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"Please Forgive Us, we are closed for Inner-Rearrangements".
Just an example of the hilarious version of English that the people here like to use. They don't generally hire proper translators, so many of the english signs end up like this, or worse. But for us, it provides great entertainment.
Well, I'm in Shanghai, my first stop in China, and I am truly enjoying my time here. Although it is difficult to truly 'warm up' to the city, I find it fascinating. It is ultra modern, yet so backwards at the same time. On one side of the river is the Pudong district, a new business area, whose buildings are modern to the point of being tacky, and where you feel as though you've walked into an old space age movie. On the other side is a strip of colonial buildings, and areas such as China town, (the old town) and the French concession, whose architecture is very pretty, and very old and tumbling, and which are also intermixed with dirty, poor slums and neon signs. And while it doesn't sound very aesthetically pleasing, it is intriguing and fun to explore.
We went to a traditional tea ceremony/tasting yesterday, which was fantastic. We tried only six teas, although the place had 600! Can you imagine?? I can barely think of ten or fifteen different types, let alone 600. We were taken there by four chinese students who befriended us outside the museum, and who translated everything for us in the ceremony, which was great. They were very sweet, and genuinely intersting in being friends, and learning about us. We were very happy to talk to them, and learn as much as we could about their culture. It was such a relief to meet people who weren't trying to sell us something...
Unfortunately, the food is hard to adjust to, coming from healthy, organic, vegetable Victoria. Everything here is very oily -- tasty, but oily, and it has been hard on the old stomach these last few days. I'm sure that I'll adjust soon though.
Tomorrow we head to Suzhou, a pretty garden city just west of Shanghai. We'll spend a night there, and then go to Nanjing, and then to Huangzhou, down south a bit, which is on West Lake.
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Lula
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Viva la aceite
Hi Emma So , its not just in Spain where oil is a major feature of the cuisine! We are are thrilled to see you you are now well on your Chinese adventure and have started a blog. We will read it with interest. Did you find Shanghai's 'chinatown'. Con mucho carino a ti y tu companero de viaje!Lula y familia