A Day in Shanghai

On our way to the Philippines yesterday , we had a 10 hour layover in Shanghai. I specifically picked these tickets, because what’s better than a one destination priced plane? A plane ticket priced to one destination that includes two destinations! Our day in Shanghai was just a happy bonus to our 2 week trip to the Philippines.

We arrived in Shanghai around noon, checked our bags into a baggage hold, and jumped in a taxi. We let the taxi know right away our first priorities in Shanghai-xiao long bao! Xiao long bao are deeeelicious steamed dumplings. They have juices in the inside that just taste like home, comfort food, your mothers famous roast, and the holiday season, all in one. They’re magical. After a 200 yuan taxi ride from the airport (We’re not in Qingdao anymore! We’d never survive with these high taxi prices!)  our taxi driver dropped us off at a small Xiao long bao restaurant. We then preceeded to eat some of the best Chinese food we’ve had in China.

I came to China 5 years ago and lived in South China for the summer. Then, I left with a great impression of Chinese food. Chinese food was delicious! After moving to Dongying, I was super confused. I would often tell Zachary , “ I swear the food in South China is way better!” but I started thinking that maybe I remembered incorrectly. Maybe I was just too excited about China, or too young, being in University and all, to remember the food properly. But today proved I was not crazy. We had delicious kung pao chicken, an egg plant dish and the famous soup filled dumplings. People, China has good food again! We made a pact to try to find some good Chinese restaurants in Qingdao. There’s bound to be some cooking up some Shanghai fare!

After lunch, we went to Xitiandi, a trendy area in the French concession. We wondered along the street imagining what life was like there 50 years ago. There were tons of upscale restaurants and cafes with price tags way above our Qingdao-ren standard. We finally stopped at a cute pastry shop and got two tiny tarts for the price of a new dress at Target. But it’s okay, it was nice, we rested our feet and had a tiny “splurge,” with a little bit of luxury, like the foreigners used to do in Shanghai. We did skimp on the $15 juice and the $10 flat water, though!

After Xitiandi, we went to the Yuyuan Garden and bazaar. This area of town is exactly what people probably think of when they think China. Beautiful ming gardens, silk for sale, winged roof tops and ornate decorations. We had a relaxing stroll through the gardens and enjoyed looking at all the architecture, despite the amount of people there.

Next, we made our way to the bund, enjoyed the views and took the ferry across the Hudong River. We quickly found a Starbucks, the same Starbucks I have been telling Zachary about for the last 5 years. It’s right on the river and has gorgeous views. We sat, resting our feet and bodies, and read our books, while enjoying a cool frap.

After our coffee break, we headed next door to an Italian restaurant, the same Italian restaurant I ate at and have reminisced about, 7 years ago. We enjoyed the beautiful night views, a salad and thin crust pizza. The food was delicious but the night scene was the most enchanting. I could spend several days just walking around and relaxing on The Bund. It doesn’t seem like much when you first get there, but if you really sit down, look back and soak it all in, it seems really special.

We had a great time in Shanghai. If we ever go back I think I’d like to stay in a quiet area of the French concession, run through the parks, have many a dinners & coffees on the Bund at night and see the famous water town. I’d also love to study some of the history of Shanghai & do a Bund walking tour of all the famous buildings lining the river. I’m on the lookout for a novel set in the luxurious 1950’s Shanghai. Anyone know of one?! 

