I have returned to China after being away for six weeks. I had wonderful visits with family and friends in Oregon and then spent a week and a half with my family on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Don't have many photos to show though. I must admit I'm a bit disappointed in myself. Here is a photo of the Castle at Chichen Itza. You'd think I might have gathered the family off to the side, but no.

I returned to China in time for Qingming Festival. It's a Memorial Day. People travel to their hometowns to visit family and to tidy up their ancestors' tombs. Along with sweeping and weeding they make offerings. Several shops near our apartment carried paper houses, clothing, food, cars, furniture, candles and joss sticks. The paper items are burned so that the dead are not lacking these things in the afterlife.

This year Qingming was on Friday. And this year for the first time Qingming was a national holiday. We saw many tourists in Yangshuo for this three day weekend. Mostly young people. Guess not everyone went to their ancestors' tombs.

While I was gone, the weather changed. It's warmer, not always warm but always warmer than what it was in February. And it is wet. I've been back five days. On two of those days I woke to rain in the night and it continued to rain and drizzle all day. The laundry I did on Wednesday hung in my room for three days and even then I wasn't really sure it was dry. More than anything I was tired of it taking up space and wanted to put it away.
Everything is damp. The walls, the floor, the sheets, papers...everything. Today it did not rain and no one took a shower. And yet the mirror in the bathroom was fogged over! Now that's damp.