China: Shanghai

China.  Never in my life has China been on my "I'd like to visit" Bucket List.  Even when one of my dearest friends moved there I really, truly, honestly didn't think I'd ever make it over there.  And then one day after chatting with Laura 14 hours away, I had a thought.  Robby came home that evening and our decision to send me to China lasted all of 3 minutes and this was the conversation:

Me:  I think I ought to go to China.
Robby:  Yes, you should definitely go to China.
Me:  Um, what?
Robby:  Sure, why not?  It's a once in a lifetime opportunity and you have someone there to stay with and show you around.
Me:  Well....how long do you think I should go for?
Robby:  I don't know, at least two full weekends and a week in-between.
Me:  Are you serious?

It was all very surreal and of course I couldn't wait to get her back on the phone to let her know of my plans.  Her enthusiasm and excitement did not disappoint and we started our planning.  I went for 11 days total, and had the experience of a lifetime.  She had our schedule jam-packed everyday (just the way I love it) so I left not feeling like I had missed out on one thing that I didn't get to see.  Her husband even took the kids for the weekend so we could venture to Beijing alone to take in the Great Wall and other sites there.  We laughed our way through my trip and I loved getting to see some of the details she's been sharing with me over the past year that she's lived there first hand. 

They were amazing hosts, catering to every need I could have, even my own bottle of hand sanitizer and tissue for the bathrooms.  If that doesn't say love, then nothing does.  Helaina and Indigo seamlessly meld into the life of China, and I loved how while things shocked me, this was their every-day and there wasn't anything shocking to them!  Helaina is in a mandarin emersion preschool and her Chinese (when I could get her to talk to me in it) is impressive.  She loves every minute of it and is definitely a bright young lady.  Indigo is all snuggle and loves her mama to pieces.  She's almost four and then she'll start the same preschool.  In the meantime, she is a puzzle WIZARD.

I was 14 hours ahead of MT and 6,500 miles away which meant a plane ride of 12 hours (from LA to Shanghai).  It passed quickly as I enjoyed reading my book, watching movies, trying to sleep, etc.  It was even better when I saw someone with kids and smiled secretly knowing I wouldn't have to accommodate someone to the bathroom, shush a cry, or try to entertain a little person for the duration of the flight.  Just me, myself and I.

Laura lives in Shanghai, a city that has 27 million people and is ranked the largest city by population in the world.  That's a LOT of high rises.  I kept thinking it would flatten out the longer we drove away from the city, but with a county the size of the US, but with a population of 1.3 billion (the US is 316 million) there's no room for houses...their only option is to build up.  Shanghai itself had some incredibly amazing architecture.  How they design and erect some of the massive buildings is beyond my imagination.  It was also my first real experience on a Metro/Subway system and WOW....talk about a city within a city.  It stretches for miles and looks like a bunch of intertwined arteries when you look at the map.  Not to mention I couldn't pronounce any of the street names or destinations.  I kept (pompously) thinking that there would be English subtitles everywhere, but hardly ever did I see any.  I also kept thinking every white person I saw would speak English. Wrong again.  Which brings me to my next discovery.  I've always considered Laura a go-with-the-flow, make any place a home, the glass is half full person...but after visiting her new life in China I have a whole new level of admiration for all of those things that she does so gracefully and without complaint.  Going to the grocery store, trying to get to a new location, buying clothes, etc are all multiplied in the difficulty that we experience here in the US.  Heck, you can't even drink the water at the restaurants...no wonder her purse weighed 30 pounds.  She's got to pack water around 24/7!

Mostly, visiting China gave me a new appreciation for the easy life I have.  It made me realize (once again...seems I need reminding every so often) I have so little to complain about- my government isn't restricting the amount of children I can have, I drive a car, we have FDA food regulations that keep us safe, there's toilet paper, soap and paper towels in every bathroom you enter, and on and on and on.  On the flip side, the Chinese people are extremely resourceful and waste nothing, which is incredibly impressive considering how much waste we have here.  Think of what we eat of a chicken!  Maybe the breast meat?  They eat the feet, skin, and every last piece of anything left on the bone.  With so many people I suppose they have to.

The markets are a BLAST (and addicting) and I got the hang of bartering pretty quickly (and while I always felt guilty doing it, I also felt competitive until I realized I was bartering for $.50 or something ridiculous like that.)  As Laura would say- "If you don't get it here, you can walk two feet and find the same thing."  It's true.  Markets are abundant and there's one for everything; small commodities and toys, clothing, spinning (making your own clothes), glasses, jewelry, tea, etc.  It was difficult using kuai (RMB) as I felt as though I was playing with Monopoly money.  I didn't really know how much I had spent until I went home and calculated.  I knew a 100 kuai bill was equal to $16, and with most things priced way under 100 kuai...I felt like I was getting a steal no matter what I was buying.  For example, I went to the eye glass market and bought 2 pairs of sunglasses, two pair of prescription glasses (and my lenses were ready in 20 minutes) and a pair of sunglasses for Simone.  Total was $112.  Crazy, right???  I had a blast in the commodities market and finally had to tell myself to STOP buying stuff for the girls.  It was so fun getting Frozen gear for under $10 and ties for my husband for $4.

