Zhangdian district, where we live, is as flat as a table. This makes it great for bike--riding. But you would never guess that just an hour away, there is a beautiful mountainous countryside, laced with winding roads where every curve brings fresh and beautiful vistas of terraced hillsides and greenery in to view. That's Boshan. 

I've been lucky enough to make two trips to beautiful Boshan, and recently I was able to show it off to Ross in our last little side trip before school starts up again. We were hosted by one of my colleagues from work, who is a native of the area. I can't say enough about the hospitality shown to us by my colleague and her family... 

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, it's already autumn in China. Thankfully, we had only one short heat wave in July when the mercury nearly hit 40 degrees Celsius. Most of the time it's been between 30 and 34 degrees Celsius. I don't know how we would have managed if the weather had been hotter because the air conditioner supplied by the evil landlord works only occasionally. As it is, we've managed to get by with open windows and fans.  Step away from the fan, though, and the sweat starts to pour, thanks to the high humidity. By late June, I gave up on wearing makeup; it just sweats off me as soon as I put it on. (My Southern grandmother would remind me at this point that "horses sweat, men perspire and women gently glow.")

Yeah, yeah, I said that I was all about being authentic and we love shopping from street carts, but sometimes it's just more convenient to go to the mall. Where they have air conditioning and cold drinks and bathrooms and places to sit down.  You do pay a premium for these modern luxuries, though.

This fruit drink with ice cost us 12 yuan, or 24 for a drink apiece.  For that we got a place to sit down and rest after walking around sightseeing. But earlier that day we bought a breakfast sandwich from a street vendor. Each sandwich was so filling we skipped lunch. it included egg, spam, bacon, shredded potato and hot sauce. Breakfast cost us 4.5 yuan per sandwich, or 9 yuan total.  Street food is also why buying groceries and cooking meals at home in the toy kitchen provided by the evil landlord does not yield a big economic dividend. Some food court meals are pretty reasonable too, running from 12 to 30 yuan per dish. Our local mall has a KFC but also a plethora of Chinese fast food places.

As we are adjusting to paying for things in yuan (also known as RMB) and not dollars, and learning the prices for various things in China, we're noticing that some things cost much less compared to back home, some things cost about the same, and a few things cost more.

I've mentioned that a single Starbucks coffee will set you back at least 30 yuan, ($5.33)   A package of Starbucks coffee beans to take home costs 85 RMB (so about the same as in Canada, $15). 

In contrast, Ross and I can get a simple dinner at the food court for 12 yuan ($2.13) apiece.  A meal on the street, such as squid on a stick or a pancake with egg and sausage and lettuce is about 4 or 5 yuan (80 cents to 1 dollar). I put 100 yuan ($17.75) on my bus pass card and have used it all summer, usually every day, and I still have more than 50 yuan credit on it.  A nice sit-down dinner for the two of us with beer (which is cheaper than the iced drinks at the mall) is about 100 to 120 yuan ($21.30).  Taxi rides start at 8.00 yuan ($1.42) and we've never paid more than 20 RMB ($3.55) to get from A to B in Zibo (Beijing is a different story).  Our strata fee this month is 60 yuan ($10.65) which I suppose pays for water, maintenance, gardening, and the guards who patrol the property.  Natural gas for cooking is incredibly cheap, just a few yuan a month. We don't cook all our meals but we do heat water to wash dishes.