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We met our Shanghai guide Agnes in the lobby in the morning for our last full day in China. We’ve had some great guides and Agnes was no exception. She is funny, very experienced and extremely efficient. We drove to the Bund, the city’s original Wall Street of sorts, a mix of beautiful early 20
th century neoclassical and art deco buildings lining the Huangpu River. We then walked through the People’s Square heading for Old Town. Like Beijing with its Hutangs, Shanghai also has old neighborhoods scattered amidst modern high rises. We walked through the alleys of Old Town, narrowly escaping being run over by motorcycles, pedicabs and bicycles. We passed many street vendors catering to the cuisines of local residents (fried scorpion anyone?). And as we walked, we are reminded that China is still on the whole a very poor country. Up until now we had not really seen the poverty first hand. The families living in Old Town are crowded into tiny apartments. Up to 15 families will share one crude bathroom. Water is available at spigots outside in the alleys. These people work hard and get very little in return.
We toured the very popular and extremely
crowded Yuyuan Gardens in the center of Old Town. Constructed in the mid 1500’s, they are a beautiful 5 acre oasis in the heart of the city. The gardens incorporate the rock and water features of classical Chinese gardens. There were many pavilions with beautifully carved woodwork and pools of brightly colored koi. Despite the crowds of Chinese tourists, it was a surprisingly restful spot. We ended the day doing some last minute shopping and then dim sum at the mid-lake Pavilion Tea House.
After an early dinner we took a bus to the waterfront to board our boat for an awesome river cruise. It was the perfect way to end our trip. The buildings on both sides of the river are brightly lit at night with the lights reflecting on the water. Even the cruise ships are brightly lit. It reminded us of our river cruise in Huangzhou eight years earlier along the Pearl River.
After the cruise we headed back to the hotel for our last night at the Jinjiang Tower Hotel which we would highly recommend. Well located and well appointed with beautiful views of the city from the 43
rd floor. We decided against any
further sightseeing on Saturday morning, allowing time for leisurely packing and an hour in the pool for the girls. We were not looking forward to the 14 hour flight back to Chicago. Agnes had arranged for late check-out and picked us up at 1:00 and for once, we headed to the airport with no traffic. Departure was easy and we boarded our flight and headed for home, already planning for when we would visit China again.
Reflections on our Trip
It is hard to believe that our two weeks in China have come to a close. We’ve gone from cities with 22 million people to villages with less than a thousand residents. We’ve ridden on planes, trains, buses, boats and cable cars. We’ve endured a sand storm in one of the most polluted cities on the planet and enjoyed crystal clear air on top of Yellow Mountain. We have mastered chopsticks and have sampled delicious Chinese food. We have enjoyed watching the girls deepen their friendships and bonds as they learned and experienced Chinese culture first hand. We met some wonderful people and some not so nice. We did pack a lot in, maybe too much, but in
hindsight there is nothing we would have wanted to miss. Much has changed since our first visit in 2007, which was the year before the Beijing Olympics. China has become far more Westernized with US restaurants, apple stores and clothing chains in all the major cities. The pollution has unfortunately grown worse. There is construction everywhere. Most notably high-rise apartment buildings growing like futuristic cities as rural populations move to, or are swallowed whole by urban growth. New highways are everywhere, which is a good thing. We did not see nearly the number of accidents on this trip as we had on our last. Traffic however is a huge problem as cars have replaced bicycles. In 2007 I would guess that bicycles outnumbered cars. Eight years later, not even close. Cars greatly outnumber bicycles. Brand new boulevards leading nowhere are being built in grids around the empty new high-rise apartment complexes. It is a built surreal.
One thing that has also changed is the one child rule. We rarely saw a family with more than one child on our first visit. It is now more common to see a family with two children. It is still officially one child
but there are exemptions that allow for a second child in certain situations. It was very heartening to see families with their beautiful daughters in hand going to parks, eating out and sightseeing, just like us. That said, there are still many, many children being abandoned for either medical reasons or gender bias and we were reminded of that when we visited AiLi’s orphanage. It is heartwarming to know that there are many families in the US with big hearts who specifically look to adopt children with special needs. I have met many of these people through the Huainan Orphanage Facebook group.
So as we resume our normal patterns of life back in Wayland, shuttling AiLi to soccer and swim, church, Girl Scouts and fighting over viola practice, we are forever reminded of the amazing gift of family that China has given us. At the time it was one of the only countries that would allow us to adopt given our age but in hindsight to be able to share in AiLi’s Chinese culture has been an amazing journey that we hope will continue.
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