Today began with our first Chinese breakfast, though I managed to eat mostly French fries, rice, and a substance they call orange juice. I’d imagine that there is very little real orange product in it because I think it is really just tang or a Sunny D variety, but it was drinkable. We then headed out to visit the old Shanghai area. It was a nice walk, and along the way we stopped to look at many things, including these older city streets where normal Chinese would live. I have a picture of one of these neighborhood streets below.
We wandered around this very touristy area for a while, and got to visit Yuyuan Garden, which has been there since 1559. We had several hours to explore on our own, and one interesting place I visited was a silk shop that showed us how to make silk from the cocoons. After that we had lunch at a local restaurant, and this meal was much better with many dishes being served in the middle of the table and everyone taking what they desired. The picture below is of me beside a funny Beijing Olympics sign that tells you that something is 300 inches away. A lot of the translated signs around are quite funny.
We had the afternoon to ourselves, and several of us took a taxi to the Oriental Pearl (the Shanghai TV Tower). We spent several hours up inside of it at various levels looking over Shanghai, exploring a space exhibit, and seeing a Shanghai museum. After that we visited the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium that is located right beside the Oriental Pearl. The aquarium was nice and I did get to see several fish that I had never seen before. After the aquarium visit we took another taxi back across the river to arrange a river cruise to see Shanghai at night. After all of that, and an impromptu rain storm, I am back in the hotel and ready to leave Shanghai tomorrow morning first thing. The picture below shows the aquarium in the foreground with the Oriental Pearl in the background.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
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1 comment:
Hi Mark,
Great to read about your adventures in China. I was cleaning out my classroom today and came across a stack of coral reef stamps, books and resources - and I thought of YOU! I still regret that I didn't join you at the museum in Cairns about the Great Barrier Reef. I got to make a presentation today to another summer school class studying legends of Australia. I brought some paintings and a craved stick of the Rainbow Serpent to the class. Great memories! The print shop finished my memory book and it looks great - send your mailing address and I'll send you one along with the long-promised DVDs of Aussie photos : )
Happy travels,
Margo
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