This evening, Allan and I took a boat ride up the Huangpu River in Shanghai. It almost didn't happen, because it became a bit of a production at one point. I had asked Allan if he would like to come with me, and last week I went and got some information about tickets from one agency. I told Allan about the information that I got, and he said it was fine, but then, yesterday, Allan said he wanted to ask a friend and get a bit more information. As I've said, Allan is always scheming how to get it so things best benefit him. I just shrugged and let him do whatever.
So, this morning, Allan said that he had asked his friend, and he said that we wanted to take a certain boat and Allan had decided that we had to take the 7 pm boat because that was right at dusk and he had to go early in order to get the tickets because they would sell out right away. Meanwhile, we are in the middle of our afternoon English corner and Mary and I are trying to get the kids talking about art, and he is pulling me out of the room to tell me he's going to go right now (1:30) to buy the tickets and he would call me when he had them and then I would meet him there.
I was kind of annoying, and at that point I almost regretted asking him to go with me, but I shrugged and went with it. After class, I went back to my apartment to wait for the phone call. Around 4, he called and gave me some of the sketchiest directions I had ever gotten on where to meet him.
Luckily, he had also copied the map and the address that Hugh had given him, so at least I was able to periodically show the Chinese characters to people and have them point me in the right direction.
I got off the train at the Yuyuan Garden stop at about 4:40 and spent the next hour and a half wandering up and down Zhongsang Road, trying to find the goddamn boat. Hugh had recommended the boat that is a twenty-freaking-minute walk down the street, and people I asked were even confused about where exactly it was. My instructions had been to meet up with Allan before 6:30, because that was when we were supposed to line up to wait to get on the boat.
At 6:15, I finally found the ticket booth for the boat that Allan had described in his extremely sketchy directions. But did I find Allan? Noooo, of course not. So, I spent the next 10 minutes getting harassed by guys trying to help me buy a ticket, who couldn't understand that I already had a ticket, I just didn't have it with me. The same guy came back three different times, persistent bugger that he was. I appreciate that they're trying to be helpful, but jeez, take a hint!
By 6:25, I was ready to either scream or cry. I was hot, sweaty, tired from walking, and tired of waving off overly-helpful Chinese men, and I was just about ready to throttle Allan, when I saw him round the corner. I ended up feeling so relieved that I had found him that I didn't do any of those things. I just said "You're the worst direction-giver ever!" and we ran for the line for the boat.
And after all that, I have to admit... Worth it. Our boat was HUGE. Five floors, with wood paneling and gold paint, two giant dragon heads on the front and a roof-top bar where Allan and I say and drank Tsingtao beer, while we watched the sun go down. It was pretty epic.
Once the sun had set, the boat left its moorings and we took a leisurely cruise down the river past the buildings of the Bund. At night, all the buildings are spectacularly lit up and the breeze from the river was wonderful.
We spent a very congenial hour getting slightly tipsy and then when the boat docked, we strolled aimlessly until we found a cab and took it home. In the end, I am glad that I asked Allan to come. Even though it was a bit of a hassle, his incessant desire to find the best possible outcome for himself wound up benefiting me as well!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Home again!
Well, hello America, nice to see you!
I'm back in the States; I arrived on Saturday the 14th at 9:30, after leaving Seoul, Korea on Saturday the 14th at 7:30 and flying for 13 hours. Weird, eh? I count that as time travel, I don't care what you say!
Anyway, don't forget about me over here because I have more adventures from China to share, and, like I said, I'm hoping this will be a travel blog for my life past China as well, so I will be making posts about any other travel adventures I have, even if they are not outside the country.
I also think that in slow stretches where travel is not possible, I will post memory blogs about times that I have traveled in the past, before I made this blog. So, never fear! I will keep updating!
I'm back in the States; I arrived on Saturday the 14th at 9:30, after leaving Seoul, Korea on Saturday the 14th at 7:30 and flying for 13 hours. Weird, eh? I count that as time travel, I don't care what you say!
Anyway, don't forget about me over here because I have more adventures from China to share, and, like I said, I'm hoping this will be a travel blog for my life past China as well, so I will be making posts about any other travel adventures I have, even if they are not outside the country.
I also think that in slow stretches where travel is not possible, I will post memory blogs about times that I have traveled in the past, before I made this blog. So, never fear! I will keep updating!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9 - Happy Birthday Singapore!
Just finished watching the live feed of Singapore's 45th anniversary as a nation celebration. My friend Alvin is from Singapore. They had a giant music, dance, and fireworks display, and a parade of all of Singapore's armed forces might that then traveled all across the country so that people in neighborhoods around Singapore could see the vehicles. It was a large and very impressive display. One thing I noticed, though, was that Singapore's president is a pretty grouchy guy. They only time I saw him smile was when he greeted the people wanting to shake his hand as he was leaving. But hey, Happy Birthday Singapore and Happy National Day to Alvin and the people of Singapore!
Monday, August 9 - Weekend in Hangzhou, Part 2!
When we woke up on Sunday morning, we went down to the complimentary breakfast. It was interesting to see the spread- they had eggs and french fries and donuts, and then they had green beans and cabbage and lomein as well as rice porridge and steamed dumplings and another dozen or so dishes, none of which looked particularly breakfast-like to me. The variety fascinated me, and I tried a little bit of almost everything.
After we checked out of the hotel, we took a taxi back to the restaurant where we ate the night before to meet up with Luna's dad again. An interesting note: When we flagged down a taxi, two of them stopped, and we got into the second one. When we stopped at a traffic light, the taxi we had not chosen pulled up next to us, rolled down his window, and yelled at us. Did I break some kind of code of taxi etiquette by picking the second taxi?
Either way, the taxi we did pick dropped us off and a few minutes later, Luna's dad arrived. He had his bike with him and we walked until we found a bike rack and Luna and I rented a couple of bikes again.
The plan was to ride the bikes out to the XiXi Wetlands and then bike through them. It was pretty far and it was very hot that day, and I am not used to riding a bike that far, but I was feeling pretty good and I was enjoying seeing the city and the breeze on my face.
