Pure Chinese

Not much to write about today because I slept through a lot of it. Hailing went out to teach piano in the morning and her mother stayed in to teach piano, so there was no escape! I drifted in and out of Hanon scales, arpeggios, flying Czernys (Czernies?) twiddly Mozarts and demonstrative Liszts. The boy next door came in the afternoon to play his pieces, the practising of which could be heard through the wall since I arrived...Hailing should have just called her instructions out through the window. I was glad but of course not surprised to see that she is a bloody good teacher!

Most important task of the day was to spend my first few Yuan, all featuring the dashing Mr Mao, on a few warmer clothes. Done.

Meals are delicious here at the Wang Pudong Music Hotel. Each dish is a work of art, and musical accompaniment is free. 10 minutes with the frightening sight-reading of the junior proprietor finished preparations for tomorrow's Hungarian adventure at the Conservatory of Music. Key signature no object.

In the evening we took a spin into the city centre to see the spectacular riverside view. Very impressive. The buildings try to outdo each other with lighting displays but somehow the effect manages not to be garish. We finished our expedition with a true Chinese experience: hot chocolate in Starbucks, looking out at the colonial architecture of the famous Bund - Every foreign hand that ever set foot in Shanghai built a monument to its home country.

No doubt more excellent adventures tomorrow. Kodaly in Shanghai. Oh my.

Viszontlatasra.

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