We fly out of Beijing in the morning. The last few days have been some of the most exhausting and inspiring days of my life--from visiting the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, to gazing at Huangguoshu Waterfallto touring Famen Temple in Shanxi province to climbing the Great Wall. Kevin and I have experienced so much generosity and kindness during our visit, and I have had so many moments of pure awe over the last two weeks. Take a look. 

On a Southern China flight to Guiyang The Double with Richard Gere is on. The sound is too low and subtitles are in Chinese. A box lunch consisting of a small foil container with beef fried rice, a package of fermented cabbage, a roll, and yogurt, is passed to each passenger by two young flight attendants with perfect, matching hair buns.

(our hotel in Guiyang has spotty internet service so I’m posting this days later)

Yesterday, we took a taxi to the address of a Lonely Planet-recommended restaurant in the Hongkou District of Shanghai but the taxi sped away before we could see that the building was without a sign and locked up. We asked two men walking by if they knew about the restaurant. They motioned for us to go to the building across the street (one man gestured as if eating with a utensil). A plaque outside says the art-deco building was originally designed in 1933 as a slaughterhouse for cows and sheep. Today it is a repurposed, ultra-industrial-chic, shopping, art and music center. Our lunch at Jardin de Jade was wonderful (see pictures). I hadn’t had soup dumplings like those since Joe’s Shanghai in New York many years ago. Once inside the restaurant I (thankfully) didn’t think of the slaughtering. I was busy admiring the giant horse lamps (see picture) and the high-design of the place. I asked Kevin if he thought the animals used the stairways as well as the ramps. I like to imagine the sheep meandering down the buildings’ narrow passageways and back up again. We spent some time in a scarf shop where I stood on a small stage with the saleswoman, trying various styles and shapes of silk around by neck and torso. Kevin surprised me by buying the first one I admired. We watched as the saleswoman carefully folded and refolded the scarf until it was to her liking, placing it into a lovely flat paper box.

In the evening I took a taxi to the new main campus of Shanghai University where I met a group of faculty for dinner. The dinner consisted of fried shrimp, a whole broiled fish, wonton soup, fish ball soup, pickled cucumbers, spinach, tripe, a hotpot of spareribs, squid, octopus, small fried buns, watermelon, and numerous plates of other dishes of meat, seafood, and vegetables. Every few minutes, when beer was poured, everyone would toast. After dinner, we walked across campus to another building for a discussion where additional faculty appeared out of nowhere and 15 students came.

In Guiyang we will meet our host Shilu, a geochemist at the Chinese Academy of Science, and Kevin’s collaborator on several papers for nearly a decade.

P.S.

I chose the Chinese breakfast on our second day. Here’s what it was: a dish of peanuts, a boiled egg, a soft bun with minced meat inside, a glass of warm milk, bean sprouts with a salted bean curd on top, and a bowl of porridge. The next day I ordered the American breakfast again: two fried eggs, white toast, jam, and instant coffee.

I woke up this morning in the most populous city (proper) in the world expecting more noise. At 7:30 AM (7:30 PM, Kentucky time), Sunday morning, only tiny intermittent sounds of bicycle bells, a whoosh of a moped every few seconds, and sneezes from walkers along the street below. My husband, Kevin, and I are staying at a nice, simple, hotel at Shanghai University, on one of the many campuses.

At breakfast in the hotel, there was a choice of American breakfast or Chinese. We both chose the American--fried eggs, toast, and coffee. Tomorrow I’ll have the Chinese one, a hard-boiled egg, congee, (porridge), and another dish that I couldn’t make out from where we were sitting.

Took Metro to Shanghai Museum, walked through People’s Park, followed by an experience of sensory overload unmatched by anything I have ever experienced in my life (including the markets of Pusan, South Korea, Times Square at New Year’s, Mardi Gras)--a walk down Nanjing Road all the way to The Bund, where we watched barge traffic moving at a good clip along Huangpu River. On the promenade below, a group of Chinese students hugged the Bund Financial Bull. He’s the same as New York City’s Charging Bull, except reddish as a tribute to this country, and leans to the right instead of to the left. His tail is different. We ate an early dinner at Shanghai Grandmother that was so good I can’t even describe just yet. Jet-lagging. Back at the hotel, I am still thinking about the enormous aquarium wall window display where a crowd gathered to look at sharks and hammerheads, and in the next block, windows filled with designer silk dresses.

This is my first blog ever.