This day was great and also exhausting — normal day for Shanghai. We went to People’s Park and walked in the perfect shady nature area in 72 degree weather. Lots of people sitting on benches, some playing cards, some with their babies in strollers Some women were dancing to the music of their boom box: traditional choreographed Chinese dancing with colorful orange cloths in their hands. This was near a large pond of koi/goldfish. Just beautiful and relaxing.
Then we went to lunch at Yang’s Fried Dumplings. It’s 2 blocks down the urban, older streets filled with restaurants, apartments, shops, and hotels. The boys liked the dumplings. Shrimp or pork, they have soup inside and are fried almost black on the bottom and cooked in a ton of oil. Greasy.
Then we headed for the Shanghai Museum. It was 82 degrees by this time and we were walking in the sun and the city blocks were loooong. We were exhausted when we arrived but the tea room was lovely. After coffee, we checked out the more than 6000 years of ceramics that have been well preserved. You see the pictures in my other blog post.
Perhaps the most popular activity to do with Chinese friends is to eat out. The tradition is to treat the visitor the first time, so we have been treated to a lot of great meals lately while we catch up with friends from last year.
Today we had lunch with Dr. Ma here at Xuhui campus. It was great food with lots of vegetables in great sauces.
Last week my former student Adeal treated us to Chinese hot pot at a restaurant with great service. Everyone liked the food. You can get a pedicure for free while you wait. There are many tables where you can sit and wait also; it is so popular.
They give bibs since you take items out of the boiling soup pot in front of you. You will see I wore this last year when I went here with ShelleyThe raw food is presented beautifully at your table. You cook as you go. China is all about beef and pork, which Adeal ordered. I got her to order some veggies and shrimp for me. Also, the all-u-can-eat fruit is great.
Also last week my colleague Shelley took us out to a great dinner at a Yunnan restaurant that is more vegetable focused ( a bit less meat maybe). It was great to see her and Sophy again. We spent time with them last year, and she and Sophy were at Highline in 2015.
Three kinds of mushrooms together, chicken in ginger, rice noodles, okra in pico de gallo, tender beans, and more. All very good.
Ben got his hair cut here, at a salon where about 6 men work. You mostly see men in the hair salons. He liked it and decided to get his hair colored red in front, so here it is — though this is the day he was sweaty from tag.
He plans to re-do it in America with more of a fire-engine red
This Friday we met Kate and her boys, Peter and Isaac again. We took a 1-hour metro ride to a trampoline place. The boys jumped and climbed and used the slide for awhile, then the rest of the time it was tag with foam blocks and balls and foam battering rams. They were sweaty and red faced the whole time, and loved it.
I met an American, Kate, on the teacher bus a few weeks ago. Her boys are 8 and 11, so we agreed to get them together. They go to a bouncy place each weekend. Last weekend we went on a Sunday afternoon. It was packed with mostly little kids, but Ben and the boys had a great time and got very sweaty. This was followed by pizza and a visit to Awfully Chocolate which had an amazing salted caramel brownie!
As it got into the 90’s we returned to the Shanghai Museum, which was so cool we actually had to put on another layer. We saw the traveling Tate Britain collection of British nature paintings from 1700-1960. We saw ancient to modern jade carvings from 6000 BCE to about 1800. We also saw a collection of traditional clothing and master craftsmanship from the many ethnic minority cultures in China, mostly around 1900’s. Then of course we re-visited the tea house which has good lattes and treats, and is necessary for sitting in between viewing collections.
This is the front of the Shanghai Museum. Free entry. Beautiful architecture
We also visited the Pudong area of modern skyscrapers and malls, across the river from the traditional Bund area.
It was so hot this day! You can see the skyline view from this pedestrian overpassAnother view of Pudong skyscrapers from the pedestrian overpass. The city’s choice to build this overpass really lets you see the city.to the right is the Shanghai Tower, completed in 2015. It is the second tallest building in the world, after the one in Dubai. It is designed to harness some wind power, I believe. The Shanghai Tower is a 632-metre, 128-story megatall skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai. It also has the world’s highest observation deck within a building or structure, and the world’s fastest elevators at a top speed of 20.5 meters per second.
We went up in the Jin Mao Tower to the 56th floor where you can have lunch while seeing the view; the whole restaurant exterior walls are windows; even the restroom has a larger window. This was very nice. We viewed many fancy restaurants and a plush hotel as we made our way to the our restaurant. Afterward, we walked back along the beautiful elevated pedestrian walkway and stopped in at a mall, since you have to walk through it to continue to the Metro. We found many restaurants there, including another chain of Awfully Chocolate. We made plans for a return visit. However, across from that shop is a custard shop. Choices, choices.
