4 2 SHANGHAI SHOW

Last night we had a Chinese acrobatic performance onboard the ship.  The youngest performer was 8 and the oldest 18.  As you would expect they were great.  It is almost impossible to get pictures of performers moving, but here are some.
You should have seen the little one spinning by her neck while the bigger one spun around on her skates.


We have probably seen 3 Chinese shows, and each one amazes us.


Today started out much nicer than yesterday.  Though the sky was not clear, it had a higher ceiling and it was not raining.  So out we go onto the Bund.  The Bund is a walkway along the Huangpu River.  It has been redone for the upcoming Expo and they have planted thousands of full grown trees around it.

We did a lot of people watching.  And they did the same.  We turned a lot of heads.  Don’t know exactly why, but we will take it as compliments.  And boy, are there a lot of people to watch……

 
As we have seen everywhere we have traveled, people are the same.  Wonderfully friendly and helpful and just wanting to be happy.  Look at these kids, and their loving parents.


Look at his face.  He was making this face for the camera.
Scenery from across the river.
  
When we were here before we notice the city was very clean.  It still is.  Then the street cleaners were using straw brooms.  Now, new nylon brooms.  We even saw a lady on a 4 wheeler collecting trash with a extension reaching tool, like we see for wheelchair people.
   
We did see one straw broom being used.

Would you like this job?

When we got off the Bund, we walked to Old Town.  Passed this normal street on the way.

While Arleen was shopping in high end stores like the 2 Yuan store (about 30cents), Duane met David.  He is a 71 years and a retired PE teacher.  His English was OK.  He and Duane hit it off, and when I found them, we all went into the old Town of Shanghai together.  David showed us the old Taoist Temple.  The Chinese government has allowed them to make replicas of the statuary that was once there.  This has only happened since the 1980’s.
David showed us a restaurant that we never would have found on our own.  It is always crowded.  They make  only dim sum and soup.  You go to the order counterand get  pieces of paper when you pay for your order and then wait for 2 things.  First you find a table and you stand at it.  That’s right.  The tables are all occupied and you just stand there while people are eating. 

When they finish you take their seats.  This is much the same as what you are supposed to do in the ladies’ room.  Instead of standing in line, you are supposed to stand at a stall, like a bank.  It was quite a surprise on our first trip here.
Anyway, the second thing you wait for is the food.  Everyone is waiting for the same thing and we are all served at once.  You have ordered your food by trays.  So, they drop off your number of trays.
  
This is David looking at his English book.
 
This is a view from a store at the top of one of the buildings.  I think one of David’s students runs it.  Anyway, this view of the old and the new is a current thing.  David said 20 years ago we would be looking at farms. (I said “unbelievable!”. Then David asked why I didn’t believe him.  I explained.)