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Published: September 12th 2008
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First Chinese Breakfast
Hard-boiled eggs and wrapped rice in green leaves. Very delicious. Not in picture: warmed soy milk. Today is the 8th. The date added of my posts will be somewhat relevant to the day of the events as I am having a difficult time finding sufficient minutes to document my activities. Currently a plane ride to Harbin will suffice.
I will begin where I left of last post. Lingzhi, his mom and Gong Wang have arrived and we are on our way to the restaurant. The streets remain busy and Lingzhi consistently inquires about my opinions of Shanghai. I can only really express my surprise over the number of bikes and the seemingly disorganized traffic that flows relatively smoothly.
We enter an area of Shanghai where there are many restaurants. I wish I had a better idea of the exact location or even which direction we traveled. In any case the restaurant was Yuxiang Kitchen. Lingzhi's sister and brother-in-law were anxiously awaiting our arrival. Lingzhi explained that we were a few minutes late.
The restaurant was very clean and has a modern design. We were not seated in the normal dining area but had a special room in the back. It is very common amongst Chinese to have a round table with the guest at
First morning in China
Don't I look beautiful. Feeling excellent, nice dead like sleep. the middle of the far side of the table. This was the case. English conversation was limited during the dinner however there was no shortage of dialog. Lingzhi's sister and brother-in-law also speak little English.
The meal consisted of some familiar and some exotic Chinese dishes. After many meals it is difficult to recall every one. Hot pot fish was the main pleaser. Similar to that served at man jong hong (sp) in London, though the fish tastes much more fresh. Other dishes includes vegetables and pork, bamboo and bok choy, but most notably eel. To drink, green tea (cha) and Budwiser beer. After dinner Lingzhi's family returns home. I thank them as greately as I know how 'xie xie'.
Gong Wang is an old class mate of Lingzhi's and now work for a communications company called KTE. He has agreed to take Lingzhi and I around Shanghai for the evening. I am not going to lie, by this time I had been awake for many hours and was very tired so the exact path of the tour is quite fuzzy. We did however go to the Pudong river. This is the location of the famous Shanghai skyline.
Lingzhi's Mom
Such a wonderful lady, even with little communication between us. I was amazed by the height of one building and the shape of another. Please refer to images. Also, all along the river are advertising boats with giant projection screens. Though it is Tuesday night there are many people on the riverfront.
In order to maintain my contious, we stopped at Starbucks to get a latte. Unfortunately I do not see chai latte on the menu. Mocha latte does not make such a sweet replacement but makes due. A visit to the washroom in this area requires payment. Also, I am introduced to the 'carry your own tissues concept'. I see my first Chinese style toilet. Porcelain footings with slight tread where you are suggested to place your feet while you squat over a porcelain bowl in the ground with connected piping. Not unlike a western toilet, bit sunken thus requiring a squat position.. Luckily for me it was a simple number one visit. HagenDoz is very popular in China and along with McDonalds kiosks and other restaurants the riverfront is busy with commercialism.
After a few pictures at the riverfront we headed to a more popular area inhabited by foreigners. It was difficult to see the difference
Streets of Shanghai
The market type street. Don't be fooled by the lack of vehicles, I found an uncommon break in traffic. in percentage of foreign to native people but i'll take Lingzhi's word for it.
By this time the coffee had run through me and I had to go to the washroom. After a revealing first visit the second was sure to disappoint. A tiny cafe graciously offered their facilities at no cost. Though I had to duck throughout the entire cafe including the washroom, a western toilet was present. Not that I am going to get into the habit of documenting my vowels but there was no need for the porcelain giant before me.
It was time to call it an evening. Wang, pronounced w'awng, dropped us off and I said goodbye, good luck and hoped I'd see him on a future trip to Shanghai. A brief clean up and it was bed-time.
I slept like a donkey, or whatever sleeps well. One of those wake up in the same position you passed out in nights. Lingzhi is finished his breakfast and encourages me to do the same. Lucky Charms I'd suppose. Not quite but much better. Though I do not really know if the food was for the special 'foreign visitor' occasion, it included the following. Hard boiled eggs from Lingzhi's uncles farm, I had 4. Rice and pork dumplings rolled in a large ineditable green leaf, I had 5. Warmed soy mik, rather delicious compared to the garbage cold soy milk back in Canada, 2 bowls. Sustain the donkey.
I packed my belongings, which now included a package of jerky and some other dried meat snacks and managed an internet connection for some brief communication home, and then it was off to the airport with Lingzhi's brother-in-law.
Once at the airport I extended my Mandarin using my ever more important phrasebook by thanking our driver for his families great hospitality.
Turns out our flight is delayed 2 hours. To accommodate all ticket carrying passengers are provided a meal and beverage in the terminal free of charge. Rice, pork, green beans in sauce. See you in Xi'an.
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