Pretty catchy Chinese advertising

Here is a sign we saw on a walk along a narrow tributary to "The Grand Canal", 
in Suzhou,  "The Venice of the East"....

According to our tour guide, the face says: 

"Incense for sale & silver, too."



Pretty catchy, I think.

You have to give credit to the Chinese.....

their clothes sure liven-up the most dreary days.

I was looking at my pictures and I suddenly wondered...
why do the Chinese always put their Temples at the top of a hill?

Like this one. 

First you have to take a boat to get there.
Then you you have to climb and climb!

But, once you get there.....

they are indeed quite beautiful.

A side trip off the Yangtze River

While traveling up the Yangtze river this Fall, we took a side trip in a small boat  up a side team, called Shennv Stream.

They say some of the oldest people in the world have lived here.

We stopped at one of their markets and saw what they claim help give them their longevity.

Take a look, if you have nothing else to do.

PS #1 Enlarge the video to read the text

PS # 2 Turn on the sound to hear the music. I recorded it during a diner in the city, but it seemed to fit as "background" for the trip.

Working women along the Yangtze

We found these folks doing their work, on a typical gray day,
on a boat ramp along the Yangtze.

By the way....if I may digress....
That's the Shibozhai temple in the background, built in the Ming Dynasty 
(that's about the time of Columbus). 
More about that 12 story structure another day.

Anyway, back to my story......
This young woman was doing her work

when these guys walk down the ramp behind her.

At first I thought they were there to flirt. 

But, no. 
They take out their poles and start fishing right over her head. 

Within a few throws, they got a fish.


In China it seems, that just because you got there first, 
you can't claim a spot on the boat ramp.

There is just  NO  personal space.