Spring Time

 Spring time in Suzhou has come and gone.  Let me catch you up on a few of the highlights, since it's been three months or so since my last confession.

Compared to last year, the spring of 2012 was relatively nice in Suzhou.  While the U.S.A. was suffering through an abnormally hot spring, the rest of the world....including China...was cooler than average.  The high temperatures temperatures stayed in the 30s and 40s for most of February and hovered in the 40s and 50s for most of March and April.  And it was dry.  It rained a bit, but not nearly as much as in the Spring of 2011.

 Zapata's threw a Mardi Gras party on this year's "Fat Tuesday".  February 21 was the date, I believe.  Costumes were encouraged.  Milton, the owner, splurged this year and had a local tailor make him a copy of Prince William's wedding uniform.  Theresa splurged and bought a mask down on wedding street.

 In the photo above, Theresa is sharing a Margarita with Michelle Zwick, who came to Suzhou late last year with her husband Dave, who is looking on at left.  (Dave, by the way, is one of the many Caterpillar ex-pats stationed in Suzhou.  There must be 40 or 50 of them.  Many, like Dave and Michelle, came to China after finishing a 3 or 4 year tour of duty in Japan.)  Michelle was elected queen of the Mardi Gras party

 Amy Vangeloff and Mark Beeman came in early March for a work visit.  Amy and her husband Jim and Theresa and I go back 30 years - when we were all newly married kids living and working in Lafayette, Indiana.

 Theresa took Amy and Mark for the obligatory trip to the Pearl Market.  Of all the tourist stuff you can buy in Suzhou, I believe that pearls are the best deal.  You can pick up nice stuff for much, much cheaper than the U.S. or Europe.  If you know what you are looking for.  I normally don't.  But I've been told that you can tell a real pearl by rubbing it against the sharp edge of a front tooth.  If it is real, you will feel...almost hear... a high pitched vibration.  If it is fake, they say, it will produce no sensation at all.

 The reason pearls are a good deal is that a huge number are produced nearby.  Most of the land around Suzhou is only a few feet above sea level.  Scoop out a bit of dirt and you have yourself a lake.  The Chinese mastered aquaculture long, long ago for production of fish and frogs and other foodstuff.  So when the Japanese discovered how to culture freshwater pearls 100 years ago, it was only a matter of time before the Chinese overtook them.  Abundant natural resources and cheap labor are a formula that keep on winning for the Chinese.

 Above is a photo of a freshwater pearl farm.  It's not much to look at.  The busy stuff is going on underneath the water.

 In March, we also were visited by Tomoko Moriyama.  Moriyama-san and Theresa became best buddies during our visits to Kobe, Japan.  Unfortunately, she was only in town for a couple of days.

 After 3 months of winter, the flowers finally reappeared at the end of March.  The plum trees were the first to bloom.  Traditionally, the plum blossom is considered a winter flower whose appearance portends the coming of spring.  Shortly afterwards, the azaleas and magnolias began to bloom.  I'm not sure what the flower below is.  Perhaps someone out there can tell me......