Category: Yixing

Pottery

Even though I saw a lot on my vacation, this became somewhat of a pottery tour. I began and ended with the purchase of pottery.

In Japan I bought two porcelain bowls and a tea mug. Both bowls would work well together combined into one serving piece.

In Yixing, I bought a teapot from one of the sellers near the pottery museum. The family was very nice and they are artists who make many of their teapots.

The teapot had bamboo etched on one side and Chinese characters on the other. The cups were bought in a different store.

The family invited me to drink tea with them. This is the daughter of the owner of the store and one of the artists.

They were very nice and even through broken English and Chinese we were able to converse. The translate feature in We chat is helpful too. The best part of traveling is meeting new people.

Yixing half marathon

I was doubtful I would be able to complete the half marathon given the hamstring strain from 12 days ago. Generally it takes up to 8 weeks to heal and have me some trouble in Japan on my heavy walking days.

A trainer would probably not recommend this but I supported the spot at the back of my thigh with a tight band. My plan was to walk when needed and if I had to walk most of it that would be okay (except I might have missed my train).

It was a gorgeous day and was 18 degrees C (65 degrees F) at 7:30 am. It was a hot one by the end of the race and 27 degrees C. During the race there were many stations including sponges and water hoses.

We were separated into groups based on speed but they have their hands full trying to separate. I was in group C, but 5 minutes before starting they pushed the boundary and did not listen to the police. Crazy. I am good at saying “Zai gan ma” or what are you doing? There is no sense of personal space. I am not sure a hard barricade would help here.

We ran through a local park that was beautiful.

I walked more than I wanted as the hamstring have me trouble and other muscles compensating were tight as a result. I finished in 2 hours 11 minutes and 42 seconds. My next to worse ever but wanted to finish as the medal is made of the clay from this region. They also give you green tea ice cream right away.

After you finish you actually walk a distance to get your medal. They give you a lot of goodies by the time you go through the finishers tent. It’s like trick or treating.

I’m not sure what the snacks are but I’ll find out. Yes the plastic banana is a banana keeper. And good thing I checked that there was a banana inside. I drank the soy milk and finished sushi from the night before. I now have snacks for the train. After I take nap.

A close up of the medal.