Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,
 
After an awesome day in the classroom it was time to head to the cities huge Police Complex to have ID Photos taken for our residency permits for living in the Province of Fujian. On the way the legendary Mr Doo took us through several of Shaowu's ancient back alleys. I have walked these alleys ways on many occasions but have never had a chance to see what was behind the huge walls that line them.
 
I knew that everything I walked past was 'old' but I've never had a chance to find out actually how old they actually were. Today I got my answers to many of the questions I wanted answered about Shaowu City.
 
The city obviously began as a small village over one thousand years ago. I knew this had to the be the case as Shaowu houses one of Fujian's three Ancient Mosques which was built over 700 years ago but today Mr Doo confirmed that the first village was built over one thousand years ago. As the village grew into a town Protective Walls were built and soon surrounded the fast growing town. These walls were built somewhere between three to five hundred years ago and only several hundred meters from my school and my home sits the last remaining section of the city wall and the last ancient city gate that faces the beautiful Min River.
 
Here also remains many ancient homes that are somewhere between three to five hundred years old!
 
Today I got to visit a home that is just as old but in a different part of the city. Shaowu is full of historical homes such as these. The new streets are lined with newly built shops and homes that are about twenty to seventy years old. Enclosed within these structures can be found many awesome homes that are many hundred years old.
 
We spent over an hour walking from ancient room to ancient room of one of these huge homes.
 
It was filled with beautiful wood carvings and small family religious sections that were at the end of each beautiful blue stone court yard. The family that owns and still lived in the home we visited had turned it into a private museum that houses old photos, puppets, actual dragon boats used in yesteryear and even an old Tea House that was once very popular with the locals until the more modern types moved in.
 
If you visit my entries on the Ancient Town of Herping this is what can actually be found hidden behind the new modern face of Shaowu City. Part of this new face is the latest restaurant in Shaowu which is a Western Pizza Restaurant. I have never bothered eating here as the prices scare the hell out of me along with the fact that I can't eat dairy.
 
Needless to say a pizza full of cheese would keep me house bound for a week!
 
This evening the school decided it was time for another awesome feast but this time it was to be Western Style. When we arrived I was happy to find that they had a lot more than pizza. They had tuna salads, steak and many other things that were well beyond the normal Shaowu person's budget. I chose the peppered steak and mate, it was totally amazingly the same as back home. I haven't had peppered steak, or a real steak for well over three years now and believe me my mouth was watering just looking at it.
 
In fact it took me about five minutes before I even considered trying to use my knife and fork again!
Inside I was worried about looking like a complete idiot at not being able to remember how to use them in front of the table full of Chinese people that surrounded Rob, Jo and I.
 
Needless to say, using a knife and fork is just like riding a.........bike!
Once you climb on board you can't forget how it/they function!
 
Beers N Noodles toya.....shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was Sydney's and I think one of Australia's most amazing bands ever!
The one and only DEF FX!
The album was 'Baptism' Disk 2