To market, to market...

We just spent the past 6 hours at the Chinese market.

No, let me rephrase that.

We just spent the past 6 hours at the Chinese market the week before Chinese New Year.

In a word, insanity.

We left this morning and walked among the various herbs and animals for sale along the streets.  Lizards on sticks, snake skins, seahorses, scorpions.  Each time we'd ask what they were used for the answer was the same...soup.  I think I'll be steering clear of that menu item for the next few days.

After making our way through the alleys we ended up at the pearl market.  Floors and floors of jewelry. Everywhere.  Completely overwhelming.  Hundreds of little shops packed full of all kinds of various beads, stones, and metals.  There  was so much to see we couldn't focus on anything.

We had a quick lunch at Pizza Hut where the kids gladly filled up on an old standby and Lily continued to show her love for all things fried by downing a plate of shrimp, fries, onion rings, and chicken wings.  I'll worry about cholesterol later.

After being completely overstimulated by walking around the market for another hour we headed back to the hotel.

Oh.my.word.

Complete mass of humanity.  I have never been in the midst of so many people before in my life.  We grabbed hands and made sure our guide was never out of sight.  Red lanterns hanging overhead.  Men dressed in chicken suits blowing horns that sounded like a rooster (makes perfect sense being the year of the rabbit, right?).  Vendors selling glazed fruit on a stick ( I would have stopped for that if I thought I could ever find my way out again). Sensory overload.

Then back to the streets where pedestrians, bikers, and automobiles all vied for the same few feet of road space.  And then finally home.

It was crazy.  It was overwhelming.  It was exhausting.

It was China. 

Bags of mushrooms or some semblance therof

 Big scorpions

And little ones...yes they were alive

My favorite...lizards on a stick

Doing a little bartering

We saw lots of animals for sale

You name it, they were selling it.  Actually, the most of the stuff we saw you couldn't name.

Puppies for sale.  I had a couple of girls that were hard pressed to leave these guys behind.

They named this one Ginger.

On our way back home.  There really were no pictures that did justice to the atmosphere.

 Tomorrow is Consulate Day.  Almost done!