Ni Hao!
After a week in Shanghai for Chinese New Year, I made it back to Hohhot safely tonight. Aside from the fact that my taxi driver charged me double the normal fare from the airport, which I argued about vehemently in "Englishnese" (a combination of my Chinese/English language skills), all is well and I had a nice time in Shanghai.
For my last day in the modern, cosmopolitan city I had lunch with my friend's cousin's friend (thanks Anne and Matt!) and scouted the local DVD shops on Dagu Lu. I bought 8 new releases (like "The Wrestler" and "Revolutionary Road") for only $1 each. What a deal! Then I walked through the stylish, new, Taiwan-built shopping area called Xintiandi. Finally, on my last day, I saw some cool areas.
To top off my day, I took a cab to the YuYuan Gardens and Bazaar. This is in the heart of the Old Chinese City, where back in the day of colonialism, the Chinese built a round wall around their city (a mini version of the Great Wall, if you will), and disallowed all western visitors. No foreigners were allowed inside, and if you somehow got in, you were killed immediately.
The Bazaar was decked out with lanterns and decorations for the new year, and full of people actually celebrating (imagine that!) and eating things like soup-filled dumplings. An oasis of calm in the midst of the chaos was the YuYuan Garden, which was built by Ming Dynasty officials in the 16th century and had beautiful fish ponds, trees and buildings. It was so nice to see something aesthetically pleasing!
It rained all day, which gave the city a nice misty effect. Shanghai has a lot to offer, both culturally and culinarily. I would recommend it, aside from the tea house scams :)
I have 3 more weeks of teaching in Hohhot and then will head down to Thailand! I hope you are having a wonderful 2009 so far, the year of the Ox!
Love,
Kendall
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