Just like I didn't know where to start this post, I don't know how to finish.  I have so much to say all scattered in my brain.  Here's some pictures of the days spent in Shanghai, at the markets, and everyday life with the Higgs. 

I arrived in Shanghai at 8 pm on Friday evening and then we woke up at 6 am the next morning to go run a 10K at a cute little water town about an hour bus ride away.  It had rained and China is VERY humid.  It was the hottest run I've ever done, and the scenery reminded me of Hawaii with the bamboo and Palm trees. 

Lake Wen Chang where the 10K was, and my first introduction to a squat pot...which was actually a very clean one.  You aren't supposed to flush toilet paper down, so everyone puts it in the waste basket behind.  You gotta get low, low, low, which was quite a quad workout as you'll get splashed on if you don't!

This is the Shanghai Skyline.  We're right across the river on a walking bridge called The Bund.  On the other side of the skyline (where we are standing) are all the old French Revolution buildings.

The Shanghai tower still being constructed.  So tall it's in the clouds.

French Revolution style buildings.  Drastically different from the modern architecture of Shanghai.

A living wall.  This was absolutely gorgeous, I want one!

The view from Laura's apartment.  They live right across the street from a gigantic park.  It's so green there.

There was a new business opening, so fireworks went off to ward off evil spirits, and this group of drumming girls went around the block.

Construction is everywhere, and I can't believe I actually got a picture of a guy in a hard hat.  Most scaffolding is bamboo and nothing is ever marked or taped off from the public.  "Safety Last" as the Higgs would say. 

Chinese style lemonade stand.  Serving fresh pomegranate and orange juice.

Jewelry market.  All meticulously laid out and repeated over and over.  I can't figure out how they all make it if they all sell the same stuff??? 

Dryers are very uncommon here as the belief is that sunshine drying your clothes is good luck. 

The eye glass market.  There must have been 100+ stalls all vying for your business.  That's not overwhelming or anything.

Tea Market.  Multiple stalls with individual sellers.

You make a date out of the tea market.  You sit down and test different teas for an hour and then make your purchase.  The gal that helped us was incredibly sweet.

There are many ornate and unique garden sculptures around town like this one.

Dumplings!  If you know me, dumplings aren't my thing as they contain mystery meat and I'm not into that...but who can deny the yummy taste of them? 

Impressively hand rolled.

Let's talk a quick hot second about the scooters and bikes.  While it costs you upwards of $20K to register a car in China, most people opt for a scooter, which requires NO license.  Anyone besides me see a problem with that???  They are everywhere, and when I say that I mean it.  Pedestrians have absolutely NO right of way EVER...even when the little white man is flashing on the street sign.  Mopeds drive wherever they want, usually on sidewalks and pay no attention to lights.  Families of 3 or 4 can be seen riding them, no one wearing helmets, and I can hardly believe I didn't see a wreck.  Bikes are also everywhere and they are the oddest looking ones...like they came out of the 1950's.  I hardly ever saw a "new" bike with any coloring like we have here....all metal framed and rusted.

Of course the grocery stores and markets were interesting to me.  Piles of dried fish get picked through, smelt, put back and picked through some more. 

Eggs don't need refrigerated....did you know that?

Mmmmmm.  Frogs.

And eels.

And chopped up bloody fish.  Yum Yum.

Kill me.  Boxer panties for Simone and Sydney.

It was hardly ever not packed tight on the subway.  And there's no polite lines to get on or off...everyone just shoves their way through.

 

Jian Bing.  Love at first taste, this street food is the one exception I made to my "Don't eat street food!" rule.  It takes 45 seconds to make...and I probably ate mine just as fast.  The chef spreads batter, cracks an egg, adds cilantro and green onions and hot peppers, adds a fried wafer of some sorts, some brown gravy sauce and then shablam, you've got yourself heaven in a little plastic baggy all for $1.00.  Redo, please!!!



Split Pants!!!  I could get over all the cute little tooshies I saw walking around town.  Babies 9+ months start potty training by wearing split pants, which are just that- pants with a split from the top to the back.  No panties are worn so that parents can just spread the babies legs and let them potty anywhere convenient. 

The top left picture is a hand made broom.  People everywhere are hired to sweep the streets, sweep the leaves in the grass and keep the city clean.  Being the resourceful people that they are, they are required to make their own brooms.  They look just like witches brooms!