This will be "he shee montu" for the last time on this trip.
The wonderful thing about travel is that it takes you out of your comfort zone and transports you to another place and time. It also served another wonderful purpose. For the whole trip, while navigating through my various debacles, I never thought about the job once. Well, that's a bit of a lie, but I only slipped once. I am like Charlie Sheen. You could not expect that I would be able to go cold turkey the first time (lol).
Shanghai is spectacular. It is the most beautiful Chinese city and if we had come here first, I would have been worried that the Chinese takeover was imminent. Alas, it is only one city in this vast country and what a shining star it is. It is much more multicultural. We saw three more black people. The buildings are to die for, a mixture of traditional Chinese architecture and European. It is just a lot more civilized. Even the way the people communicate is so much more genteel.
I like Shanghai and will definitely come back for a longer stay. It has now replaced Hong Kong as my favorite Asian city.
We awoke yesterday morning to rain and it was unusually cold for Shanghai but we would not let it dampen our spirits. Breakfast was wonderful in a beautiful dining room on the sixth floor of the hotel. We then proceeded to meet our guide, whose name was Bella. Of our three guides, Bella was not beautiful, as her name suggests in Italian, and she speaks in this monotone voice. She repeats everything over and over again and I wanted to shake her and tell her to stop. At one point as she droned on and on, I told Marcia that we should ask her to take us to the factory where they inserted her tape as she did not appear human. The best description for her is that she reminds me of Chairman Mao's daughter.
However, after such a horrible time in Xi'an, not even Bella was going to break my spirit. She took us to the TV Pearl Tower in Shanghai. It is one of the tallest buildings in the world and we were taken 267 meters high into the sky by a high speed elevator. Once we reached the top, and stepped onto the observation tower, the view of the vista was breathtaking. Even though it was raining and visibility was poor, we could still see for miles and it was absolutely beautiful. As you all know, I am afraid of heights, so I stayed in the inner observation deck. However, Marcia went out onto the outer deck which is glass and from which you can see all the way down. She reported that it was beautiful.
It was then off to shop for a jade bracelet for Mummy and my pingchu (sp), which is a mythical figure which has a dragon head, a body of a horse, the claws of a lion and a unicorn horn and even more important, is constipated. You place his mouth facing the door and he attracts money and good health but does not let it out. Hence, I will be healthy and very wealthy till the end of my days.
Afterwards, Bella took us to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. My friends, I can honestly say that that was the best Chinese food we had during our trip. Very flavorful and we ate until we were stuffed, which as you all know, does not last long, just like their fake stuff. From there it was off to the Yu Gardens, which is a small garden that an emperor built for his mother. Of course, it took so long that the mother died before it was completed. I guess his intentions were good but as well know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Bella then took us back to the hotel, waited until we went upstairs and escorted us to the train line where we were going to meet Marcia's friend to assist us to shop. We met Mary in front of the KFC, where the shopping is located. My friends, rows and rows of shops selling all kinds of fake stuff. I am now the proud owner of a very good fake Rolex. I am hoping that once Steve sees how good it looks on my wrist, he will take pity on me and purchase me one for my birthday. Hope springs eternal. Maybe this dragon will bring a Rolex into my house:)
We then went back to Mary's house. Mary lives here in Shanghai with her husband Peter and her two sons. Her husband is a Resident Manager for a hotel here in Shanghai. She worked with Marcia at the Waldorf over twenty years ago. We then proceeded to the Shangrila Hotel for drinks and jazz on the 36th floor. The view was spectacular of the lighted buildings in the city. We also had some great appetizers and wonderful conversation. We came back to the hotel and packed our fake stuff into our suitcases and played reggae music on the IPOD until we fell asleep.
We are moments from going to breakfast and hustle to get some last minute shopping done along. Nothing gets the adrenaline flowing like cheap, fake goods. We are then going to meet Mary and her family for dim sum before heading off to the airport.
It has been a blast. I thorougly enjoyed my time here in China. While frustrating at times, I will never forget climbing the Great Wall of China and seeing the Terracotta Warriors and wondering at the marvel of it and the genius madness behind the whole idea. I will never forget the bad Chinese food, the rude people and great shopping. Because travel is representative of life. Some good, some bad, but oh so wonderful in its totality. One never knows what wonderul cheap, fake goods lie around the corner, and that is what keeps us going.
If I had never come to China, I would never have known how many light years we have left before they will be able to take over even though the U.S. owes them so much money. We have time to pay them back and beat them at their game as well. I will be writing to let President Obama know. Yes, we can take the good stuff from them, the fact that they built they fast rail system in 7 years. But there is so much wrong with the system here that will preclude them from being "world leaders" in the short term.
Anyway guys, take care and I will be speaking to you all as soon as I recover from my jet lag. What a journey!!!
Warmest regards,
Liz
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