Rainy Days in Shanghai -- PHOTOS

Today’s adventure started with a wonderful breakfast buffet in the hotel. I immediately recognized some of the items from Sue’s and Arlie’s visit here. Troy really wants to try the fungus soup. Seriously! He did say that the “smocked salmon and tuna” were delicious. He wasn’t too keen on the soy bean juice. He said it tasted like burned sesame seeds and plastic, and watered down skim milk with a hint of green bean. These are HIS words! He made sure to tell me that the “burned” part was very important. The farthest I ventured into the cultural cuisine was bok choy and spicy noodles.

My Lyv and me after a filling breakfast at the hotel

The day started out beautifully, but quickly took a turn when we decided to leave the physical and mental comfort of our hotel. One of our goals for our time in Shanghai was to visit “downtown Shanghai” to see the famed skyscrapers we’ve seen built on the television show “Big Jobs.” Well… it turned out to be a BIG JOB for us!

We packed up our little (HA!) family…remembering to bring the essentials… and headed for downtown. First, we boarded the airport shuttle. Once in the airport, we found the Maglev that would take us to Line 2. We watched the speed climb to 430 km/h. (For all of my young blog viewers… here is the importance of knowing the metric system! The US is the only country that uses standard measurement (feet, miles, gallons, etc.) The girls really enjoyed this ride…sort of like Disney’s monorail on steroids.

When we stepped off the Maglev, we quickly realized that we are foreigners! The signs are written in both Chinese and English, but following them seemed to be the issue. I thought Line 2 was going to be a bus, but the symbol was for the subway. Troy’s maiden voyage on a subway was going to be in Shanghai! (At least I’d been to Underground Atlanta.) Just getting through the turnstiles was a challenge. These are the details that no one seems to share. Who would think to ask it anyways?

As we sat on the subway, I began to feel like the Coneheads. At the first stop, a family walked on and the little boy started slapping his mom on the knee and pointing at us. The entire car started watching us. What do you do? We just smile! Even though she was prepared for it, poor Maddie was so uncomfortable with all of the stares from the young men. I think I have fingernail marks on my arm! Lyvie was being her charming little self, trying her Chinese language skills on everyone she met. Watching them look at Troy was the most comical. At 6’5” he towers over most people in the States. Can you imagine how he feels here? People would walk by him and size him up from toe to head. One poor guy ran right into a post because he couldn’t get over Goliath on the subway.

Once we got off at our stop and fumbled through the turnstiles again, we walked right into a rainstorm! It was like a Pacific Fay. (By the way, the best time to try your bargaining skills is NOT for an umbrella while it’s raining!) One thing about Shanghai is that construction and traffic stops for no one. The only thing standing between us and our skyscrapers was a block of construction, a deluge and some very crowded streets. We passed through the Shanghai Expo 2010 site…a beautiful park setting amongst dozens of skyscrapers. I was fine as long as I could be in these green areas. Watching the koi seemed to calm my frayed nerves. They didn’t seem to mind that it was raining!


We got to a barrier that we just couldn’t cross… a flooded corridor surrounded by construction barriers. Sadly, we’d reached the end of our journey. We were so close, yet so absolutely far away. Just as a last tease, we looked over at the Shanghai World Financial Center to see the clouds flowing between floors 94 and 1oo. What an amazing sight that was!

Troy in front of Shanghai's World Financial Tower (left) and Jin Mao Tower

Retracing our steps back to the hotel was much easier. Once we got back to the airport, we had our first dinner in China at Burger King! The menu is a little different, but we all voted that it tasted better here than at home.

Maddie is VERY happy now that she found chicken nuggets!

One more ride on the hotel shuttle and we were back in our comfort zone… and very worn out! No need for Benadryl…Lyvie was asleep by 8 PM (just like the rest of us.) Unfortunately it’s not much different than home. I’m up at midnight and on the computer and “working on the work” for my class.

Two and a half days until we have Adam in our arms! I checked our updated itinerary from our agency and found out we’ve got a fourth family joining our group in Nanjing. Another XuZhou baby is coming home!!! It is so nice that one of Adam’s little friends is joining him on his journey home. I don’t know much other than his friend’s name (Fu Tian); but, for my XZ family, I’ll let you know as soon as I find out!

My email has been acting strange. I can read them, but can’t reply to them! Rest assured, I have read each and every one. It’s comforting to know that home is just a “left click” away.



“Where in the World is Mrs. Church?” Day 5 Question

Roundtrip Maglev tickets: 80 yuan
Roundtrip Subway tickets: 24 yuan (plus 3 yuan for the ticket Troy lost)
Dinner at Burger King: 80 yuan
Not getting lost in Shanghai: PRICELESS

One American dollar is equal to roughly 7 Chinese yuan (also known as the RMB.) How many yuan did we spend on our tour of Shanghai today? How much would that cost in American dollars? Explain how you arrived at your answer. (HINT: I hope you remember your division skills!) And, don’t forget… have Ms. Adams save all of your “Where in the World” work in one folder so you can share your great work with me when I get home! Miss you!!!