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Miller Family of Saint Cloud MN

Lynn & Amanda in China

Minneapolis to Newark to Shanghai: a long, 15-hour flight but well worth it when we found out what was waiting for us. Ken was an excellent tour guide (thanks, Ken!); he had learned his way around Shanghai during his 6 weeks teaching there.

Highlights of our time in Shanghai

  • Fast-as-lightning rides on the Maglev train from Pudong Airport into Shanghai -- traveling at 400 kph!

  • Braving the crowds on East Nanjing Street

  • Braving the crowds on the Bund

  • Braving the crowds in Old Shanghai

  • Braving the crowds in the subway

  • Visiting the amazing Shanghai Expo

  • Learning lots in the China Pavillion

  • Crossing streets while praying not to be hit by the millions of bicycles, motorcycles, cars, and buses

  • Bargaining in Old Shanghai

  • Bargaining in the Pearl Market

  • Shopping with our friend Jenny (native Chinese) and having her do the bargaining!

  • Seeing Haibao (Expo mascot) everywhere and loving it

  • Learning to eat with chopsticks and never resorting to fork and knife

  • Searching for restaurants with English language menus so we wouldn't eat something like duck webs or octopus lips without knowing it

  • Seeing Shanghai buildings all lit up at night

  • Marveling at the Shanghai skyline

  • Appreciating the flowers and green spaces

  • Enjoying delicious meals without paying a fortune (total bill usually less than $20 for 3 people!)

  • Seeing an amazing acrobat show, surrounded by tourists from New Jersey

  • Learning to ignore the people trying to sell stuff in the street: "Lady, lady, you like?...Shopping...DVD...T-shirt...purse"

  • Saying "ni hao" and "xie xie" a thousand times and having people smile at you because you're trying to speak Mandarin

  • Explaining to a chef in limited Mandarin that you want a scrambled egg

  • Appreciating the beauty of Jing'an Temple and its silver Buddha

  • Surviving without Facebook (banned in China)

  • Taking a boat ride on the river at Qibao

  • Keeping a supply of toilet tissue to use in public toilets

  • Trying to avoid squat toilets

 

Highlights of our 5-day visit to Beijing

  • Asking "do you speak English?" in Mandarin and having people actually understand what you said

  • Climbing a section of THE GREAT WALL!

  • Celebrating Amanda's 20th birthday on the Great Wall

  • Feasting on Peking Duck

  • Having a suite at the Howard Johnson's Paragon Beijing Hotel that was at least as big as our apartment in Columbia when Ken was in Ph.D. school

  • Having said suite at only $122 per night!

  • Experiencing real smog (makes Los Angeles skies look clear!)

  • Having breakfast at McDonald's 4 days in a row because we needed comfort food

  • Seeing a marble boat at the Summer Palace

  • Cruising in an electric boat on the lake at the Summer Palace

  • Exercising self-control in the shop at the silk factory

  • Being amazed by the size of the Forbidden City, but getting very tired after 3 hours touring it

We packed a lot into this 2-week vacation and enjoyed every minute of it, except the one time we had to take the subway during rush hour -- an experience not to be repeated if it can be avoided. We were never totally comfortable crossing streets but became braver with each passing day. We never tried any of the more interesting offerings on restaurant menus, although Ken did mention having tried eel early in his stay. We grew fond of Sichuan green beans and ate those frequently. And watermelon at the end of most meals was a treat for us southern ladies.

The Chinese people we encountered were all very pleasant. We were obviously Westerners and occasionally we noticed people giving us second glances -- one couple even took our picture! Sometimes people just wanted to talk to us so they could practice their English. Amanda had a chance to go shopping on "Cheap Street" with a Chinese friend named Fang and she really enjoyed that experience. We practiced our limited Chinese with Fang also and got good marks from her.

We enjoyed staying at the Ruitai Hotel in Shanghai. We loved the doormen who always smiled warmly when we said "ni hao" regardless of how poorly we pronounced it. We would definitely stay there again (and it was only about a mile from the Pearl Market on bus #75!).

-- Lynn and Amanda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 Haibao family

Haibao family
(Expo mascot)

 

 

People's Park

Pond in People's Park

 

Bridge at Summer Palace

Bridge at Summer Palace