Shanghai

Lots and lots and lots of people! The shear number of people everywhere, on bikes, in cars, on mopeds, walking, etc., was pretty crazy. And the mopeds were 100% silent so it's amazing that there aren't more accidents!

Day 1:
While William was taking his CISSP exam I took a subway to the French Concession area because the guide book said this was the area that gave Shanghai the name "the Paris of the East." The large sycamore trees lining the roads made it a pretty area, but really it was one large expensive shopping area. But then I found a beautiful park where some people were playing badminton, practicing tai chi, exercising, relaxing, etc. I also came across a group of older people in a pavilion area where a man was playing an accordion while others were singing and dancing.
By noon I'd been walking for several hours and my feet were sore! I took the guide book's suggestion and got a foot massage. Not all Chinese massage parlors have blind masseuses, but being a masseuse is a traditional occupation for the blind in China. It felt fantastic after it stopped hurting (he was pressing hard!)

Tea Ceremony:
Later in the day, during one of the sporadic rain storms, I met 3 Chinese students. The guy on the left had a Chinese name I can't spell or pronounce, then there's me-Sarah 1, then Sarah 2 (when I told her my name she laughed, then told me her English name and gave us numbers), and Andy on the right end. They were very friendly and invited me to a tea ceremony, after which we exchanged email addresses and took a photo.
They did their best in translating so I now know how to properly drink tea if ever invited to another tea ceremony. We tried 6 different teas: green tea, jasmine tea, ginseng oolong tea, a dried fruit tea that I never quite caught the name of, a 6-flower tea, and lychee black tea. They were all good but the dried fruit and lychee black were my favorites. Below is an illicit photo of the 6-flower tea. The tea woman had left the room for a second so I decided to take a few photos. I only got the one before she came back in and informed us that no photos were allowed. It turned out I could have taken the same picture later at a tea shop, so it's not too secret. The tea started out as one big bud until the water was added, then it opened up to what you see below.Food:
Both William and I wanted to try as much food as possible during our short trip. We went to a restaurant called "We Make the Best Noodles" and tried egg noodles with asparagus in a cream sauce, along with some fresh fruit drinks. But mostly we ate from small food stands rather than restaurants. It's too bad the U.S. doesn't have more food stalls, and I don't mean for selling hot dogs. Some of the "o.k." things we tried were: spinach-filled and pork-filled dough bun things, fried dumplings, and a bean-paste pastry (similar to a Korean snack).

The worst thing: rice steamed in a banana leaf. We each tried a small bite then it got tossed, yuck.

The best things: a bowl of lo mein and bubble tea. Ummm, delicious!

There were the usual squid and octopus-type things that I will always be too squeamish to try. (William tried the crawling tentacles in Korea, not while I was around, thankfully, but I cannot!)

On Sunday we did more walking around a shopping area and were followed for a good 20 minutes or more by 3 guys trying to talk us into going to their specific store. It was incredibly ANNOYING!!! So we left and took a very long walk to Old Town.

Old Town:

This was by far the coolest part architecturally, I thought. But it was a tourist trap...not for foreigners necessarily because we didn't see many, but for Chinese from other areas it seemed. There were loads of little trinkets and knick-knacks to buy within the 100+-year-old buildings, mixed in with the occasional Starbucks or McDonalds. There were some cool shops too. I especially liked the ones that sold chopsticks and tea.

We packed a lot of things into a short amount of time. Maybe later I'll think of other things I wish I'd written about, but for now I'm all typed out. I'll let my photos speak for themselves :)