Cultural Differences

Nanchang is so different from Hong Kong! Hong Kong is a very western city – every sign is written in Chinese and in English and children are taught both Mandarin and English in school. It was very easy to get around because you could always find someone to ask for help. But not in Nanchang! Barely anything is written in English and there are very few people who seem to understand us white folk who came to visit! But they are the nicest, most friendly people I have ever met! We are really falling in love with this city and it’s beautiful people!



No room for personal space on this elevator! It's amazing how many bodies the Chinese will cram into an elevator. The main thought on all of our minds is, "Ummm... is there a weight limit to these things?" If you look very close under my right arm you can see poor Jaden peeking out!



This woman was one of many who grabbed Jaden and took him to a good photo spot for their picture to be taken by her friend. I had to take one too! Jaden has been a great sport with all the hair tossling and photo taking. I think he's going to start bringing a paper and pencil to sign autographs!

 The Chinese don’t have a need for personal space like we Americans do. When we walk down the street they come right up to us and begin talking to us. They coo all over Lucy and touch her and hold her hand while giving us the thumbs up sign. Lucy has very fair skin for a Chinese baby. In the west we love a good tan, but in China fair skin is considered the most beautiful and so the women often comment on her skin. They also love to touch Jaden’s hair and laugh and smile and give the thumbs up sign. They stand right next to Bryan and measure themselves against his height and giggle. Staring must not be considered offensive because people stare at us everywhere we go. They will even grab Jaden and drag him to a spot where they would like to take a picture with him! Luckily we had heard about this from friends in previous groups so it didn’t catch us off guard and prepared Jaden that his hair would make him a celebrity! We are really enjoying connecting with the people here.

The streets of Nanchang - crazy! There doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason to it, but everyone gets through... barely!

Our friends the Rectors showing off the plastic forks they bring with them everywhere! They don't offer silverware at any of the restaurants here in Nanchang with the exception of the hotel buffet.

Jaden, Lu and I at the Luminous Restaurant after our near death experience in a cab and crossing the streets of Nanchang!



Nector of the Gods! We aren't big soda drinkers (well, Jaden is!) but for some reason here we crave it. Jaden loves the Chinese labels!

Nanchang driving is absolutely crazy! Evelyn said that if you can survive in Nanchang then you can survive anywhere. We chuckled lightly when she said it, but now we know it's true! Most people seem to have scooters – you’ll see a whole family riding on a scooter or someone delivering more boxes than would fit in an average car piled on a scooter. People walk through traffic at every point in the road and the horns blaring are continuous. It is an amazing sight! At the end of our day off we decided to venture out to dinner with another family, the Rectors. Sissi wrote the name of the restaurant on a piece of paper along with dishes for us to order and put us in a cab. It was rush hour – I’m so glad Bryan was in the front seat! We nearly hit pedestrians, scooters and a number of cars as we whipped through traffic changing lanes and honking the whole way! He finally pulled over and Bryan asked “How much?” and he showed Bryan a piece of paper with Chinese characters. Uh… that doesn’t help! They used finger signals to no avail and finally the guy called someone who spoke English and handed Bryan the phone – 13 yuan! We are about to get out and realize we don’t know which building is our restaurant as he’s dropped us off at an intersection. He points a ways down the road and drives away. Uh-oh! Was it the restaurant with the red lights or the one with the blue lights? I think he pointed across the street – oh great – we have to cross the street. I see my life flash before my eyes! Thank you Lori for sending the tip about waiting for a group of Chinese and traveling whenever they do – it’s kept us alive this far. And don’t hesitate! We have figured out they will hit you before stopping! But we made it across alive, whew! Now to find the restaurant. Luckily we have Sissi’s piece of paper so we can use it to determine which set of characters matches the signs above the restaurants. We tried forever, but seriously – it was darn near impossible! I felt like we were in the Amazing Race trying to decipher code in a foreign city. It was a riot! Finally Bryan took the paper up to one restaurant we thought matched, but the waiter pointed us down the way. As we walked further down we saw our friends inside “talking” to the wait staff and gesturing with their hands way up high in the air – they were asking if anyone had seen Bryan! I have never laughed so hard during the course of a meal. They were out of something and we had to choose something else which was hysterical in and of itself. They finally took Lee over to a set of pictures and had him point to something. When he came back he said, “I don’t know what we’re getting but it has cashews on it!” It was all absolutely delicious and we had a great time laughing through the whole thing! What an adventure we are having here in China! I may be completely lost, but I always feel completely safe and the three of us are able to laugh our way through every situation and full enjoy the experience.

Jaden showing off his chopstick prowess! I'm impressed little man!

The food here is fabulous! We all three are big fans of both Asian food and spicy, so I’m sure this helps. I have always heard that Chinese food in America is not at all like Chinese food in China, but I have to disagree. They are able to get some different ingredients like vegetables that we don’t have in the US that would make a difference, but for the most part the basic flavors are the same. Nanchang is one of the 3 provinces in China known for their spicy food. I guess girls from these areas are known as spicy girls - so Lu is our little spicy girl! Everything we’ve had has been absolutely fantastic! Even Jaden is enjoying the local food and is becoming quite adept at eating with chopsticks! Nanchang is the capitol of Jiangxi Province, much like Pierre is the capitol of South Dakota. Lucy was born in Fuzhou, a city about an hour outside of Nanchang. It is fabulous to be able to wrap ourselves in her culture and bring back as much as we can to share with her as she grows!

At the pool playing while Jaden swims.

 Lu continues to open up and embrace us as we continually hold her and love her and coo over her every day. She is amazing. She eats well, she sleeps well – she even poops well, something we were told can be a very big problem in the transition. Nothing that I was preparing myself for is what we are experiencing. It’s as though Lu has been with us since day one. The Lord has been so kind to us and has blessed us beyond imagination with this sweet, sweet little one! All three of us are smitten!



Night night sweet little one!