northern china -- less than a week to go!!!
i am back in china -- this time shanghai. as one of the schoolgirls said in zhuhai (southern china) .... "shanghai!!!?!?! that is modern city!!!"
unfortunately, it's not modern enough to allow access to blogspot, so i still can't check out your comments. i got a chance to briefly in hong kong, at the 15-minute speed cafe, so thanks, they are always fun to read.
i will write more later, because we are pressed for time again today ... our tourguide "eddie" is great -- right up there with taiwan peter -- but the days are totally packed with stuff to do. we didn't even have time for dinner tonight (no complaints there!) but we did have time for the world famous shanghai acrobats!!! it was basically like watching little chinese pixies twist into pretzels and then contort into another pretzel-like position .... with a teapot balanced on their head. who wouldn't be up for that?
so it was like 95 degrees today with an inhuman amount of humidity. and the only thing worse than humidity is humidity carrying smoggy smog. you know how when it snows real hard, there is a white out? today we had a smog out. did i mention china features 5 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world? oh welll ..... the architecture is amazing ... so many creative buildings! it's an architect's playground!
we went for a little city tour today in the morning and went up in their Space Needle Equivalent structure. had lunch at World's Cheesiest Polynesian Tribute Restaurant, and visited Yu Gardens, another tourist spot. i'm not complaining, because we're back in a big city and i love it. traffic here is a bitch though ..... i long for the 405 ....... the city has tripled in size here since 1999 and get this ... to cut down on car traffic they now auction off car licenses ... so you can't just buy them .... going rate is around $4,000 US!
cecilia prayed for rain again since the heat was killing us and it came in the form of two pounding thunderstorms at approx. 3:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. i'm soaking wet again ... .. the rain was actually coming through the umbrella. i am not making this up. we did have time to visit a pearl shoppe and got to see them open oyster with many pearls inside ... all ripe for the taking! i have never really been a pearl girl, but i guess the prices are amazing. shanghai is famous for freshwater pearls so this is the place to get them. if anyone wants some let me know .... i can get you a nice string -- white, pink, purple, black -- round or irregular ... large or small for like $15 - 20 - $25. guaranteed legit! the museum even showed us how to check them to see if fake. bracelets, earrings too! email me if you want any as i can't read the posted comments anymore :(
tomorrow we take bus to suzhou .... a neighboring city where we will check out some stuff and visit a silk factory. i am still having fun but have been going nonstop since june 6 .... getting a little tired .... really looking forward to getting back home. four weeks is way long time.
oh, and group dynamics have changed. a lot. three new guys joined the trip. for now, i'll just refer to them as Loud, Louder and Ugly American. details to follow ......
unfortunately, it's not modern enough to allow access to blogspot, so i still can't check out your comments. i got a chance to briefly in hong kong, at the 15-minute speed cafe, so thanks, they are always fun to read.
i will write more later, because we are pressed for time again today ... our tourguide "eddie" is great -- right up there with taiwan peter -- but the days are totally packed with stuff to do. we didn't even have time for dinner tonight (no complaints there!) but we did have time for the world famous shanghai acrobats!!! it was basically like watching little chinese pixies twist into pretzels and then contort into another pretzel-like position .... with a teapot balanced on their head. who wouldn't be up for that?
so it was like 95 degrees today with an inhuman amount of humidity. and the only thing worse than humidity is humidity carrying smoggy smog. you know how when it snows real hard, there is a white out? today we had a smog out. did i mention china features 5 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world? oh welll ..... the architecture is amazing ... so many creative buildings! it's an architect's playground!
we went for a little city tour today in the morning and went up in their Space Needle Equivalent structure. had lunch at World's Cheesiest Polynesian Tribute Restaurant, and visited Yu Gardens, another tourist spot. i'm not complaining, because we're back in a big city and i love it. traffic here is a bitch though ..... i long for the 405 ....... the city has tripled in size here since 1999 and get this ... to cut down on car traffic they now auction off car licenses ... so you can't just buy them .... going rate is around $4,000 US!
cecilia prayed for rain again since the heat was killing us and it came in the form of two pounding thunderstorms at approx. 3:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. i'm soaking wet again ... .. the rain was actually coming through the umbrella. i am not making this up. we did have time to visit a pearl shoppe and got to see them open oyster with many pearls inside ... all ripe for the taking! i have never really been a pearl girl, but i guess the prices are amazing. shanghai is famous for freshwater pearls so this is the place to get them. if anyone wants some let me know .... i can get you a nice string -- white, pink, purple, black -- round or irregular ... large or small for like $15 - 20 - $25. guaranteed legit! the museum even showed us how to check them to see if fake. bracelets, earrings too! email me if you want any as i can't read the posted comments anymore :(
tomorrow we take bus to suzhou .... a neighboring city where we will check out some stuff and visit a silk factory. i am still having fun but have been going nonstop since june 6 .... getting a little tired .... really looking forward to getting back home. four weeks is way long time.
oh, and group dynamics have changed. a lot. three new guys joined the trip. for now, i'll just refer to them as Loud, Louder and Ugly American. details to follow ......
posted by christine at 7:05 AM
1 comments
