After 20 hours of traveling, we arrived in Beijing to wait 5 more hours before a 2 hour plane ride to Wuhan, followed by a 1 hour car trip to Hanchuan. Hanchuan is a suburb-like city, but it is twice as big as Kansas City, with a population of 1 million people. Wuhan's population is 8.3 million people.
Right now, I'm hanging out in my aunt's apartment on the 19th floor of a building so new, construction is not yet finished. She was the first resident to move in!
A few fun facts I have learned in the past two days:
Honking is constant. Ten years ago, most people didn't have cars, and now it's much more common.. and most people are still getting comfortable with learning to drive. Yesterday, when a car in the left lane decided to turn right, every car in the intersection joined into an elongated honking chorus. Also, there are no time limits on honking... 2am, 4am, there will be honking. There are also no rules about jaywalking. I saw a lady walk straight into an incoming car on traffic (they stopped, she was fine). We told my cousin that in the US we wait for the cars to stop coming before we cross the street. She said, if you do that here, you'll never cross!
Tyler, a size M in the US, is a size XXL here! He went to a shoe store as well, and asked for his size. The shopkeeper looked at his feet and said, "too big!' because they didn't carry his size (10 in the US lol). However, I could not be happier with the shopping situation! I walked into a store, and the entire rack of jeans looked like they could fit me without any mending! I tried on a few shirts as well... some of them are one size fits all!
Tyler is a celebrity here. He was trying on some shirts, and two girls took his picture, giggled and walked away. The shopkeeper turned to me and said, "he is too handsome!" He also caught some people staring at him through a window. He waved, and I think my mom died lol.
Coconut milk is easier to find than water.
At the hotel we spent the first night.
My first grown-up full size perfume!