World Cruise - Day 65 - Mar 17 - Shanghai, China

When we woke at 6a, we were already tied up alongside the dock.  I went out looking for a city view or possibly a peek at a sunrise, but we’re pretty boxed in here at the port and it’s still pretty foggy.  Here is the best pic I could get from port side of the ship (we are tied up starboard side):

This pic is of the Yangtze River with the Pudong (new Shanghai) skyline in the background.  Just to put size and scale into perspective, most of those skyscrapers in the background are 40-60 stories and the tower is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, one of the world’s largest TV towers.  Behind those two boats going further upriver are scores more stretching as far as the eye can see up the Yangtze River.  I was talking to one of the ship’s officers and he said that we arrived so early to get on the other side of the convoy, which he said will continue in one direction for 6 hours, then the boats going in the other direction will go for six hours.  Most of the boats are carrying coal, like the boat in the foreground of the pic above.  Shanghai is the world’s busiest container port.  There is a building with “Cosco” on the top of it right outside our balcony, not sure if that is global headquarters for Cosco, but we see Cosco ships all the time in Puget Sound back home.

Shanghai has a total population of 23 million, so about 3x the size of New York City.  It is the world’s largest city proper in the world (some other cities are larger in their metropolitan area).

It’s going to be a pretty warm day today, although this is a high chance of rain.  Forecast high is 62 and low is 51, which is warmer than normal.  We’ve had a string of good weather throughout this trip.  Yesterday was rainy, but we were at sea, so we were snuggled up inside with plenty of indoor activities going on.  Our port days have all been warmer than the normal average and very dry.  We’ll see if today keeps the record going, in spite of the forecast.

We did a Bible study and video sermon this morning from John Elliott entitled “Freedom from Slavery” then did some walking around Shanghai later in the day.

Janny Chyn was our local walking tour guide for the day.  She gave us a good overview of the city in several different areas.  We went first to Yu Garden.  Here is a gate as we came near (but not yet to) Yu Garden:

These people were doing a form of tai chi that looked kina like our Zumba class in the morning:

This is the more traditional tai chi, being done on the sidewalk with scooters racing by:

They were lined up along the sidewalk, about 10 or so people, all doing tai chi:

Another traditional Chinese building on our way to Yu Garden:

Look at the people in the foreground of the picture with their dogs in the basket of their bikes.  Janny said that this is one of the ways people take their dogs out for a walk in China.

This is a local dumpling maker.  How would you like that job, filling up the dumpling containers?

Lots of the dogs we saw in Shanghai were dressed in a variety of outfits.  I like how this one had both a top and pants:

This is at the entry to Yu Garden, these flowers floating on the water:

Inside Yu Garden, one of the traditional buildings facing the garden.  Note also that the trees are blossoming behind Krissie:

Note the lentil in the doorway above.  Janny said that the Chinese are very superstitious and they build things to keep the evil spirits from entering.  So the bridge to enter is in a Z configuration, because evil spirit can only walk straight and they cannot jump (hence the door lentil).  There is a mirror in the house to keep them away, since if they see their own reflection, they will be frightened and run away.

I liked how this stone entryway framed the garden behind:

You can see more of Yu Garden here.  And note that throughout the day you will see what looks like a “mist” in the background of the pics.  That is actually mist and it lasted the entire day:

There were dragons in several areas of the garden, this wall was topped with one:

There are elaborate lanterns and ceiling decorations in the buildings:

Still in Yu Garden, very picturesque:

This is on the top of one of the buildings, note the warriors and the dragon:

Two dragons facing each other over a gate:

There was a nice koi pond in Yu Garden as well:

Note the stone behind Krissie—that is a very rare and valuable stone, so it was made the centerpiece of what the owner of the garden would face from the nearby building:

Another tree in early bloom:

Look closely at this poodle.  It is wearing shoes:

Do you know what this is in the pic below?

We guessed cable box, Internet connection, phone connection, electrical box, all wrong.  It is a milk delivery container.  One key for the milkman to open it, another key for the local owner.

These children were walking down the local street:

Note that they all wear pants with a flap that allow them to both have their diaper changed easily as a baby and to go to the bathroom as a toddler.

Do you know what this guy is carrying that looks like a big flower pot?

Yes, it is a pot, but not for flowers.  It is a chamber pot.  He had just emptied it and is returning home.

This guy is cleaning out his chamber pot after emptying it:

We then went to Xia Hai Temple where Janny showed us how they lit the incense…

…then bowed at each position in each direction:

This is the entrance to the first temple:

Buddhism in China is a combination of several influences, including Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto.  Lots of Buddha statues:

Afterward we walked through a market area where they were cooking local delicacies:

And selling live chickens  If you look closely, you will see the remains of chickens in the red tub below:

They kill and de-feather the chicken right there at the shop.

