Nothing like a good night's sleep to rejuvenate you. Especially from jet lag and hard beds. Today we journeyed to Shanghai. We took an express train from Hangzhou to Shanghai. While getting on I felt very much like cattle. We were in a huge group of people and had to go all the way down to one row to go through security, not too bad until you think of all the luggage others are carrying and the fact that many people are trying to keep their groups through together in one piece.
The trip to Shanghai was very scenic. The countryside is very diverse, some very tall buildings and factories, but mainly rice farms with peasant homes. The peasant homes are very different then what you might think, they can build very nice homes for very cheap. Their not huge, but a very generous 2 or 3 story home for a family, can be easily built for $10,000 to $20,000. Uncle Rob said there's nothing quite as green as rice in the sunlight. This is very true. The farms are very different from those in America, not big, no machinery, all done by hand. Mainly small plots of rice. The rice needs to stay wet so there are some very intricate canal systems. This makes most of the villages very beautiful, entwining the canals with peasant homes and then larger apartment buildings and factories, quite and interesting mix. Uncle Rob said most of the people who work on the rice farms also work in a factory.
Shanghai was very different to us, only because we've been in Hangzhou. Shanghai is very very western. Hangzhou is touristy, but a very different tourist feel then Shanghai. Hangzhou is nature and has mainly Chinese tourists, but it is still fairly easy for an American to get around. Shanghai feels like New York, with many hawkers, trying to cell you all kinds of things at every step. There are huge stores like Macys that have prices the same as in America or usually more expensive. The whole feel of the city is very different. We all missed Hangzhou, and could already feel how tough it is going to be to adjust back to American culture.
Shanghai was still very beautiful. We went down to the Bunt along Huangpu River (Yellow - pu). Well, pu is just an add on word, but man is it fun to say Yellow pooh. The Bunt has many old buildings from when European countries had control of areas of Shanghai. Across the river you can see the large communications tower with many orb looking things called the Pearl of the Orient, along with the largest tower in China. They are building another sky scraper right next to it that will be bigger. There is an awesome mix again in Shanghai of the old and the new. We went down to an old shopping area that is just magnificent. It is difficult for the Chinese because most Chinese people want to get rid of the old, some want to keep it, and the tourist want to see the old, so they have to find a happy medium. We did not have time for the park that was right next to the shopping area. It is older than the United States, and I hear it is very very beautiful. Something to look forward to seeing. I have pictures of everything else up. Again hopefully when I get to Wenling I will get a chance to put captions on everything. One more day of orientation and Pinyin lessons, then off to Wenling!
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