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Published: January 27th 2006
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Decorations being sold outside of the Old City. Can anyone tell me why they use peppers? I don't get it.Yesterday I went sight seeing with my uncle Herong jiujiu in Old Shanghai and at the waterfront called the Bund (isn't that just an awful name for such a pretty place?) On the bus ride there I determined that people spend an absurd amount of time waiting to get places (I don't know what my rush is...it's not like i need to get anywhere on time.) Outside of the Old City people were buying last minute new years decorations. While I was waiting for my uncle to buy plastic bags (I wonder what he needed them for...) I decided it was the perfect opportunity to fiddle around with my camera, hence the attempts at more interesting pictures. Inside the Old City there were beautiful lanterns strung everywhere for the new year and the lantern festival that follows. The buildings also had these gaudy cartoonish decorations that really took away from the charm of the place, but they were fun to look at. We ate rice dumplings with sweet filling for lunch in the Old City. The restaurant that we ate at was in between a Dairy Queen and a Starbucks (I suddenly had a craving for a blizzard 😊 and across
New Years Decorations
At the market leading to the Old City people were buying decorations for the chinese new year. from the famous xiao long restaurant pictured below. After the Old City we headed to the Bund and walked along the promenade. On the way we ran into those monkey-toting beggars and I got that picture that I knew you were all longing for. I was harrassed for money by one of the men after taking the picture. My unce told him off, but not before I had convinced myself that he had given me some crazy monkey disease. The bund was pretty and I took more pictures than I'm sure my uncle cared to wait for me for (did that make sense?) On the 5 thousand hour bus ride home I saw 3 more Starbucks, a Coca-cola store, and a WB store. We also passed through the ritzy part of Shanghai that had stores like Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo (i have no idea if im spelling these right, but you get the idea), and Dior. When I got home I wanted to pass out and ended up skipping my hot shower that i love telling you about.
So after seeing all of those stores (and seriously, the spread of Starbucks is starting to freak me out)
Old City Entrance
Even though it's soo tourist-y I really like the Old City because all the old architecture is preserved and I like it so much more than the skyscrapers popping up everywhere. I was sort of sad. You can practically stand back and watch western influence creep over the city. I mean, I guess it's good that China (at least parts of it) are staying in stride with the rest of the world, but I'm not so fond of the western materialism that follows (you know what I mean... "I love Starbucks! Do you like Starbucks? Check out my new Louis Vuitton bag!" :p) I think I'm worried because the young people (god, I'm talking like I'm sixty) are strongly influenced by these trendy pop stars, so they spend a lot fo time and money trying to keep up with them. I guess I just want China to stay that loud, ping pong loving, down and dirty, escape from America, but that's just asking for more communism. I'll just have to take the good with the bad while I'm here. Ok enough of my mindless rambling. You stay classy San Diego...
much love,
jeanette
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Sabrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriya
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LITTLE JOHN
IM SO GLAD YOU HAVE THIS THING. this is so cool. i love china. it sounds amaaaaazing. i miss you lots and love you lots and miss you lots again. By the way, you are an amazing picture taker. or photographer. or wahtever. but those are goooodly. take care of yourself ladyyyy, muah!