The Wetlands are beautiful and peaceful. I've noticed an interesting trend in China, where there will be speakers playing traditional Chinese instrumental music in parks and things. The wetlands had this too. I also enjoyed riding through the wetlands because, periodically, there are signs posted with messages like: "Wetlands: Water, Life, Culture" and "Care for Environment, Benefit Humanity." There are a number of stopping points along the path, with helpful little signs that tell you it would be a good spot to stop for a photo and, of course, because we were with Luna's dad, we stopped at every single one of them so he could take a picture of the two of us. We also stopped at the little gift shop village to take a look at the dragon boats that are kept there. They were making another candy specialty of the area, so I bought it and got myself full of some kind of caramel thing because I didn't know how to eat it. I tried watching the five-year-old who got a candy before me for a clue, but he wasn't much help because he didn't mind getting himself all sticky. Luna's dad took a picture of me failing before he told me how to do it properly.
We biked to the end of the park and back again, then took the road back into the city. By this time it was around 1 o'clock and they asked if I was hungry. I was getting really tired, so I said I didn't know, but they tried to find a restaurant anyway. We wound up eating at a KFC, where I got french fries and an ice cream. The KFC was insanely crowded. KFC was the first foreign fast food chain in China and it is SUPER popular. I'm not sure why, but Chinese people, especially kids, love to eat KFC.
After lunch, to my dismay, we continued biking. Originally, the plan was to ride to the Botanical Gardens and see them before heading back to the train station. I had no idea how long we had been biking for, but at this point, I was so tired that I started muttering curses to myself- cursing the bike for only being one-speed, cursing the various hills for not all being down, cursing myself for being so out of shape- and I fell far behind Luna and her dad. They would periodically stop and wait to make sure I could catch up, but they would always pull ahead again. I didn't want to complain, so I just doggedly pushed on, hoping we would stop soon.
After what felt like forever, I realized that we had ridden far away from the lake itself and so at a red light, when I caught up to Luna, I asked her where we were going and she told me that it was almost time for the train, so we were riding to the train station.
Oh.
We were close, though, only a few more blocks and the station came into sight. We rode another block looking for a bike rack that had open spots to return Luna's and my bikes. At this point, I had a headache and I'm sure I was dehydrated. Luna's dad went into a nearby supermarket and bought us some water. I asked if we could sit for a few minutes and rest.
That's when Luna's dad noticed that I was hella sunburnt. The line where my shirtsleeves were during our ride that day was very distinct. He found this very funny, so we took a picture. I asked how long we had biked that day...
30 kilometers. That's 18 miles! No wonder I felt like I was going to die! I am so not in shape enough to bike 18 miles in a day! But hey, I did it. I'm not planning on doing it again anytime soon, but I did it!
After I was able to move again without collapsing, we walked into the train station and prowled around until someone else got up to leave, and we pounced on their seats. I fell asleep during the train ride home, and I can tell you, I have never been so glad to see my shower and my bed.
I loved my weekend in Hangzhou, and there is still so much I haven't seen. I never got a chance to go to the other famous temple, I didn't get to see the Botanical Gardens or the silk factory, I didn't get a chance to visit the tea village that is nearby, where they grow longjing cha (dragon well) tea, and there are dozens of hiking and biking trails up into the mountains around the lake. I could have easily and happily spent another few days in Hangzhou. I'd like to go back again and also take one of the boats for a ride on the lake, in addition to all the other things that I missed. As it comes time to leave, I realize all the things that I have not had a chance to do, and it makes me want to come back next year so that I can.
Also, as we were leaving, Luna and her father invited me to go to their town, Jiaxing. So that's another opportunity that I could take!
After we checked out of the hotel, we took a taxi back to the restaurant where we ate the night before to meet up with Luna's dad again. An interesting note: When we flagged down a taxi, two of them stopped, and we got into the second one. When we stopped at a traffic light, the taxi we had not chosen pulled up next to us, rolled down his window, and yelled at us. Did I break some kind of code of taxi etiquette by picking the second taxi?
Either way, the taxi we did pick dropped us off and a few minutes later, Luna's dad arrived. He had his bike with him and we walked until we found a bike rack and Luna and I rented a couple of bikes again.
The plan was to ride the bikes out to the XiXi Wetlands and then bike through them. It was pretty far and it was very hot that day, and I am not used to riding a bike that far, but I was feeling pretty good and I was enjoying seeing the city and the breeze on my face.
The Wetlands are beautiful and peaceful. I've noticed an interesting trend in China, where there will be speakers playing traditional Chinese instrumental music in parks and things. The wetlands had this too. I also enjoyed riding through the wetlands because, periodically, there are signs posted with messages like: "Wetlands: Water, Life, Culture" and "Care for Environment, Benefit Humanity." There are a number of stopping points along the path, with helpful little signs that tell you it would be a good spot to stop for a photo and, of course, because we were with Luna's dad, we stopped at every single one of them so he could take a picture of the two of us. We also stopped at the little gift shop village to take a look at the dragon boats that are kept there. They were making another candy specialty of the area, so I bought it and got myself full of some kind of caramel thing because I didn't know how to eat it. I tried watching the five-year-old who got a candy before me for a clue, but he wasn't much help because he didn't mind getting himself all sticky. Luna's dad took a picture of me failing before he told me how to do it properly.
We biked to the end of the park and back again, then took the road back into the city. By this time it was around 1 o'clock and they asked if I was hungry. I was getting really tired, so I said I didn't know, but they tried to find a restaurant anyway. We wound up eating at a KFC, where I got french fries and an ice cream. The KFC was insanely crowded. KFC was the first foreign fast food chain in China and it is SUPER popular. I'm not sure why, but Chinese people, especially kids, love to eat KFC.
After lunch, to my dismay, we continued biking. Originally, the plan was to ride to the Botanical Gardens and see them before heading back to the train station. I had no idea how long we had been biking for, but at this point, I was so tired that I started muttering curses to myself- cursing the bike for only being one-speed, cursing the various hills for not all being down, cursing myself for being so out of shape- and I fell far behind Luna and her dad. They would periodically stop and wait to make sure I could catch up, but they would always pull ahead again. I didn't want to complain, so I just doggedly pushed on, hoping we would stop soon.
After what felt like forever, I realized that we had ridden far away from the lake itself and so at a red light, when I caught up to Luna, I asked her where we were going and she told me that it was almost time for the train, so we were riding to the train station.
Oh.
We were close, though, only a few more blocks and the station came into sight. We rode another block looking for a bike rack that had open spots to return Luna's and my bikes. At this point, I had a headache and I'm sure I was dehydrated. Luna's dad went into a nearby supermarket and bought us some water. I asked if we could sit for a few minutes and rest.
That's when Luna's dad noticed that I was hella sunburnt. The line where my shirtsleeves were during our ride that day was very distinct. He found this very funny, so we took a picture. I asked how long we had biked that day...
