Mum's visit pt.3

---

We spent the afternoon we arrived in Shanghai wandering around the French concession before having a earlyish dinner and going back to the hotel. I think all the walking we'd been doing in Hong Kong and Xiamen was really beginning to catch up with us!

In the morning after a hefty breakfast we visited the excellent Shanghai Museum. It took us till the afternoon to do all four floors of exhibits - jade and ceramics, textiles and paintings. If you're ever in Shanghai and like museums I thoroughly recommend it. That afternoon we wandered around Nanjing Lu and the main shopping district of Shanghai and then went for an excellent meal at a Veggie restaurant that specialises in imitation-meat dishes. There was far too much food but the "crab" was a particular favorite of ours.

We spent most of the next day cruising the antique markets where I managed to show off my improving Chinese bartering skills it getting one particular item down to a third of the asking price (although we were probably still over charged it felt like a victory) and then went over to the Bund and Pudong for some food. After dinner I took Mum for a few drinks in the Cloud Nine bar in the Jin Mao tower for the stunning views of the Shanghai skyline.

The next day we visited the Jing' An temple and met up with Wulf, a friend of mine from Xiamen who was in town visiting a friend. We went for lunch and a coffee before having a leisurely stroll through the people's park and heading off to our airports. It was really great spending a couple of weeks with Mum, catching up ad everything and I think she feels better now she can visualise where I am and what my life here is actually like. So thanks again for everything Mum and everyone else who sent goodies out with her.

I got back in late to Xiamen, where I had a few days to catch up on sleep and washing before heading off again. This time with friends and fellow teachers to GuangXi in southwest China and then eventually on to Vietnam.

Stay tuned!

---

Comments

[Janey]

Pauline's visit
The visit sounds great. You certainly packed a lot. Love to all. Will make sure Grandma and Grandpa see the orchids.