All Around Shanghai

Good morning/evening everyone! (It's morning here, evening there. I don't know what the proper greeting is.)

Yesterday we had a terrific tour of Shanghai. The day started out with a walk along the Bund, a boardwalk-type area overlooking the new financial district across the river. At the end of our walk, we stopped for a traditional Chinese tea service. (The picture above was taken outside of the tea house.) Then we toured the Yuyuan Gardens, a tranquil oasis in the middle of some of the most crowded market streets we have ever trod that was built in 1559. (The picture below was taken at the Happy Fish Pagoda in the gardens.)

After lunch we went to the Shanghai Museum and saw thousands of years' worth of paintings, ceramics, sculpture, and coinage. Of course, the special exhibit currently on display at the museum was entitled "300 years of Art in America"! In the evening we had dinner with a group of management students at Shanghai Jiaotong University, and then we capped off the night with an acrobatic show. (I'm sure that many of the students have pictures of me taking advantage of the theater's comfortable chairs to catch up on some sleep!)

It was a tremendous day, and it already feels like we've been here for weeks. I'm sure that the rest of the days will not be this busy. If they are, I don't know too many of us who will last the three weeks! Today we're headed to Zhouzhang, a medieval water village, and tomorrow we visit the silk factory in Suzhou. I put the over/under for the amount of souvenirs purchased there to be somewhere in the neighborhood of the GDP of a small nation.

I've been asked to relay a message for Sugarface: Dad says to do your math homework (I concur!) and that he loves you very much!