30 kilometers. That's 18 miles! No wonder I felt like I was going to die! I am so not in shape enough to bike 18 miles in a day! But hey, I did it. I'm not planning on doing it again anytime soon, but I did it!
After I was able to move again without collapsing, we walked into the train station and prowled around until someone else got up to leave, and we pounced on their seats. I fell asleep during the train ride home, and I can tell you, I have never been so glad to see my shower and my bed.
I loved my weekend in Hangzhou, and there is still so much I haven't seen. I never got a chance to go to the other famous temple, I didn't get to see the Botanical Gardens or the silk factory, I didn't get a chance to visit the tea village that is nearby, where they grow longjing cha (dragon well) tea, and there are dozens of hiking and biking trails up into the mountains around the lake. I could have easily and happily spent another few days in Hangzhou. I'd like to go back again and also take one of the boats for a ride on the lake, in addition to all the other things that I missed. As it comes time to leave, I realize all the things that I have not had a chance to do, and it makes me want to come back next year so that I can.
Also, as we were leaving, Luna and her father invited me to go to their town, Jiaxing. So that's another opportunity that I could take!
Monday, August 9 - A Weekend on a Bicycle
Oh my goodness, my poor aching everything. I went to Hangzhou this past weekend and it was a fantastic time. I am so glad that Luna, my student went with me. She is a sweet girl, and part of the reason I am so fond of her is because she chose her English name after Luna Lovegood, from the Harry Potter books. Nerds, represent!
On Saturday morning, I got up early... early for a Saturday, anyway. I set my alarm for 5:30, which is the time I normally get up for school. I had my coffee and got ready to the not-so-soothing sounds of CNN, and made sure to get to the train station early. I always get so nervous when I need to make connections while traveling. My stomach was all tied up in knots, as usual, but, again, as always, I needn't have worried because I made my train in good time.
I am really glad that I had the travel agent book the tickets for me, I went to the wrong building at first, to the ticket office, which is in a different building entirely from the main terminal where the trains come in. The lines were very long, people were ignoring the lines left and right, there was very little pinying (romanized letters) and even less English. I think that if I had tried to buy my own tickets, I would have been entirely lost. It was a 10 RMB (the English letters that stand for yuan, I don't know why) fee for t he travel agent, and it was money well spent in my opinion!
Once I fought my way through the lines of people crushing at the gates and popped out the other side of the turnstile, I found my seat and breathed a sigh of relief. I was on my way! The train from Shanghai to Hangzhou is about two hours, so I read a little, and marveled at the people who bought the standing tickets. I don't think you are allowed to do this on trains in America, I'm not sure-- Chinese trains sell a certain number of standing room tickets for each car, and people will stand or sit in the spaces between the cars where the doors are. However, those people are also always on the prowl for a real seat, and so you will frequently see new arrivals checking their ticket and then haranguing the seat-predator who got there before them.
On the train ride there, my student, Luna, found me--she was one of the people who had bought a standing room only ticket. We got off together in Hangzhou and waited online for a taxi, waving off the extremely persistent efforts of the gypsy drivers. If Jamaica taught me anything, it is to wait for the official taxi!
We got to our hotel and checked in. They did not ask me for my passport at the reception desk. Please take note of that, as it will come into play a bit later in the account.
Our room was nice, but we wanted to get out on the town, so we just dumped our stuff and headed back out again. We walked from our hotel down to the lake and... wow. West Lake is amazingly beautiful. There are mountains all around, and you can see the roofs of temples and pagodas jutting up from the trees all around the lake.
Luna found us a bike rental place and I gave them my driver's license and 300 RMB and they gave me a bike rental card that is good at the literally hundreds, maybe thousands of bike rental racks all around the city. Hangzhou is filled to the brim with bicycles. It costs 5 RMB to rent a bike for the first two hours and then it is 1 RMB for every additional hour. You swipe your bike card and the rack unlocks the bicycle. When you return it, you swipe it again, the bike locks in place and then you register your card at the rental station's kiosk (it looks like an ATM) and the correct amount is deducted from your card. Simple, efficient.
We rented a couple of bikes and rode our way up the east side of the lake, stopping at various tourist places along the way. We had lunch at a cafe by the lake that used to be a house belonging to a Professor who loved music. He donated it when he died, and now every table has its own sound system and headphones and the cafe has a library of over 6,000 CDs to choose from. We also visited the Hangzhou Museum, where they keep artifacts found in or from the area. They had everything from modern paintings, to antique pottery to ancient (like, caveman ancient) stone tools excavated from a local archaeological dig. Fascinating stuff. We rode all the way to the north edge of the lake, and then turned and rode down the Su Causeway, which is a road running through the middle of the lake, built by one of the first governors. And last, we visited the Jinxi Temple.
I loved visiting the Jinxi Temple! Luna is apparently a practicing and rather devout Buddhist. We stopped at each statue and she would kneel, fold her hands, then press her head and hands to the pad, then turn her hands so they were palm up. This was repeated three times for each statue, and she asked me not to take pictures inside the buildings because it was disrespectful to the gods. I was fascinated.
I also got a chance to ring the bell at the Temple, which grants me protection and good fortune. The grounds were tended by monks young and old and the whole place had an air of cheerful productivity. Some places were a little shabby and looked a bit worn, but then, it is a practicing temple and it was clear that the place was lovingly tended, but rather old and a little poor. The only place that looked vibrant and expensive where the statues. Jinxi Temple also has a miracle well, that produced timber once when the monks prayed for the gods to help them after part of the temple had been destroyed. It was wonderful.
After the temple, we rode farther around the lake, back toward our starting point, until Luna got a call from her father. We returned our bicycles (which you can do anywhere, not just where you got them from!) and took a taxi to a restaurant. We met her father, uncle and cousin and they insisted on treating me to dinner. I tried to protest, but Luna's uncle would have none of it. He said (Luna translated) that I was a guest in China, and tonight he was my host. This is one thing that I have noticed, most Chinese are very gracious and will do you favors and offer you assistance if you need it. I tried to accept just as graciously. I tried my best to thank him in Mandarin, and while I didn't get it quite right (Luna corrected my pronunciation), he laughed and accepted my thanks.
After dinner, Luna's dad asked if I had any plans for the night. When I said no, he decided to take the two of us to Wu Shan Square, which connects to the pedestrian-only shopping street. It was amazing! Out in the square, there were women dancing, very much like the do every night in front of the bank in Shanghai, but here there had to have been 500 people, all in lines, dancing together. I have never seen anything like it.
