Lizhuang

A few weeks ago, on our way to Lizhuang, we stopped at a dinosaur museum. The place was really neat/random. We got some awesome pictures of Sarah and me sitting in the mouth of a t-rex. Crazy dinosaur impressions abound!
Lizhuang is located on the Yangtze River and used to be a lot more popular for tourism. The hotel we stayed at used to be a temple, but during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, people sought to destroy the Old China and establish a New China under Communism. All of the rooms in the hotel were different shaped. The toilets were squatters and in the same vicinity as the sink and shower.
The best part of Lizhuang was the people. When we got there, we strolled down the street looking for something to do before dinner. By the time I got to the end of the street, I was followed by a ton of elementary age kids. They "tested" me on my Chinese by pointing to their head, eyes, nose, etc. and asked what the English words were. All of their parents came up to me and Sarah too to boggle at the blonde white twins! The kids insisted that we "pao bu"--run around town, literally. We engaged in running competitions! I totally felt like I was 8 years old again. Sarah and I taught them the Chinese version of Red light, green light "hong deng, lu dung." When it was dinner time, the kids told us to hurry up so we could keep playing, even though it was already dark.
After dinner, our classmates went in search of a pool table. As we were walking down the street, we saw men sitting in wicker chairs playing cards. They yelled over to us to sit down and chat. I walked over and they asked me if I wanted a Chinese husband or if I had ever been with a Chinese man. I just laughed and then we proceeded to talk about how much fatter Americans are compared to Chinese. It was really strange. Continuing on my way, we maintained a steady stream of Chinese men, women, and children at our heels. Any store we went into was followed by about 20 other people trying to see what we were doing. I overheard a group of young girls trying to persuade a girl to approach us. Over and over she repeated slowly, practicing to herself "where...are...you...from?" I am fascinated at how friendly the entire town was and how different their reactions were to anything I have ever experienced.