Shanghai

We arrived in Shanghai too late to really do anything. We toured the
city by way of lost tour guide and driver, and enjoyed a meal not too
far from the base of the Pearl Tower- the largest tower in Asia.
The next day, we started at the Yuyan gardens and bazaar- which was
very nice, but it was a shopping mecca, and we only had an hour there-
so the bargaining would have to wait. The gardens were beautiful-
there were rock sculptures and trees galore, water- all of the elements
of a Chinese garden. It was cool in there, so we spent almost our
entire hour in the gardens. We knew that we would return to shop so we
weren’t too worried.
After that, we went to the Pearl tower to go up to one of the
observatory towers to enjoy the view; ok- so most of us could enjoy the
view. Ang is a little scared of heights- but she was a trooper and did
really well. It helped that we did not go up in a glass elevator- and
it was seemingly stable once we were on the observatory tower- so it
was a bearable experience for her.
After the tower, we returned to the same resturant for lunch that we
had eaten dinner the night before, and we were thankful that that would
be our last meal with unidentified Chinese food if we wanted. They
dropped us off at our hotel and went on with their trip back to Yuyao.

The Astor House Hotel is probably the nicest hotel I have ever been in.
There was a bit of a ruckus at first since the way I had worded the
e-mail and the way they understood it got lost in translation- but
thankfully Emily stayed and got it sorted out. Our rooms are on the
3rd floor- the celebrity rooms- and they have high ceilings and real
hardwood floors and a turn down service and a breakfast that is
included that is exactly what we needed. There is everything from
Korean fish soup to onion rings to eggs and corn flakes. I am really
pleased with our hotel- so if you’re ever in Shanghai, I highly
recommend it- and it’s only $80 a night- (we got a price off the
internet, and they did not realize that it was listed as that on the
internet!!!)

We split up yesterday because Amy and Karen wanted to see the Shanghai
museum- so Ang and I headed to the French Concession in the morning.
We visited the homes of Sun Yat-sen and Zhou Enlai- (look them up if
you don’t know them, but anyone who has taken my class should know who
they are…). We also ate lunch at a beautiful Thai restaurant on the
grounds of a gorgeous hotel. It was a little pricey, but worth it. We
overlooked the park in the midst of the hotel complex’s grounds and
enjoyed our experience. Where else can you get Earl Grey tea ice
cream? Actually, you can probably get it lots of places, but we felt
special.
Then it was down to business- shopping. We returned to the bazaar and
did some real damage. They totally saw us coming though- and we
enjoyed following many different strangers into the areas that stored
their fake purses. There were back alley storage places, we went up
elevators to abandoned warehouses, we crouched down as we crawled under
the back shelves of stores- a section of the shelving swung out to
reveal rooms behind the actual store- it was crazy. I don’t know if
they do that just because they know people will come to experience it,
or because they could get in real trouble for selling faux items. At
any rate, we went to way too many of these sketchy areas – and left way
too much money there. After a good hard afternoon of shopping we
returned to the hotel, dropped our stuff off- and regrouped to enjoy
the tourist sightseeing tunnel. This is the product of someone who had
too much time on their hands. It’s a mechanism to get across the river
to the Pearl Tower side- but this tunnel has all kinds of psychadellic
lights that you see as you travel along in your tram. It has a little
narration and everything- quite the Star Wars meets the 1970s
experience (according to my friend Anne). We enjoyed a drink along the
river- and to Ang’s surprise, she met a new little friend. In the seat
cushion behind her, there was a kitten sleeping so once she had settled
in the chair, something started moving behind her, and out came this
little cat. It was really cute, but sad that he was abandoned there.

Now the challenge is going to be getting everything we just purchased
into our luggage… perhaps the professional badminton set will have to
stay here… oh well.