There was also a young man teaching little kids how to roller blade and orchestrating speed skating races. Children were running all around with light up toys, flinging them into the sky and chasing them to where they fell, mothers with babies chatting, men having a smoke and talking together in little clumps in the middle of the square.... it was a busy, happy scene.
The pedestrian street was even cooler. There are shops to either side selling everything from candy to Chinese medicine to the classic kitschy souvenirs you can find just about any place. But in the center of the street were stalls where artisans practiced their craft right before your eyes.
I can't think of any better word than enthralled for how I felt walking down that street. Every 30 feet was another thing to marvel at: here a man painting characters on a piece of ivory so tiny that you need a magnifying glass to read them; there a glass-blower creating a dragon bowl out of a lump of glass; here a portrait artist painting you as you sit; there a sculptor, sculpting your likeness from clay as you sit (!). There was a puppet show, and a man who made works of art from dripped caramel. There was a bean bag game, and a woman who sculpted little cell phone keychains out of clay on demand. There was a costume booth, where you could dress up as characters from legends about Hangzhou and take a picture with a fake horse, and a man who painted the insides of beads, allowing you to craft your own custom jewelry by stringing together the paintings of your choice.
There was so much to see, so much to take in that I felt a little overwhelmed. Frankly, I gawked at everything, but I think Luna and her father enjoyed my wonder. They had a fantastic time pointing out all the new sights and urged me to buy all the specialty food and candies to try.
They also bought a little painting as a gift for me and Tom. It is a picture of a married couple, and we are meant to hang it in our home on our wedding day to bring us good fortune in our marriage. It was a great night.
Exhausted, we took a taxi back to the hotel and went up to our room. Okay. Now, remember how I told you to take note of the fact that they did not ask me for my passport? Well, here's where that comes in.
In China, everyone has an ID card. You show it anytime you travel or check into a hotel, I'm guessing so that the government can keep tabs on its people. Well, in China, there are local hotels and then there are foreigner hotels. They like foreigners to stay at the unofficially designated foreigner hotel and it's kind of frowned upon to stay at the "local" hotels, mostly because the local hotels are less expensive. Earlier in the week, Luna's dad had found a much cheaper room than the one the travel agent booked for me. He reserved it, and when we checked in, Luna gave them her ID and the reservation desk let us go up.
That was bad. They were supposed to ask me for my ID as well, once again because they like to keep tabs on everyone.
Now, Luna had been in contact with her dad all day. He called every half hour or so to check in on us and make sure that Luna was showing me all the sites he had written down for her. The problem was that no one had told her mother. Apparently, Luna was supposed to call her mother. She assumed that her father had done so, since he kept checking in on us. Luna's father assumed that she had done so, because that was the original arrangement. Neither of them called her. It is important to note that Luna is thirteen, and so her mother was understandably worried when she had not heard from her.
This is where my understanding ends, though. You can only take grace so far. Here's why: At midnight, I was nearly asleep and Luna was in the bathroom when a knock sounds at the door. Groggily, I stumble to the door and open it to reveal two members of hotel staff, one member of hotel security and a police officer. The police officer starts speaking to me, and I can only stare blankly.
"I'm sorry, does anyone speak English?" I ask, confused.
The woman from the hotel says "Oh, English? Um..." she confers with the policeman for a moment and then says, "He say you need go with him."
I take a firmer position in my doorway. "I'm sorry, what is this about?"
At this point, poor Luna opens the bathroom door and all four adults launch a barrage of words at her. I feel really bad because I can't understand what's going on, she is wearing blue sheep-printed pajamas and looks confused and forlorn and this apparently has something to do with me.
"They say they need your American ID," she finally tells me. I go get my driver's license, which is not good enough, and then my passport. Thank god I carry that thing with me at all times.
After more conferring between the police officer, the woman from the hotel, and Luna, the woman from the hotel says to me, "You come, bring ID." Then she turns to Luna and tells her, "Call your mama."
I go downstairs, they copy my passport and my visa while the police man watches, and then he leaves and they hand me back my passport, apologize and let me go back up to bed.
APPARENTLY, when Luna's mother hadn't heard from her, she decided the best course of action would not be to call her, but rather to call the police and tell them that her daughter had checked into the hotel with her foreign teacher. The police called the hotel and discovered that while a girl had checked in, they had no record of me. The staff admitted to seeing me come in with her, though. This prompted the police to dispatch an officer to handle the situation.
Luckily I had my passport with me and the officer was content with simply having the hotel copy it and register me properly. But by all accounts, I came this close to getting arrested.
Yikes.
Luna apologized profusely, she was very embarrassed that her mother had almost gotten me in so much trouble. I told her not to worry about it, it would be a funny story later.
And now it is!
An account of my second day still to come.
On Saturday morning, I got up early... early for a Saturday, anyway. I set my alarm for 5:30, which is the time I normally get up for school. I had my coffee and got ready to the not-so-soothing sounds of CNN, and made sure to get to the train station early. I always get so nervous when I need to make connections while traveling. My stomach was all tied up in knots, as usual, but, again, as always, I needn't have worried because I made my train in good time.
I am really glad that I had the travel agent book the tickets for me, I went to the wrong building at first, to the ticket office, which is in a different building entirely from the main terminal where the trains come in. The lines were very long, people were ignoring the lines left and right, there was very little pinying (romanized letters) and even less English. I think that if I had tried to buy my own tickets, I would have been entirely lost. It was a 10 RMB (the English letters that stand for yuan, I don't know why) fee for t he travel agent, and it was money well spent in my opinion!
Once I fought my way through the lines of people crushing at the gates and popped out the other side of the turnstile, I found my seat and breathed a sigh of relief. I was on my way! The train from Shanghai to Hangzhou is about two hours, so I read a little, and marveled at the people who bought the standing tickets. I don't think you are allowed to do this on trains in America, I'm not sure-- Chinese trains sell a certain number of standing room tickets for each car, and people will stand or sit in the spaces between the cars where the doors are. However, those people are also always on the prowl for a real seat, and so you will frequently see new arrivals checking their ticket and then haranguing the seat-predator who got there before them.
On the train ride there, my student, Luna, found me--she was one of the people who had bought a standing room only ticket. We got off together in Hangzhou and waited online for a taxi, waving off the extremely persistent efforts of the gypsy drivers. If Jamaica taught me anything, it is to wait for the official taxi!
