Shanghai Times (Days 12-14)

The longest leg of our trip, a 12-day stop in Shanghai, began with our late Wednesday-night arrival at the Marriott Executive Apartments near People's Square in the heart of the city. Our suite had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen and, to our surprise and great delight, a washing machine/dryer! 

We immediately lit some incense and said a prayer of thanks.

Although we were completely unable to decipher the settings and dials, I secured a manual in English (regrettably, no Chinglish) and proceeded to plow through two or three small loads a day for the next week.

Shanghai, the largest city proper by population in the world with over 24 million inhabitants, is known as the Pearl of China. It is a modern metropolis serving as China’s commercial and financial center and a symbol of the country's economic success, but also has its own deep history and long standing traditions. To me, if Beijing is your grandparent's house with old books and heirlooms on dusty shelves providing constant reminders of generations past, then Shanghai is your rich uncle's modern pad with both a shiny new sports car in the driveway and several cherished family mementos carefully displayed.

Our hotel in the background. Vaughn had to ditch the souvenir Mao cadet hat because placing it atop his juan tou fa (curly hair) proved too irresistible to the citizenry of Shanghai.

On Thursday, July 10 - a workday for Betsy - the kids and I started off in the heat and humidity for a walk through People's Park located adjacent to our hotel. The beautiful park was developed beginning in 1952 and currently features a waterfall, a lotus pond, fitness areas and a small amusement park.

One of the "fitness areas." We wondered if their wives know about their daily gambling exercise.

Our plans to meet up with our friends from Guilin came to fruition as we miraculously rendezvoused with Danne, Layla and Ahmad Johnson on Nanjing Road, a nearby pedestrian shopping plaza. After bathing in the air-conditioned comfort of a three-story M&M shopping emporium we made our way back to People's Park. All five kids screamed and hollered their way through a thrilling swing ride before we wandered toward the exit through the beautiful park grounds.

NOT a busker; only in the parks do people seem to play for pleasure instead of pocket change.

Danne had a lunch place in mind in the French Concession, an area once designated for, go figure, the French that still retains a unique charm with its tree-lined avenues, small cafés and many fine old houses. The Johnsons had experience riding the subway and were happy to guide us on our initial plunge. Having navigated the much older subways in London, Paris and Brussels two summers ago, I can say that the 11-year old Shanghai subway is far cleaner, a bit cheaper (kids ride free!) and has an easier payment system. 

I'll never forget spontaneously belting out the Laverne and Shirley theme song with Danne and sharing obscure childhood memories as we walked past the Shanghai Museum on our way to the subway station. We also got a laugh out of being the ONLY non-Chinese riders on the train (which pretty much always seemed to be the case) and we wondered what the locals must have made of this crazy Brady Bunch of smiling American faces. Danne's choice of eateries did not disappoint as we all devoured the fried rice, sautéed sword (green) beans with minced shrimp, braised pork (amazingly fresh and deliciously fatty) and mixed pan-fried mushrooms. We said goodbye to our friends as we separated before boarding different subway lines with plans to meet up later at the Bund. 

Tragically, that meeting was not to be as our good luck ran out and we failed to find each other that night. We have little doubt that the Hughes and Johnson families will ride again and can't wait for our next adventure together. 

On that foggy night, we did make it to The Bund (more on that area later) to pose for some photos - some with just us in them! - before we strolled back to our hotel along the brightly-lit Nanjing shopping plaza.

Everyone say "qie zi!" The word for eggplant is the Chinese equivalent of "cheeeese!"

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Day 13 was a quiet one as the kids and I beat the heat by exploring the businesses adjoining our hotel; we flipped through the menus of ultra-fancy restaurants, peeked into the Ferrari and Maserati dealerships and found the best places to pick up snacks and drinks. After an afternoon swim and a dinner cooked in our very own kitchen that satisfied our cravings for good old pasta with tomato sauce and steamed broccoli, we settled in for a movie and a good night's rest.