Only in China

Only in China will you find people sleeping on curbs, in the middle of side walks and on metal wires. Only in China...  Will you see incredibly old people doing manual labor for new buildings, construction projects and landscaping. Will you learn the signs of a man that's about to go pee. You see that back turn, the taxi pull over, the creepy walk to the corner, or the walk towards the tree, and you just know, look away, he's gonna pee, AND then he's going to turn around while simultaneously stuffing it back in, (they don't unzip, they just pull out), and if you're super unlucky and don't catch all the signs before hand, you're gonna get a good view of his thing-a-majing.  will you get free corn juice when you buy a bottle of orange juice.  Only in China will you constantly hear the hawking sound of gurgling down deep to get all the loogies up to spit out anywhere at any time. Even the ladies do this. It's sexy. Will you put your hand in a giant blob of earwax on the bus. Will you have an old man randomly start rubbing oil on your back on a crowded bus. Will you be on all forms of social media from strangers snapping pictures of you. Will your students say they saw you on the internet singing and playing guitar, because someone you don't know nor do your students know,  recorded you a week ago while you sang "We love Jesus" on the guitar at an Easter party.  Will you so easily go viral on the local internet.  Will cars park on the sidewalk. Will cars drive any direction, in any lane, on any street.  Will your students try to jump out the window or stab their class mate with a knife and be allowed back at school the next day.  Will you see your Chinese friends get uber excited about their mail containing a bag of duck tongues.  Will you see babies to 9 year olds pooping and peeing in public.  Will you see faded Santa Claus heads decorating stores and restaurants in the middle of July.  Will you be able to drink 3 Dick wine made out of 3 different animal penises.  Will you get glared at while pregnant for eating ice cream. Will you not be able to see out your window because of smog. Will you be able to buy the counterfeit of any brand you could ever think of.  Will you be treated to dinner by so many amazing and generous people.  Will you be gifted with teas upon Chinese teas.  Only in China will you see a  motorcycle loaded 10 feet wide by 10 feet high.  Will you be able to buy underpants for fat men. Will beaches be this crowded.  Will you be able to shop in what appears to be a hazardous waste zone. Will you be haunted if you peel an apple in one piece in front of the mirror at midnight.

8 Hours in Zheng Zhou

On our way back to China, away from the sunny, warm & beautiful Thailand, sigh, we had an 8 hour lay over in Zhengzhou. We were pretty excited about such a long layover because it meant the opportunity to explore another city before ending our vacation. I looked up Zhengzhou online and found zero point zero things to do in Zhengzhou so we decided to do what we do best, find a Starbucks. 

Zachary was so excited to be arriving in Zhengzhou & back in China that he could barely keep his eyes open. Bless his heart. He sleeps so easily and peacefully while flying. This is my view for all our flights. 

Window on one side, Zachary sleeping on the other. Zachary sleeps like a baby, meanwhile, I'm on the other side, cutting sores into my thumbs and pointer finger from picking my split ends, the.entire.flight. And writing 1 through 60 for every hour we are flying, so that I can cross out each minute as it passes, like some crazy person. 

Upon on arrival in the freezing cold Zhengzhou, Bangkok sun no more, we headed outside the airport to find a taxi. It was 7 am, since our flight left Bangkok at 2 am, so it was the perfect time to head to Starbucks. We hopped into a taxi and told him to take us to the nearest Starbucks. A Starbucks which turned out to be apart of a bigger building, with no walls, and at 7:30 in the morning was freezing cold. For 5 to 6 hours we froze in Starbucks, spent time with Jesus, tried to sleep, drank a gajillion hot drinks and got a tiny view of Zhengzhou. 

Zhengzhou City Wikipedia)

Zhengzhou is a transportation hub in China. While there is not much to do, there is a million places you can go via Zhengzhou.

Snow and the remnants of Chinese New Year. scrap upon scrap of fire crackers. Also, a good view & reminder that we're back in China. Cigarette butts, dirty snow and trash.

Back to the winter gray. 

I did like the bike lanes we saw in Zhengzhou.

After our Starbucks tourism we went back to the airport to pick up our bags at the Left "Luggag" area. The ladies were so sweet and helpful explaining to us the whole process of leaving our bags. It took a while and again, we were reminded, that we were back in China. Gone was the land where everyone spoke English.

This little kid was chilling out waiting for his dad to pick up all of his left "luggag."

And this kid was having a crazy good time rolling around the whole airport and nearly knocking everyone over on his very own luggage cart. His parents were totally chill, like their kid was quietly waiting in line or something.

There's lots of fun choices for kids at Zhengzhou airport. I'm not gonna lie that I was slightly jealous of this kid who got to be pushed around by his parents in a helicopter while I had to, get this, carry my bags! So lame.

Back on the plane and Mr. Mosby is back to his favorite airplane activity, "Sleep peacefully while Heather has nervous break downs." ;)

There he is! Finally woke up for a wife selfie.

Flying back in to our Beloved Qingdao. Despite the fact that it was still cold, the skies were gray, and we were no longer in Thailand, we were excited to be back home & were happy to add another Chinese city to our list of cities visited. Let's not get technical about the fact that we saw nothing in Zhengzhou, okay?