This guy was selling a variety of beans as we made our way to the Jewish Ghetto:

There is a mix of different modes of transportation including bicycles, scooters, strollers and walking, all mixed on the same streets:

This is the interior courtyard of the Jewish Ghetto.  Many Jews relocated here between 1933 and 1939, although only one Jewish family stayed in 1949 when the Communists took over:

There is a park in the Jewish Ghetto where the kids were out playing:

The three boys on the right were fighting over the green ball:

These two men were playing a form of Chinese chess:

This is a hot pot restaurant, where you buy food on a stick, then cook it in a hot pot:

We had lunch at Shanghai Min Restaurant:

Shanghai food uses more soy sauce, is sweeter and uses more oil than typical Chinese food.  We had chicken soup, beef tenderloin wok style with peppers, asparagus and Shanghai style fried rice.  It was the highlight of the day for Krissie (mine was cricket wrestling and marriage market, coming up soon).  The lunch was wonderful, the dessert (sticky rice) was awful—yuck!

Even though I didn’t get a picture of it, several times during the day we saw people walking around in just their PJs.  Janny said it’s more comfortable for them to walk around in their pajamas.

Then we went to the cricket and bird market.  Outside they were selling cans for storing your cricket, small ones for normal crickets and large ones for fighter crickets:

Do you know what these are for?

The trays at the front are food dishes and water dishes for your cricket.  The grey and orange pentagon pots in the back are “cricket taxis” for moving them from one place to the other.  Top right are brushes, which are used to tickle the crickets to get them to fight.

There were all sorts of birds for sale in the market, cage after cage after cage:

This is the different type of bird food for sale, made right there on the premises:

Or you could buy a little worm to feed to your bird:

This is cricket food, sold in small packages:

Here are the fighting crickets for sale.  No kidding.  They have cricket fights (looks more like cricket wrestling) and then bet on the matches.  The Chinese like to bet on just about anything, including cricket wrestling.  Janny said this guy was probably there all day examining the crickets to decide which one to buy as his fighter:

He would take out a cricket and put it into this small container, then tickle it with one of the brushes you see on the right.  If the cricket showed its teeth (I didn’t know that a cricket has teeth?), that is a good sign that it will be a good fighter.

This is a cricket match on TV, the one on the right is about to attack the one on the left:

Yes, this is two crickets in a duel to the death (or until one of them breaks a leg), then the match is over:

You could just buy a “normal” cricket to make a cricket noise that you could carry around in your pocket.  Or several crickets to give you a peaceful sound to put you to sleep.  But a fighting cricket would cost anywhere from $1 to over $1,000.

Krissie in front of the more expensive birds.  If they sing and/or talk, that commands a higher price:

Krissie in front of the Shanghai Museum at People’s Square:

Then we went to the Marriage Market:

Parents come to the Marriage Market to make matches for their children.  It’s more than just a few parents coming together to try to matchmake their kids, they are very organized about it, including putting up personal ads about each guy or girl:

Note the pic in the one that is top left.  It’s rare to see a pic.  But you will see age, what type of job they have, how much money they make, where they live, what kind of car they drive, etc.

I had to act like I was taking this pic of Krissie and Janny to get the actual pic I wanted of the people behind them.  Most of the ads are placed on an open umbrella:

This guy was very popular:

When Janny read the ad, she found out that the guy’s son is 28 years old, earns 180,000 RMB/year (about $30K/year) and she said he was a hot commodity.

Janny is 28 and said that when you are over 30 and single in China, you are viewed as being “expired.”  She said that the A guys go for the B girls, the B guys go for the C girls, the C guys go for the D girls, so the D guys and the A girls are left without.  She’s an A girl, so if you know of an A guy in Shanghai who isn’t intimidated by an A girl who has a good education and a great job, contact Janny at janny0302@gmail.com.  If you need a good tour guide in Shanghai, she’s great.

We rode a subway over to the French Concession.  When we first got on, we were squished in like sardines.  But then we switched to another subway after a few stops and it wasn’t as crowded.  Note the girl and the little boy in this pic working the crowd for money (the girl is singing, the little boy is begging):

We went into a part of the French Concession that used to be narrow back alleys, but is now converted to retail shops and restaurants:

Nice place for young people to hang out:

We ended our day on The Bund, with a view of Pudong on the right of the pic and our ship (very faint) in the middle left of the pic (not the one in the middle of the river, further back).  It’s still very hazy, but we haven’t had any rain:

Janny also took us to the Fairmont Peace Hotel, which has some wonderful art deco design:

Then we walked from The Bund back to our ship (also visible in the background of this pic, but again very hazy):

We ate dinner on the port side of the ship, where we could see the Pudong (new Shanghai) skyline when a brightly colored ship went by:

Tonight’s entertainment was the Shanghai Zhoukou Actrobats, a group of young acrobats from Shanghai:

They started with a spinning plates act.  Each girl was spinning 8 plates at a time.  And yes, they were real plates and no, they weren’t attached (they put them down on the floor at the end).

They did all sorts of acrobatic formations, both the girls and the guys:

Tomorrow is sea day #1 of 2 on our way to Hong Kong.