Day 8 in China: Exploring Nearby

 I forget why I went on a solo journey this morning, but I just wandered around the ancient town we were staying in (束河ShùHé)

I found a couple artisan shops and bought a handmade journal with leather embossed cover from this uncle who makes prints

I actually didn't buy any prints because I don't know what to do with them 🙂‍↕️

Happened upon a corn biscuit shop with the funniest display/setup!

That's the monkey king 孫悟空 Sūn WùKōng!!! The name of the shop was WùKōng corn biscuit so that's why they've got that corn grinding setup. It actually spins, but I don't know if it's a functional grinder. It seems to be at least partially functional? There was a bigger one that seems to do most/all of the real grinding though 😹

In case you forgot me

I bought some unique flavor Oreos! Haven't seen these before. 

The peach oolong one is pretty nice! The cheese (sweet cheese) one is just ok to me. 

Online I've seen the USA coming out with loads of limited Oreo flavors and celebrity collaboration flavor!!  Kind of jealous of some of them!

For lunch I met up with the half group and went to a noodles/dumplings shop we tried to go to on Monday but they were closed. Luckily they were open on this day!

The dumplings were very nice and the skin texture was perfectly chewy. 

I brought some dumplings back to my mom and then used the local map app to meet up with aunties and uncles again. It's got an AR navigation!!

Living out my RPG life

I think it's better for driving since the little streets and alleys in the town were too close together so the AR gets confused sometimes and tells you to walk through walls 😹

Anyway, met up for coffee!

Then happened upon a branch of a shop I'd bought a skirt from the night before. I showed the staff which skirt I'd bought and they helped me coordinate it into a full outfit 

I bought the top. I actually want to coordinate the earthy/wasteland outfit with black accessories and boots for a darker vibe. Love the dangling layered bits on the top and skirt!  It wasn't cheap but the material is better feeling than similar "jellyfish" tendrils I'd seen in Taipei (I call the dangling bits as jellyfish because it looks like long thin tentacles!)

The heavier weight falls and moves better when worn. 

Anyway, we passed by a baby lamb in cute clothes on the way to see a nighttime interactive performance 

I think the owners were renting them out for photos? Not sure. There were two lambs and they were very calm and chill 😹

Also it's probably not interesting to anybody other than me but we passed by this fashion brand by a Chinese peacock dancer!!! I learned one of her dances before (YEARS ago! Back when I was young and didn't worry about rent or bills 😹😹😹)

The clothes are like modern traditional Chinese, buw I don't think I'd wear them enough to justify getting anything 

Took a photo by a sign. I'd actually passed this place when I was solo wandering in the morning. Notice the cat in the photo:

That cat was in the same spot like 12+ hours earlier when I first saw it 

I think it moved less than 1m

We did make it to the interactive performance though it was already underway!  They lead tourists to dance in a circle around a central fire

Pretty cool to see!

This photo of our dinner uploaded last for some reason and I can't shift it on mobile so it's going to serve as the ending 

Have you ever learned any form of dance?  I did traditional Chinese dance for ten years as a child, and taught myself a bit of belly dance basics using books and DVD from the library though it's hard to know if you're doing it right without guidance. It's still fun!

In recent decade or so I haven't really been allowing myself to relax or enjoy dancing fully any more. I'd love to learn pole or heels dance! Pole seems like really good weight training that isn't boring and heels just looks fun! Plus no special costume or props needed