After spending Chinese New Year’s Eve at Austin’s we headed north to visit the family of our friends, Xiao and David. Xiao and I worked together at Allegiance and have stayed close friends since then. We were so thrilled when she invited us to visit her family! Everyone there was so nice and very welcoming. Thanks to both Xiao and David for such a great experience! We hope you enjoy the photos.
On our flight this steward started selling stuff. It took us awhile to figure out what he was doing…. it was basically like QVC, but in-flight!
Welcome fruit in our hotel room (courtesy of our generous hosts!). The bigger, pink one was something unfamiliar to us, but it’s popular in China. I think I’ve eaten before… maybe in HI, but don’t know for sure.
Our first morning in Shijiazhuang, Xiao took us to see a specialist in Eastern medicine. He is trained in a medical technique called Qi Gong, as well as acupuncture and is very respected. She told us many people fly from Beijing and pay top dollar to be treated by him. Because he is close to David’s parents, we received special treatment and free of charge! I was told that I’m generally healthy, but that I have a weak heart, which causes poor circulation. This condition may mean that I suffer from a stroke when I get older and that I should be cautious. He helped put my spine back into alignment, which should help with my condition, but I’m still not exactly clear what else I can do to help.
Rob was told that he’s not as “healthy as he looks,” which made me laugh. The doctor said that a head injury from his childhood is causing him some problems and that he needs further treatment. Being the hypochondriac that he is, Rob seemed concerned…. 
This is a special health drink that the doctor is researching/developing. He’s also created something similar for pigs to help them live longer and healthier. We tried a small sample and found it to be quite strong!
After our visit with the doctor we all ate lunch at this “east meets west” buffet. I personally found it to be more East, than West, but I guess that shouldn’t be surprising.
This is me, eating a chicken heart. The flavor was good (spicy!), but I didn’t like the texture much. We also enjoyed pig ear tendion, shrimp heads, and donkey meat.
Rob liked the beer. 
This is Xiao and David’s son. Is he CUTE or what?!?!?!? I love that hair!
Rob eating a northern chinese snack that is similar to a candied apple. Yummy! Yummy! Ono! (as grandma would say).
Snacks we enjoyed between with David’s family in between meals. We also had a very special tea that was delicious.
After our snack we went to visit another eastern medicine specialist, but in a different method than qi gong. She also mentioned my poor circulation, but added that I have a “cold uterus,” which means I may have trouble getting pregnant and that I should not drink any cold liquids. She said not to worry though because she can treat the problem. She also wrote me an herbal prescription, which you see below.
Finally, after all that we had a special dinner with David’s family. It was a busy day for us!
This picture is of the most popular chinese liquor, bai jiu. It pretty much taste like rubbing alcohol. It’s tradition for the guest of honor to be toasted by everyone there, by each person yelling “gambei” and then shooting the drink. In return, the guest of honor must do the same back to each person. Luckily, this is more a tradition for the men and I only had to do a few shots. Rob was a trooper and drank two shots with each member of David’s family. Good thing for him, the shots are pretty small.
This is our final pic. It’s a shot of us, with our friend, Xiao, her father-in-law, and the Dr. and his wife.
A special thanks to Xiao, David and their family for being so welcoming and generous. We had a great time and valued the experience!
Sorry, we haven’t been posting as much. My days are getting busier now that school has started and I’m working part time. Don’t worry though, we’re going to do our best to keep posting as often as we can. It’s almost 12:30 am here… a few months ago, I’d almost be getting up to start my day!
‘night,
roshley
looks like you had a great trip, how fun! i’m jealous you got to hang out with xiao and noah, he’s so cute
love how huge rob looks in the last picture! xo
Family, friends, food & drink! That’s the way to celebrate a new year. Looks like you are all having fun. Now back to your busy work schedule so you can earn more time off to see the country/people and sample all the good eats and drink.
that looks so fun! xiao’s baby is so cute! only thing about marrying a white guys is not cute chinese babies (sorry rob) where are you working now? hope everything is going well!!
um, i just realized the comment about chinese babies might be offensive. to rob and rob’s family, and anyone else…I WAS KIDDING! ash and rob will have adorable babies
Of course roshley will be having adorable babies. they both come from adorable stock…….not donkey-eating stock, as far as I know. Grandparents C would be so happy with your willingness to try the different foods offered. the snacks look really yummy–lychee?
Remember the Venetian buffett & sweeping the lychee into my purse? Looking forward to seeing the sites of your travels in person for myself. Did that come out correctly?
Did you know that Evy can squeeze herself into Cooper’s green bed & not be a giant muffin top?
I did