Update from Shanghai
This blog update is from Abbey (with a bit of help from Curt - kids are nowhere to be found)...
We are having a great time in Shanghai, trying to stay warm. In the last three days we have toured the city as well as several incredible historic sites a few hours outside of town. One water village was built over 900 years ago and was completely intact and original as it had not been destroyed by the Japanese occupation or by the cultural revolution. We took a boat ride on a gondola style boat thru the narrowed canals that weaved thru the village. Our woman who oared our boat, sang us a few ancient Chinese songs while we absorbed the culture and scenery. Curt tried to request songs by Rolling Stones or Depeche Mode. Fortunately, she spoke no English.
We also visited a silk mill and watched the silk worm life cycle and saw the silk making process. Sam was sad to see the worms die at the end of the process. But, then was glad to find out that they do eat the silk worm after it has served it's silk making duties. We are told they taste like peanuts. Neither Sam not Aly wanted to taste one. Curt asked if we could get cashews instead. We did make a few purchases at the silk mill and of course found the exact same merchandise for 1/2 the price the next day in the market in Shanghai. I guess we had "sucker" stamped on our foreheads. I was shopping for jade elephants in the Yu Garden jade market. The salesperson asked "do you worship elephants?". I just answered that I like elephants. Since the Chinese think we worship Santa Claus, I guess his question was not that unusual.
Sam and Aly have become very proficient at hailing taxi cabs, negotiating with street vendors and saying "Boo Yah" (translation - don't want) to the aggressive vendors in some locations we have visited. Although Sam almost ended up with a Rolex watch late this afternoon outside the Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Although we certainly are not big shoppers, we have had to buy another piece of luggage to get our purchases back to the U.S. It has been fun to haggle and we are enjoying the "deals".
Curt's mission is to visit as many Starbucks in these areas that actually have Starbucks. In fact, Shanghai and Hong Kong have had multiple locations. The coffee really is bad in China (Curt is not exaggerating). I have reverted to drinking tea, unless we are at a Starbucks. The tea is very good.
We took a spontaneous Curt's guided walking tour of Shanghai our first evening here. We stumbled upon more temples in the heart of the city. Very unusual since normally we have traveled to the outskirts of the cities we have been visiting to see the multiple temples, parks and incredible scenery. 3 1/2 hours later, we were almost forced to hail a cab when Curt actually stopped to ask for directions. We made it back to the hotel safe and sound.
We just booked another spontaneous Curt's tour this time to Beijing. I decided that since we already bought winter coats in China for our trip to Shanghai, we might as well get good use out of them. Plus, I just couldn't fathom leaving China without seeing the Great Wall. Not to mention, Curt doesn't have to be back to work until after the New Year. We leave tomorrow morning for Beijing and will be back to South China New Year's Eve. As it will potentially be snowing in Beijing, we have had to supplement our winter coats with more winter apparel (hats, scarfs and gloves). Sam is still in search of ear muffins (I don't have the heart to tell him that they are actually ear muffs - he sounds so cute saying ear muffins). We may need yet another piece of luggage to transport our winter gear back to Florida.
Booking domestic travel in China is not an easy feat. It was nearly impossible to communicate our travel itinerary with the airline representatives. After over an hour and a half of telephone calls, faxes and attempted emails, I finally had nearly booked the trip from Shanghai to Beijing and then back to South China. It was at that point that the airline rep told me they would deliver the tickets to our hotel the next morning and then would collect my cash. I could not believe that she would not accept my credit card. We are just so accustomed to using credit in the US. So, the next morning I felt like I was buying drugs in the hotel lobby as I exchanged my wad of cash for our 8 plane tickets. Very odd experience.
So, we are off to the cold country early tomorrow morning. We'll check back in with you before the New Year!
We are having a great time in Shanghai, trying to stay warm. In the last three days we have toured the city as well as several incredible historic sites a few hours outside of town. One water village was built over 900 years ago and was completely intact and original as it had not been destroyed by the Japanese occupation or by the cultural revolution. We took a boat ride on a gondola style boat thru the narrowed canals that weaved thru the village. Our woman who oared our boat, sang us a few ancient Chinese songs while we absorbed the culture and scenery. Curt tried to request songs by Rolling Stones or Depeche Mode. Fortunately, she spoke no English.
We also visited a silk mill and watched the silk worm life cycle and saw the silk making process. Sam was sad to see the worms die at the end of the process. But, then was glad to find out that they do eat the silk worm after it has served it's silk making duties. We are told they taste like peanuts. Neither Sam not Aly wanted to taste one. Curt asked if we could get cashews instead. We did make a few purchases at the silk mill and of course found the exact same merchandise for 1/2 the price the next day in the market in Shanghai. I guess we had "sucker" stamped on our foreheads. I was shopping for jade elephants in the Yu Garden jade market. The salesperson asked "do you worship elephants?". I just answered that I like elephants. Since the Chinese think we worship Santa Claus, I guess his question was not that unusual.
Sam and Aly have become very proficient at hailing taxi cabs, negotiating with street vendors and saying "Boo Yah" (translation - don't want) to the aggressive vendors in some locations we have visited. Although Sam almost ended up with a Rolex watch late this afternoon outside the Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Although we certainly are not big shoppers, we have had to buy another piece of luggage to get our purchases back to the U.S. It has been fun to haggle and we are enjoying the "deals".
Curt's mission is to visit as many Starbucks in these areas that actually have Starbucks. In fact, Shanghai and Hong Kong have had multiple locations. The coffee really is bad in China (Curt is not exaggerating). I have reverted to drinking tea, unless we are at a Starbucks. The tea is very good.
We took a spontaneous Curt's guided walking tour of Shanghai our first evening here. We stumbled upon more temples in the heart of the city. Very unusual since normally we have traveled to the outskirts of the cities we have been visiting to see the multiple temples, parks and incredible scenery. 3 1/2 hours later, we were almost forced to hail a cab when Curt actually stopped to ask for directions. We made it back to the hotel safe and sound.
We just booked another spontaneous Curt's tour this time to Beijing. I decided that since we already bought winter coats in China for our trip to Shanghai, we might as well get good use out of them. Plus, I just couldn't fathom leaving China without seeing the Great Wall. Not to mention, Curt doesn't have to be back to work until after the New Year. We leave tomorrow morning for Beijing and will be back to South China New Year's Eve. As it will potentially be snowing in Beijing, we have had to supplement our winter coats with more winter apparel (hats, scarfs and gloves). Sam is still in search of ear muffins (I don't have the heart to tell him that they are actually ear muffs - he sounds so cute saying ear muffins). We may need yet another piece of luggage to transport our winter gear back to Florida.
Booking domestic travel in China is not an easy feat. It was nearly impossible to communicate our travel itinerary with the airline representatives. After over an hour and a half of telephone calls, faxes and attempted emails, I finally had nearly booked the trip from Shanghai to Beijing and then back to South China. It was at that point that the airline rep told me they would deliver the tickets to our hotel the next morning and then would collect my cash. I could not believe that she would not accept my credit card. We are just so accustomed to using credit in the US. So, the next morning I felt like I was buying drugs in the hotel lobby as I exchanged my wad of cash for our 8 plane tickets. Very odd experience.
So, we are off to the cold country early tomorrow morning. We'll check back in with you before the New Year!
posted by Curt at 3:29 AM
1 Comments:
Hey guys-
Happy New Year to all!
Glad to see all is well in the US. We really appreciate the posts. It is nice to read your comments, because Curt was stating that no one was reading the blog anyway...
From Abbey-
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