Few days left.

It's getting time to think about going home.  We came mid October to help out with grandchildren but have had lots of time to explore and enjoy Shanghai. Stephanie has been based here during her Sabbatical which has been an added blessing. Loved the family time.  

We remember taking Lia to Starbucks when she was this age. Has become a family tradition.

These two girls are amazing, and each one special in thier own way. 

Still a huge thing here especially this time of year is the air quality. What a difference a day makes.  Winds change, temps change and pollution levels vary. But take a look at yesterday and today's readings and as bad as Shanghai is, Beijing is awful.  It is a big political issue here, but it just takes so long to turn this monster that China has created trying to modernize that it is hard to see the changes.  It is hard to know what is true here but I have read some articles about the poisoning of the land with heavy metals and some pretty scary consequences ahead for food consumption, water contamination, health for generations to come.  China is not the only country to blame but it is such a huge economy that it's problems seem insermountable.  

      After all that is said, it is a beautiful, clear, sunshine day. Grounds keepers are putting out pansies in the flower beds for winter planting.  Guess I will need to do that when I get back to Tucson also.

The girls

Thanksgiving in Shanghai

So much to be thankful for this year. Especially for Will and I to have our whole family together here for this time. We actually had a real turkey dinner with all the fixings. A bit Chinese style but the turkey and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie were all there! 

Passing the carving of the turkey onto eldest son. (Nevermind only son)

Our Modern world

Walking through a local vegetable market on the way home from pottery studio today I came upon this " picture" of today. I see everyone, absolutely everyone on thier smart phones.  Business is a little slow, so she's probably checking on her stocks. Made me giggle

Black Friday shopping

I normally hate the day after Thanksgiving shopping and purpose to avoid the stores on that day. However, one of those China - huge shopping centers here has a real Old Navy store with American labels just like we would find in Tucson Mall. They had a "black Friday sale" today with everything in the store 50% off.  I am not sure the locals got the day-after-thanksgiving - Black-Friday thing, but they sure understood the 50% off. I did a little Christmas shopping and Will and I both found a couple of bargins we couldn't live without. Can't believe we stood in that long line!

One thing we have figured out when shopping here. A sale price is marked as the percentage of the amount you will pay, not the percent off. So if a sign says 70%, you will pay 70% of price, or 30% off.  Just a different way of thinking of it. Works either way, just got to know.

    Our Thanksgiving was nice. We went out to a local restaurant that caters to ex-pats for a turkey buffet dinner that was quite good. Guess this place does this every year.

Liji and Yan Wenle

We met up with this dear couple today for a fun few hours. They were students of ours in 2001 when we taught here. They are now living a succesful life in Shanghai, been married 7 years, have one son, she's an Academic at Shanghai Normal University and Liji manages a Wealth Management company here in Pudong region. Met him at his office where he served us traditional tea, then out for lunch, and then a short ferry ride on the river to get a good view of Shanghai and Pudong. It was windy and bitter cold--for us--but at least the sun was finally shining.

Speaking of food. . .

We were, weren't we?  Speaking of food. We are eating well.

Plenty of pastry shops to try

We have patronized several Japanese restaurants.  A little Yakisoba and Will's favorite Katsudon which is a bowl of rice topped with a deep fried pork cutlet, egg and condiments.

Vietnamese Pho. The best I have ever had.

Doesn't look so great but it is. Cucumber juice with mint, sugar, lemon and sparking water

Typical Chinese breskfast. . .Congee, steamed bread, pickles. Doesn't really do it. . Give me bacon and eggs!

Fresh fruit is amazing in freshness, taste and variety.

Cute cappuccino from McDonslds, no less.

Nanxiang

We went on another excursion today out to suburban Shanghai to the "ancient" town of Nanxiang.  It's another one of those "water towns"  who's history is celebrated as a cultural heritage spot and so has been recreated to a Ming and Qing Dynasty time frame.  I am guessing that is 18th and 19th century.
  Anyway, it was pretty interesting. Classical Chinese gardens and recreated merchant houses, surrounding a Buddhist temple, plus the ever present temple market.  Stone arch bridges over the canals makes it all so picturesque.
  This town is also noted as the birthplace of Shanghai ' s most famous steamed dumplings, Xiaolongbao. They are our favorite, for sure,  small steamed dumplings filled with minced pork and wrapped into a perfect ball with no less than 14 pleats to seal it up, served piping hot in a bamboo steam basket (a xiaolong.) Best with dark Chinese vinegar.  We had no trouble finding a restaurant specializing in them.

