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Published: March 15th 2009
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I had a fairly quiet weekend this time 'around. I've been dealing with a nasty cold, but thanks to my quiet weekend, it's getting better. Now, on with the story!
On Friday, my friends and I took a trip to the Shanghai Planning Exhibition. Remember that picture of the blue gumby-like fellow? Well, he's the mascot. And the planning exhibition, well, it's the plans for the 'New Shanghai'...Part of Shanghai, anyway. The restoration/building process is only taking place in the heart of Shanghai, along the banks of the Huangpu river that runs through Shanghai and keeps the city thriving. Most of the exhibit I didn't understand (I hate not being able to read Chinese) and was kind of boring. I'm sure it would've been better if there was some English captions thrown in from time to time. Anyway, the reason I went to the exhibit was to see the massive model of Shanghai they had there. It's quite impressive, and naturally, pictures can't show you this.
On Saturday, Kyle and I decided to explore Shanghai some more. We started off by heading to an antique market, which reminded me a lot of the Brimfield Flea Market. After that,
we had no plans so we walked in a random direction until we came upon the Flower, Bird, Insect Market. There should be a (etc) on the end of that, as there were also kittens, puppies, hamsters, turtles (snappers too!), salamanders, fish...I could go on. Anyway, it was really,
really hard not to leave there without some furry critter, but I managed. After that, we wandered over to the Huangpu river (on the opposite side of the Pearl Tower) and got a great view. Now I only need to get that same view at nighttime, it'll be amazing.
Today, Sunday, I didn't do too much. I got my homework done and took it easy. The weather was
amazing so I went with a couple of friends to the nearby park...and apparently so did the rest of Shanghai. As my friend said, it was more crowded than Disney World could ever hope to be, even on a holiday. That said, it was still fun. We saw one vendor make animal lollipops out of liquid sugar. We also saw giant inflatable balls in a pool, and a car that had been made into an aquarium...Some sights were stranger than others, but
Mao, Mao, Everywhere
...Is he wearing a bathrobe? it was really nice to get out into the sun.
On a side note, next Friday (3/20) to Saturday (3/28) I'll be on a weeklong trip with my CIEE program. I will first be going to Inner Mongolia for a few days and staying with a farmer's family, and then I'll be going down to Xi'an, and staying there for a few days. So, if something exciting happens before I leave Friday, I'll be sure to try and post it. If not, I'll be back in a couple of weeks! With
lots of photos!
Also, now that the weather is nicer here, Shanghai is like a totally different city. There are about 100x more people walking around and the smell of street vendors' food in the air (mainly stinky tofu, ewww). The city and its people give off a different vibe as everyone comes out of hibernation to soak up the sun!
PS-Don't forget to subscribe/leave a question or comment!! (If you want to, I certainly won't force you)
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Chrissy
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Sweet stuff Meg. I especially liked the 'money shot' of Shanghai. Looks like you're having loads of fun...keep up the good work and have a great trip this coming week!