We got to our hotel and checked in. They did not ask me for my passport at the reception desk. Please take note of that, as it will come into play a bit later in the account.
Our room was nice, but we wanted to get out on the town, so we just dumped our stuff and headed back out again. We walked from our hotel down to the lake and... wow. West Lake is amazingly beautiful. There are mountains all around, and you can see the roofs of temples and pagodas jutting up from the trees all around the lake.
Luna found us a bike rental place and I gave them my driver's license and 300 RMB and they gave me a bike rental card that is good at the literally hundreds, maybe thousands of bike rental racks all around the city. Hangzhou is filled to the brim with bicycles. It costs 5 RMB to rent a bike for the first two hours and then it is 1 RMB for every additional hour. You swipe your bike card and the rack unlocks the bicycle. When you return it, you swipe it again, the bike locks in place and then you register your card at the rental station's kiosk (it looks like an ATM) and the correct amount is deducted from your card. Simple, efficient.
We rented a couple of bikes and rode our way up the east side of the lake, stopping at various tourist places along the way. We had lunch at a cafe by the lake that used to be a house belonging to a Professor who loved music. He donated it when he died, and now every table has its own sound system and headphones and the cafe has a library of over 6,000 CDs to choose from. We also visited the Hangzhou Museum, where they keep artifacts found in or from the area. They had everything from modern paintings, to antique pottery to ancient (like, caveman ancient) stone tools excavated from a local archaeological dig. Fascinating stuff. We rode all the way to the north edge of the lake, and then turned and rode down the Su Causeway, which is a road running through the middle of the lake, built by one of the first governors. And last, we visited the Jinxi Temple.
I loved visiting the Jinxi Temple! Luna is apparently a practicing and rather devout Buddhist. We stopped at each statue and she would kneel, fold her hands, then press her head and hands to the pad, then turn her hands so they were palm up. This was repeated three times for each statue, and she asked me not to take pictures inside the buildings because it was disrespectful to the gods. I was fascinated.
I also got a chance to ring the bell at the Temple, which grants me protection and good fortune. The grounds were tended by monks young and old and the whole place had an air of cheerful productivity. Some places were a little shabby and looked a bit worn, but then, it is a practicing temple and it was clear that the place was lovingly tended, but rather old and a little poor. The only place that looked vibrant and expensive where the statues. Jinxi Temple also has a miracle well, that produced timber once when the monks prayed for the gods to help them after part of the temple had been destroyed. It was wonderful.
After the temple, we rode farther around the lake, back toward our starting point, until Luna got a call from her father. We returned our bicycles (which you can do anywhere, not just where you got them from!) and took a taxi to a restaurant. We met her father, uncle and cousin and they insisted on treating me to dinner. I tried to protest, but Luna's uncle would have none of it. He said (Luna translated) that I was a guest in China, and tonight he was my host. This is one thing that I have noticed, most Chinese are very gracious and will do you favors and offer you assistance if you need it. I tried to accept just as graciously. I tried my best to thank him in Mandarin, and while I didn't get it quite right (Luna corrected my pronunciation), he laughed and accepted my thanks.
After dinner, Luna's dad asked if I had any plans for the night. When I said no, he decided to take the two of us to Wu Shan Square, which connects to the pedestrian-only shopping street. It was amazing! Out in the square, there were women dancing, very much like the do every night in front of the bank in Shanghai, but here there had to have been 500 people, all in lines, dancing together. I have never seen anything like it.
There was also a young man teaching little kids how to roller blade and orchestrating speed skating races. Children were running all around with light up toys, flinging them into the sky and chasing them to where they fell, mothers with babies chatting, men having a smoke and talking together in little clumps in the middle of the square.... it was a busy, happy scene.
The pedestrian street was even cooler. There are shops to either side selling everything from candy to Chinese medicine to the classic kitschy souvenirs you can find just about any place. But in the center of the street were stalls where artisans practiced their craft right before your eyes.
I can't think of any better word than enthralled for how I felt walking down that street. Every 30 feet was another thing to marvel at: here a man painting characters on a piece of ivory so tiny that you need a magnifying glass to read them; there a glass-blower creating a dragon bowl out of a lump of glass; here a portrait artist painting you as you sit; there a sculptor, sculpting your likeness from clay as you sit (!). There was a puppet show, and a man who made works of art from dripped caramel. There was a bean bag game, and a woman who sculpted little cell phone keychains out of clay on demand. There was a costume booth, where you could dress up as characters from legends about Hangzhou and take a picture with a fake horse, and a man who painted the insides of beads, allowing you to craft your own custom jewelry by stringing together the paintings of your choice.
There was so much to see, so much to take in that I felt a little overwhelmed. Frankly, I gawked at everything, but I think Luna and her father enjoyed my wonder. They had a fantastic time pointing out all the new sights and urged me to buy all the specialty food and candies to try.
They also bought a little painting as a gift for me and Tom. It is a picture of a married couple, and we are meant to hang it in our home on our wedding day to bring us good fortune in our marriage. It was a great night.
Exhausted, we took a taxi back to the hotel and went up to our room. Okay. Now, remember how I told you to take note of the fact that they did not ask me for my passport? Well, here's where that comes in.
In China, everyone has an ID card. You show it anytime you travel or check into a hotel, I'm guessing so that the government can keep tabs on its people. Well, in China, there are local hotels and then there are foreigner hotels. They like foreigners to stay at the unofficially designated foreigner hotel and it's kind of frowned upon to stay at the "local" hotels, mostly because the local hotels are less expensive. Earlier in the week, Luna's dad had found a much cheaper room than the one the travel agent booked for me. He reserved it, and when we checked in, Luna gave them her ID and the reservation desk let us go up.
That was bad. They were supposed to ask me for my ID as well, once again because they like to keep tabs on everyone.
Now, Luna had been in contact with her dad all day. He called every half hour or so to check in on us and make sure that Luna was showing me all the sites he had written down for her. The problem was that no one had told her mother. Apparently, Luna was supposed to call her mother. She assumed that her father had done so, since he kept checking in on us. Luna's father assumed that she had done so, because that was the original arrangement. Neither of them called her. It is important to note that Luna is thirteen, and so her mother was understandably worried when she had not heard from her.
