a secluded section of the Li River.
Chase had to wear his sandals on the wrong feet all day because he had blisters. =( He got a few laughs from some Chinese folk....and from us.
Chase and me in front of the Li River (notice the Dr. Suess mountains....that is the landscape here!)
Chase in the cool (not temperature) streets of Yangshuo. This is where you could get some real bargains on a bunch of stuff you don't need.
Our favorite part of the trip--going down the Yulong River in a BAMBOO RAFT! It was so relaxing and beautiful! (This is actually Kylie & Spencer, but they have the picture of us....you get the idea...)
In the mud caves. I didn't go in because I was the "official" picture-taker....and murky water just isn't my thing.
Chase thought it would be a brilliant idea to dive head-first down this little mud slide thing. He regretted it.
If you didn't have swimwear they made you buy some....this is what Chase & Spencer were fortunate enough to wear....and what the rest of us were fortunate enough to look at.
This was the view when we came out of the caves....well, this is only about 1/4 of it. There were beautiful rice patties everywhere and it was just so green and picturesque. It was so typically China.
Spencer, Kylie, Chase, and me on our walk back down from the caves.
Our entry/place for our fridge/our air-conditioner (my pants are drying on it)
Our bathroom...er....water closet, literally. Notice it's all tiled and that the toilet and the shower head are all together. We have already participated in this unique showering experience. You just shower and water sprays all over that little room, then it drains through a hole in the floor and a little while later, voila! The room is dry again!
Our kitchen. To the left of the hotplate is a counter and sink. This room is about 6'x8'. And no, we don't have any food yet. But notice our cute China dishes. =)
Our bedroom. You can't see the closet, but it does exist and it's pretty big. You also can't see that the bed is as hard as a board. No sinking in here!!
Chase chilling in our tv room. I am currently sitting at the computer you see pictured. You can't see the tv, but it's a nice one.
