Today was an unusual day for us.  A “free day” so to speak with nothing to do before the new girls arrive tomorrow.  After a wonderful first night of sleep (Riley and Jessie said that they woke up at 4am, but Kelly and I slept until 7am) and a delicious breakfast, we went for a walk. As this is our third visit to Hefei, staying at the same hotel, it was a little surprising that we had never walked the tree-lined paths along the Nanfel River.  We had spent time on previous trips at Xiaoyaojin Park which is across the street (including the infamous carnival ride that Ali and I went on and the more tame bumper car rides that Brittany, Riley, and Jessie went on … you have to read the previous blogs to catch up) but had never walked up the river.  We traveld for a couple miles, racking up lots of Fitbit steps, until we finally decided to turn around and head back.

Before the walk in the park, we tried to figure out our phone situation.  Riley was tasked with getting us to the China Mobile store.

She got us there and the nice gentlemen behind the counter tried to help us out.

We almost thought we were in the wrong place when we walked in as it looked more like a cigarette store!

In the end, we were not able to get our in-country phone working.  It appears that since we were last here 18-months ago there are new restrictions on activating a cell phone.  The government requires either a Chinese ID card or a copy of your passport.  As this was just a little street-side shop, they didn’t know how to activate a line with a passport, so we are still without a phone!

To get around traffic we had to head over to the river on the pedestrian parkway, with Riley asking why China people don’t follow the rules and just cross the street wherever they choose?

I am not sure what exactly this shop is selling, but they have plenty of it!

We were joined with many other families enjoying a sunny, 70-degree day in November!

Some chose to dance in the warmth!

Not only did the path go along road, but at points it went down along the banks of the river.

It was almost tropical at times, which would not be surprising in Guangzhou, but seemed a little unusual in Hefei.

We stumbled across what appeared to be a squatters village underneath one of the bridges.  This looked like it housed a fairly large number of people and was a little out of place along such beautiful pathway.  Kelly thinks maybe it was just an area to play games.

As I said, it is sunny and warm today.  And yet, as it typical, people want to stay warm over here!  They were all bundled up on their scooters, everyone wearing heavy jackets and gloves with some wearing hats or even warm blankets to protect them from the chill!

No reason for this picture beyond the fact that she was combing her dogs fur and it caught my attention!

This guy didn’t complain too much when I took his picture!

Some of the statues in the park were surrounded by beautiful scenery!

We passed an open air market on the way down and decided to walk through it on the way back to our hotel.  We are becoming pros at this travel thing in that we brave places like this, even considering trying some of the food!  If you know Kelly, you know that is a big step!

Fish anyone?

It was reminiscent of the large Tab Binh market in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.  There was meat hanging everywhere, including sausage curing in the warm sun.

There were vegetables …

… spices and nuts …

… and prepared foods.

I am CERTAIN there is a health inspector somewhere!  And although his hand made the picture blurry, he is cutting up pigs feet!

There were just so many great little areas where people were making many interesting food items, including Chinese pancakes.

A mom takes a little break in selling to attend to her own little one.

We had to cut back through several side streets to get back to the hotel, but in all it was a very enjoyable morning!

Cameron