I guess I've said a few things about our tour guides, but maybe not introduced them properly. For each four-day leg of the journey (we spent the first four days in Beijing, then took a flight to Shanghai and bussed around there for four days), we had a different tour guide.
In Beijing, our tour guide's "English name" was Brian. He said that was a reference to Bryan Adams, because "everything he do, he do it for us." He was a very engaging and entertaining speaker who generally got things started out in a fun direction every morning, taught us how to say a few things in Chinese, answered questions throughout the day, and helped us navigate and negotiate deals in the various marketplaces.
In Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, our tour guide was a woman. She went by the "English name" Celery, so chosen by her friends because she really loved celery when she was younger. She was from Hangzhao, a fact that she told us with almost every breath. I can't tell you how difficult it was to call someone a name that is an english word that isn't generally used as a name. And this is from a man whose children are named Gamble and Random. Go fig.
These tour guides were our lifeline. They were our protectors. They got our hotel rooms for us ahead of time so that we didn't have to wait to check in. They kept our passports for us. They knew where we needed to be and mostly kept us to a strict schedule. We would have quite literally been lost without them, so we had to put our trust in them. And they worked very hard for us.
I know I wrote that there were a lot of art and product-specific shops that we went to, and that we think the tour guides got a little taste of the action for inspiring us to buy the goods at those specific places, but there were other ways that the tour guides were compensated. Each day, Brian or Celery would explain that there was something they could get for us - something that represented China, or a service they could set up for us.
Custom Suit
It's pretty common that you hear of someone that travels to China and has a suit custom made for them while they are there. It's amazing to think of an entire suit being made within a few days. On the bus on our first day in Beijing, Brian offered to schedule a tailor to come to our hotel room and take my measurements. I jumped at the chance. and scheduled a tailor to come measure me on that first night.
They brought material swatches for the suit itself, and I picked out a narrow pinstripe pattern in black. They showed me some shirt material, and I selected a lightly textured white fabric. It was a very quick measuring process, maybe 15 minutes in the whole transaction, but I knew that I'd have the best fitting suit I'd ever worn. The next night they delivered it and I tried it on. Now I just need that magic occasion to wear it!
In-Room Massage
That first day, Brian also offered to have masseuses sent up to the room to give us 90 minute foot and body massages, so we scheduled those, too. $30 apiece, so Nicole and I both scheduled them. We were not disappointed when two Chinese women came to our room and gave us our rubdowns. We were still jet-lagged, so I'm sure I fell asleep during the backrub portion, but I distinctly remember the second part.
After rubbing down our bodies, the two women disappeared into the bathroom and had us sit up at the edge of the bed. They brought out what looked to be a Wal-Mart bag full of diarrhea. Ok, so it was just dark brown liquid, and there may have been some leaves in it, but it was completely sketchy. We were instructed to put our feet in the liquid. Then they tied the bags off and let our feet soak.
So in other words, they made feet soup.
They followed that up with a wonderful footrub that even my ticklish feet withstood just fine.
Stamps
On the bus, Brian told us of the ability to obtain jade animals in the shapes of the Chinese zodiac with stamps on the bottom that had the Chinese version of a name. I jumped at the chance to have one made for Gamble and Random. We ordered them on day 2, I think, and they arrived on day 3. The little kits came with an inked wax glob to ink the stamp, and a cute little jade figurine with a stamp on the end. Gamble's was a sheep, and Random's was a pig.
Oh, and just so you know, while Nicole's a dragon (Chinese royalty), I'm a rat. I'm sure you always expected as much.
Unexpected little gifts
Brian gave us a couple unexpected little gifts. He gave every one of us a map of Beijing and the surrounding area, which the map-inclined among our tour took great delight in visibly exploring, trying to figure out where in the Fuxing Hek we were. He also gave us a pack of little Chinese bookmarks. I think they were very small and easy to lose, though, since I don't remember seeing them after the unpacking.
Souvenir photos/books
Another thing we did as a group is take a couple group pictures. One was in Tienanmen Square in Beijing, and the other was in a Garden in Suzhou. These pictures were then printed and offered in a souvenir book of the area. We picked up the one in Beijing but not the one from Suzhou.
Electronics
Brian seemed to sell us a lot of very Chinese artifacts, but Celery was from a different part of China. Shanghai is more Western, more hip. She offered us the ability to order Beats by Dre headphones, power brick chargers, and those sorts of things.
I picked up a little brick charger to charge my phone when my battery is low. It's already come in handy a couple times!
So that's what the on-bus shopping offered us. Next up, I'll tell you all about the mosquitoes. Oh, the mosquitoes.
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