China Day 2: Thwarted

Today was our first attempt to make it to the pearl market. Sadly, it fell through. So, to prepare you for the AWESOME pictures tomorrow, I'll tell you a little about it. The Pearl market we go to is on the other side of the city my family lives in. It takes a while to get there, but it should provide some good pictures. Once we get there the fun really starts. The market is indoors and about the size of a basketball court, at least. There are hundreds of stands, each hosting a few Chinese ladies and a few bazillion strands of pearls. Not joking. We work with a lady who speaks a little English, making it easier to tell her what we want... miming gets old fast. When you get to the booth there are strands of pearls tied together in bunches of up to twenty strands. Each bunch is the same size and color, and there are a good twenty bunches of pearls on the top counter. You pick the size and color and choose your strand. The ones on top are the cheapest of each variety, so you can ask and they'll find more expensive ones. However, they're all cheap. The most expensive pearls cost a whopping $10, and they're really nice. So, after selecting a size color and particular strand the ladies standing there turn it into a necklace (I really want to get a video of this for you, because it's incredible to watch). The tie another sting to the strand of pearls and proceed to knot in between each bead as they re-thread them. This is no slow process, a 24 inch strand takes maybe five minutes, and that's if the lady is slow. Pearls are flying everywhere and suddenly there is a beautiful necklace. CRAZY!
Tomorrow if everything works out, I'll have pictures and I'll put them up for you. Other highlights from today include: going to the gym with my mommy, bowling with the whole familia, and eating sushi and beef soup for lunch.
Other thrilling moments, my 13 year old brother took me on the scooter through SuZhou and didn't kill me. Actually he's a fairly good driver, and the Chinese scooter people are less scary than the people on the rest of the roads.