Mothers Day Beijing

Patti spent her first Mothers Day in Beijing and most likely here last, I guess you never know.  Tara had been excitedly planning things like a secret foot massage, but Mom called the shots when we were in the Silk Market.  The shopping experience is something for a later post, but as a setup you have to understand how the Markets work in China, and for that matter anywhere.  Imagine the pushiest sales person you have ever encountered, now picture 500 Chinese women filling that roll.

So here we are in the hard-sell, up-sell, counter-sell, gonna sell you something if it kills me Silk Market and we see this little massage/manicure shop and the Mothers Day flag is thrown and suddenly we are all in chairs for a foot massage.

We walked in for the cheapest thing on the service menu, a foot massage, but that apparently was just to get you in the door.  Once you are sitting, shoes off, feet being massaged, relaxed and vulnerable you begin getting the pedicure pitch.  We said no for the kids and myself but yes for Patti.  She loved it and her pedi plus foot massage with all of ours still cost a fraction of what she pays for her annual pedi back home.

In China, there is a traditional hair removal process that they use for eyebrows, lip and hand hair that involves two hands, a mouth and some string.  This woman was practicing on her leg and I asked what she was doing.  She explained it and then demonstrated on my hand.  Very interesting.  Some big old German dudes came in later and had their hand hair removed along with a massage.

Once beyond the sale pitching phase the women that were working on our feet began asking many questions mostly through one girl who could translate decently while other questions came direct from the others the best they could.  Their primary interest was in the girls.  They were all very fascinated to see sisters and they wanted to know all about them.  

We have been asked the "where do you go to school question" a number of times and each time we answer we are met with some degree of bewilderment.  Homeschooling is almost unfathomable to the Chinese people.  A man from the Christian missionary organization that we helped feed the poor with thought is was a great idea but still did not know how such a thing was possible.  I suppose in the States we a heading down the same path.  It was not too long ago in America where eduction was not a government monopoly, but it was provided or procured at the discretion of the parents and was forced to meet their expectations.  Today, public education is well beyond the influence of a parent.

We had many a woman say that she loved the girls and wanted to keep them.  Very few children have siblings given the one child policy and sons are the majority sex by selective abortion.  I think these women long for the little sister they never had and the daughter they may never have.  Here is Kary, she kept saying that Riley was her sister and would almost not let go of her.  But when she did she was one tough sunglasses sales negotiator.

Images in 2013 Beijing.