Hi, everyone!
It’s been a couple of busy days since our last posting, so this one turned out to be a little long. We’ve been having a great time, in spite of the heat. On Sunday, we learned about the subway and took it to People’s Square, where the government center is. From there, we walked down Nanjing Road on our way to the Bund. Nanjing Road is a retail walking street full of all the name-brand stores. There is definitely affluence in the big cities, as well as the lack of it. It was quite hot and humid that day, so we took some refuge in a Haagendas store, had some ice cream and went on our way. Except for the signage, we really couldn’t tell we weren’t in a retail section of New York, Montreal, London or some other large city.
We saw a McDonalds and thought we’d try it to see if it was any different than in the States. It was mostly the same except for the stares we got, something called a “McPuff” and the employees using a plastic broom handle to harass a deaf beggar into leaving, but not until after he put up somewhat of a defensive counter strike of his own.
We finally made it to the Bund. Did I mention it was hot that day? The Bund is a sightseeing tunnel under the Hanpu river and a large walkway on its bank. Much of the west bank was under construction, giving it a strange, post-apocalyptic sense about it. The east bank, however, where the walkway lies is quite developed with expensive hotels. Anywhere people might congregate, vendors will pop-up selling all sorts of things. We took a taxi back to the hotel. It was a well-spent 50 yuan. Michelle wasn’t feeling well, so Kira and I went to supper at a local place down the street, but Kira didn’t last, either. She was sound asleep before our food came. Shanghai is a city of 20 million people and I can’t comprehend that number. When walking back to the hotel, I understood what it means, though in that there is never a time when there is no traffic noise and never a time when there is no one else nearby.
Yesterday, we went to the Yu Garden with one of our hosts. It’s a 400-year-old walled garden within the city, and was very beautiful. There were walkways, bridges and ponds – all man-made. We also saw the Old City God’s Temple, a very old Taoist temple. We had a typical Shanghai lunch of different types of steamed buns and dumplings. Quite good!
Today, we took the subway to the train to Hangzhou. The train station as a study in barely-controlled chaos. The train itself was a very nice high-speed one, running about 170 Km/hr. It seemed like a cross between a bus and an airplane, with stewardesses and food available. (As much as I would not want one in my yard, one of these would be great between Rochester and Minneapolis.) Hangzhou is an old, big city of about 8 million people, but with its own personality. Our main goal was to see a famous lake called “West Lake” (Xi Hu), which is listed in the book “1000 Places to See Before You Die”. It’s sobering to know we’re down to the triple-digits, now.
In any case, our host, Cathy, met us at the train station and took us to lunch at a very popular restaurant serving local foods. That was a fun experience! Hangzhou’s personality is usually of a leisurely nature, but not at the restaurant. The ordering and service counter was much more like the trading floor of the stock market than a place to eat, with people physically jostling for positions and yelling at the people behind the counter while trying to shove tickets at their faces. We tried unusual foods and fruits that were native to the area and dishes like eel soup, shrimp dumplings and salty duck. It was all very good -- and filling.
Cathy took us on a boat ride past pagodas and other structures that were many centuries old to get to a large, man-made island. On the island was a beautiful park, with large ponds, walkways, zig-zag bridges and several old Ming-style buildings. It was obviously a popular place for the Chinese tourists and local people. We caught a boat back to the city and walked around the edge of the lake until a water spray show started. Waiting for the show, it was evident we were an ‘attraction’ in our own way. This isn’t unusual in China when Caucasian parents are seen with Chinese kids. It was just a little pronounced today, with some people taking pictures of us. It’s not meant to be hostile or disapproving – just the opposite, in fact. Most people think adoption is a warm-hearted thing to do. For Chinese, it’s not taboo to stare at someone they feel is unusual.
Finding a cab to get back to the train station was a bit of a challenge after the water show. Cathy worked hard to find one, finally running across a busy intersection and commandeering a taxi from someone else. I couldn’t hear what she was saying to them, but it worked, whatever it was. The cab ride was itself an experience something like an aggressive carnival ride with an ample use of the horn. Back through the Station of Chaos, we ended up in a large waiting area for the train back to Shanghai. Kira is definitely losing her shyness about interacting with others here, as she began flirting with a boy her age near us. His mom offered Kira a type of cookie and when she saw Kira liked it, offered hands-full more with a canned milk drink – all things obviously brought for her son. Personal generosity like this is not uncommon here.
The train ride back was pleasant and quick under a light rain. The day was a little long for Kira, though, who threw a Biggie-sized tantrum in the train station, but that was easily lost in the chaos of the crowd. After a brief subway ride and walk back to the hotel, and we ended our day’s adventure with a little mac & cheese mixed-up in the hot pot.
