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Published: November 22nd 2008
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I got up early on this day to do a lane walk. There are a few published books that give historical walks throughout the city and I wanted to take one. Brentley was out late the night before with Tyler and his friends so he slept in. My friend and hostess had household things to do so I set out on my own. Ty drove me to Hongkou in the north French Concession area of Shanghai. I was dropped off at the beginning of the self tour in front of Lu Xu Park. I am very limited in my Mandarin... a thank you and a hello is about all that my Chinese friends will recognize! I knew I'd be okay when across the street was a Star Bucks... Thank God in Heaven! I immediately made my way through bicycles filled to the brim with various sorts of fare, cars zooming by at high speeds and foot traffic. The doors opened and I knew this may be the best morning yet! After my houseblend of the day, and a little studious look at the guidebook, I set off on my walk through the twists and turns of the Lu Xu area. On
Saturday and Sunday, the park comes to life with Chinese families, vendors selling their wares, and on this morning it had a few special activities. I took in a sword dance by a rather handsome man and his dance companion, listened to a large Chinese chorus sing about something grand I'm sure, and checked out Lu Xun's mausoleum. Lu Xun was China's most famous modern writer.
The walk formally began with a side street excursion where I walked through the Asia Terrace lilong. The lilong was built in 1935 and was a primarily Japanese-occupied lilong. One of the homes in the lilong is now a museum to Communist martyr Li Bailie who lived from 1910 to 1949. He was sent to Shanghai in 1937 as a clandestine radio operator but his real role was to provide military intelligence on the Kuomintang and Japanese.
Back in the Lu Xu park the locals were having a great time, singing, working out and visiting - I took another look at the statue of Lu Xun. He is creditied with breaking away from the classical literary in China bringing a new type of prose to the people... he was also the first
person to translate Western science-fiction novels into Chinese. Old Lu was an interesting character founding the League of Leftist Writers and bringing in foreign ideas into the culture... right up my alley - a real Rebel Rouser! Unfortunately he had to live in hiding for the last ten years of his life... but on the bright side - hey he's got his own statue!
The park also contains a beautiful lake and Birds Nest Hill a place where you can walk among bamboo to a high point in the park and listen to the birds. It is quiet and peaceful, many Chinese use this area for contemplation and a quick tobacco fix, oh yeah it's also a perfect place to relieve ones self... at least that's what the gentleman was doing in the bamboo when I was making my way up the hill for some contemplation... my comtemplation got stuck in the myriad of methods the Chinese have to relieve themselves. There's the unzip and have at it method, then there's the inside toliet hole - you can't really feel uncomfortable when you get to squat over porcelain can you?
Once I completed my tour of the park
I headed east, or was it west - then again it could have been north I HAD NO IDEA. I was a bit directionally challenged and was not sure where my next street tour was at that point. It had begun to rain, my camera went into my backpack, and I landed on a very busy corner where I found a taxi and headed back to my friend's home. Forty minutes later (you can't go anywhere without traveling in Shanghai) I'm back at the housing complex where I had begun. Brentley and Tyler were still asleep, Sheri was grocery shopping, Jesse was on the computer and Matt was playing tennis - a typical Saturday.
In the afternoon, Matt, Sheri and I met Brentley and Tyler at the "knock-off" market where the boys were doing some serious bargaining. The sweet, young Chinese girl wouldn't let them leave her booth but would NOT give them the price they wanted on a sweater. They probably left three times before she finally gave up and let them have the DEAL. Jesse eventually joined our party and we headed down to the BUND also known as Zhongshan Lu. It's Shanghai's signature. What an incredible,
incredible neon picture! The river promenade at dark is spectacular with bank buildings, offices, restaurants and clubs shining like a beacon of western commercialism. The Huangpu River is flanked by the heart of colonial Shanghai and new Shanghai (much of which was not in existance 10 years ago) and people stroll along this boulevard at all times of the day, but night... well night is a beast of its own with tankers slinking by while huge party boats decked in bright neon colors greet even the most timid visitor. We dined at a continental restaurant called the Red Dot where the wine and pasta were excellent. The night ended with a rainy stroll down the river promenade and a quick stop for a McDonald's cone!
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