September 25th, 2005
We had a much better night. Both the children slept right through the night, so we felt so much better after a good nights' sleep!
Today we went to Po Yang Lake. It is the largest lake in China and at this time of year has a lot of migratory birds visiting it.
Ceinwen at Po Yang Lake
Mammy and Ceinwen
Also, as it was a two hour journey from Nanchang, it would mean we would see a bit of the Jiangxi countryside. The journey was fascinating. We went through lots of small villages where we saw families sorting out cotton heads in their houses, and the butcher and fishmonger at the side of the road!
Gwion giving Ceinwen Cotton
We DID notice that there were hardly any girl children around the villages, but lots of boys. Jiangxi province is very agricultural, lots of crops being grown and paddy fields, and water buffalo. We also saw ducks and ducklings being herded down the river by a man in a boat!
Paddy Field
Duck Herder
We saw rice being cut, and then it is dried out on the road, where people, cars, bikes, etc., run over it. Once it has dried it is swept up into sacks and then taken to be sold. The rice is in husks which need to be removed first.
When we arrived at Po Yang Lake the road suddenly disappeared and there was this very small dirt track through the middle of the lake to the island that we wanted to go to. Unfortunately it was flooded, so we couldn't reach the island unless we actually wanted to walk, which we didn't do. We didn't think that the road was wide enough for a bus to turn round it without going into the lake, but it was....just!
We had a picnic lunch in the bus at Yongxiu County city, at the side of the road. we stayed in the bus because the locals don't often see westerners and we would have crowds of people around us. A few of us did get off to take some pictures, but very wisely Rhodri stayed on the bus with Ceinwen and Gwion, otherwise the crowds around us would have been even greater than they were.
Gwion Asleep on the Bus
Rest Tower
Ceinwen Eating a Chinese Pear
Gwion Driving the Bus!
Ceinwen is really coming out of herself now. She is smiling and laughing lots. She also cries a lot more, espcially wheh she is given to Rhodri. She can say
"dada" and "mama" and "baba", but she often says mama when she wants to come to me, or that's how it seems!
Gwion is generally very good with her. He can be a bit rough and he likes to take her toys off her and throw them in her cot. (my Mam would say that that reminds her of me, Kirstin, when I was small!) But Gwion also loves to cwtch and sws (hug and kiss) and to hold her.
Ceinwen Standing
I took Gwion swimming, so we could have some time alone together, but he said that the water was too cold, so he wouldn't stay in the pool for very long.
Gwion is very good at charming everyone. We had coffee in the lobby and he went around saying "Ni Hao" (hello in Chinese) to everyone he could find!
Gave Ceinwen a bath in the baby bath, but she still didn't like it. Did get her to sit down this time, but she was grabbing onto the edge of the bath. Gwion came to help me bath and dry her.
One piece of good news today is that my youngest sister, Olwen, had a baby girl, Lola Grace Morgan Conroy today at 11:45 am., (UK time). She weighed 8lb 1oz, which is much bigger than I thought she was going to be. Looking forward to seeing the pics.
Next......September 26th, 2005