Day 3 SHANGHAI

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Okay, have I explained HOW BIG THIS CITY IS? There is no way one can drive from one end to the other because you can't find the other! Tall buildings, construction in preparation for Expo 2010, apartments, shops, and people.. it just goes on and on...

We started our day by heading to the French Concession area on the west side of town for a Dumpling Class at a restaurant. Brentley was thrilled to accompany Sheri and I to this 2 hour class. Actually he was a real trooper, and only male except for several of the chefs. The female employees seemed to take a fancy to him and wanted to know if he was in college? It was a great time. We learned how to make a certain type of dumpling stuffed with pork. It reminded me of my grandmother boiling chicken, because in these dumplings you boil the pork - let the fat rise to the top and scoop it into a bowl of "jelly". The jelly is used in the dumpling mixture, then... the fun part was rolling the dough and making the dumplings. We were able to pack up our handmade dumplings to take with us, but first we went into the main dining room and feasted on many different things. An incredible beef dish, prawn peering from the lazy susan type table, spicy peanuts with little fish mixed here and there, chicken and a favorite... pudding with little tiny dumpling pillows that tasted like marshmellows. We were honored to have the wife of the owner dine with us and afterwards they brought out the chefs to take photos.

Once we were stuffed, we headed down the street to take a taxi to Yu Gardens. The gardens are examples of the Ming-dynasty era. The City God Temple once housed the patron god of Shanghai. The gardens also display one of the best Ming rockeries - displaying peaks, caves, and gorges of southern China. The walls in the garden are topped by a 4-claw dragon instead of five like an imperial dragon, so as not to incur the emperor's wrath. AND, one of the highlights here was a personal performance by an elderly Chinese local. She was with a few other senior citizens and while sitting on a bench began to belt out a beautiful song. Once she was through we gave her the appropriate applause and she smiled and laughed at our attention

The garden compound is surrounded by a huge bazarre with all types of vendors and many American eateries - think Dairy Queen. DQ in China??? Yep right smack dab in the middle of Ming world! Brentley and I hung out in the gardens and bazaar for the rest of the afternoon, tasting the delights and haggling with the locals for good deals! We took a taxi home; however, the driver could not read our hostess's home card (most ex-pats here have home cards with addresses and phone numbers for taxis and... I guess for people like me who may get lost in this huge place). Brentley pulled out the phone and called Sheri so she could converse with the gentleman and tell him how to bring us back to her home. Glad we have her around!

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