This is where my understanding ends, though. You can only take grace so far. Here's why: At midnight, I was nearly asleep and Luna was in the bathroom when a knock sounds at the door. Groggily, I stumble to the door and open it to reveal two members of hotel staff, one member of hotel security and a police officer. The police officer starts speaking to me, and I can only stare blankly.
"I'm sorry, does anyone speak English?" I ask, confused.
The woman from the hotel says "Oh, English? Um..." she confers with the policeman for a moment and then says, "He say you need go with him."
I take a firmer position in my doorway. "I'm sorry, what is this about?"
At this point, poor Luna opens the bathroom door and all four adults launch a barrage of words at her. I feel really bad because I can't understand what's going on, she is wearing blue sheep-printed pajamas and looks confused and forlorn and this apparently has something to do with me.
"They say they need your American ID," she finally tells me. I go get my driver's license, which is not good enough, and then my passport. Thank god I carry that thing with me at all times.
After more conferring between the police officer, the woman from the hotel, and Luna, the woman from the hotel says to me, "You come, bring ID." Then she turns to Luna and tells her, "Call your mama."
I go downstairs, they copy my passport and my visa while the police man watches, and then he leaves and they hand me back my passport, apologize and let me go back up to bed.
APPARENTLY, when Luna's mother hadn't heard from her, she decided the best course of action would not be to call her, but rather to call the police and tell them that her daughter had checked into the hotel with her foreign teacher. The police called the hotel and discovered that while a girl had checked in, they had no record of me. The staff admitted to seeing me come in with her, though. This prompted the police to dispatch an officer to handle the situation.
Luckily I had my passport with me and the officer was content with simply having the hotel copy it and register me properly. But by all accounts, I came this close to getting arrested.
Yikes.
Luna apologized profusely, she was very embarrassed that her mother had almost gotten me in so much trouble. I told her not to worry about it, it would be a funny story later.
And now it is!
An account of my second day still to come.
Thursday, August 5 - Downhill
It's amazing to me that I am on the downslope of my time here. There is just one week left! This weekend I go to Hangzhou to see West Lake. This will be my only trip outside of Shanghai during this trip, so I am very excited about it. I tried to take a trip to Beijing, but I learned quickly that I want to plan trips like that a month ahead of time, before I even leave America. Because the Expo is in Shanghai, I found that there were absolutely no methods of transportation of getting back from Beijing. I don't mind, though, I'm excited about Hangzhou- one of my students lives in that area and she is going to be meeting me there to show me around.
I have been in China for a month, and I am torn. I would love to stay longer and see more of this crazy, weird, amazing country but at the same time, I am homesick. I miss Tom, and I miss America. I miss being able to just go on the Internet and go where I want. I miss being able to watch television other than the news in English. I miss hanging out with my friends. I miss being able to get around with ease!
I was offered a full-time position here at the University if I want it. I am both interested and terrified. I think it would be amazing to teach English abroad, it has been one of my dreams for a long time. But at the same time, China is so very different and so very very far from home that I am not sure if I would be able to stay for a whole year. It is food for thought, at least, and perhaps easier to contemplate knowing that in just another week I will be returning to the comfort of my little apartment with my cats and my Tom.
I have been in China for a month, and I am torn. I would love to stay longer and see more of this crazy, weird, amazing country but at the same time, I am homesick. I miss Tom, and I miss America. I miss being able to just go on the Internet and go where I want. I miss being able to watch television other than the news in English. I miss hanging out with my friends. I miss being able to get around with ease!
I was offered a full-time position here at the University if I want it. I am both interested and terrified. I think it would be amazing to teach English abroad, it has been one of my dreams for a long time. But at the same time, China is so very different and so very very far from home that I am not sure if I would be able to stay for a whole year. It is food for thought, at least, and perhaps easier to contemplate knowing that in just another week I will be returning to the comfort of my little apartment with my cats and my Tom.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Monday, August 2 - Disasters and News
There are three English language news stations and I usually watch one of those three (unless of course, I know a Chinese soap opera is on... I LOVE Chinese soap operas). On Channel 1 is Channel News Asia, Channel 9 is CNN and Channel 11 is Aljazeera. But the news has just been one heartbreaking thing after another.
The floods in China are completely devastating the south and the northeast of the country, and one of my students, Huang Qing qing has left the class because she comes from a flooded area and some of her family lost their home in the floods. And in one area in the northeast, 1500 barrels were washed into the river. Half of the barrels were empty, but half of them were filled with a dangerous and combustive gas. They have been trying to recover the barrels, but they haven't found them all and they think some of them have sunk to the bottom, sparking worry of contamination.
And then there was that devastating plane crash in Pakistan, where all 152 people aboard died. And immediately after came the floods. The death toll from the floods just keeps rising, with numbers hitting over 1,000 in just a few days.
The same rain that is flooding Pakistan is also flooding parts of Afghanistan.
And this past month, there have also been flash floods in Singapore that have been very costly and unprecedented, though thankfully not deadly.
I wish we could take some of the water that's destroying Pakistan and southern China and dump it over Russia, where the fires raging there have destroyed thousands of homes and displaced tens of thousands more people, and where temperatures are the highest ever since they started keeping those kinds of records.
Not to mention the horrendous drought in Niger that has been going for several years, leading to bad harvests and wide-spread starvation.
I don't know whether it is just because there is better coverage of this part of the world, or whether there is really an uptick, but it really seems like Mother Nature is trying her hardest to bitch-slap the world at the moment.
The floods in China are completely devastating the south and the northeast of the country, and one of my students, Huang Qing qing has left the class because she comes from a flooded area and some of her family lost their home in the floods. And in one area in the northeast, 1500 barrels were washed into the river. Half of the barrels were empty, but half of them were filled with a dangerous and combustive gas. They have been trying to recover the barrels, but they haven't found them all and they think some of them have sunk to the bottom, sparking worry of contamination.
And then there was that devastating plane crash in Pakistan, where all 152 people aboard died. And immediately after came the floods. The death toll from the floods just keeps rising, with numbers hitting over 1,000 in just a few days.
The same rain that is flooding Pakistan is also flooding parts of Afghanistan.
And this past month, there have also been flash floods in Singapore that have been very costly and unprecedented, though thankfully not deadly.
I wish we could take some of the water that's destroying Pakistan and southern China and dump it over Russia, where the fires raging there have destroyed thousands of homes and displaced tens of thousands more people, and where temperatures are the highest ever since they started keeping those kinds of records.
Not to mention the horrendous drought in Niger that has been going for several years, leading to bad harvests and wide-spread starvation.