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Betsy had organized a tour of the towns of Suzhou and Zhouzhaung on Saturday, July 12 and we were up bright and early to meet our guide in the lobby. Joined in the van by a family of three from Panama and a lady from New Zealand, we were whisked 75 miles west to Suzhou, the “Hometown of Silk.” Our first tour stop was the Master-of-the-Nets Garden, a World Heritage Site that contains a series of halls skillfully sculpted since 1140 to synthesize art, nature and architecture into one grand masterpiece.

One of our favorite photos so far. Hooray for Pano.

Each of the rooms blends elements of feng shui to create the most ideal arrangements. The windows and doorways - all of which have a raised trestle to ward off evil spirits (bad form to tread on them, by the way) - are all carefully oriented with the surrounding water, rocks and vegetation to create inspiring views at every turn.

We were then transported to the "Suzhou No. 1 Silk Factory Co. Ltd." The factory, built in 1926, now combines fascinating elements of the ancient practice of silk production with the obnoxious heavy-handed salesmanship of a Chinese tourist trap. Still, it was worth it to see the complete process of sericulture (silk farming) including mulberry cultivation, the silkworm life cycle, silk reeling, silk weaving and silk quilt making. Our first sight was a mat of wriggling worms munching on mulberry leaves. 

After one month, the larvae stop eating and spin the cocoons that are sorted and harvested. A quick steam bath loosens the silk and kills the pupae inside. Workers then brush each cocoon to find one end of the single, mile-long filament and thread eight ends at once into this reeling machine that winds them together.   

The reel deal.

Those thicker threads are then fed into automated looms that use programmed punch cards to create the intricate patterns seen in silk clothing and blankets. Other cocoons are treated and stretched into sheets for quilts. 

Several child labor laws were broken at No. 1 Silk Factory Co. Ltd. that day.

The end of the tour is a typical Chinese sales assault where purchase is highly encouraged. (Anywhere there are shops, the proprietors will holler at and motion to foreign passers-by in broken English to spark interest in their wares. A bargaining process usually ensues unless the prices are clearly marked. Buyers should rarely pay more than ⅓ to ½ of the original asking price.) At this silk factory, the prices were clearly marked and we purchased one of the king-sized, medium-thickness quilts for a reasonable US$130. 

The next stop was a really tasty lunch that featured yu xiang you si, a new favorite. Yu xiang literally translates to the unappetizing "fish aroma" but it is a flavorful sauce that is incorporated into many meat and vegetable dishes. This one had thinly sliced pork and vegetables and was so good we didn't even stop eating to get a photo. Sorry, foodies!

The final tour stop was a visit to the “Venice of the East.” Zhouzhaung, the most popular ancient water village in China, has preserved a direct link to the past for more than 900 years. Classic courtyards, carved-brick archways and Chinese-style gondola rides offer a unique perspective of life in this fascinating town surrounded and divided by lakes, rivers and canals.

Over 800 households still call Zhouzhaung home so one gets a glimpse of the ancient way of life while still having the opportunity to explore the many shops, food stalls, temples, famous houses and historic bridges. The Twin Bridges, comprised of Shide Bridge and Yongan Bridge, are the most famous and considered the symbol of Zhouzhaung. Together the two bridges resemble an old-style Chinese key and brought notoriety to the region when painter Chen Yifei's depiction, Memory of Hometown, gained international attention upon being displayed in New York in the mid-1980's. 

  
We visited a beautiful open-air opera house where we saw a brief musical performance before we boarded a gondola for a pleasant and scenic 20-minute canal cruise through the town.

An even briefer performance.

Our request for 'O Solo Mio' went unfulfilled.

A short rainstorm brought a bit of relief from the relentless heat and drove us into the shopping area where we were accosted from all sides. We ended up getting this artisan down to 100 yuan from over 300 for a trio of intricate glass orbs that are painted from the inside. Each of the kids got their Chinese names inscribed in these treasured mementos.

It takes a steady hand!

We were all happy to get back to the hotel at the end of a long and interesting tour, eager for a few days with very little planned except for wandering around Shanghai, doing some knock-off shopping and meeting some of Betsy's friends and colleagues for dinner.    

