Finally after the Shenzhen trip, Mama and I spent the rest of the vacation with Aiji, Jiujiu and Jiuma at Xiangtan （湘潭） home.
Xiangtan is located on the lower reaches of Xiang river (湘江) in Hunan Province. In its name "Xiangtan", "Xiang" refers to the Xiang River, while "Tan" is a Chinese term that means "deep pool". It is a hometown of founders of the Chinese Communist Party, including Mao Zedong (毛 泽东), Liu Shaoqi （刘少奇）and Peng Dehuai （彭德怀）, as well as hometowns of Qing Dynasty painter Qi Baishi （齐白石） and scholor-general Zeng Guofan （曾国藩）.
Xiangtan is famous for its production of Lotus seed and Soy sauce. People in Xiangtan are famous for chewing areca nut (槟榔）, though the area itself doesn't grow them. The history of consuming areca nut dates back to 400 years ago, when people chewing it for pandemic prevention [1]. One humor Minyan (民谚) summarizes the characteristics of Xiangtan:
“龙牌酱油 (Dragon brand soy sauce) 灯芯糕 (wick cake can be lighted)，
槟榔果子 (areca nut fruit) 水上飘 (floating on water)，
十里荷塘 (ten miles pond of lotus flower) 百里香 (fragrance can be smelled hundreds of miles away) ，砣砣妹子 (cute plump sisters) 任你挑 (as you pick)”
Mama was born in Xiangtan, and grew up in Xiangtan. She went to Kinder garden, elementary school, middle school and high school in Xiantan and finished her BS (in Chemistry) and MS (in Polymer Chemistry & Physics) in Xiangtan University. How did she end up in America? I do not know.
Aiji and Jiujiu cooked delicious authentic home-made Hunan dishes for us. Jiujiu and Aiji wouldn't let Mama to feed me because they considered it was their privilege. They seemed to by very happy with no matter what I did.
Aiji made comfortable bed for me and I had sound sleep in it every night.
We went out to eat occasionally. When we were eating at a noodle place in downtown Xiangtan, two young girls dressed up fashionable past by our table. One of the girls exclaimed when she saw me, "I want a baby like him"!
They made a full table of dishes to welcome us. They were authentic home made countryside Hunan dishes. After we finished delicious lunch, we sit outside to have a tea. Mama took out her 777 nail clipper and started to trim my nails. My grant qiuqiu (zu jiu ye, use Chinese here) told Aiji in a surprising tone, "I have never seen a baby sit so quietly to let his mom to cut his finger nails ! " Is it hard?! I did not understand.
We also went to Hunan's capital, Changsha to visit Grand uncle and aunt, Mama's cousins and their families.
Mama's friends also came to visit us.
References:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangtan
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