I don't know whether it is just because there is better coverage of this part of the world, or whether there is really an uptick, but it really seems like Mother Nature is trying her hardest to bitch-slap the world at the moment.
Saturday, July 31- Expo, part 2!
Mary asked me this week to go with her to Expo on Saturday, and I agreed because she's been really nice and very helpful to me while here. We left our building at 5:30 and got a taxi to the Expo center so that we would be there early enough to hopefully get a pass to get in to see the China Pavilion. They only pass out 30,000 passes each day and there are hundreds of thousands of people that want to see the national pavilion.
I think that Mary's understanding of queuing up for a hot item is a little bit behind the times. The park opens at nine, and when we got there, there was a line of several hundred people already waiting at the gate ahead of us, and that was only one of 8 gates to get into the park. I wasn't surprised, I've seen people camp out in tents for less. But after waiting in line for an hour, Mary got sick of it, said "I'm not waiting anymore, this is ridiculous. I've never waited in line for anything in my life!" and then caught a taxi home. Allan and I stayed, the both of us somewhat stunned speechless, considering it had been her idea to go in the first place.
But, we waited our turn and patience paid off. When they finally opened the gates at 9, we were handed our China Pavilion passes as we passed through the turnstile. I fancy that I understood the feeling of Charlie in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when he found the golden ticket. I had my hands on THE hottest item at Expo by far.
It was delicious.
Since we had our passes and could use it anytime, Allan and I decided to hit up some of the other Pavilions first, thinking that maybe we could hop onto lines and get inside before they became outrageously long.
We spent the morning travelling the Middle East! I went to Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, and Afghanistan. In the Afghanistan Pavilion, I paid 20 yuan (about $3) to get a henna tattoo from a woman from Nepal named Bradeep. She was really nice and had very good English and beautiful eyes.
After seeing the very high-tech and extremely impressive Isreal Pavilion, we got in line to see Kazakhstan. It was about 2pm at that point, and I noticed a sign that said "2 hour wait from this point."
I turned to Allan and pointed the sign out, "Is Kazakhstan really worth a two-hour wait?"
"...You want to head to the China Pavilion?"
"Yes, please, let's go."
So, we headed for the China Pavilion. We waited on line to turn in our voucher, and then we waited on line to get on the escalator taking us up to the entry floor, and then we waited on line for the elevators to take us up inside and then finally, FINALLY we were in!
And, my god, it was worth the wait. China Pavilion is amazing, they really spared no expense. On our way up the escalator, a girl my age started chatting in English and asked if she could take a picture with me. I said yes, of course, and we spent the next half hour-long line wait to get to the elevators talking to Skye (her Chinese name is Ying) and her student. Skye is a math teacher, and she had very good English. She became kind of my unofficial tour guide as we made our way through the Pavilion.
China Pavilion is four floors that follow a theme of past leading to the present leading to the future and the hopes people have for the future. We were ushered along an increasingly high-tech path that had some really amazing stuff. One room had a giant screen that looked like a classic parchment painting, except that the little people on it were moving! The pathway leading to the next floor had dozens of reproductions of paintings actual Chinese students had created describing what their hopes and dreams for the city of the future were. That took you to the next room, which had a tramcar ride that took you through China's architecture and bridges. The last floor was all about the green movement--ways to be green and ways China was stepping up its green movement awareness. At the center was a beautiful lotus garden that had a continuous waterfall that would periodically cut off in certain areas to make words that would fall from top to bottom. Skye told me the words said "Don't waste the water."
Skye and I exchanged emails and we waved good bye outside the China Pavilion. Since we were near it, Allan and I decided to try the Culture Pavilion. With a name like that, I was excepting a museum or something similar. What I got was a mini Mall of America. It is filled with shops and restaurants, movie theatres and even an ice skating rink. I saw a Disney Store and did a double take. Am I still in China? Although the Culture Pavilion seemed to offer more in the way of Commerce than Culture, I must say that the view from the restaurants is probably spectacular at night, when you can look out at the Expo and the Shanghai skyline all lit up and glowing.
It was 6pm, I had been awake since 4:45 and I was dead on my feet. Allan wanted to try and find a musician at the Australia Pavilion whose wife he had met, but I just wanted to go home so I pointed him in the right direction and, once again, caught the train home.
Another very long, but very cool day.
I think that Mary's understanding of queuing up for a hot item is a little bit behind the times. The park opens at nine, and when we got there, there was a line of several hundred people already waiting at the gate ahead of us, and that was only one of 8 gates to get into the park. I wasn't surprised, I've seen people camp out in tents for less. But after waiting in line for an hour, Mary got sick of it, said "I'm not waiting anymore, this is ridiculous. I've never waited in line for anything in my life!" and then caught a taxi home. Allan and I stayed, the both of us somewhat stunned speechless, considering it had been her idea to go in the first place.
But, we waited our turn and patience paid off. When they finally opened the gates at 9, we were handed our China Pavilion passes as we passed through the turnstile. I fancy that I understood the feeling of Charlie in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when he found the golden ticket. I had my hands on THE hottest item at Expo by far.
It was delicious.
Since we had our passes and could use it anytime, Allan and I decided to hit up some of the other Pavilions first, thinking that maybe we could hop onto lines and get inside before they became outrageously long.
We spent the morning travelling the Middle East! I went to Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, and Afghanistan. In the Afghanistan Pavilion, I paid 20 yuan (about $3) to get a henna tattoo from a woman from Nepal named Bradeep. She was really nice and had very good English and beautiful eyes.
After seeing the very high-tech and extremely impressive Isreal Pavilion, we got in line to see Kazakhstan. It was about 2pm at that point, and I noticed a sign that said "2 hour wait from this point."
I turned to Allan and pointed the sign out, "Is Kazakhstan really worth a two-hour wait?"
"...You want to head to the China Pavilion?"
"Yes, please, let's go."
So, we headed for the China Pavilion. We waited on line to turn in our voucher, and then we waited on line to get on the escalator taking us up to the entry floor, and then we waited on line for the elevators to take us up inside and then finally, FINALLY we were in!
And, my god, it was worth the wait. China Pavilion is amazing, they really spared no expense. On our way up the escalator, a girl my age started chatting in English and asked if she could take a picture with me. I said yes, of course, and we spent the next half hour-long line wait to get to the elevators talking to Skye (her Chinese name is Ying) and her student. Skye is a math teacher, and she had very good English. She became kind of my unofficial tour guide as we made our way through the Pavilion.
