Day 9

Today was a very full day. Essentially, it involved a tour all over Shanghai.

We began at the Shanghai Museum after a nice breakfast buffet in the Westin: I think I liked the brie cheese and the watermelon best! It's so great to have a private car drive us around everywhere: no going from subway to subway, and the walking today was less than it has been. We didn't have a lot of time in the museum, but I enjoyed what we did look at it. This included bronze objects, calligraphy, ancient Chinese paintings, Buddha statues, and jade items. What's nice is that I'm sure I've seen some of this before on previous visits, but it all felt fresh to me. A great visit.

Next, we went to Yu Gardens. The beauty of this ancient garden always entrances me: the trees, the ponds, the fish, the ancient rooms, and the walkways. The crowd was not as bad as usual, and there were almost no foreigners. We did, however, run into this one Italian girl in her 20s. She claimed to be from Milan and said she had an Italian boyfriend in Beijing. She sort of glammed onto us and followed us around like a lost puppy, even after we left the gardens. Mulan finally put her foot down and told her "no" when she asked to come in our car with us (???). 

After that was lunch, at a place called Jiangnancun. A typical Chinese feast! We were given way more than what we could consume: bone-in pork, broccoli with garlic and ginger, rice crackers in a sweet and sour sauce, asparagus and potatoes, pork dumplings, and watermelon. Great stuff.

Then we travelled to the French Concession. We didn't walk through it all the way; we just went to one specific part of it called Xintiandi. It was pretty swank: ladies wearing gorgeous dresses, Dior, Chanel, fancy bars and coffee shops. I enjoyed seeing one place called "The Boxing Cat," complete with a boxing cat in front of the establishment. 

Finally, we travelled to the Bund and got some great photos of the Oriental Pearl Tower and other great Shanghai buildings. What a view! I then asked Mulan if we could go to the Peace Hotel, and she took us right over there! So beautiful. One room had a dove as a centerpiece and an elegant ceiling. Their jazz club has musicians with an average age of 75. Fascinating! 

In the evening, we had dinner with our friend Carol and her husband Kevin; we went to a hot pot place with lots of beef, crawfish, veggies, fish, and even as much dessert as we wanted, including these desserts that looked like hamster or squirrels: we couldn't determine which. We had some great conversation about differences between America and China: handling COVID, education, etc. It's really amazing for me to have cross-cultural conversations like this. 

An incredible day, all in all. And not too much walking!


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