China Trip Day 2 - Hangzhou to Wuxi

On our second day we traveled from Hangzhou to Wuxi.

After buffet breakfast, we boarded the tour bus again. Our first stop was a tea plantation for a "tea ceremony" (aka sales pitch!).  It was really interesting to see the tea plantation and workers in the field (we did NOT see this in Beijing).  I don't remember what else we did, but we ended up at the Three Kingdoms City in Wuxi.  It used to be the set of a very popular TV show called Three Kingdoms, and they converted it into a tourist attraction. The grounds were quite lovely. We sat on a little tram (which Maddie absolutely loved) and then a little boat with a performer playing a traditional Chinese instrument called a Guqin.

Joseph had a funny interaction on the boat. He was walking around on the deck of the boat when someone stopped him. This person did not speak any English and Joseph doesn't speak any Chinese so there was of course a language barrier. Joseph thought the man wanted Joseph to take a picture of the man, but it turns out he wanted a picture with Joseph!  Then another person came up and wanted a picture with him.  As we got off the boat, Joseph was carrying Maddie and got stopped by a mom and her little boy and wanted to have their picture taken with both of them!  Pictures of the situation are below. At least 4-5 people took pictures of the tall white man with half chinese girl. I of course had to take pictures of everyone taking pictures of them!

I forgot to mention that Maddie was getting SO many stares and looks when we would get off the bus and go around. I wasn't sure if it was because she's so cute (because she is!) or if it was because of the leg brace. We realize it was because of the leg brace and they thought she had special needs. She would get tons of stares and double takes and whispers. We had to laugh because she just broke her leg!

Tea plantation

We basically got locked into a room while they served us some tea and talked to us about the different types of teas and grades of teas.  I did not have much to occupy Maddie with but here's some pictures of us being silly and trying to entertain her while also being quiet for the rest of the group. I was eventually able to escape by taking Maddie to the restroom. We stayed outside for about 30 minutes while the rest of the group had to stay inside until practically everyone bought something!

Welcome Gate at the Three Kingdoms City

Maddie is so excited to be on the little tram!

Sitting on the boat, waiting to start moving.

I absolutely love this cheesy smile of hers!

People taking pictures of Joseph and Maddie!

This is an awful picture but you can see how many people were taking pictures of them!

Peek a Boo!!

Poor Maddie was confined to the stroller or bus for most of the day. She was able to walk around the park and was so cute with her little boot on.