Happy Mid-Autumn Day!Also known as the Moon Festival because it falls on the day of the full moon and families get together to celebrate and eat mooncake.Echo invited me and Ruth to spend the day with her family.We took a bus and a taxi to get to where she lives.It is quite far out of town and has a very distinct countryside feel.The difference in the roads can be seen in my photos.It is very rural.The family home is set out around a courtyard; there is a kitchen building, the living room and parents' bedroom are one room, and then the bedrooms for the children.Echo is 23 years old and still shares a room with her sister.The bathroom area is basically a hole in the ground around the back of the buildings.She warned us it is not like toilets we are used to.She was right!

Echo had told her mum that I am vegetarian, so most of the food they prepared for us was vegetable based.There were two bowls of meat soup that they had made for Ruth to try, but one of them was another of those bowls of chicken bits where everything is still identifiable.They had made home-made dumpling with no meat, and they were really nice.We ended the meal by sampling lots of different flavours of mooncake.

We walked to Jiangdi Amusement Park and Echo, her Sister and Ruth went on many of the rides.I'm not a fan of rides so I stood with her Mum holding their bags and taking photos.Most of the stall owners were family friends of Echo's so we were able to use everything for free.We went into a ghost house which was horrible and pitch dark, we held hands in a chain on the way around then we bumped into each other and all ended up screaming and running out.There was a building which looked plain from the outside, but when you went inside it had been designed to feel as though everything was leaning to the left and we played in there for a while, it was quite hard work walking up the steep floor.We also went into a castle which had a story of the Monkey King who was imprisoned in a mountain and we got the giggles at his high-pitched cries.Ruth went on a zip wire and we walked around some pretty gardens until it was time to go.

Echo's cousin's husband and his daughter Xiao Yu arrived in their car; she was only 5 years old and very cute!Me, Ruth, Echo and her sister got in and he drove us to Dongchang Lake. On the way there, Echo told us that the land around her family home is due to be redeveloped. I asked what will happen to her family. She said they will be forced to move in about a year. This is really sad because they have such an established community and lifestyle here. They grow their own vegetables and the air is cleaner than in the main part of Liaocheng. I guess this is just a fact of life in such a rapidly developing country, and always seems so distant when you hear about families like this on TV or in books. But having actually met these people and been welcomed into their family home, the reality feels somewhat more upsetting.

When we got to Dongchang Lake, the moon was huge and looked amazing reflecting over the water.Xiao Yu was treated to some bubbles and noisy whistle toys and she went on a little kids ride.We drove around to different parts of the lake to get out and take photos, but it was starting to get dark and cold so we were taken back to my yard.We thanked Echo and her family for a lovely day and then went to my apartment to get warmer clothes.

Ruth and I went to a restaurant near to where I live.It was one we hadn't tried before and the food was really nice.There was a Chinese girl and a man in the corner and they had been watching us while we ate.Then the waitress brought us 2 beers and said they were a gift from the Chinese people in the corner.We said thank you and the girl asked us to sit with them.I hadn't planned on drinking too much as we were getting up early in the morning to go to Jinan.We decided to sit with them just while we finished the beer.The girl was nineteen but I have no idea how old the man was or what their association was with each other.However, it turned out she was completely wasted!She grabbed me as I sat down and said she liked me.She stroked my hair and then I pulled away and tried to smile politely so I didn't offend her.That was a mistake.She noticed my dimples and stuck her finger in the indent of my cheek!She did this several times and then she leaned across the table and poked Ruth on the nose and said "I like".I got up to pay the waitress and drunk girl walked past me to go to the toilet.She grabbed my arm and tried to drag me with her.I pulled myself free and quickly sat back down.When she got back we said goodbye and went home.