We enjoyed the loveliest Saturday afternoon biking around the farmlands outside Kangqiao… and we found the rice paddies we’ve heard about! Carrying our cameras, we stopped whenever anything beautiful or interesting caught our attention, as we took pleasure in the brilliant blue skies, gentle breezes, and the perfect company of one another.
As we cycled along, we greeted everyone we saw with a cheerful “Ni Hao!” About half of the people gave us no more response than a sullen stare, but the other half broke into wide smiles and readily greeted us in return. One such individual was this lovely woman. She gave us a huge bag of fresh edamame that she was picking. When we tried to give her money, she graciously refused and reiterated “bu yala” (I don’t want). She was so excited to be able to gift us something from her garden! She even found a squash to give us before we cycled away. It’s times like that when we really wish we knew more Mandarin/Shanghainese so that we could communicate with lovely individuals like this sweet woman!
Rice paddies!
As we rounded a corner we found this poor, dazed man trying to figure out how to get his tuk-tuk out of a ditch. Isaac and another woman passing by were able to help him, and we left him looking much happier than we’d found him.
As we rode back into town we found a lively little spot downtown that we’ll have to explore in the future…
And I finally got a shot at the hilarious crack-pants that many babies wear here… check out those cute baby buns! 
this looks like my drive to work everyday. oh, and i saw a boy in carrefour yesterday with those pants…poor boy got his thing smashed when his mom put him in the cart…OUCH!
So many incredible photographs and such a fascinating insight into other people’s lives. I was in awe of the huge areas of land cultivated on the outskirts of high-rise apartment living. Do the people that live in the flats tend the cultivated land or do they have various occupations, not necessarily associated with the land?
I loved reading about the woman that generously gave you food – and then later in your day how you helped someone in need get a vehicle out of a ditch (passing on the good karma x).
Oh and those pants are so funny! I’d heard about them before and they aren’t such a bad idea in a way… not that they’d be popular in suburban New Zealand 🙂 At home I’ve always let my toddlers wonder around with nothing on the bottom if they feel more comfortable. Nappies are so restrictive and little accidents aren’t too much bother to clean up. My older girls quickly found it a game of running to the potty when they needed to (or outside to water the garden in summer!).