Shanghai Jewish Museum

An interesting chapter in Jewish history took place here in Shanghai and we spent several hours at the Ohel Moshe Synagogue and Museum learning all about it. A few Jewish families prospered here in the late 19th century in banking and business when China was forced open after the Opium wars. Landmarks on the Bund were financed and built by these including the famous Peace Hotel, etc. Later a wave of Russian Jews came during the upheavals in Russia and made thier home here. But most dramatic story is the Jewish Immigrants who started to  come in 1937 to flee the persecution of the Nazi regime in Europe. When no other country, including the US, would take these immigrants fleeing persecution, Shanghai did. They came basically penniless and were  welcomed by the Chinese at a time when China itself was occupied by the Japanese. It was hard times for the locals, yet they and the Jewish community already established here took in 14,000 refugees. (Conflicting numbers, couldn't quite get the count, but something between 14,000 and 30,000) Conditions were deplorable but they had survived. However life got worse for everyone once war was declared in 1941 and Japan installed totalitarian measures to break China. As bad as conditions were here, they had it better than those left behind who ended up in death camps. After the war the majority left for other countries and Isreal but there is still a remnant left as many married across cultures. A moving humanitarian story.
  After seeing what we saw today, I have  to say I can't help but make parallels between the refusal of the world to take in the immegrants fleeing war-time Germany and the sentiment I am hearing today to refuse entry of Syrian immegrants today into the US. I absolutely don't get the veminous blanket of fear and hatred for these double victims.

The wall is completely covered with names. It is an incompleted list, however. A census was ordered by the Japanese for nefarious reasons which they never had a chance to use before war ended so there is at least a partial record of refugees. 

Jewish "getto" has been preserved by government as part of museum , at least the facade.

The Synagogue is just a museum now as interestingly enough, Judism is not one of the sanctioned religions in China

AP Xinjiang Market

Thus huge underground market by the Science & Technology Museum metro station is Shanghai ' s largest collection of shopping stalls. There's tons of merchandise and fakes, from suits to watches, toys to electronics, t shirts to Indian saris, everything under the sun.  There is also a fabric market with stall after stall of tailors and seamstresses and fabric to boggle the mind.  Want some shirts made overnight, you can get them here! Also the  Yada Pearl market is here. I felt like I was at the Tucson Gem Show--lots more than pearls. Vendors are highly persistant here, haggling is expected and they will follow you a long way down the isle if you start to bargin and then try to walk away.  Think there are probably some good deals here if you are a saavy shopper.
  It's located way over in Pudong and we thought we would check it out and then do the new Shanghai Tower which is also located there. But it was another gloomy day so walking around looking up at tall skyscrapers was not a good idea.  The Shanghai Tower is China's tallest building and is just now getting set to be fully open. The observation deck is not open to the public yet but expected to open by early 2016.  It's an amazing looking building although have had only distant views of it from the Bund. At the moment it is world's second tallest building and it literally spirals it's way up into the skyline.  The design is suppose to reduce wind loads by 24% which generated a savings of US$58m in construction costs.  I am not even sure I understand what that tidbit means exactly but sounds impressive to me.

The Shanghai Tower flanked by the JingMao tower and Shanghai Financial Tower. I stole this photo. . .haven't seen enough sun to take a picture like it.  Word is that the elevator to observation deck will travel 40 mph. So sorry we couldn't give it a go.

Another rainy day

Back in Shanghai and back to incessant rain. It has been cloudy and rainy for days and days and beginning to get on our nerves a bit. Us Tucsonians are missing the sun big time.  Some days feel colder than others, the temps start in mid 50's and maybe gets up to 60 but the dampness always feel colder.  Umbrellas are standard, and rain ranges from drizzle to downpour.

We are high above the busy street and out of the rain. Notice scooterdrivers with with all manner of rain gear.

Three huge cranes along nearby Suzhou River

Also along the river at the same place a steady stream of huge concrete mixers dumping fresh concrete into concrete pumps pushing it down into construction site where it is needed.  Everything is  big in China. 

Wet leaves on sidewalk.  Sycamore trees that are everywhere and ginko trees.  That is about as much fall color I have seen.