Hello from Lanzhou! This was our last full day in Lanzhou before we traveled to Guangzhou. Sorry we haven't posted in a while but we have been pretty busy and tired.
Here are a few pictures of our day.

We love and miss everyone very very much! We can't wait to return home and see everyone especially Sonja. We miss her so very very very much. Please give her a big hug and kiss from Mommy and Daddy!

Max and I relaxing in the van.

Extreme close up!!

Grist mill like house where the water travels to from the water wheel. The water wheel is entirely made from wood.

Steve Miles in front of the water wheel.

Aiyana the little sweet pie with her sporty little outfit.

Max, me, Dan and our facilitator and guide Frank.

Some information and history about the water wheel

Our little man.

A gentleman resting and people watching. I wanted to get a picture of him close up because he had blue eyes whic I thought was quite interesting.

A group photo taken of u in front of the "Mother of the Yellow River" statue.

This is an inflated pig skin (as you can see). It is used to make a raft for navigating the Yellow river. The skin is taken from the pig and then sheared, inflated and tied to a raft made of bamboo. This prepared skin can last 10 years or more as long as it is kept moist by putting it in the water occasionally.

The men preparing the pig skin for inflating.

scraping the rest of the hair from the pig after it has been inflated.

Steve Miles and I "hamming" it up. hee hee

The man next to me is the gentleman that owns the pig raft/boat tour business. He asked if he could have his picture taken with us. We were happy to accomodate his request as we wanted to have his picture taken with us too.

The final product after the pig skins have been blown up, tied and secured to the bamboo raft.

We saw this and had to take a picture of it just seemed so appropriate.

The local garbage men and women tying down their load.

Frank took us to the best noodle place in town and it was great. The noodles were in a broth that was so delicious. As you can see the people were pretty curious about us. Dan was taking the picture so all eyes were on the redhead.

We saw these everywhere we went so I asked Frank what they were. He told us they are for funerals.

Lunch al fresco

We visited a shop and I am unsure whether the turtles are pets or a fresh item for a recipe!

A tired Max

The women from the tea shop introducing their son to Max. Again, they wanted the baby to touch Max or vise versa but neither one wanted to cooperate. The people are so friendly and very welcoming.

Dan and Max walking on the bridge. The big red headed guy holding the little Chinese boy gets quite a few looks.

Frank told us this bridge was built by Americans and that it is 100 years old. He also said that because it is 100 years old the bridge is only for pedestrian traffic Just a few years ago many cars used this to cross from one side of Lanzhou to the other.

Anything old is treasured in China and they are very proud of their ancient history.