China Chapter 7

Well, we got up this morning early as mentioned and had the best breakfast we've had on the trip. There were a lot of Spanish people, and (imagine) a lot of Chinese.

We were ready to go at about 8:20 a.m., and surprisingly, To Wong Fu and the Dragon Lady were on time this morning. Of course they were sitting across the immense dining room in the smoking section, with TWF running and fetching everything that the Empress needed. Somehow I don't think that he's paid for a dime of his trip, although he's an expert customer service representative.

Whatever.

Anyhow, We headed off in the morning to see a silk rug factory. It was really interesting, and it was interesting to see how each individual rug was made, with the intricate knots, the time, the patience. It really makes me appreciate the rug that I have that I had gotten in Morocco two years ago. Of course, the Empress made it known that she has practically every rug there in her house, and made it a point to tell the tour guide that the rugs we saw were entirely overpriced. She then also shared how she's had to have her carpets replaced three times because she has trouble keeping her dogs from shitting or peeing on them.

Wow....too much information.

As we got back into the van, we got talking about Chinese medicine and a meditational practice called chi gong. Well, we can always count on the Empress to try to impress us with her knowledge of Chinese culture. She interjected her experiences with accupuncture, and how it was so relaxing. And, not being a betting man, I'm certain she didn't use it to try to quit smoking. I was SO close to throw that out, but, I promised that today I was going to keep positive.

Shanghai is very western in style. It's much more modern and progressive than Beijing. And the people seem to be much friendlier, and less formal. Mrs. Xu is WONDERFUL!!! More about that in a second...

We then visited the Children's Palace, where lots of children go to take drama, art, writing, music, and chinese opera lessons. It was really cool. We met a young man who was the drama teacher, who was teaching 4-5 year olds. They were very excited about having American visitors in their class, and two of the children sang us some songs. It was adorable!

We then went upstairs to watch little girls learn how to perform Beijing Opera, which is a dying art in China. In a neat queue about 8 feet long, all of their little shoes were lined up, and they were singing and dancing and learning this art. Again......cute, cute, CUTE!

Then we saw art work, music lessons in piano, erhu, accordian, and violin, as well as a couple of creative writing classes. It was really cool! Of course, because she's seen everything, the Empress stayed outside the whole time in the courtyard, pouting since it wasn't a place she wanted to visit. I was about ready to tell her where to go.....

But we trekked on and I plastered the best smile and cheery personality I could muster given the circumstance. Many of you would have been very proud of me today.

We then went to the Jade Buddha Temple. It was cool, it was very temple-ish, lots of people chanting, and lots of incense. It was almost noxious after a while, to the point that I couldn't stand it. Of course, the Empress thought it was great (hell, it's cheaper for her to inhale the incense smoke than pay for the 2 carton a day habit she must be on). But we saw and learned all about the Buddhist artifacts in this temple, and then saw the two large jade buddhas. Mom managed to get some paper cuts there as gifts, and we luckily didn't get thrown out of the building after the Empress decided she'd superceed the rules and take pictures wherever she liked in total disregard despite what the signs said to the contrary. I wished that the somewhat portly German woman that stood next to her looking in disgust would have taken her camera, and smashed it against the wall. But alas, nothing happened, except for the fact that the Empress, yet again, looked like a complete idiot.

After the temple, we went to the Shanghai National Museum. Mrs. Xu, the patient soul that she is, asked if everyone liked museums. Not surprisingly, To Wong Fu chimed in immediately and said, "no, we're not." Again I bit my lip. And again, I smiled.

I think I'm going to need a new lip by the time I get back home. Then again, TWF is a complete simpleton, and I'm really not surprised at ALL that that was his response. But, we were able to see awesome Qing, Ming, Han, and Song dynasty scrolls, artifacts, furniture, calligraphy. It was spectacular.

After the museum, we were taken to The Bund, a section of Shanghai that looks very European, and very western. We then had lunch, which consisted of a tomato/egg dish, a chicken and potato concotion, hot sour soup, lemon chicken, bok choy, and cabbage. Again it was a wonderful lunch. The Empress, of course, made it very known to us and to Mrs. Xu that she is sick of Chinese food at this point of the trip (and it's only week one), and continues to remind us of that. Of course every meal, she needs to have ice for her drink. She needs to have salt and pepper. She needs to have soy sauce. She has to always have a fork. And she should be getting a good swift kick in the ass too...

We then left the restaurant, and went up the walkway to the Bund, along the river. At this point, God smiled on mom and I (and must have rewarded me for being almost sickly nice), the clouds parted, and the sun came out.

Well, the sun came out, the clouds kind of parted, but at last To Wong Fu and the Empress went their separate way for about an hour or so. We had Mrs. Xu all to ourselves. From this moment, through the rest of the day, was probably the BEST experience I have EVER had touring on vacation. She knew that I wanted to get osmanthus tea. So we went to this cool little tea shop off the beaten path. We got to experience a formal tea ceremony, and we were able to try several different types of tea. I ended up getting lychee, jasmine, ginseng, and osmanthus tea. It was all WONDERFUL. What a cool experience, not to mention that she got me one hell of a deal.

We then learned about the Bund, it's significance, and about what life is like in China from Mrs. Xu's perspective. It was invaluable.

But alas, all things came to an end (crashing an burning) as we then met up with the gruesome twosome, and headed to old-town Shanghai. Well, I think that the medina in Morocco, and this old town Shanghai are two peas in one pod. Being a weekend, I think all 18 million Shanghai residents were all in one spot....yeah....right where we were. It was really cool. And, God shined on mom and I again, as the dynamic duo finally left for the day. Mrs. Xu then took us to an artist/calligrapher's studio, where we met a master calligrapher. Mom was able to buy some brushes made of fox, lamb, wolf, (and who knows what else....walrus, eel, mongoose, lemming...) and some other cool things. It was really cool.

The final thin Mrs. Xu did, was she took us around the Old Town and showed us the central food restaurant there. She then showed us ALL of the different kind of foods that Shanghai has to offer, as well as what they were, as she know that I loved to cook. It also was incredible.

We then went back to the hotel (which has a spectacular view of Shanghai as our room is on the 21st floor), got some beers and thought we would prepare ourselves for supper tonight. Mrs. Xu then gave us a recommendation of a restaurant she always takes her out of town guests to in Shanghai. So we then got ready, took a cab, and proceeded to the restaurant.

This was a dumpling restaurant. And it was fantastic! It, by far, was the BEST restaurant I have been to in a very long time, and the dumplings were to die for. We had pork, pork with crab, shrimp, pork with rice, etc. It was wonderful! After getting enough to eat, we ventured back to our hotel. All the while, mom and I commented on how cosmopolitan Shanghai is, and that it doesn't seem like it's Chinese at all, but rather a melting pot of many cultures. It was cool.

Meanwhile back at the ranch....I understand TWF and the Empress went to Pizza Hut....

Yeah...like we can't get THAT at home....

We're off to Yichang tomorrow to embark on our river cruise. We're looking forward to it. Our flight leaves later in the afternoon, so we don't have to rush all over the place to get everything ready.

This may be the last online entry for a good share of a week, but I hope to keep you all posted the best I can once we hit land again.