China Pavilion is four floors that follow a theme of past leading to the present leading to the future and the hopes people have for the future. We were ushered along an increasingly high-tech path that had some really amazing stuff. One room had a giant screen that looked like a classic parchment painting, except that the little people on it were moving! The pathway leading to the next floor had dozens of reproductions of paintings actual Chinese students had created describing what their hopes and dreams for the city of the future were. That took you to the next room, which had a tramcar ride that took you through China's architecture and bridges. The last floor was all about the green movement--ways to be green and ways China was stepping up its green movement awareness. At the center was a beautiful lotus garden that had a continuous waterfall that would periodically cut off in certain areas to make words that would fall from top to bottom. Skye told me the words said "Don't waste the water."
Skye and I exchanged emails and we waved good bye outside the China Pavilion. Since we were near it, Allan and I decided to try the Culture Pavilion. With a name like that, I was excepting a museum or something similar. What I got was a mini Mall of America. It is filled with shops and restaurants, movie theatres and even an ice skating rink. I saw a Disney Store and did a double take. Am I still in China? Although the Culture Pavilion seemed to offer more in the way of Commerce than Culture, I must say that the view from the restaurants is probably spectacular at night, when you can look out at the Expo and the Shanghai skyline all lit up and glowing.
It was 6pm, I had been awake since 4:45 and I was dead on my feet. Allan wanted to try and find a musician at the Australia Pavilion whose wife he had met, but I just wanted to go home so I pointed him in the right direction and, once again, caught the train home.
Another very long, but very cool day.
Thursday, July 29 - More Exploring
[Editor's Note: It seems that while she was able to make the last post, she needed me to post these next ones.]
Today I decided to see if I could find the Yuyuan Gardens because they have a beautiful old pagoda in the middle and there is a famous tea-house just outside the gates. I got off at Yuyuan Station, and followed the signs, but of gardens I saw nothing. As I wandered my way along the street, I came to one of China's giant crazy intersections and took out my map. A man came up and tried to help, but his English wasn't really sufficient for what I needed, so I just asked him "Bund?" and pointed.
The Bund is another famous landmark in Shanghai. It is a stretch along the Huangpu river that is built up with Western-style architecture, and on the other side of the river rises the Oriental Pearl TV tower, which is the tallest TV tower in Asia. I wandered in the direction the man pointed me in and actually ran into a park! I got excited, because I thought I might have accidently stumbled on the Gardens, but it turns out I had found Gucheng Park. It was cute, with little shady winding pathways beneath tall bamboo. It was very pleasant, frankly. That day it was kind of overcast and hazy, but a stifling 37 degrees out! (Celsius, btw, going for authenticity here.) So, standing in the shade was at least a little bit of relief. Walking through the park, I spotted the river and the Pearl Tower rising up through the haze, so I set off in that direction.
I love wandering around, because sometimes you stumble across the most perfect moments when you weren't even looking for them. On my way through the park, I found a fish pond that was literally teeming with Japanese koi and gold fish, teeming because people were feeding the fish. I snapped a couple of shots of the big fish and then noticed a woman with her two kids. The woman and her daughter were taking turns chucking handfuls of food at a concentration of fish and then giggling as they watched them fight over the little pellets. The little boy was crouching very patiently on the edge of the water and deliberately dropping pellets one at a time into the water. He had a plastic cup in one hand and every once in a while, he would plunge his cup into the water and scoop, trying to catch the little fish who came to nibble at his pellets. He would let out a triumphant "Ha!" every time he pulled the cup up, and then his face would fall dramatically when, every time, there was nothing in the cup. But, stoically, he would just empty the water, drop another pellet, and wait patiently to try again. It was unspeakable adorable.
I surreptitiously took a couple pictures of them, and then went on my way, leaving them to their afternoon of family bonding. Eventually I found my way to the Bund, and walked down it, but because the sky was so full of haze, it didn't really have the same effect as on a clear day.
I didn't really mind, though. I had my perfect moment for the day, so I found my way to Nanjing Street (now that I know where it is, I can go back there!) and caught a train home.
Today I decided to see if I could find the Yuyuan Gardens because they have a beautiful old pagoda in the middle and there is a famous tea-house just outside the gates. I got off at Yuyuan Station, and followed the signs, but of gardens I saw nothing. As I wandered my way along the street, I came to one of China's giant crazy intersections and took out my map. A man came up and tried to help, but his English wasn't really sufficient for what I needed, so I just asked him "Bund?" and pointed.
The Bund is another famous landmark in Shanghai. It is a stretch along the Huangpu river that is built up with Western-style architecture, and on the other side of the river rises the Oriental Pearl TV tower, which is the tallest TV tower in Asia. I wandered in the direction the man pointed me in and actually ran into a park! I got excited, because I thought I might have accidently stumbled on the Gardens, but it turns out I had found Gucheng Park. It was cute, with little shady winding pathways beneath tall bamboo. It was very pleasant, frankly. That day it was kind of overcast and hazy, but a stifling 37 degrees out! (Celsius, btw, going for authenticity here.) So, standing in the shade was at least a little bit of relief. Walking through the park, I spotted the river and the Pearl Tower rising up through the haze, so I set off in that direction.
I love wandering around, because sometimes you stumble across the most perfect moments when you weren't even looking for them. On my way through the park, I found a fish pond that was literally teeming with Japanese koi and gold fish, teeming because people were feeding the fish. I snapped a couple of shots of the big fish and then noticed a woman with her two kids. The woman and her daughter were taking turns chucking handfuls of food at a concentration of fish and then giggling as they watched them fight over the little pellets. The little boy was crouching very patiently on the edge of the water and deliberately dropping pellets one at a time into the water. He had a plastic cup in one hand and every once in a while, he would plunge his cup into the water and scoop, trying to catch the little fish who came to nibble at his pellets. He would let out a triumphant "Ha!" every time he pulled the cup up, and then his face would fall dramatically when, every time, there was nothing in the cup. But, stoically, he would just empty the water, drop another pellet, and wait patiently to try again. It was unspeakable adorable.
I surreptitiously took a couple pictures of them, and then went on my way, leaving them to their afternoon of family bonding. Eventually I found my way to the Bund, and walked down it, but because the sky was so full of haze, it didn't really have the same effect as on a clear day.
I didn't really mind, though. I had my perfect moment for the day, so I found my way to Nanjing Street (now that I know where it is, I can go back there!) and caught a train home.
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