BRUGGE & GARDEN PARTY (DAYS 12, 13)

On Friday evening, we made the one-hour drive northwest to picturesque Brugge, the Venice of the North. Alternately spelled Bruges, the city is filled with well-preserved architectural and artistic treasures as well as a lovely Crown Plaza hotel that served as our base of operations for the weekend. We were right around the corner from the town square which resembled Grand Place in Brussels with its wide plaza ringed by ornate, gilded buildings.   

We set out to explore right away and were drawn to the fragrant scent of chocolate wafting out of the magnificent sweet shops. We managed to resist since a nice box of chocolates had greeted us in our hotel room thanks to Betsy's frequent-guest status. The city also has a tradition of lacemaking and there were several stores selling fine examples of the delicate material.

We wanted to get back to our room fairly quickly, however, so we could enjoy a live airing of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. While we are unable to see any event video from the US telecasts on TV or online, it has been interesting to watch the BBC coverage as well as the Belgian TV broadcasts. We do miss Bob Costas and getting to closely follow all of the American stories but I expect our visit to London in less than two weeks will take a little of the sting away.

The timing of our travels continues to be impeccable as we escaped a major rain in Brussels and found ourselves in the middle of a music festival weekend. There were concerts in another square right on the doorstep of our hotel all weekend long including this one in Saturday night featuring Lady Linn, a popular singer/songwriter who's all the rage in Europe.

After a dip in the hotel pool on Saturday morning, we enjoyed a half-hour boat tour through the canals of the city that took us by many of the main sights. In the first picture you can see one of the boats that are constantly cruising up and down the waterways as the guides describe each of the landmarks in Dutch, French and then English. Later, as we strolled through the city wandering through narrow cobbled passageways and historic buildings at every turn, we naturally began to build up a thirst. We decided to learn more about the unending variety of available beers by taking in a brewery tour at the De Halve Maan (Half Moon) family brewery.

The brewery, still active today, has been producing beer since 1856. We were introduced to the interesting world of malt and hops and enjoyed hearing a lot of fun anecdotes about the history of the building and its machinery. 

These giant tanks once held the beer as it seasoned and had to be thoroughly cleaned between each filling. It was a dangerous job because of the alcohol vapors and lack of oxygen making its way through the tiny door. Two workers always had to be present; one would stand guard outside to ensure the safety of the man inside who would whistle or sing as he scrubbed. When the whistling stopped or the singing became garbled it was time to get out!

The tour also included a stop on the roof of the building which offered a panoramic view of the entire city. The boys made sure to announce to everyone present that I was scared of heights so I had to climb up and down the see-through stairs while everyone watched to see if I would lose it. Fortunately we all made it up and down just fine.

The tour concluded with a refreshing glass of Zot Blond for the adults and a hot chocolate for the kids, all included with our admission.

We have learned already to find eateries just off the main tourist areas in towns like these. While you may sacrifice a bit of ambience, the tens of Euros saved are worth it. In addition, most of the restaurants surrounding the town squares all offer a similar menu of local dishes. We were delighted to find two memorably different and inexpensive meals in a little Italian place down a one-way street and a delicious pitalier a block off the main plaza during our visit to Brugge.

There are also numerous food carts but I usually take one look at the menu and decide it's time to move on. How can one ever choose between a bitterballen, some kippenvleugels or a garnalenkroket?!

Fortunately, our dining options for dinner on Sunday upon our return to Brussels were settled days ago. One of Betsy's friends from work, Rebecca Sheridan, and her husband Simon hosted a lovely garden party with an international array of friends and neighbors. It was fun to talk to a lot of interesting people and the food, capped off by a tableful of wonderful homemade desserts was excellent.

Finally, the kids picked out their Belgian souvenirs in Brugge and made some very fine choices. The boys opted for a couple of matching shields and swords, complete with leather scabbards, while Quinn couldn't resist this sweet little Snowy doll.

We're having a quiet Monday in the flat today enjoying the Olympics but will hit the town again tomorrow when all of the museums open for the week. See you next time!